Taking Gou Chen as Disciple

At this moment, Xuanxiao naturally had no idea that Shi Qilin had already silently set his sights on him.

Right now, he had already returned to Thunder Marsh.

Within Thunder Marsh, Gou Chen looked up at Xuanxiao with a face full of reverence, his eyes brimming with respect.

"Senior, my Dao name is Gou Chen, an Innate Divine Being born from Thunder Marsh. I humbly welcome Senior back to Thunder Marsh!" Gou Chen's voice was filled with awe.

Xuanxiao studied Gou Chen with keen interest, a faint smile on his face as he spoke: "Little one, you don't even wonder about my origins, yet you're so sure I also hail from Thunder Marsh? Aren't you afraid I might actually be here to seize it?"

Hearing Xuanxiao's words, Gou Chen gently shook his head and replied with a serious expression:

"Senior, please don't jest. Given the Thunder Great Dao you displayed earlier, if you truly wanted to take over Thunder Marsh, even my full resistance would be futile.

Besides, the moment Senior returned to Thunder Marsh, the very thunder within it seemed to exude joy—clearly, Senior shares a deep bond with this place.

Moreover, before I was born, I already knew that another Innate Divine Being had emerged from Thunder Marsh before me, and he is its true master."

"Hahaha, you guessed right. I am Xuanxiao, the master of Thunder Marsh." Xuanxiao burst into hearty laughter, his voice clear and carrying an undeniable authority.

"Senior is actually the Dao Venerable!!!"

"But then again, in the Primordial World, only the Dao Venerable—whom even the Heavenly Dao treats with caution—could be worthy of being my Thunder Marsh's master."

The name of the Dao Venerable had long been made known to the beings of the Primordial World by the Heavenly Dao. All creatures knew that a Dao Venerable existed in the Primordial World, but they never imagined that Xuanxiao was that mysterious figure.

Xuanxiao looked at Gou Chen, a hint of warmth in his gaze, and said:

"I won't be staying in Thunder Marsh often. From now on, I'll need you to take care of it for me. How about this: in the future, if you encounter any confusion in your cultivation, you may come and ask me."

Upon hearing this, Gou Chen's face lit up with excitement. Though he didn't know much about Xuanxiao in other respects, the Thunder Great Dao Xuanxiao had displayed was far deeper than his own.

Gou Chen firmly believed that Xuanxiao's guidance would be a tremendous opportunity for him.

"Thank you, Dao Venerable! No, thank you, Master!" Gou Chen quickly bowed respectfully to Xuanxiao, his movements filled with devotion.

Xuanxiao was momentarily taken aback when Gou Chen suddenly changed his address to "Master," then couldn't help but find it amusing. "You little rascal, you sure know how to seize an opening."

Gou Chen's face instantly showed panic as he hurriedly said, "If the Dao Venerable doesn't wish to be my master, that's fine too."

Xuanxiao gently shook his head. "Forget it, since you've already said it, taking you in isn't much trouble."

With a smile, Xuanxiao shook his head again.

Gou Chen had outstanding talent, an extraordinary origin, and also cultivated the Thunder Great Dao, making him quite compatible with Xuanxiao.

Moreover, Gou Chen was born in Thunder Marsh, so they shared a certain fate.

Most importantly, Xuanxiao was willing to accept this disciple.

"Since you've already become my disciple, I can't be too stingy. This Nine Heavens Cauldron, I gift to you." As Xuanxiao spoke, he waved his hand, and an ancient, imposing cauldron appeared in his grasp.

This Nine Heavens Cauldron was a treasure Xuanxiao had stumbled upon during his many years of traveling the Primordial World.

Xuanxiao's identity was special—he was Pangu's younger brother, and this unique status meant the entire Primordial World held goodwill toward him.

Because of this, during his travels through the Primordial World, Xuanxiao was like a walking lucky charm.

Wherever he went, the spirit treasures in that region seemed to sense his presence and called out to him.

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However, though the Primordial World was full of spirit treasures, most were useless to Xuanxiao. Even if he collected them, they would only gather dust in the Primordial Realm.

Thus, Xuanxiao only kept treasures that truly interested him, leaving the rest to await their destined owners.

This Nine Heavens Cauldron was one he had carefully selected and deemed worthy of keeping.

"A Supreme Grade Innate Spirit Treasure!" Gou Chen stared at the treasure Xuanxiao handed him, his eyes wide with shock.

Though his own Companion Spirit Treasure, the Myriad Thunder Diagram, was also a Supreme Grade Innate Spirit Treasure, that didn't mean such treasures were common.

In the current Primordial World, only a handful of top-tier Innate Divine Beings possessed Supreme Grade Innate Spirit Treasures. Most Innate Divine Beings would be more than grateful to own a High Grade Innate Spirit Treasure.

The majority of Innate Divine Beings had Companion Spirit Treasures of only medium or low grade, and some had none at all.

Gou Chen gazed deeply at the Nine Heavens Cauldron, then slowly took a deep breath. "Master, this Nine Heavens Cauldron is too precious. I truly cannot accept it."

Hearing this, Xuanxiao didn't hesitate. He simply shoved the cauldron into Gou Chen's arms and said nonchalantly, "What kind of master takes back what he gives? Besides, this cauldron is of no use to me. If you refuse it, are you saying you don't want me as your master?"

Gou Chen hesitated for a moment after hearing Xuanxiao's words, but ultimately accepted the Nine Heavens Cauldron.

"Since I am your master, I will naturally teach you everything I know and impart the Dao to you. I will lecture on the Dao for thirty thousand years—you must listen carefully." Xuanxiao looked at Gou Chen with a smile.

Gou Chen's face lit up with joy, and he quickly said, "Thank you, Master!"

Xuanxiao nodded in satisfaction at Gou Chen, then slowly began to speak:

"Thunder governs the world's fortunes and misfortunes, holding the balance of all things. It controls beings and their affairs, presides over life and death, regulates opening and closing, and governs creation. From the Heavenly Emperor above to the Earthly Emperor below, without thunder, none can enforce their decrees. From the great matters of life and death to the trivialities of flourishing and withering, without thunder, none can rule their domain."

"The transformations of thunder know no distance, near or far. The spirit moves as the mind wills; the energy arrives as the spirit commands. Within the profound, dark, and indistinct, it manifests as the explosive transformation of thunder. One gives birth to two, two to three, three to all things, issuing forth as wondrous effects. Above, it reaches the azure heavens; below, it reaches the Yellow Springs—there is nowhere it cannot go."

As Xuanxiao's magnetic voice, brimming with the profound mysteries of the Great Dao, slowly resonated, Gou Chen soon became immersed and entered cultivation.

Above his head, the Thunder Great Dao flickered faintly, and countless bolts of thunderous power gathered and intertwined in the void.

Xuanxiao cast a satisfied glance at Gou Chen and mused to himself: This kid's talent and foundation, though not on par with old monsters like Hongjun, aren't too far off from the Three Pure Ones. In this vast Primordial World, he can be considered a top-tier Innate Divine Being.

Then, Xuanxiao turned his gaze to the boundless Thunder Marsh and murmured to himself: "This time, it's a rare opportunity for you all as well. If you can seize it, you might just have a chance to develop intelligence."

Xuanxiao keenly sensed two extremely faint ripples of consciousness hidden at the very center of Thunder Marsh.

This kind of barely-there awareness was quite common in the Primordial World.

However, for such faint consciousness to give birth to a complete intelligence, without the aid of external forces, the probability was like one in ten thousand—vanishingly slim.

Moreover, the more powerful the existence from which such faint consciousness arose, the harder it was to nurture intelligence.

Take these two faint consciousnesses in Thunder Marsh, for example. They originated from a Chaos Divine Thunder and a Dutian Divine Thunder respectively.

Both were top-tier among divine thunders, their might and quality even surpassing that of Purple Firmament Divine Thunder.

Should these two divine thunders ever give birth to independent consciousness, their origins and foundations would be no less than those of most Innate Divine Beings in the Primordial World.

But precisely because they were so powerful, the difficulty of birthing intelligence was magnified infinitely—perhaps only a one-in-a-billion chance.

Now, however, with Xuanxiao here to preach the Dao, the situation was vastly different. Their chances of developing intelligence had greatly increased.

The reason was not only that Xuanxiao was expounding the profound Thunder Great Dao, but more crucially, his unique identity—he was the Sea of Lightning, the very source of all thunderous power in the world.