Adopting Gou Chen as a Disciple

At this moment, Xuanxiao naturally had no idea that Shi Qilin had silently taken an interest in him.

By now, he had already returned to Thunder Marsh.

Within Thunder Marsh, Gou Chen looked up at Xuanxiao with an expression of deep respect, his eyes filled with reverence.

"Senior, my Dao title is Gou Chen. I am an Innate Divine Being born in Thunder Marsh. Welcome back to Thunder Marsh, Senior!" Gou Chen's voice was filled with respect.

Xuanxiao studied Gou Chen with interest, a faint smile on his face. "Little fellow, you aren't curious about my origins, yet you're certain that I also came from Thunder Marsh? Aren't you afraid that I actually came to seize Thunder Marsh?"

Hearing Xuanxiao's words, Gou Chen gently shook his head and said seriously:

"Senior, please don't tease me. Based on the Thunder Great Dao Senior revealed earlier, if you truly wanted to occupy Thunder Marsh, even if I resisted with all my strength, it would still be futile.

"Besides, the moment Senior returned to Thunder Marsh, the thunder throughout the entire region seemed to be filled with joy. Clearly, Senior has a deep connection with Thunder Marsh.

"Furthermore, before I was born, I already knew that an Innate Divine Being had been born in Thunder Marsh before me. He is the true master of Thunder Marsh."

"Hahahaha, you guessed correctly. I am Xuanxiao, the master of Thunder Marsh." Xuanxiao threw his head back and laughed, his voice hearty and carrying an unquestionable authority.

"Senior, you're actually the Dao Venerable!"

"But that makes sense. In the Primordial Wilderness, there should be no one other than the Dao Venerable, whom even the Heavenly Dao treated cautiously, qualified to become the master of my Thunder Marsh."

The Heavenly Dao had long informed the lifeforms of the Primordial Wilderness of the Dao Venerable's existence. Everyone knew that there was another Dao Venerable in the Primordial Wilderness; they simply had not expected Xuanxiao to be that mysterious Dao Venerable.

Xuanxiao looked at Gou Chen, a trace of warmth in his eyes. "I won't often remain in Thunder Marsh. From now on, I'll need you to help me look after this place. How about this? If you encounter anything you don't understand during your cultivation, you can come and ask me."

Hearing this, Gou Chen's face instantly lit up with excitement. Although he knew little about Xuanxiao in other respects, the Thunder Great Dao Xuanxiao had displayed was far more profound than his own.

Gou Chen firmly believed that Xuanxiao's guidance would be an immense opportunity for him.

"Thank you, Dao Venerable! No, thank you, Master!" Gou Chen hurriedly bowed deeply to Xuanxiao, his every movement filled with sincerity.

When Xuanxiao heard Gou Chen suddenly change how he addressed him and call him Master, he was slightly stunned. Then he could not help laughing. "You little rascal. You're quite good at climbing once someone gives you a pole."

Gou Chen's face instantly paled with panic. He hurriedly said, "If Dao Venerable isn't willing to be my Master, that's fine too."

Seeing this, Xuanxiao gently shook his head. "Forget it. You've already called me that. Accepting you as my disciple isn't difficult."

Xuanxiao smiled and shook his head again.

Gou Chen possessed outstanding talent, came from an extraordinary origin, and cultivated the Thunder Great Dao as well. He was quite compatible with Xuanxiao.

Moreover, Gou Chen had been born in Thunder Marsh, so he and Xuanxiao could be considered fated.

Most importantly, Xuanxiao was willing to accept this disciple.

"Since you've already acknowledged me as your Master, I naturally can't be too stingy. I'll give you this Nine Heavens Cauldron." As Xuanxiao spoke, he waved his hand, and a huge cauldron with a simple, ancient design and extraordinary presence instantly appeared in his grasp.

The Nine Heavens Cauldron was a treasure Xuanxiao had obtained by chance while traveling through the Primordial Wilderness over the years.

Xuanxiao had a special identity. He was Pangu's younger brother, and this special identity caused the entire Primordial World to be filled with goodwill toward him.

Because of this, Xuanxiao's years of traveling through the Primordial Wilderness had been practically like being favored by the heavens.

Whenever he arrived somewhere, the Spirit Treasures in that region seemed able to sense his presence and would send out calls to him one after another.

However, although there were many Spirit Treasures in the Primordial Wilderness, most were of little use to Xuanxiao. Even if he took them, they would merely be thrown into the Primordial Realm to gather dust.

Thus, Xuanxiao only collected treasures that truly interested him. As for those he did not care about, he simply left them to await their destined owners.

As for this Nine Heavens Cauldron, Xuanxiao had kept it because, after careful selection, he felt it was quite good.

"Supreme Grade Innate Spirit Treasure!" Gou Chen stared at the Spirit Treasure Xuanxiao offered him, his eyes filled with astonishment.

Although his Companion Spirit Treasure, the Myriad Thunder Diagram, was also a Supreme Grade Innate Spirit Treasure, that did not mean Supreme Grade Innate Spirit Treasures could be found everywhere.

In the current Primordial World, only a tiny number of top-tier Innate Divine Beings possessed Supreme Grade Innate Spirit Treasures. Most Innate Divine Beings would already be completely satisfied and grateful if they could possess a High Grade Innate Spirit Treasure.

Most Innate Divine Beings' Companion Spirit Treasures were only middle-grade or low-grade Innate Spirit Treasures. Some Innate Divine Beings did not even have Companion Spirit Treasures.

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

Without another word, Xuanxiao shoved the Nine Heavens Cauldron into Gou Chen's arms and said indifferently, "How could I take back something I've given you? Besides, this Nine Heavens Cauldron is of little use to me. If you refuse to accept it, does that mean you don't intend to acknowledge me as your Master?"

Hearing this, Gou Chen hesitated for a moment before finally accepting the Nine Heavens Cauldron.

"Since I've become your Master, I'll naturally impart everything I know and teach you the Dao. I'll preach to you for thirty thousand years, so you must listen attentively." Xuanxiao looked at Gou Chen with a smile.

Gou Chen's face immediately brightened. He hurriedly said, "Thank you, Master!"

Xuanxiao looked at Gou Chen, nodded in satisfaction, and then slowly began to preach:

"Thunder governs the disasters and blessings of Heaven, and holds authority over the balance of all things. It controls things and people, presides over life and death, examines and regulates opening and closing, and manages the generation of all things. From the Heavenly Emperor above to the earthly sovereign below, none can carry out their commands without thunder. Whether great matters such as life and death or minor matters such as flourishing and withering, none can govern them without thunder."

"Thunder transforms without distance or distinction. When the spirit moves, the intent follows; when the qi arrives, the numinous awakens. Within the obscure and hazy depths of the inner mystery, create the transformation of thunderous explosion and agitation. One gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things. Its wondrous applications reach the blue heavens above and the Yellow Springs below. There is nowhere it cannot go."

As Xuanxiao's magnetic voice, imbued with endless profundities of the Great Dao, slowly rang out, Gou Chen soon became immersed in it and entered cultivation.

Above his head, the Thunder Great Dao flickered in and out of sight, while countless strands of thunder continuously gathered and intertwined in the void.

Xuanxiao cast a satisfied glance at Gou Chen and thought to himself, Although this fellow's talent and roots cannot compare to those old monsters such as Hongjun, the gap between him and the Three Pure Ones is not particularly great. In this vast Primordial Wilderness, he can already be considered a top-tier Innate Divine Being.

Then Xuanxiao turned his gaze toward the vast Thunder Marsh and murmured, "For you, this is also a rare opportunity. If you can seize it firmly, perhaps you'll have a chance to give birth to intelligence."

Xuanxiao keenly sensed two extremely faint fluctuations of consciousness hidden in the very center of Thunder Marsh.

Such vague, intermittent consciousnesses were extremely common in the Primordial World.

However, for complete intelligence to emerge from such a weak state of consciousness, without the aid of external power, the probability was practically one in ten thousand—so slim as to be negligible.

Moreover, the more powerful the existence from which such a faint consciousness was born, the more difficult it was for intelligence to emerge.

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

Both kinds of divine thunder were top-tier existences among divine thunder. Their power and quality were even superior to those of Purple Firmament Divine Thunder.

Once these two kinds of divine thunder gave birth to independent consciousnesses, their origins and foundations would absolutely not be inferior to those of most Innate Divine Beings in the Primordial Wilderness.

However, precisely because they were too powerful, the difficulty of giving birth to intelligence had also been raised infinitely. Perhaps there was only an infinitesimal chance of one in a hundred million.

But now that Xuanxiao was preaching here, the situation was entirely different. The possibility of them giving birth to intelligence had increased greatly.

The reason was not merely that Xuanxiao was preaching the profound and vast Thunder Great Dao. More importantly, Xuanxiao possessed a special identity—he was the Sea of Lightning, the source of all thunderous power in the world.