Chapter 22

He had already made countless enemies. If he lost his advantage in cultivation, and with the Primordial Violet Qi in his possession...

Those great powers of the prehistoric world would probably all want to tear a piece of flesh from him.

"Looks like I must travel through the prehistoric world. If I continue cultivating in seclusion, I fear it will be difficult to break through."

With that, Li Peng mounted an auspicious cloud and flew straight away from Three Immortal Island.

Before he had even left the Eastern Sea, he heard peals of thunderous roars.

"Is someone fighting? Or undergoing tribulation?" Li Peng wondered.

He immediately spread out his divine sense and sensed that on an island not far away, countless bolts of lightning had gathered into a sea of thunder.

Within that sea of thunder, lightning dragons thousands of zhang long rolled and roared, their momentum terrifying.

In an instant, a lightning dragon leaped from the thunder sea and pounced toward the three auspicious clouds below.

The radiance of those three clouds was dim, and their cloud energy thin. They had clearly suffered severe damage.

Just as the lightning was about to strike the clouds, a wounded young man struggled out of a deep pit in the ground and fearlessly charged toward the lightning dragon.

At that moment, the three auspicious clouds simultaneously cried out in urgent female voices:

"Big Brother, run! Don't worry about us!"

"Big Brother has already reached his limit. If you continue, you'll surely perish!"

"We can't overcome today's lightning tribulation. Don't sacrifice yourself for nothing!"

The young man gazed tenderly at the clouds and smiled. "As long as your big brother still draws breath, I will protect my sisters."

With that, he resolutely rushed toward the lightning dragon.

Witnessing this scene, Li Peng's heart shook, and enlightenment suddenly arose in his mind.

"So goodness means giving everything for one's closest kin?" Li Peng murmured.

As his words fell, an Auspicious Cloud appeared above his head, with three second-grade wooden Human Flowers trembling within it.

Without hesitation, Li Peng summoned the Twelve-Grade Merit Golden Lotus and cast it into the Auspicious Cloud.

The golden lotus merged with the Human Flowers the moment it entered the cloud. In the blink of an eye, a kind-faced young man in golden robes leaped out of the Auspicious Cloud.

The instant the young man in golden robes appeared, Li Peng's aura rose steadily.

Looking at the heavily wounded young man who was about to be struck by the lightning dragon, the golden-robed youth sighed softly. "Since I was born early because of your karmic fate, I should repay this karma."

With those words, he took a step and vanished, appearing before the severely wounded young man in an instant.

The wounded young man froze when he saw the golden-robed cultivator suddenly appear.

The lightning dragon had already lunged before the golden-robed youth. With a casual sweep of his sleeve, the violent lightning dragon turned into specks of starlight and scattered through the air.

The wounded young man and the three auspicious clouds were all struck speechless with shock.

The lightning tribulation they had desperately fought against was utterly vulnerable before this golden-robed youth.

They instantly realized that they had encountered a great power.

Before they could think further, another lightning dragon tore through the sky and crashed down.

The golden-robed youth showed no fear and swept his sleeve again to meet it.

In an instant, another lightning dragon was shattered, transforming into countless arcs of lightning that dispersed.

Yet this time, after shattering the lightning dragon, the golden-robed youth did not stop. Instead, he shot directly toward the vast sea of thunder.

Boom!

With an earth-shaking explosion, the once awe-inspiring sea of thunder vanished in an instant.

The battered young man stared dumbfoundedly, clearly stunned by the golden-robed youth's methods.

After the thunder sea dispersed, the three auspicious clouds shifted and transformed into three lovely young women.

The moment the three women took human form, they immediately bowed to the golden-robed youth.

"Yunxiao, Bixiao, and Qiongxiao thank our benefactor for saving our lives."

The scarred young man beside them also stepped forward. "I am Zhao Gongming. Thank you, benefactor, for saving my life."

When the golden-robed youth learned that these four were Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming, he was slightly surprised.

He shook his head and did not dwell on it, merely saying to Sanxiao, "It was only a small effort."

"Perhaps it was only a small effort to you, but to us, it was a life-saving grace," Yunxiao said gratefully.

The golden-robed youth smiled faintly at this. Yunxiao truly was composed and measured in her words.

Suddenly, Qiongxiao's eyes turned, and she said, "We beg our benefactor to accept us as disciples, so that we may follow by your side and repay your life-saving grace."

The golden-robed youth could not help but laugh.

Becoming disciples to repay a debt of gratitude? That was certainly a line of logic he had never heard before.

Yunxiao, Bixiao, and Zhao Gongming also stepped forward and said in unison, "Please accept us as disciples, benefactor!"

The golden-robed youth had no choice but to say, "I am merely a Good Corpse and cannot decide such matters. When my true self arrives, you may ask him."

Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming all revealed looks of shock. They had never expected that this unfathomably powerful golden-robed youth was merely a Good Corpse incarnation.

Then what realm had his true self reached?

With that thought, the four became even more determined to follow a powerful master.

Yunxiao bowed and asked, "May we ask for your honored name, benefactor?"

The golden-robed youth was momentarily speechless—he had only been born recently, and his true self had yet to give him a name.

After pondering briefly, he declared, "This poor Daoist is Daoist Jinlian."

There was a reason for this title: the Self-Corpse originated from the Twelve-Grade Pure World White Lotus and was therefore called Bai Lian; the evil corpse came from the Twelve-Grade World-Destroying Black Lotus and was thus called Black Lotus. Since he had transformed from the Twelve-Grade Merit Golden Lotus, he was naturally called Jinlian.

Just as he was feeling pleased with himself, Li Peng's true self drifted over.

Seeing the four people beside his Good Corpse, he asked about their origins.

After hearing the entire story, Li Peng pondered for a moment.

Accepting disciples concerned the fortune of one's lineage. If one's disciples committed evil, it could implicate the master as well. Yet considering the karma of the four helping him sever his Good Corpse, he ultimately nodded in agreement.

Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming happily moved to kneel, but a gentle force of mana held them up.

Li Peng said solemnly, "To enter my sect, you must abide by three rules. First—"

His gaze swept over the four like lightning. "You must never betray the sect. Violators will have both body and soul annihilated."

Second, you are forbidden from harming fellow disciples.

If anyone violates this rule, I will personally act and destroy their soul.

Third, you must have integrity. You must not damage the sect's reputation merely to survive.

If any of you violate these rules, I will reclaim your mana and expel you from the sect.

After hearing Li Peng's three sect rules, Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming finally relaxed.

Although the consequences of violating the rules were severe, they were not difficult to follow.

They were all confident that they would not violate them.

After speaking, Li Peng looked seriously at Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming. "Can you uphold these three rules?"

After receiving affirmative answers, Li Peng nodded with satisfaction. "Good. From this day onward, you are my disciples."

Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming hurriedly knelt and bowed. "Disciples greet Teacher!"

Li Peng frowned. "All disciples of my sect should address me as Master."

The three were startled and muttered, "Master... like teacher and father?"

After understanding the meaning of "Master," they kowtowed again. "Disciples greet Master!"

Only then did Li Peng nod in satisfaction. "Rise."

As soon as his words fell, a mass of mysterious yellow light suddenly gathered in the sky and descended toward Li Peng's head.

He looked up and discovered that it was the legendary Golden Light of Merit.

"Could accepting disciples also earn merit?

No, there are many great powers in the prehistoric world who accept disciples. If accepting disciples brought merit, wouldn't everyone take in disciples without restraint?

If it wasn't from accepting disciples, then what had drawn down Heavenly Dao merit?" Li Peng thought to himself, but could not determine the reason.

As he pondered, Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming cried out anxiously:

"Master! The mysterious yellow light in the sky is attacking us!"

Only then did Li Peng notice that the Golden Light of Merit was descending upon both him and his disciples.

He could not help feeling helpless. Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming had actually mistaken the descent of merit for an attack.

If such ignorant words were heard by other great powers, they would likely become a laughingstock.

However, Li Peng did not blame them. Merit was extremely rare in the prehistoric world, so it was normal for low-cultivation cultivators never to have seen it.

As Li Peng's disciples, they naturally could not remain so ignorant. Li Peng decided to first teach Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming some basic knowledge of the prehistoric world.

At that moment, a thought suddenly struck him—

The Golden Light of Merit was descending upon him, Sanxiao, and Zhao Gongming.

Then what matter was related to both himself and his disciples?

Most likely, it was their calling him "Master."

"So I created the title 'Master' and completed the Heavenly Dao's definition of the master-disciple relationship,

which is why the Heavenly Dao bestowed merit.

And because Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming participated in it, they also received a share of the merit." Li Peng finally understood.

As his thoughts turned, the Golden Light of Merit had already descended upon them.

Li Peng gathered all the merit that had fallen upon himself.

After Sanxiao received their merit, their cultivation rapidly rose.

It continued until they reached the peak of Late Golden Immortal before gradually stabilizing.

Zhao Gongming's injuries rapidly healed under the effects of the merit. In less than a breath,

he had completely recovered.

Not only that, after his injuries recovered, his cultivation also began rising steadily.

Peak Late Golden Immortal, peak Golden Immortal...

However, just as he was about to break through to Grand Unity Golden Immortal, the Golden Light of Merit seemed to lack sufficient strength and stalled before the threshold.

Seeing this, Li Peng waved his hand, and a vast surge of mana flowed from his palm into Zhao Gongming's body.

With Li Peng's mana supporting him, the previously sluggish mana in Zhao Gongming's body began surging again.

Seizing the opportunity, he circulated all the mana in his body and charged toward the Grand Unity Golden Immortal bottleneck.

Crack—boom!

The internal barrier shattered, and Zhao Gongming finally stepped into the Early Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.

The moment his breakthrough was complete, Zhao Gongming immediately bowed to Li Peng. "Thank you, Master!"

Li Peng waved his hand. "You have all broken through using merit, and your foundations are still unstable. You must properly consolidate your cultivation."

Thus, Li Peng first explained some basic knowledge of the prehistoric world to Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming.

After finishing, he remembered that he had not yet imparted any cultivation techniques to them.

Li Peng began searching through his collection.

Ancestral Phoenix Art?

Nine Revolutions Profound Technique?

This technique would be suitable for Zhao Gongming, but it was not particularly suitable for Sanxiao.

After all, Sanxiao's true forms were auspicious clouds, so their physical aptitudes were ultimately limited.

Therefore, if they cultivated the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique, their progress would certainly be extremely slow.

Yin-Yang Rotation Technique?

This required one to comprehend the Yin-Yang Law, so it was ruled out.

Chaos Yin-Yang Art?

Even Li Peng was not qualified to cultivate this technique, much less Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming in their current state.

After sorting through everything, he discovered that he did not have a single technique that would let his disciples cultivate with peace of mind.

But since he had accepted disciples, he could not simply teach them nothing.

Suddenly, an idea came to Li Peng. He recalled the Classic of Virtue created by Laozi after becoming a saint.

This scripture was a universal remedy. Regardless of race or realm, anyone could gain some insight from it.

Besides, Li Peng had once used this scripture to display his brilliance, so there was no harm in lecturing on it again.

Moreover, Laozi had not yet comprehended the Classic of Virtue at this time, so the scripture belonged to Li Peng.

Thinking this, Li Peng said calmly, "As your master, I will lecture on the Dao for a thousand years. You must listen and comprehend carefully!"

When Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming heard that their master would lecture on the Dao, fiery light immediately flashed in their eyes.

Li Peng said no more and began directly. "The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. Nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth; named is the mother of all things.

Thus, ever free of desire, one observes its mystery; ever filled with desire, one observes its manifestations. These two arise from the same source yet bear different names. Together they are called mystery; mystery upon mystery, the gateway to all wonders..."

As he spoke, a profound aura emanated from him, drawing people into the rhythm of the Dao.

Li Peng had thought that this lecture would again bring flowers raining from heaven and golden lotuses springing from the earth, but no such phenomenon appeared.

The first phenomenon had merely been the Heavenly Dao celebrating the birth of the Classic of Virtue.

Time flowed, and a thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Peng's lecture ended.

He waited quietly for Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming, who remained immersed in enlightenment, to awaken.

Ten days later, the four finally awoke.

Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming immediately bowed respectfully. "Thank you, Master, for your teachings!"

Li Peng waved his hand. "After this lecture, you should cultivate in seclusion for a time. Properly consolidate your cultivation and digest the Dao I have imparted."

Sanxiao and Zhao Gongming all nodded in agreement.

Li Peng continued, "Since you are my disciples, I will not treat you poorly. Here are several spiritual treasures for your protection."