Bowing to Tongtian as Master

"Master, this disciple has a request."

"Oh? Let's hear it."

Tongtian was very tolerant toward his first disciple.

"Master, could you take my elder brother into your sect as well? His aptitude far surpasses mine."

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

Lu Chen felt warmth stir in his heart. Duobao, his little brother, really was a good one. He had not forgotten to give his big brother a helping hand even in something as fortunate as taking a master.

His little brother had fought for this opportunity; as the elder brother, he 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 foundation and cultivation.

He kept the Heaven-Devouring Treasure Vase wrapped up tight. On top of that, the vase itself possessed the ability to conceal auras and obscure 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 background. Wherever he went, he would be nothing but a nobody. Without the Duobao Rat, if he blindly went treasure-hunting on his own and encountered a powerful cultivator, even his corpse would be hauled away after he died.

Tongtian might have suffered miserably during the Investiture Catastrophe later on, but for now and far into the future, his path would be smooth sailing.

At the later Zixiao Palace lectures, Hongjun would accept him as a disciple. With the greatest backer in the Primordial World at his back, he would later become a Saint and command the Executioner Immortal Sword Formation. So long as Hongjun did not appear, he would be the brightest boy in the Primordial World, the thickest thigh to cling to.

Hongjun had yet to become a Saint, and between now and the Investiture Catastrophe still lay the Witch-Demon Calamity, which had not even begun, as well as the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Who knew how many yuanhui of time separated them?

"You were actually transformed from the origin of the Devouring Demon God!

"Even compared with us, your innate foundation is only slightly inferior!!"

After examining Duobao and then looking at Lu Chen's innate foundation, Tongtian was immediately stunned.

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

Even if Lu Chen's cultivation was low, with such an innate foundation, 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 beside him looked toward Lu Chen, their eyes filled with astonishment.

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

Tongtian smiled gently and looked amiably at Lu Chen.

"This disci—"

"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 back to look at Laozi and Yuanshi, surprise appearing on his face.

His eldest brother believed in governing through nonaction and following the Heavenly Dao. If he spoke now because he had taken a liking to Lu Chen's aptitude, there was nothing to say about that.

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

Even toward some fellow Daoists of the same cultivation, Yuanshi had never shown them a pleasant expression.

Tongtian had not expected him to actually speak up and accept Lu Chen as a disciple.

Yuanshi's old face reddened beneath Tongtian's gaze. He coughed twice to conceal his embarrassment, then turned his eyes toward 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 step forward to extend olive branches to him as well, Lu Chen began to deliberate.

Should he choose Laozi, Yuanshi, or Tongtian? How could he maximize his benefits?

Laozi was the strongest and hid himself the deepest. He was the greatest old schemer in the entire Primordial World, second only to Hongjun. He appeared to practice nonaction, yet he truly had plans of his own; they simply did not show.

He did not have many disciples, only Xuandu, and he could be said to have taught him everything without reservation. However, Lu Chen did not have a good impression of Laozi. He seemed detached, but in truth, he was heartless.

Although Laozi possessed peerless pill-refining arts, entering his sect would certainly allow Lu Chen to 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 materials and earthly treasures, his cultivation could likewise soar by leaps and bounds. He would not need to worry about an unstable foundation either, unlike consuming pills, which carried the possibility of a floating foundation.

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

As for Yuanshi, he seemed arrogant and concerned with face, but in truth he was the most shameless of them all. He was extremely protective of his own, and he truly treated his disciples well—but only those disciples he favored most.

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

Huanglong was treated so miserably only because his true form was a yellow dragon, one of those furred and horned creatures born damp or from eggs, whom Yuanshi disliked.

Lu Chen understood that Yuanshi had spoken because he valued Lu Chen's innate foundation, because that foundation could give Yuanshi face and make his countenance shine.

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 not fail to become Yuanshi's most favored disciple.

But prejudice was a mountain too vast to cross.

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

Lastly was Tongtian. Though he had the great pitfall of the Investiture Catastrophe ahead of him, there was no major flaw in his temperament. He was merely too sentimental and lacked a bit 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 flourished beyond comparison, even all the other great sects combined could not match it.

If, at that time, he had brought the Executioner Immortal Sword Formation to Kunlun Mountain in the name of discussing the Dao, summoned all Four Saints to discuss the Dao, and held them there for a while, then had the remaining Jie Sect members split into three armies and send the Chan Sect's Twelve Golden Immortals and those Buddhas of the Western Sect into the Investiture List, it would have been enough to fill every available slot.

Even if heaven and earth had ultimately still been shattered and earth, fire, wind, and water reforged, the Jie Sect's lineage could have been preserved. Even if the price had been suppression within Zixiao Palace, that would have been no worse than his final outcome: the end of his orthodoxy.

Or, if he had been more decisive and written all those disciples of poor character onto the Investiture List, that alone would have filled every position upon it, and the Investiture would never have needed to be fought.

Still, Tongtian was not without his 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 formidable.

He possessed countless spiritual treasures. At Treasure Distribution Rock, he had taken more than half the treasures into his hands, and he treated his disciples well.

All of this passed through his mind in but an instant.

Lu Chen took in the gazes of all three: Laozi's calmness, Yuanshi's certainty, and Tongtian's anticipation.

He had reached his conclusion.

"Thank you, honored 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."

As soon as 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 could not have been clearer.

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

Lu Chen clasped his hands and bowed to Tongtian.

"Hahaha, good."

Tongtian laughed heartily.

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