My Second Brother Is Duobao

(PS: A new work by a newcomer, my first time writing in the Primordial World genre. If there is anything poorly written, I hope readers will offer plenty of critique. The author is very willing to listen to advice.)

In a cave within a fairy-mist-wreathed mountain peak.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak, Big Brother, this last stalk of Spirit-Raising Grass is for you."

A completely golden rat radiating divine light grabbed a faint, fairy-qi-ascending emerald grass blade in its paw and handed it to a large, pitch-black rat beside it that lacked any visible divine light.

"Squeak, good."

The large black rat took the Spirit-Raising Grass without eating it directly, instead producing a small bottle and stuffing the grass inside.

Its two paws cradled the bottle, the surface of which was covered in dense, abstruse runes.

The runes glowed faintly. After a moment, the runic light dimmed.

Meanwhile, the yellow rat at the side wore a calm expression without the slightest surprise, clearly not seeing this for the first time and taking it all in stride.

"Second Brother, this is for you."

The large black rat inverted the small bottle, and two liquid droplets appeared at the bottle's mouth. The large black rat handed one of the droplets to his second brother, the golden rat.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak, thank you, Big Brother."

The golden rat stood on ceremony, lowering its head slightly and extending its tongue to roll the liquid droplet into its mouth.

Immediately closing its eyes, its body stood straight, its two hind paws crossed, and its two front paws placed before its chest, adopting a human meditative posture.

Slurp~

The large black rat put away the small jade bottle, then drew the remaining droplet into its mouth. It assumed the exact same posture as the golden rat.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak, Big Brother, the spirit grasses and treasures of this fairy mountain have all been hollowed out by us; it's time to change mountains."

"We just need to finish the final critical major project."

The black rat produced the small bottle, pointing the mouth of the bottle down toward the ground.

Its two paws formed incantations. The runes on the bottle gradually lit up.

Fairy mountain, don't blame me for seizing your mountain vein energy; I'm doing this for cultivation.

The large black rat silently recited to himself.

His name was Lu Chen, and he was not a local; even his current physical form could hardly be considered local.

The Heaven-Devouring Rat was born from a wisp of the Devouring Demon God's origin. Originally suppressed by the Heavenly Dao of the Primordial World, it should not have given birth to consciousness and would have ultimately had to obediently become nourishment for the Primordial land.

However, Lu Chen's soul accidentally intruded and landed upon this wisp of origin. Lu Chen merged completely with this origin, becoming the intelligence of this wisp of devouring origin and acquiring a physical form—a large black rat.

Although he was not a local, his second brother was a true native whose true form was a Duobao Rat. The latter became quite famous in later generations under the moniker Daoist Duobao, though his other title was truly a household name.

He was the Buddha Tathagata who suppressed the Monkey King beneath the Five-Finger Mountain.

As it happened, just as he had gained spiritual sentience and prepared to manifest a physical form, a yellow rat with a still-obscure and unopened consciousness had been lying beside him, causing his form to uncontrollably become a black rat. Otherwise, he had been ready to skip straight to fashioning a human shape; after all, in the Primordial World, the human form was known as the Innate Dao Body.

Whether it was the innate deities like Tongtian and Laozi or the old ghost Hongjun, all manifested Dao bodies in human shape.

Regarding his accidental transformation into a black rat, Lu Chen could barely accept it; he would still be able to assume a human form when he underwent transformation in the future anyway.

Besides, aside from the slight deviation in his transformation, he was quite satisfied with himself overall.

Since he had transformed from the origin of the Devouring Demon God, his foundation went without saying; perhaps it could not compare to those formed from Pangu's primordial spirit like the Three Pure Ones, but it was still top-tier.

Furthermore, he possessed a companion spiritual treasure, the Heaven-Devouring Treasure Vase. The origin of this magic treasure was likewise terrifying, being the companion treasure of the Devouring Demon God, though it had been hacked into fragments by Pangu with a single axe during the battle to open the heavens.

Whether by the will of Heaven or sheer coincidence, the treasure vase fell into the Primordial World, and because the devouring grand dao contained within had not dispersed, several larger fragments ended up not far from one another.

After boundless years, it had actually reassembled itself, though it was inevitably flawed and its grade had dropped from Chaos to Innate, the devouring grand dao inside had not dissipated.

Refining spirit grasses through the Heaven-Devouring Treasure Vase preserved their medicinal potency to the maximum degree, making them easier to refine.

He had inquired about the yellow rat's origins and discovered to his surprise that it was a Duobao Rat. The Duobao Rat was transformed from Innate Treasure Aura, possessing the abilities to seek out treasures and avoid misfortune. Lu Chen figured that there couldn't possibly be so many Duobao Rats wandering about in the Primordial World.

Acting on the principle of gathering them all rather than leaving any out, after a bout of smooth-talking, he became the Duobao Rat's big brother.

With the Duobao Rat by his side, Lu Chen had not rashly gone searching for treasures.

The Dragon-Han Cataclysm had just passed.

Although the Dragon Clan had retreated to guard the four seas, the Phoenix Clan guarded the Southbright Volcano, and the Qilin Clan had gone into hiding—with all three clans defeated—the Primordial World was far from peaceful.

"Eldest Brother, Second Brother, the fairy qi at the summit of that fairy mountain ahead is dense, yet its mountain vein energy is continuously weakening, as if being devoured by something. Such a bizarre phenomenon is truly rare. Why not go inspect it?"

Three people flew over from afar: an old man, a middle-aged man, and a youth. Each Daoist emanated an abstruse and profound aura.

The one who had just spoken was the young Daoist.

"Then let us follow Third Brother's suggestion."

The three headed toward that fairy mountain.

A sudden flash of intuition stirred in Lu Chen's heart. His entire body's fur bristled, every single strand of glossy black hair standing on end, instantly transforming his appearance from a large black rat into a large black hedgehog.

He stretched out his paw to put away the Heaven-Devouring Treasure Vase and patted his second brother, Duobao.

"Second Brother, let's go!"

With that, he dropped low and scrambled toward the cave opening.

Although Duobao was baffled, out of trust for Lu Chen, he followed closely behind.

"I didn't expect there to be two little mice in the cave."

"This is..."

Just as Lu Chen and Duobao crawled out of the cave opening, they saw three people draped in precious, abstruse robes standing above in the sky.

An old man, a middle-aged man, a youth...

Their auras were abstruse and unfathomable.

This sort of lineup made it impossible for Lu Chen to ignore them, and he even vaguely guessed their origins.

After all, with such a traveling configuration, the entire Primordial World probably only had this single unique pair.

No, one could say it was limited to this period; looking later on, seeing these three framing the Primordial World together... would be impossible.

Lu Chen reined the thoughts in his eyes back into himself, straightened his body, and let a trace of respect well up in his gaze as he spoke with utmost reverence.

"Lu Chen pays respects to the three seniors!"

"Duobao pays respects to the three seniors!"

Duobao, behind Lu Chen, copied the gesture and bowed as well.

The old man remained impassive, while the middle-aged man wore a look of disdain.

Only the young Daoist among the three appeared most affable toward Lu Chen and Duobao, a faint smile on his face.

"?"

The young Daoist's gaze landed on Duobao, a trace of surprise crossing his features.

He pinched his fingers and calculated.

"You little mouse actually share the fate of master and disciple with me!"

"!"

"!"

The middle-aged man and the old man were drawn in by the young Daoist's declaration.

"A Duobao Rat, transformed from Innate Treasure Aura, with fine aptitude and cultivation at the Mysterious Immortal realm. It seems you have been quite diligent in your cultivation."

"Duobao, my name is Tongtian. You and I share the fate of master and disciple; would you be willing to become my disciple and inherit my mantle?"

Hearing the name Tongtian, Lu Chen's eyes remained completely untroubled, for he had already guessed it.

Since the youth before him was Tongtian, the old man and middle-aged man standing above were naturally Laozi and Yuanshi.

When Duobao heard that this mighty expert of boundless cultivation wished to take him as a disciple, he was instantly shocked. He hurriedly dropped to his knees, prostrating himself on the ground.

"Disciple Duobao pays respects to Master."

"Rise."