Bowing to Tongtian as Master

"Master, this disciple has a request."

"Oh? Let me hear it."

Tongtian was very lenient toward his first disciple.

"Master, could you also take my elder brother into your sect? My brother's potential far surpasses mine."

Hearing Duobao plead with Tongtian to take him as a disciple,

Lu Chen felt warmth bloom in his heart. This little brother Duobao was truly good—even with something as wonderful as taking a master, he had not forgotten to give his big brother a helping hand.

His little brother had won him an opportunity, so this big brother could not drag him down.

Lu Chen secretly released a trace of the aura concealed by the Heaven-Devouring Treasure Vase. Not much,

only his innate origins and cultivation.

He kept the Heaven-Devouring Treasure Vase tightly hidden. Combined with the vase's inherent ability to suppress its aura and conceal the Heavenly Secrets,

Lu Chen was not afraid of Tongtian making deductions.

After all, the Primordial World was a place where background mattered and strength spoke.

Right now, Lu Chen had neither strength nor backing. Wherever he went, he would be nothing but a pathetic nobody. Without Duobao Rat, if he blindly went treasure-hunting alone and encountered a powerful cultivator, even if he died, someone would carry off his corpse.

Though Tongtian would suffer rather miserably during the Investiture of the Gods, for now and for a long time to come, everything would go smoothly for him.

Later, when Hongjun lectured at Zixiao Palace, Tongtian would be accepted as his disciple, backed by the greatest patron in the Primordial World. Afterward, he would become a saint and command the Executioner Immortal Sword Formation. So long as Hongjun did not appear, he would be the most dazzling man in the open Primordial World—the thickest thigh to cling to.

Now, Hongjun had yet to become a saint. Between this time and the Investiture of the Gods still lay the Witch-Demon Calamity, which had not even begun, as well as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Who knew how many epochs separated them?

"You are actually formed from the origin of the Devouring Demon God!

"In terms of innate origins, you are only slightly inferior to us!!"

After examining Duobao, then looking at Lu Chen's innate origins, Tongtian was instantly stunned.

If Lu Chen's aura had not been so weak, with only Golden Immortal cultivation, Tongtian would have thought Lu Chen was, like them, an innate sacred being—a fellow Daoist from the same era.

Even though Lu Chen's cultivation was low, with such innate origins, he had merely started later than they had. In the future, he would certainly not be weaker than Tongtian.

Upon hearing Tongtian's words, Laozi and Yuanshi, standing nearby, turned their gazes toward Lu Chen, their eyes filled with astonishment.

"Are you willing to take me as your master?"

Tongtian wore a faint smile as he looked kindly at Lu Chen.

"Disciple..."

"Are you willing to take me as your master?" x2

Lu Chen had just clasped his hands in salute when two more voices rang out.

"Eldest Brother, Second Brother, you...?"

Hearing the voices, Tongtian turned to look at Laozi and Yuanshi, surprise appearing on his face.

His eldest brother believed in governing through nonaction and following the Heavenly Dao. It was understandable for him to speak now, having taken a fancy to Lu Chen's aptitude.

But was his second brother not usually the one who looked down most upon furred and horned creatures, those born wet or hatched from eggs?

Even fellow Daoists of the same cultivation had never received so much as a pleasant expression from him.

Yet he had actually opened his mouth to accept Lu Chen as a disciple.

Yuanshi's old face reddened under Tongtian's gaze. He coughed twice to cover his embarrassment, then shifted his gaze to Lu Chen.

"My name is Yuanshi, Tongtian's second brother. My cultivation is also slightly superior to his. Are you willing to enter my sect?"

"My name is Laozi, Tongtian's eldest brother. If you are willing, you may enter my sect."

Seeing Laozi and Yuanshi personally step in and extend olive branches to him, Lu Chen began to deliberate.

Should he choose Laozi, Yuanshi, or Tongtian? Which choice would maximize his benefits?

Laozi was the strongest and hid himself the deepest. He was the Primordial World's greatest old fox, second only to Hongjun. He seemed inactive, yet he had his own schemes; they were simply not apparent.

He had few disciples, only Xuandu, and he had indeed taught him everything without reserve. However, Lu Chen did not have a good impression of Laozi. He seemed detached, but was actually heartless.

Though Laozi possessed peerless pill-refining arts, entering his sect would surely let Lu Chen achieve pill freedom. Yet Lu Chen possessed the Heaven-Devouring Treasure Vase, which could seize the spiritual essences of heaven and earth and condense them into liquid. So long as he had enough heavenly treasures, his cultivation could likewise soar by leaps and bounds. Nor would he need to worry about an unstable foundation, unlike consuming pills, which might leave his foundation floating and weak.

Thus, aside from having a thicker thigh to cling to, Laozi would not be of much help to him.

Yuanshi, on the other hand, appeared proud and concerned with face, but in truth he was the most shameless of all. He was fiercely protective of his disciples and genuinely good to them—but only to those disciples he favored most.

Take Guangchengzi, for instance. Yuanshi treated him like a true son. As for Huanglong, he was like a blade of grass casually picked up from the roadside, one of the Primordial World's famous Three-Nothing Daoists.

Huanglong had suffered so badly only because his true form was a yellow dragon, one of those furred and horned creatures, born wet or hatched from eggs, whom Yuanshi disliked.

Lu Chen understood that Yuanshi had spoken because he valued Lu Chen's innate origins, because those origins could bring Yuanshi face and make him shine with glory.

Yuanshi protected his own, but the one he protected might not necessarily be Lu Chen. Of course, if Lu Chen deliberately sought to please him, he might yet become Yuanshi's most favored disciple.

However, prejudice was a mountain that could not be crossed.

He did not know whether Yuanshi could overcome his prejudice and favor him.

Finally, there was Tongtian. Though he had the enormous pitfall of the Investiture of the Gods ahead of him, there was no great flaw in his temperament. He was simply too sentimental and lacked a touch of decisiveness. One could even say he was somewhat foolish. During the Investiture Catastrophe, he still clung to brotherly affection for Yuanshi and Laozi, unwilling to harm that so-called bond.

Otherwise, at the height of the Jie Sect, when Myriad Immortals Paid Homage and its strength eclipsed all the other great sects combined,

if Tongtian had taken the Executioner Immortal Sword Formation to Kunlun Mountain under the pretense of discussing the Dao, summoned all four saints there to debate the Dao, and delayed them for a while, the remaining members of the Jie Sect could have split into three groups and sent the Chan Sect's Twelve Golden Immortals and the Western Sect's Buddhas onto the Investiture List. That would have been enough to fill every available position.

Even if heaven and earth had still been shattered in the final battle and earth, fire, wind, and water had to be reforged, the Jie Sect's lineage could have been preserved. Even if the price was being suppressed in Zixiao Palace, his final outcome would have been no worse than that—the end of his orthodoxy.

Or, had he been more decisive and written all those disciples of poor character onto the Investiture List, that alone would have filled its positions, and the Investiture of the Gods would never have begun.

Still, Tongtian was not without merits. He was exceptionally skilled at teaching disciples. There was no need to mention his eldest disciple Duobao; the Three Xiao Sisters, Zhao Gongming, the Three Spirit Holy Mothers, and the Seven Attendant Immortals aside from Dingguang Xian were all far from weak.

He possessed countless Lingbao as well. At Treasure Distribution Rock, he had taken more than half the treasures for himself, and he treated his disciples well.

All of this passed through Lu Chen's mind in but an instant.

Lu Chen took in the expressions in the three men's eyes: Laozi's calmness, Yuanshi's certainty, and Tongtian's anticipation.

He also came to a decision.

"Thank you, two seniors, for thinking so highly of me. However, my second brother and I have been together ever since our birth. I truly do not wish to be separated from him."

The moment Lu Chen spoke, the expressions in all three men's eyes changed.

A trace of regret flashed through Laozi's eyes. Yuanshi felt a flicker of anger, but restrained it for the sake of face; his gaze instantly turned cold. Tongtian, meanwhile, was overjoyed.

The meaning of those words was already exceedingly clear.

"This disciple, Lu Chen, pays respects to Master."

Lu Chen clasped his hands and bowed to Tongtian.

"Ha ha ha, good."

Tongtian laughed heartily and freely.

"Though you entered after Duobao, you are Duobao's elder brother. From this day onward, you shall be the eldest disciple of my sect."