Tongtian Was Taken Away by the Dao Ancestor

East Sea

Tongtian stood tall and imposing as he addressed the seven living beings. "I am Tongtian of Kunlun Mountain's Upper Qing lineage. You all may..."

"Wait for what? May do what?"

At that moment, an unwelcome voice suddenly sounded behind Tongtian.

Tongtian jumped at the unexpected voice and turned around in annoyance. That single glance gave him an even bigger fright.

Laozi and Yuanshi stood stiffly behind him. Most terrifying of all was Yuanshi's twisted face, so scrunched up it could have been used as a bath scrubber.

"S-Second Brother, Elder Brother..."

Tongtian called out somewhat guiltily.

After all, back when they were on Kunlun Mountain, Yuanshi had opposed Tongtian taking disciples more than once.

And now, he had been caught red-handed.

Hearing Tongtian's voice, Yuanshi laughed in extreme anger. "N-No, you're the Second Brother."

Then Tongtian was taken back to Kunlun Mountain. Before leaving, he did not forget to take those animals with him as well.

Tongtian grew more and more worked up as he spoke. In the end, he directly said, "Your master could take you in, so why can't I take disciples?"

Seeing this scene, Nan Ji felt like his head had grown twice as large.

The moment Yuanshi heard that, he loudly retorted, "Y-You think you can recruit someone like Nan Ji? Forget taking seven disciples—even if you took ten, I would agree."

"Ah..."

At that moment, Nan Ji finally understood why his Eldest Martial Uncle Laozi always liked to sigh.

Looking at the two standing in the middle of the plaza, Nan Ji could only try to smooth things over. "Master, Martial Uncle, how about... we go to Jade Void Palace first?"

In the past, Tongtian would certainly have agreed.

But perhaps because others were standing behind him this time, Tongtian directly refused. "Why not go to my Biyu Palace?"

So bold!

Watching Tongtian, Nan Ji thought to himself, Just wait until the two of you are alone. Let's see if you still dare act like this, Martial Uncle.

Seeing that his master Yuanshi was about to fly into a rage, Nan Ji hurriedly said, "How about we go to Eight—"

Bang!

Just as Nan Ji was about to suggest Eight Sceneries Palace, Laozi violently slammed its gates shut.

Laozi's door-slamming startled both Yuanshi and Tongtian.

Perhaps because of Laozi's attitude, Tongtian and Yuanshi said in unison, "Then we'll go to your place."

It was rare for the two to agree, so Nan Ji naturally wanted to accept. But then he remembered that Ancestor Master Hongjun was still enshrined in the hall.

Thus, Nan Ji said with some difficulty, "M-My place... doesn't seem... very convenient either..."

"Little Nan Ji, your Martial Uncle has always treated you well! What could possibly be inconvenient?" Tongtian said unhappily.

"Must your master discuss this with you?"

After saying that, Yuanshi ignored Nan Ji and headed straight for Changsheng Hall.

Tongtian teleported those seven... little animals to his Biyu Palace, then followed Yuanshi.

Bang!

As soon as the two entered, Yuanshi flicked his sleeve and shut the hall doors.

After closing the doors, Yuanshi said nothing. He simply glared at Tongtian with wide eyes.

Tongtian looked at Yuanshi and glared right back with complete confidence.

Then the scene fell into silence.

After a while, Tongtian gradually calmed down. He suddenly recalled the golden clouds of merit over Kunlun Mountain when they had returned, and curiously asked, "Little Nan Ji, just now, that..."

But to Yuanshi, this scene was particularly glaring.

Yuanshi angrily scolded, "Tongtian, why are you changing the subject?"

"Second Brother, don't falsely accuse me either."

And so the two began arguing again.

Watching the two of them, Nan Ji sensed that things were going badly. He went alone to the rear hall and lit another stick of sandalwood incense before the Dao Ancestor's statue.

Sluuurp~~~

When Nan Ji came back out, the entire Changsheng Hall was filled with a rich fragrance.

"Disciple, what was that thing you just burned with fire?"

After smelling the scent, Yuanshi felt refreshed and clear-headed. His originally irritable mood was immediately soothed somewhat.

"Master, this is your disciple's..."

Nan Ji was just about to say that he was offering incense to Ancestor Master when Tongtian directly said, "Little Nan Ji, why are you burning things for that old man?"

Upon hearing Tongtian say this, Yuanshi quickly sent out his divine sense toward the rear hall.

Sure enough, an old man's statue sat on a table, with spiritual fruits and spiritual water beside it.

This immediately piqued Yuanshi's interest, and he said, "Disciple, you..."

But before Yuanshi could finish, Tongtian casually picked up a spiritual fruit from the offering table and took a bite.

"Hiss, Little Nan Ji, you had something so delicious and hid it away. I have to say, it's really sweet." Tongtian spoke while eating, holding up the jade plate.

Seeing this, Nan Ji's heart leaped into his throat, and he hurriedly said, "Don't, Martial Uncle, don't eat it!"

These were offering fruits. How could someone take food from an offering table and eat it?

What was more, the person being worshipped did not look like someone particularly generous.

"You brat, your Martial Uncle is only eating a couple of your fruits, and you—"

But before Tongtian could finish speaking, a rift suddenly appeared in space and sucked him inside.

In the blink of an eye, all that remained where Tongtian had stood were the spiritual fruit he had bitten and the fallen jade plate.

"Tongtian!"

Yuanshi assumed Tongtian had run away, and his fury instantly soared to the heavens as he prepared to chase after him.

"Master, don't..."

Seeing this, Nan Ji hurriedly grabbed Yuanshi.

"Hm? Why?"

Yuanshi felt rage burning in his chest and directly said to Nan Ji, "Come, follow your master and find him. Don't let him get away."

Nan Ji helplessly looked at Yuanshi, then softly said, "Martial Uncle... was taken away by someone else."

Yuanshi became even angrier upon hearing that.

Good! He had actually colluded with an outsider.

Thus Yuanshi said, "Taken away? That brat has grown bold enough to even have accompli—"

Hearing this, Nan Ji's entire body trembled, and he hurriedly interrupted him.

"Master, Martial Uncle was taken away by Ancestor Master!!"

Yuanshi's eyes widened upon hearing this.

Fearing that he would not believe him, Nan Ji hurriedly added, "The one enshrined inside is Ancestor Master himself."

Whenever it involved Hongjun, Nan Ji did not dare leave even the slightest room for error. His every word was filled with respect.

Yuanshi examined the statue with his divine sense. Sure enough, its bearing was exactly the same as that of his master, Hongjun.

The only difference was that when they listened to teachings at Purple Cloud Palace, they could not see Dao Ancestor Hongjun's face clearly, whereas here, his face was exceptionally clear.

But now that he knew his master was the one being worshipped inside, and that Tongtian had just been taken away, Yuanshi's legs immediately went weak.

Yuanshi hurriedly picked up the jade plate from the ground, then took out several spiritual fruits from his own collection and headed toward the rear hall.

"Disciple, this is how it's done, right!"

Yuanshi had noticed Nan Ji's actions earlier and now mimicked them, though a careful observer would notice that his hands were trembling slightly as well.

"Mhm! Mhm!"

As Nan Ji answered, he thought that since his master was worshipping Ancestor Master, there was no reason not to call Eldest Martial Uncle along.

Laozi was Ancestor Master's eldest disciple.

More importantly, if he did not say anything now, what if Eldest Martial Uncle was taken away by Ancestor Master one day too?

Thus, Nan Ji glanced at Yuanshi, who was still kneeling in worship, and flashed over to Eight Sceneries Palace.

"You little monkey, why are you in such a rush?"

As Nan Ji suddenly appeared in his Eight Sceneries Palace, Laozi calmly spoke while fanning the furnace fire.

"Eldest Martial Uncle, it's Mas—"

"Your master and Martial Uncle have started arguing again, haven't they? That was ordained by the Heavenly Dao. Don't panic."

As Laozi added spiritual materials to the furnace, he said, "You, everything about you is good, except that temperament of yours..."

Seeing Laozi's manner, Nan Ji immediately interrupted him and hurriedly told him about the Dao Ancestor statue.

"Martial Uncle, your disciple only wanted some assurance."

Just as Nan Ji continued speaking, he discovered that Laozi had already vanished.

When Nan Ji returned to Changsheng Hall, he found that one of the two figures before the offering table was his Eldest Martial Uncle, and several more jade plates and spiritual fruits had appeared on the offering table.