Lost in thought, Lu Xuan followed his teacher, continuing toward the Daoist Palace.
The Daoist Palace was located in the very center of the mountaintop. In front of it grew a heaven-reaching peach tree, its branches lush with leaves, its green shade like a canopy. Plump, enormous peaches hung from its boughs.
As they passed under the tree, a perfectly ripe peach fell straight down, landing right on Lu Xuan’s head.
"Ouch!"
He scratched his head, picked up the peach, and, unwilling to let it go to waste, wiped it on his sleeve and took a bite.
’So sweet!’
Beside him, Zhang Ling said with a smile:
"Junior Brother, this is quite a fateful encounter for you. The peach tree in front of Second Senior Uncle’s Daoist Palace must be an extraordinary Immortal Peach Tree."
Old Master also paused briefly and turned back, just in ti to see Lu Xuan finish the peach, leaving only the pit. The small pit was crystal clear, emitting a soft, precious glow.
"It is indeed a fateful encounter," Old Master said with a smile. "Though this is an Acquired Peach Tree, it has been suffused with your Second Senior Uncle’s Dao Rhy for years and is already extraordinary. Even when it bears fruit, the peaches are almost always pitless. For one to not only have a pit, but to fall right on your head for you to eat, is truly a rare thing."
Lu Xuan clutched the peach pit, his eyes wide. ’This tree is that amazing?’
’It bears fruit, but with no pits?’
After so thought, he said:
"Wouldn’t it be a pity to throw this pit away? Teacher, why don’t I plant it right here? Or would Second Senior Uncle be displeased?"
"If you wish to plant it, then go ahead," Old Master said with a smile. "It is your fate, and it is the fate of this peach pit."
Although Lu Xuan didn’t fully understand, he still nodded seriously. He then gently dug into the soil and buried the peach pit.
Having done all this, he mused softly:
"I wonder if you, too, can grow into a towering tree."
The mont the words left his mouth, the main gates of the Daoist Palace swung open abruptly.
Old Master said no more, leading Lu Xuan and Zhang Ling as he strode inside.
Upon entering the Daoist Palace, they found none of the purple qi or auspicious ons that had filled the dilapidated Daoist Temple from before. Instead, it was inscribed with countless principles of the Dao, with every single detail reflecting the supre truths of heaven and earth.
At the far end of the Daoist Palace, a middle-aged Daoist sat cross-legged. His form was wreathed in shadows, as if countless overlapping universes ebbed and flowed around him. His Daoist robes were draped in seventy-two rays of iridescent light, giving him a vast and ethereal air.
The middle-aged Daoist was clearly sitting within the Daoist Palace, yet when Lu Xuan glanced at him, he was shocked to perceive that the man also seed to exist at an infinite height above the world!
This imnse sense of contradiction made him slightly dizzy. After a great effort to calm himself, he looked closely again. In a daze, he felt as if he were seeing the source of everything, the beginning of all creation, the dawn of all realms!
’Worthy of a Celestial King!’
Lu Xuan clicked his tongue in private amazent as fear welled up in his heart. ’So this is a Celestial King?’
’Then an Immortal even more powerful than a Celestial King... how boundless would they be?’
"Supre, it has been a long ti."
As a thousand thoughts raced through Lu Xuan’s mind, the Daoist shrouded in mists of Chaos spoke faintly:
"Are these your two Registered Disciples?"
As he spoke, he opened his eyes and looked toward the two of them. Lu Xuan subconsciously t his gaze, and his heart skipped a beat.
He saw that the Daoist’s left eye reflected the myriad scenes of the Floating World. All of history, past and present, seed to be contained within; heaven and earth were encompassed inside, with no exceptions.
But this Second Senior Uncle’s right eye...
...was shockingly empty!
It was a mangled, bloody socket!!
Auras of Nirvana, ruin, and imperfection overflowed from this right eye—or rather, from the bloody socket where it should have been!!!
’Third Senior Uncle is a cripple, and Second Senior Uncle is blind in one eye...’
Lu Xuan couldn’t help but swallow. He subconsciously glanced sideways, only to find that Senior Brother Zhang showed no unusual reaction, as if he hadn’t seen Second Senior Uncle’s ruined eye at all...
Just as he was reeling from the shock and confusion, Old Master spoke with a chuckle:
"Yes. They had to be brought to et their two Senior Uncles eventually."
From his infinite height, the Primordial Celestial King’s gaze, much like the Jade Universe Daoist Monarch’s, swept lightly past Zhang Ling before landing on Lu Xuan to study him carefully.
After a long mont, he finally spoke:
"This isn’t your style. You advocate Non-action, so why would you casually ddle with the flow of Years?"
"It was not I who interfered," Old Master said frankly. "This child found his own way here."
"Oh?" The Primordial Celestial King’s interest was piqued.
anwhile, Lu Xuan and Zhang Ling exchanged a glance, both baffled. They had no idea what their two elders were talking about.
At this mont, the middle-aged Daoist regarded Lu Xuan seriously for a mont. After so thought, he said:
"Hmm, since you are my martial nephews, it is only proper that I give you a gift for our first eting... Zhang Ling."
Zhang Ling hurried forward and bowed with the utmost respect.
"Greetings, Second Senior Uncle."
"You are devoted to the Bright Great Dao Sect, which is comndable. How about I bestow upon you a mountain ho for your sect?"
Zhang Ling’s eyes widened, and he said hastily:
"Thank you, Second Senior Uncle! Thank you, Second Senior Uncle!"
"Mmm," the Primordial Celestial King said airily. "Then take this mountain and this palace. They will serve you well. You are about to undergo tribulation through Reincarnation. When you awaken to your true self in a future life, you may establish your sect on this mountain, with this palace as its heart."
Zhang Ling was so dazed by this imnse gift that his legs turned to jelly. He stamred:
"S-Second Senior Uncle, this is your sacred ground... this is..."
"This mountain is not Kunlun, and this palace is not Jade Void," the Primordial Celestial King said flatly. "In fact, both the mountain and the Daoist Palace are still Naless. In the future, you may na them yourself."
Zhang Ling bowed deeply again, his heart nearly bursting with joy.
Standing behind him, Lu Xuan was happy for Senior Brother Zhang, but also a little puzzled.
’Hadn’t Second Senior Uncle never t Senior Brother Zhang before?’
’How could he know that Senior Brother Zhang was devoted to the Bright Great Dao Sect?’
From his infinite height, the Primordial Celestial King withdrew his gaze from Zhang Ling and let it fall upon Lu Xuan. He said:
"Lu Xuan, I do not know your ambition. But I observe a piercing Sword Intent on your person, as well as the basic form of my Heaven-Flipping Seal. How about I bestow upon you the Dharma of the Heaven-Flipping Seal?"
Though he was called the Primordial Celestial King, he was, in essence, the supre and lofty Primordial Celestial Venerable. Suprely proud, he disdained prying into a junior’s secrets and thus did not discern the origin of the Sword Intent.
Lu Xuan was overjoyed and about to nod in acceptance when he caught sight of his teacher and Senior Brother Zhang winking at him frantically.
He froze for a second, but then his mind raced, and he understood.
’I get it. Ti to fleece the sheep!’
"Ahem!"
Lu Xuan began, a little bashfully:
"I would naturally love any gift from Second Senior Uncle, but as it happens, Third Senior Uncle has also bestowed upon a Great Slaughter Technique. If I add the Heaven-Flipping Seal, I’ll have two Great Slaughter Techniques. I’ll surely have no worries when I walk the Red Dust in the future."
"Oh?"
For the first ti, the Primordial Celestial King’s expression flickered. He said airily:
"What did that fellow teach you? Hmph. Although he is skilled at Slaughter, among all the techniques he knows, there are very few that can surpass my Heaven-Flipping Seal..."
After a pause, he asked coolly:
"Was it the Tribulation Skill, or the Skill of Manipulating the Three Calamities? Or perhaps an Ancient Sword Manual, or a strike of Nine Heavens Celestial Thunder?"
Lu Xuan swallowed. ’So Third Senior Uncle knows this many techniques!’
’The Tribulation Skill, the Skill of Manipulating the Three Calamities...’
He didn’t dwell on it for long and quickly ca back to his senses. Encouraged by a look from Old Master, he gathered his courage and said:
"None of those... What Third Senior Uncle taught is called ’Annihilation and Slaughter.’"
The Primordial Celestial King’s expression froze.
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