This Place Isn't Big Enough for All These People

The lazy Grand Master Xuandu instantly perked up when he heard the Taiji Diagram speak.

He didn't need to hear what the Taiji Diagram had to say. A thought was all it took for him to pinpoint the location. He grabbed the Taiji Diagram, and a Golden Bridge rose beneath them.

"Let's go!"

A streak of golden light flashed by. The Golden Bridge didn't pass through the Primordial Wilderness at all, but tore through the Inner Chaos, detoured through the void, and arrived at an unknown place.

"Well, well. My future Junior Brother certainly has big ambitions."

Looking at the Cavern Heaven suspended in the void, surrounded by Celestial Stars, with a massive planet gestating at its center, Grand Master Xuandu could see its inner workings clearly.

"A Pill Cauldron that's almost a Low-grade Acquired Spiritual Treasure, tens of thousands of so-called 'Golden Pill' Avatars that could each pass for a Top-grade Magic Treasure serving as stars, and hundreds of millions of nascent stars. Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Grand Master Xuandu clicked his tongue in amazement. These ambitions were enormous. He had only just become an immortal, and already he wanted to create a world.

"And these Heaven-Deceiving, Heaven-Concealing, and Heaven-Obscuring Techniques. Just how afraid is he of being noticed by **?"

For some reason, Grand Master Xuandu found Li Yang's painstaking caution extremely appealing. He even suspected that this was precisely why Teacher had taken his Junior Brother as a disciple.

"What a pity. For his Master's sake, he didn't hesitate to expose himself, damage his foundations, and even nearly lose his life."

The instant Grand Master Xuandu saw Li Yang, he understood what had happened to him. He spoke of pity, but his tone was filled with approval.

In this world, some things had to be done, and some things must never be done.

Take the Demon Race's slaughter of the human race, for instance. When it happened, Grand Master Xuandu had defied the Heavenly Dao Trend and attacked Eastern Emperor Taiyi without hesitation. He'd even fought Zhunti. Why?

For those three words: some things had to be done.

So Grand Master Xuandu had approved of his Junior Brother at first sight.

There was no other reason.

They were alike.

But Li Yang was in the midst of comprehending the Dao, so Grand Master Xuandu didn't enter the Cavern Heaven. Instead, he watched Li Yang closely.

"Such remarkable comprehension."

With Grand Master Xuandu's cultivation, he could sense Li Yang's aura through the Cavern Heaven. It was the aura of someone comprehending many Great Daos, with some of them already on the verge of condensing.

Quite a few of those auras were connected to Heaven's Punishment and Purple Firmament Divine Thunder. Li Yang could even use them to comprehend the opposing Great Daos. It was truly extraordinary.

The Taiji Diagram could see this too, and was just as amazed.

"Little Mage's comprehension is already terrifying by human standards. No wonder he managed to extrapolate the Three-Revolutions Golden Core from a fragment of the One-Revolution Golden Pill Method—and even refine it successfully."

"But he nearly trained himself into a Three-Revolutions Golden Core, too."

Grand Master Xuandu's tone turned playful. Was this really a cultivation method that any sane person would come up with?

In that respect, his Junior Brother was quite the prodigy.

"Luckily, his Nine Revolutions Immortal Physique Method only took inspiration from the Nine-Turn Golden Pill Method. He didn't actually train himself into a Golden Pill. Otherwise..."

Grand Master Xuandu couldn't help shaking his head at the thought of the consequences.

The Taiji Diagram gave a sly little chuckle. For some reason, it seemed rather lecherous.

"This cultivation method is excellent. It lets Little Mage enjoy a Celestial Immortal's lifespan while still at the Origin Immortal Stage, and gives him the combat strength of a Celestial Immortal. Even his Immortal Body is as strong as a Low-grade Acquired Spiritual Treasure. He actually withstood Heaven's Punishment! He may be called an Origin Immortal, but he's practically no different from a Celestial Immortal. In today's Primordial Wilderness, you'd call that half a step into Golden Immortal... Mmm."

After hearing the Taiji Diagram's appreciative murmur, Grand Master Xuandu knew it was drooling with envy. He flicked it with a finger and chided it with a laugh. "This method has great benefits, but its drawbacks are just as significant. If it fell into the wrong hands, who knows what kind of trouble it would cause?

"After all, a method that lets people refine themselves into Immortal Pills or Spiritual Treasures is simply...

"Just like you. All you do is drool."

The Taiji Diagram chuckled and circled Grand Master Xuandu, completely unbothered by his teasing. The Grand Master was different, after all. He was genuinely formidable!

Back in the day, he'd pummeled Eastern Emperor Taiyi and kicked Saint Zhunti around. Sure, he'd had the Mysterious Yellow Pagoda and Taiji Diagram to help him, but that just proved how powerful he was!

An ordinary Quasi-Saint couldn't beat Eastern Emperor Taiyi or Saint Zhunti, even with those two treasures.

"Grand Master, when are you going to give Little Mage the Golden Pill? If you wait another twenty years or so, he'll really be gone."

The Taiji Diagram was curious, too. With wounds that severe, Little Mage must have been in agony. His Immortal Infant and soul were in danger, yet he could still comprehend the Dao.

It couldn't tell whether he had incredible willpower or simply no sense of self-preservation.

"What do you know?"

Grand Master Xuandu had a much clearer view of things than the Taiji Diagram. "My Junior Brother's comprehension of the Dao is connected to his injuries. He may be able to heal himself without even needing the Nine-Turn Golden Pill."

The Taiji Diagram didn't argue. If the Grand Master said so, there was probably nothing seriously wrong.

"Then, Grand Master, when will you give him the Nine-Turn Golden Pill?"

"I'll wait until he wakes up!"

Fifteen days passed in a flash, and Li Yang slowly awoke from his state of Dao comprehension.

His gains over those fifteen days had been enormous.

His comprehension had been steadily growing stronger and stronger every moment.

After all, the effects of Late Bloomer and his Dao Injury were constant.

He could feel that he was close to comprehending these Great Daos.

Perhaps a year from now, when he used his entries again, he'd be able to comprehend one of them.

But first, there was something he needed to do. During his recent Dao comprehension, he'd specifically revised the existing Grand Formation of Celestial Stars and designed an entirely new structure for the Cavern Heaven.

He was about to—

"Holy crap!"

Li Yang saw someone appear right in front of him and let out a startled cry. He leaped to the edge of the Cavern Heaven, and the Grand Formation of Celestial Stars roared to life. The Earth Fiend Formation rose from the planet, brimming with boundless killing intent.

Stars materialized one after another, then came crashing down.

Earth Fiend energy coalesced into soldiers. Banners fluttered, and an entire army stood ready.

Every trace of killing intent was aimed at the person who had suddenly appeared in his Cavern Heaven.

Snap!

At the crisp snap of a finger, the Cavern Heaven instantly froze as Li Yang stared in shock.

Space had solidified?

Time had stopped?

Li Yang had no idea.

This was completely beyond his imagination.

Without hesitation,

Li Yang dropped to his knees in a dramatic slide and clasped his hands together.

"Have mercy, senior!"

Grand Master Xuandu: ...

Was this the Junior Brother Teacher intended to take in?

Taiji Diagram: ...

Was this the Little Mage its Master intended to take in?

The Taiji Diagram wobbled in front of Grand Master Xuandu, as if to say, "Did we get the wrong person?"

Grand Master Xuandu shook his head and pointed gently at Li Yang, who was trying something underhanded below.

"If he's preparing to blow up his Cavern Heaven and take us down with him, how could we have the wrong person?"

Then Grand Master Xuandu pretended not to notice Li Yang's little scheme, bent down to help him up, and introduced himself.

"I am Daoist Xuandu, a disciple of the Grand Supreme Celestial Venerable..."

Before he could finish, Li Yang immediately gave a deep, ninety-degree bow.

"I am Li Yang of Lesser Qiong Peak, an offshoot of the Immortal Crossing Sect, founded by Patriarch True Man Du'e, an Unregistered Disciple under the Grand Pure Sage. I pay my respects to the Patriarch!"

Grand Master Xuandu: (￣△￣;