The Human Teachings' Little Mage, Li Yang

"That title of yours is a bit too long."

Grand Master Xuandu smiled and saw through Li Yang's little scheme. "But are you really so unsure that This Poor Daoist is Xuandu?"

Li Yang had introduced himself this way not to be clever, but to confirm whether this person was truly Grand Master Xuandu.

Because when he announced himself, he had already withdrawn all the arrangements that obscured the heavens' secrets. Mentioning the Human Teachings, the Grand Pure Sage, and True Man Du'e was meant to make the Grand Pure Sage, True Man Du'e, and Grand Master Xuandu sense it in their hearts.

If the person before him was a fake pretending to be Grand Master Xuandu, he would surely be unable to escape calamity and be reduced to ashes.

So Li Yang, with his little scheme exposed, was neither afraid nor even embarrassed.

"Hehe, if you are the Grand Master, then naturally you wouldn't fear me speaking like this."

"Indeed."

Grand Master Xuandu nodded affirmatively. Then, a figure suddenly rose in Li Yang's heart. In a mysterious way, the Human Teachings' Destiny aligned with him, and he knew this figure was Grand Master Xuandu.

And this figure looked exactly like the person before him.

When he looked at the person in front of him, he found that the figure in his heart nodded to him as well and said, "Good."

This wasn't the end. A vague, supreme, and sacred figure also nodded lightly to him and uttered a single word: "True."

He knew this person was the Grand Pure Sage.

Then, a beam of immortal light appeared out of thin air. Li Yang was astonished to find himself enveloped by the Taiqing Immortal Light, while scriptures surged into his heart—this was the Grand Pure Sage's inheritance.

Yet even so, things still weren't over.

A small, black-yellow pagoda emerged in his heart, with strands of black-yellow light cascading down, as if suppressing time and space, or as if it were the terminus of the Human Teachings' Destiny.

Li Yang understood that this was the Heaven and Earth Exquisite Black Yellow Pagoda. He even noticed that a figure appeared on the pagoda, bowing to him.

Then, a Taiji Diagram that suppressed time and space appeared in his heart, corresponding to an identical Taiji Diagram in the outside world that spun wildly around him, and a voice sounded together.

"Alert little mage, don't self-destruct your Cavern Heaven."

Li Yang was slightly stunned. He had indeed been preparing to self-destruct his Cavern Heaven, but who was this "alert little mage"?

Me?

"Yes, you."

Li Yang's puzzled gaze happened to be seen by Grand Master Xuandu, who smiled and confirmed it for him, leaving Li Yang greatly shocked.

What's going on?

How am I the little mage?

Wasn't the little mage the Senior Brother's title?

"I don't know why either, but since the Teacher is willing to accept you as a Personal Disciple, then naturally you are our Human Teachings' little mage."

Li Yang opened his mouth weakly, wanting to ask why, but couldn't bring himself to speak, since even Grand Master Xuandu said he didn't know.

"Then... I... Mas..."

Li Yang stammered, clearly unsure how to address him.

"You can call me Senior Brother. You don't need to call the Teacher 'Master'; just address him as Teacher."

Grand Master Xuandu was kind-hearted and very patient with Li Yang, so Li Yang didn't stand on ceremony.

"Li Yang greets Senior Brother."

Grand Master Xuandu also returned the courtesy solemnly. "Xuandu greets Junior Brother."

At this moment, Li Yang's heart finally settled. The measure to self-destruct his Cavern Heaven was lifted, and the many measures to obscure the heavens' secrets were reinstated. Then he looked at the frozen formation.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound, and the formation resumed operation. Li Yang quickly cast hand seals to restore the formation to its proper state.

Then he apologized to Grand Master Xuandu. "Please don't blame me, Senior Brother. It's just that Junior Brother was a bit flustered and offended you."

"No harm done." Grand Master Xuandu waved his hand, seeming quite interested in these formations.

"The Demon Race's Grand Formation of Celestial Stars and the Witch Race's Twelve Heavenly Gods and Demons Great Formation—though both are simplified to the extreme, they are still full of ingenuity.

Looking at your setup, it seems you intend to open up a Small World, but relying solely on these formations won't work."

Li Yang scratched his head. Although Grand Master Xuandu's evaluation seemed dismissive, you had to consider who was making it.

Li Yang understood clearly: if even Grand Master Xuandu could praise the formations a little, then they truly had merit.

It was just that he couldn't access the Grand Formation of Celestial Stars, nor the Twelve Heavenly Gods and Demons Great Formation. What he had was derived from fragments of words and the star formations and Witch Race's Sha Qi formations he had found.

"A crude work, unfit for refined company. I'm embarrassed before Senior Brother."

"No, your formations are quite good."

Grand Master Xuandu actually said this, which surprised Li Yang. Then Grand Master Xuandu took out something that made Li Yang's eyes burn with desire.

"Your formations are mainly limited by your knowledge and resources. Coincidentally, I have the Demon Race's Grand Formation of Celestial Stars and the Witch Race's Twelve Heavenly Gods and Demons Great Formation here. I'll give these to you."

With that, Grand Master Xuandu handed over the Jade Slips recording this knowledge and the formation diagrams, then warned, "But these things have great restrictions. You can use them for reference, but actually setting them up is utterly impossible."

Li Yang took the items, happily playing with them, unwilling to let them go for a moment, though he also knew the situation with these formations.

"I understand, Senior Brother. I wasn't planning to set any of this up—just using it for reference. Even a small insight from it would be endlessly beneficial to me."

"Mm, good that you know."

Grand Master Xuandu was very satisfied. This Junior Brother had a clear head and knew what he was doing. Excellent.

Then he took out two more things. They were two 'breaths' of Qi, like yin and yang in constant interplay.

"This is Solar True Fire and Lunar True Water. They can help your Cavern Heaven form a sun and moon."

Li Yang's eyes went wide. He stared at the two items, drooling, but didn't dare take them.

"Take them. They're useless to me."

Without waiting for Li Yang to refuse, Grand Master Xuandu shoved them into his arms.

"Also, I have some things here I don't need. I'll leave them all to you. They'll be just right for setting up your Cavern Heaven. And that Pill Cauldron of yours, which serves as both the core of your great formation and the core of your Cavern Heaven—refine it properly too. At the very least, it should become a High-grade Acquired Spiritual Treasure."

By this point, Li Yang was completely frozen. Grand Master Xuandu had given him far too many things, and they were all far too good. It felt like a dream.

If not for the fact that none of the arrangements had reminded him of a heart demon invasion, he would have suspected he'd fallen into qi deviation.

And so, in a daze, Li Yang received cultivation resources he wouldn't have dared to dream of in this lifetime—including even two Nine-Turn Golden Pills.

"This... is also for me?"

This was a Nine-Turn Golden Pill!

Two of them.

All for him?

"Yes. The Teacher gave them to you. One helps heal your injuries; the other is for when you break through to Golden Immortal. Of course, I can see you're about to comprehend the Great Dao now. If you can recover from your injuries without using the pill, then don't use it. So many Great Daos are a rare opportunity—it would be a shame to give them up. As for the second Nine-Turn Golden Pill, it's in case you fail. Your situation is special. If something goes wrong during the Golden Immortal Tribulation, this pill can not only save your life but also help you break through to Golden Immortal."

After that, Li Yang barely heard anything else.

He had been completely overwhelmed by this sudden, enormous fortune. He didn't even notice when Grand Master Xuandu left.

The only thing he remembered was the last sentence: "Once you prove the Dao as a Golden Immortal, you may come to Dachi Heaven Tusita Palace to pay respects to the Teacher."

With that, the Taiji Diagram, left behind, looked at Li Yang—who was hugging a pile of treasures, grinning foolishly and drooling—and let out a helpless sigh.

"Is this... really the Little Mage?

And are these things really that valuable? Enough to make him forget all his pain???"