"Fine! You rebellious disciple, you've learned to talk back now!"
"Everything I did was to temper you, yet you've learned to turn around and blame your Master!"
"Look at Guang Chengzi. He had been apprenticed for barely ten thousand years, yet he could already refine Acquired Spirit Treasures."
"Now look at you. You can't even refine an Acquired Forbidden Formation with a mere forty-nine restrictions. Why did I take such a lazy good-for-nothing as my disciple?!"
Duobao immediately widened his eyes at those words. Stretching his neck, he grumbled stubbornly,
"Master, how could that be the same? He was born from Primordial Purple Qi and blessed with immense fortune. He only needs to take a walk outside to pick up whatever Heavenly Treasures he wants."
"I don't have such profound fortune. If I want materials, I have to dig for them through painstaking labor."
"Hmph. I won't listen to those excuses. You're clearly just lazy and inattentive, yet you always complain that your elders won't give you this or that."
"Why don't you ask your Master to mash up your food and feed it directly into your mouth too?!"
"Ugh, Master, that's disgusting." Duobao spoke with a look of utter revulsion. Then, all at once, he realized something. How did Master know such details?
In an instant, he understood everything. His eyes flew wide as he shouted,
"Master, you have no respect for your age! You actually eavesdropped on your disciple!"
Venerable Lingbao's breath caught. His old face reddened as he grabbed his whip and said,
"You still dare to talk back, rebellious disciple? Take this!"
Elsewhere.
"Good disciple, how has your Master treated you?"
"Master saved me from peril and suffering, brought me back to the mountain, and taught me the Dao and imparted knowledge. You are like both Master and father to me."
"For such grace, this disciple has no way to repay you."
"Mm. Since that is so, do you think there is anything improper about your Master's method of preaching the Dao?"
"Uh... this..." Guang Chengzi immediately realized that his conversation with Duobao had been overheard by his Master. He hurriedly knelt and said,
"Master, this disciple should not have discussed an elder behind his back. I beg Master to punish me."
"Forget it. It is only a trivial matter, so there is no need for punishment. Still, you may as well be bolder in your actions from now on."
Venerable Yuanshi waved his hand with an air of calm indifference, clearly not caring about the matter at all.
Yet Guang Chengzi was somewhat stunned.
"B... bolder?"
"Master, forgive this disciple's dullness. Please enlighten me."
Venerable Yuanshi shook his head helplessly and said,
"You, you are simply too cautious and rigid. Before Senior Brother Taiqing accepts a disciple, you are the eldest among the disciples. It would not hurt to be a little more unrestrained and arrogant when appropriate."
Hearing Venerable Yuanshi's words, Guang Chengzi's thoughts became somewhat chaotic. He could only agree for now.
"This... this disciple understands. I will certainly contemplate it carefully in the future."
Venerable Yuanshi nodded. As they parted, he reminded him,
"Mm. You can learn a thing or two from your Martial Uncle's disciple in this regard."
"Uh, this disciple understands."
A quiet thousand years passed as heaven and earth turned.
Ever since Bai Ze had been reborn as an Innate Divine, his sense of time had grown increasingly vague.
A thousand years to him were no more than a glance back, as though they had only been yesterday.
"No wonder records from later generations described those mythical figures as devoid of emotion and desire, indifferent to all beings."
"The unintentional erosion of passing years alone is enough to bring Erasure to every feeling and desire."
Bai Ze sighed softly and slowly rose, looking at the three-hundred-zhang Prohibitive Array he had already mastered.
With a sudden point of his finger!
In the next moment, countless dazzling patterns lit up within a three-hundred-zhang radius.
Then he stepped forward, every step landing precisely upon a core node of the Prohibitive Array.
As he stepped across thirty-six core nodes, the Dao Essence upon each of them immediately lit up.
Gradually, a vortex-like gateway woven from brilliant patterns formed in the void.
He stood before the gateway, gazing at the empty space beyond it with furrowed brows, hesitant and uncertain.
Although he had mastered the three-hundred-zhang Prohibitive Array, he had no certainty where the gateway led.
And even if it led to Three Pure Ones' Courtyard, he was reluctant to give up comprehending the remaining Array Formation.
He feared that once he entered, he might no longer be able to continue his comprehension. He was also uneasy about soon meeting the Three Pure Ones.
More than that, he worried about where the gateway might lead.
He lingered before it for a moment, then lightly tapped the ground with his foot. The array patterns in the void swiftly dimmed and vanished.
He then resumed comprehending the remaining nodes of the Prohibitive Array.
During these thousand years, aside from studying the treasure's Prohibitive Array, he had cultivated.
A thousand years of cultivation had given him the feeling that he could break through minor completion and enter major completion at any time.
However, he did not want to break through so quickly. Instead, he wanted to be steadier and slower.
He wanted to polish this stage until it was utterly complete, preferably without leaving behind even the slightest hidden danger.
After all, even if he broke through now, his situation would not undergo any qualitative leap. It would be better to slow down and solidify his foundation!
Meanwhile, within Three Pure Ones' Courtyard.
Duobao's handsome face had been beaten into a pig's head, bruised and swollen, with dark purple rings around his eyes.
Covering his left cheek with one hand, he stared at Bai Ze before the gateway, clenched his fist, and growled indistinctly,
"Go in!"
"Little brother, just go in already!"
Watching the anxious Duobao Daoist beside him, Guang Chengzi smiled calmly.
"Junior Brother, it seems Senior Brother has won this round."
Once Bai Ze completely closed the gateway, Duobao's flushed face sagged like a deflated balloon as he tilted his head back in despair.
He did his best not to let the tears at the corners of his eyes fall.
"Huff—"
"J-just two Acquired Spirit Treasures. I'm not upset about it!"
Duobao clenched his teeth, turned his head away, and spoke with a faint sob in his voice.
Guang Chengzi could not help laughing at the sight. He knew Duobao was greedy for treasure, but he had not expected him to be greedy to this extent.
"Junior Brother, do not cry. They are merely two Acquired Spirit Treasures; I shall give them to you."
"As for this wager, let us call it off."
Guang Chengzi tugged twice at the Spirit Treasures clutched tightly in Duobao's hand, but could not pull them free. Shaking his head with a smile, he spoke.
Yet Duobao was displeased upon hearing this. He abruptly turned around and stuffed them into Guang Chengzi's arms, saying stubbornly,
"Who's crying? Master beat me up. I'm absolutely not crying because I lost!"
Seeing Duobao stubbornly refuse to admit it, Guang Chengzi found it amusing.
"Then shall we continue with a third round?"
"Continue! Why wouldn't we?" Duobao answered decisively. His eyes shifted toward the two Acquired Spirit Treasures in Guang Chengzi's hands, and his eyes rolled as he chuckled.
"But, Senior Brother, let's add one more condition to the third round!"
"Oh? What shall we add?"
"Besides betting on how long it will take Bai Ze to completely master the Mountain-Guarding Forbidden Formation, let us also bet on whether Bai Ze can break through to True Form Completion this time!"
Duobao spoke smugly.
Guang Chengzi glanced at Bai Ze within the Array Formation, whose aura was gradually showing signs of a breakthrough, then looked at Duobao, who had forgotten the pain as soon as he had eaten.
The corners of his lips rose slightly. "Fine. I bet he will break through before entering the sect!"
Duobao's eyes immediately widened. Trembling, he pointed at Guang Chengzi and shouted,
"Senior Brother, you... you're cheating!"
"Anyone with eyes can tell from Bai Ze's current state!"
Before you continue