Chapter 40

Clearly, they had unanimously agreed to gather the Wu Clan's full strength and attack the demon race on Di Jun's Wedding day.

Time flowed on, and in the blink of an eye, the day Li Peng was to accept disciples arrived.

Li Peng stood high in the sky outside Three Immortal Island, looking down at the countless densely packed living beings below. He spoke calmly, "Formation, rise!"

As his words fell, an eighty-two-tiered staircase, ten million zhang tall, rose from the center of the island.

Each tier was laid with an Illusion Formation. The higher one climbed, the more difficult the illusions became. Those without great perseverance and wisdom would find it hard to pass.

Li Peng looked at the rising formation and nodded in satisfaction. Just as he was about to announce the start of the disciple acceptance trial, the system prompt suddenly sounded in his mind.

"Ding! Detected that the host is about to accept disciples. Please make a choice!"

"Choice One: Quality over quantity when accepting disciples. The host already has five disciples. Drive away all Primordial living beings who have come to seek apprenticeship."

"Reward: One million years of cultivation, one random High-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure."

"Choice Two: There is strength in numbers. Take all Primordial living beings who have come to seek apprenticeship under your wing."

"Choice Three: As the host of the system, how can you go back on your word? Take all Primordial living beings who pass the trial as disciples, and find a way to make the number of disciples under your command exceed ten."

"Reward: One Divine Ability Granting Card, Saint-grade cultivation technique Golden Peng Dao Art!"

"Please make your choice as soon as possible."

Li Peng was momentarily speechless as he listened to the system prompt.

He had not expected the system to join in the commotion at a time like this.

Still, a reward was better than no reward, so he immediately began examining the options given by the system.

"Absurd!"

Upon seeing the first choice, Li Peng could not help but curse under his breath.

He had already gathered Primordial living beings here and declared that he would accept disciples, yet the system's first choice actually demanded that he take none of them?

If Li Peng truly went back on his word and accepted no disciples, where would his dignity be?

Thus, Li Peng dismissed the first choice without a second thought.

He did not even bother to examine the reward attached to the first option.

Next, Li Peng turned his attention to the second choice.

The moment he saw the contents of the second option, the urge to curse rose in his heart once more.

However, when he saw Choice Two's reward clearly, his anger instantly vanished.

That was because the reward for Choice Two was indeed immensely tempting—the upper volume of the Heavenly Dao-grade Pangu Body Refining Technique. It was classified as Heavenly Dao-grade because Pangu had failed to attain the Great Dao by splitting open the heavens, and thus it had been placed within the Heavenly Dao rank.

Though the reward was incomparably generous, if he truly accepted all these tens of millions of Primordial living beings under his wing, Li Peng's fortune would likely be exhausted before long.

In the original Primordial history, Sect Leader Tongtian had merely created the spectacle of "ten thousand immortals paying homage," yet his sect had ultimately been destroyed and he himself imprisoned.

If he accepted all these tens of millions of Primordial living beings as disciples, then the consequences would simply be...

Thinking of this, Li Peng did not dare continue dwelling on it.

Yet the reward for this option was too difficult for him to give up.

With mixed feelings, Li Peng looked toward the third choice.

Hmm, accepting those who passed the trial as disciples was a fairly reasonable condition.

Gathering enough disciples to reach ten?

That would not be difficult either. He only needed to pick a few of the most talented among those who failed the trial.

Then he looked further down at the reward!

When Li Peng saw it, he could not help blurting out, "Damn!"

What kind of reward was this?

A Divine Ability Granting Card?

What sort of novel item was that?

Could it be that using this card would allow him to grant one of his divine abilities to a disciple?

Filled with curiosity, Li Peng hurriedly opened the detailed description of the Divine Ability Granting Card.

Divine Ability Granting Card: Using this card allows the host to perfectly copy one divine ability and grant it to a disciple. The divine ability's power, proficiency, and degree of control will be completely identical to the host's current level.

After reading the description, Li Peng cursed again. "This is way too powerful!"

Li Peng knew quite a few divine abilities, although most of them had been acquired through later cultivation.

But one must not forget that he also possessed an utterly heaven-defying innate divine ability—the Yin-Yang Destruction Divine Light!

Once a disciple obtained this divine ability, challenging opponents above their realm would be no problem at all.

Although...

Wait! Li Peng suddenly remembered that among his personal disciples was a promising seed naturally endowed with Yin-Yang attributes!

A blazing light immediately flashed through Li Peng's eyes.

What could be more gratifying than having a successor who could perfectly inherit his legacy?

As for that Heavenly Dao-grade Pangu Body Refining Technique?

Though Li Peng was tempted, he knew he could not bear the corresponding cost.

Without hesitation, Li Peng said to the system, "I choose Three."

After making his choice, he calmly announced to all the living beings below, "Any who can ascend these eighty-one tiers of stairs may enter my sect and become my personal disciples."

As his words fell, Li Peng vanished into the void, quietly observing whether any among the Primordial living beings who had come to seek apprenticeship were worth nurturing.

For a time, countless Primordial living beings surged toward the staircase, each scrambling to get ahead.

However, they climbed quickly and came down just as quickly. Most had barely entered and failed the first trial before being teleported out by the formation.

Some living beings refused to accept this and wished to try again, but the moment they stepped into the formation's range, a powerful force flung them away from the island.

Seeing this, the other living beings who wanted to try could only stop. After sighing helplessly, they turned and left. Since they had no fate with Li Peng's sect, they could only try their luck with other Saints.

At this moment, three Primordial living beings at the front had already climbed beyond the thirtieth tier.

Li Peng swept his gaze over them and could not help but freeze—one of them was actually human. Logically, humans with great perseverance and wisdom would mostly follow Li Wu to cultivate martial arts. Why had someone come here to seek him as a master?

He was puzzled, so his divine sense settled upon that human. Upon investigation, he discovered that this person's aptitude for the immortal path was poor, while his talent for the martial path was even worse. Without external aid to improve him, he would achieve little in this life.

However, for Li Peng, a Primordial Great Luo Golden Immortal, improving someone's aptitude was no difficult matter. As long as this person's character passed muster, accepting him as a disciple would not be out of the question.

After seeing through the human, Li Peng shifted his gaze to the Daoist walking alongside him. The Daoist had sword-like brows, starry eyes, and an upright air about him. He was clearly a just and unyielding man. His true form was innate Geng Metal, and while his aptitude was not among the very best, it was still quite good.

Li Peng nodded slightly, rather satisfied.

Yet when he looked at the Primordial living being walking in front, he frowned—the other party had yet to transform, and his cultivation had only reached the Golden Immortal realm. With such a realm, how had he survived in the Primordial world?

Li Peng had journeyed all the way to Three Immortal Island, and he could only attribute it all to fate.

He suddenly noticed that the golden-furred monkey had six small ears growing upon his ears.

"It's actually the Six-Eared Macaque!" Li Peng was secretly startled.

He remembered that the Six-Eared Macaque was one of the Four Monkeys of Chaos, and that he had later been killed by Sun Wukong with a single strike of his staff.

The Four Monkeys of Chaos had originally been formed from the remnants of the Chaos Demon Ape. They belonged neither to heaven, earth, humans, nor ghosts; neither to scales, fur, feathers, nor shells; and were not among the ten kinds of beings.

The first was the Clever Stone Monkey, able to understand transformations, discern the heavenly timing, know the advantages of terrain, and move stars and shift constellations. He would later become Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

The second was the Red-Bottomed Macaque, who understood Yin and Yang, knew human affairs, excelled at coming and going, and could evade death and prolong life.

The third was the Long-Armed Ape, who could seize the sun and moon, shrink a thousand mountains, distinguish fortune from misfortune, and toy with heaven and earth.

The fourth was the Six-Eared Macaque, skilled at hearing sounds, able to discern principles, know what came before and after, and understand all things.

The Six-Eared Macaque had been born the earliest and should have been the strongest.

But because he had used his innate divine ability to eavesdrop on Dao Ancestor Hongjun's teachings, Hongjun had sealed his divine sense with a cold snort.

Hongjun had even declared, "The Dharma is not passed to six ears," completely cutting off his path of cultivation.

Relying on his divine ability to know what came before and after and understand all things, Liu Er had repeatedly sought out Primordial Great Powers, hoping to find a master and seek the Dao.

Yet because of Hongjun's words, "The Dharma is not passed to six ears," no one dared accept him as a disciple. Even those who admired his aptitude and his heart for seeking the Dao did not dare defy Dao Ancestor Hongjun's will.

Not long ago, Liu Er had heard that Li Peng intended to accept disciples. He had rushed day and night, finally arriving outside Three Immortal Island as the thousand-year deadline approached.

When Li Peng saw Liu Er, he immediately felt a sense of kinship.

Both the Golden Winged Great Peng and the Six-Eared Macaque possessed extraordinary talent, yet both had ruined their own futures through cleverness.

In the original Primordial history, by the era of Journey to the West, neither had been anything more than insignificant figures.

They were so alike that Li Peng seemed to see his own reflection in Liu Er.

In an instant, he decided that whether Liu Er passed the trial or not, he would accept him as a personal disciple.

Of course, Li Peng valued Liu Er for more than their similarities.

It was also because Liu Er possessed immense potential—as one of the Four Monkeys of Chaos, if the origins of all four monkeys could be gathered, Liu Er might be transformed into a new Chaos Demon Ape.

At this thought, Li Peng's heart surged with excitement.

After all, how fulfilling would it be to personally raise a Chaos Demon Ape!

Having made his decision, Li Peng continued observing the remaining Primordial living beings. But when he saw their faces filled with pain, fury, grievance, sorrow, and tears, he lost interest.

Time flowed on, and three hundred years passed in the blink of an eye. Only a dozen or so Primordial living beings remained in the Ninety-Nine Heart Refining Great Formation. As for those who had failed the challenge, they had long since departed, hoping to try their luck with other Saints and see whether they could be accepted as disciples.

Another hundred years passed, and only three people remained in the formation. Nearly all the other Primordial living beings had been eliminated.

Of those dozen or so living beings, another eight departed, leaving only six with steadfast hearts, quietly awaiting the appearance of the Golden Peng Saint.

Ten years later, the Six-Eared Macaque was the first to emerge from the Ninety-Nine Heart Refining Great Formation.

One year later, the human and the middle-aged Daoist finally emerged as well.

Only after seeing that all the Primordial living beings had left the formation did Li Peng emerge from the void.

When the nine Primordial living beings saw Li Peng, they hurriedly knelt and paid their respects. "Greetings, Golden Peng Saint!"

Li Peng nodded. "Rise."

Only then did everyone stand.

Li Peng looked at the Six-Eared Macaque, the human, and the middle-aged Daoist. "You three have passed the Ninety-Nine Heart Refining Great Formation and may all become my personal disciples."

"Thank you, Master!" the Six-Eared Macaque, the human, and the middle-aged Daoist said in unison.

Li Peng waved a hand. "Though you have passed the trial, you must abide by my sect's rules. If you cannot, it would be best to leave early."

"Please tell us, Master. We will certainly obey them!" the three answered in unison.

Li Peng nodded and said:

"First, you must not betray the sect. Whoever violates this rule, I will personally ensure his soul and spirit are utterly destroyed.

Second, you must not harm fellow disciples. Whoever violates this rule, I will personally ensure his soul and spirit are utterly destroyed.

Third, you must have backbone. You must not disgrace the sect merely to survive. Whoever violates this rule, I will revoke his cultivation and expel him from the sect.

There are only these three rules. Can you uphold them?"

Upon hearing this, the Six-Eared Macaque, the human, and the middle-aged Daoist all breathed a sigh of relief and replied in unison, "We certainly can!"

Li Peng nodded. "Good!"

Seeing this, Liu Er and the others bowed again in unison. "Greetings, Master!"

Li Peng nodded. "Rise."

Only then did everyone stand one after another.

Li Peng smiled. "Introduce yourselves."

The Six-Eared Macaque scratched his head and said somewhat bashfully, "I am the Six-Eared Macaque. You can all call me Liu Er from now on."

The middle-aged man then said, "My name is Yu Ding. I was originally transformed from the Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the White Jade Cauldron."

Hearing Yu Ding reveal his origins, Li Peng was slightly surprised. He had not expected that, without meaning to, he had recruited one of Primordial Lord of Heaven's disciples. But since Yu Ding had already entered his sect, he no longer had any connection to Primordial Lord of Heaven. Thinking that Yu Ding might make Primordial Lord of Heaven's disciples suffer terribly in the future, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Li Peng's lips.

The human then spoke. "My name is Xuan Du. I am merely an ordinary member of the human race."

Li Peng's heart stirred upon hearing this.

"It seems making such a grand display of accepting disciples was the right choice. Not only did I snatch a disciple from Primordial Lord of Heaven, I even brought Laozi's only disciple in Primordial history under my wing. I'd like to see whom Laozi will accept as a disciple afterward. Will Xuan Du still be able to achieve what he did in Primordial history?" Li Peng thought to himself.

At this thought, he nearly could not suppress his smile. But as their master, he could not lose his dignity before his disciples. So he steadied himself and turned his gaze toward the six Primordial living beings beside them. "Why have you not left?"

The six Primordial living beings dropped to their knees in unison and pleaded loudly, "Please, Golden Peng Saint, accept us as disciples!"

As they spoke, they repeatedly kowtowed.

Li Peng chuckled inwardly. That's more like it. If you didn't kowtow, how could I directly accept you as disciples? After all, the choice mission requires me to take more than ten disciples.

He deliberately sighed and said, "Since you were able to persist until now, your hearts are clearly steadfast. I will accept you as registered disciples."