Return to Mount Sumeru

After staying for some days, he arranged the affairs of Spirit Bamboo Mountain.

On this day, Jiang Yun gathered everyone from the Dragon Palace, brought Senior Mysterious Turtle along, and continued toward Mount Sumeru.

The people from the Dragon Palace had taken on missions during this period and gained some merit. Although it was not much, everyone was excited. When they heard that Jiang Yun had summoned them, they were even a little reluctant to leave.

On the way to Mount Sumeru, they passed by Pengxuan Grotto-Heaven. Jiang Yun did not stay long. He merely met Huang Ya, who was stationed at the outpost outside the grotto-heaven, asked about the development of the Grotto-Heaven World, and felt relieved after hearing that everything was progressing well. He then left without lingering.

After another three hundred years, the group finally arrived at Mount Sumeru.

It had been more than three thousand years since he had left Mount Sumeru. This time, Jiang Yun planned to stay for a while. After all, in another thousand years or so, it would be time for him to taste fruits with Great Immortal Zhen Yuan as they had agreed.

As soon as he arrived before Mount Sumeru, he saw Teacher Jieyin and Zhunti waiting at the mountain gate with dozens of people.

Jiang Yun was overjoyed at the sight. He had not expected his teacher and martial uncle to think so highly of him. They had even come to the mountain gate specifically to welcome him back.

He quickened his pace and arrived before the two of them, then bowed respectfully. Teacher Jieyin and Zhunti nodded in acknowledgment.

Before he could speak again, Zhunti spoke first. "May I ask which fellow Daoist has come to my Mount Sumeru? The two of us came especially to await you."

Their eyes were fixed on Senior Mysterious Turtle, and their expressions were solemn.

The reason was that neither of them could see through Senior Mysterious Turtle's true strength, nor did they know what purpose he had in coming.

Seeing this, Jiang Yun gradually understood the situation. His two elders had sensed Senior Mysterious Turtle's aura and thus come to the mountain gate to welcome their guest. His own heartfelt excitement had been for nothing.

"Teacher, Martial Uncle, this is Senior Mysterious Turtle of the North Sea. He appeared in the world when Heaven and Earth first opened. While I was traveling through the North Sea, I happened to help him by chance. Senior Mysterious Turtle was therefore willing to follow at my side. Heaven's Dao can bear witness." Jiang Yun explained Senior Mysterious Turtle's origins.

"Thank you, fellow Daoists, for waiting here. I was in the midst of a death tribulation, and only with Jiang Yun's help was I able to escape the calamity. I have now resolved to serve him. You two need not harbor any doubts." Senior Mysterious Turtle also offered an explanation.

After hearing the two of them, Teacher Jieyin and Zhunti exchanged a glance, both wearing expressions of disbelief.

Is my disciple—or nephew-disciple—really this outrageously blessed by fate? they wondered inwardly.

He had gone out to seek an opportunity and returned with a peak Primordial Unity servant. Who would not be stunned by that?

"I see. Let us return to the mountain and continue the discussion there."

After Zhunti finished speaking, he turned around and led everyone back toward the main hall of the Dao Field.

Jiang Yun seized the opportunity to walk over to Teacher Jieyin and said softly, "Teacher, I brought back some people from the North Sea Dragon Palace who wish to become disciples. I would like to settle them in my cave abode and report the situation to you later."

Teacher Jieyin nodded slightly after hearing this. He trusted that his disciple was cautious and would not act recklessly, so he indicated that Jiang Yun could make the arrangements himself.

Jiang Yun then went to Senior Mysterious Turtle and asked him to accompany his teacher and martial uncle to the main hall for a discussion. He would settle the people from the North Sea Dragon Palace first and then come find him afterward.

Senior Mysterious Turtle nodded in agreement.

After entering the mountain gate, the crowd split up before the main hall. Jiang Yun called for the people from the Dragon Palace to follow him toward his cave abode.

Once inside, Jiang Yun told them to rest there for the time being. After he reported the situation, he would find a suitable opportunity to arrange for them to go to the main hall and become disciples.

After giving them his instructions, Jiang Yun left the cave abode and went to the Grand Hall.

Inside, Teacher Jieyin and Zhunti invited Senior Mysterious Turtle to sit. The two sides then began discussing in detail how Senior Mysterious Turtle and Jiang Yun had met.

Senior Mysterious Turtle recounted how Jiang Yun had rescued him. At the time, his instincts had told him that meeting Jiang Yun was the sliver of hope in his destined fate. He had not had time to consider anything else and could only cling tightly to that lifeline. Poor as he was, most of the time since emerging into the world had been spent asleep. He possessed nothing of value and could only seek help from others by offering to serve them.

After hearing Senior Mysterious Turtle's account, Teacher Jieyin and Zhunti, as powerful cultivators of the Primordial World, recalled the Heavenly Mandate they bore to revive the Western World. For a moment, they felt some empathy for Senior Mysterious Turtle's plight.

They were all powerful figures of the Primordial World, and all bore a certain Heavenly Mandate. The difference was that Senior Mysterious Turtle had no choice in his Heavenly Mandate. Or rather, his naturally lethargic disposition had led him astray, leaving him unable to free himself. He could not escape by his own strength and could only slowly await death. As for the two of them, the Heavenly Mandate they carried was unified with their Dao. The process of fulfilling their Heavenly Mandate was also the process of practicing their own Dao, and they could decide how to walk that path.

Jiang Yun arrived outside the main hall. Dozens of cultivators were standing there. They were the people who had stood behind his teachers at the mountain gate earlier. They were probably new disciples accepted after the mountain gate had been opened.

When these people saw Jiang Yun approaching, they gathered around under the leadership of the three cultivators at the front.

"Greetings, Senior Brother!" Led by the three men, everyone bowed to Jiang Yun in greeting.

"There is no need to be so formal, Junior Brothers. Please rise," Jiang Yun said, raising a hand as if to help them up.

Then he looked at the three people in front, wanting to find someone to introduce them. "Teacher Jieyin and Martial Uncle Zhunti have probably already told you about me. May I ask which Junior Brother will introduce everyone to me?"

Of the three, the person in the middle radiated a gentle, bright glow. His temperament was clear and translucent like glazed glass. He stepped forward slightly and said, "I am Jingming, a disciple of Teacher Jieyin. My Dharma name is Medicine Master Glazed. Senior Brother may call me Medicine Master."

Then he gestured vaguely with his hand. "The one on the left is White Lotus, a disciple of Teacher Jieyin. His Dharma name is Maitreya. The one on the right is Netherworld, also a disciple of Teacher Jieyin. His Dharma name is Ksitigarbha."

After that, he introduced the people behind him as well. Once Jiang Yun heard the introductions, he recognized several familiar names among them: Mahasthamaprapta, Sunlight, Moonlight, and Kinnara.

Among this group of junior brothers, Medicine Master had the highest cultivation. He was also Jiang Yun's second junior brother and had just broken through to the Mystic Immortal realm. Of the rest, only those few whose names Jiang Yun recognized had reached the True Immortal realm. The others had cultivated for too short a time and had not even reached the True Immortal realm. However, their aptitudes were outstanding in the Western World, and most of them were stronger than the Hall Masters under Jiang Yun.

After gaining a preliminary understanding of one another, Jiang Yun searched through his personal world, wanting to give his junior brothers some gifts. In the end, he gave each of them a drop of Three Lights Divine Water according to their number.

Everyone who received a gift thanked him in unison, then hurriedly put away the life-saving treasure. The bond between the senior and junior brothers immediately grew much deeper, and everyone secretly sighed at how extravagantly generous their Senior Brother was.

After meeting his junior brothers, Jiang Yun requested an audience at the main hall entrance. Only after receiving Teacher Jieyin's reply did he enter the hall alone.