At the heart of the Primordial World stood Mount Buzhou, formed from the spine of Pangu, the supreme divine mountain born of the creation of heaven and earth. Year round, it was wreathed in the breath of Pangu, a place where celestial might could not press down and the Heavenly Dao remained unmeasurable.
At the very peak of Mount Buzhou, in the sanctuary where Lin Fan lived in seclusion, swirling streams of Chaos Qi enveloped the space. The rhythm of the Dao flowed ceaselessly, and the Great Dao flickered in and out of view.
For tens of thousands of years, Lin Fan had remained immersed in the enlightenment of his hard-won fortuitous encounter, never once waking.
Suddenly, just as Hongjun attained sanctification, Lin Fan felt a stirring in his heart. He opened the eyelids he had not lifted for tens of thousands of years.
Within his eyes appeared visions of the creation of heaven and earth, the birth of yin and yang, and the origin of all things.
Gazing straight ahead, Lin Fan's eyes seemed to pierce through endless time to witness the Primordial World welcoming the very first Saint between heaven and earth.
He muttered to himself, "I never expected that retreating to cultivate would cause so much time to pass, to the point that even the Dao Ancestor has become a Saint."
"Hehe... with the opening of Zixiao Palace, how could the Daoist be left out?"
"Since I've managed to come to the Primordial World, how can I not go and see the Three Thousand Guests of Zixiao, to witness the most glorious splendor of this realm?"
"Besides, after hundreds of thousands of years apart, I wonder what it will be like to see Master and my Senior Uncles in Zixiao Palace?"
"Hehe, I wonder if Master will be moved to tears."
With that, Lin Fan rose to his feet, transforming into a stream of light as he headed toward the Chaos.
Before long, he reached the boundary line between the Primordial World and the Chaos.
Looking out at the distant Chaos World ravaged by violent gales of Chaos Qi, Lin Fan finally understood whom the Dao Ancestor meant by "those with a predestined affinity"!
Anyone whose cultivation had not reached the Daluo Golden Immortal realm, or who lacked supreme treasures for protection, or who lacked great perseverance and boundless fortune, would likely be swallowed by the Chaos the moment they stepped into it. They would perish utterly, their primordial spirits destroyed, and be reduced to mere fragments of the Chaos.
Lin Fan took a deep breath. A flash of Master Shangqing's celestial light swept over him, enveloping his body within a three-inch radius, and then he plunged headfirst into the Chaos.
The moment Lin Fan entered the Chaos, it was like a drop of water falling into boiling oil. The surrounding currents of Chaos Qi surged, rapidly enclosing him and relentlessly pounding against the protective celestial light around his body, as if determined to completely obliterate him into the emptiness of the Chaos.
Within the Chaos, there was no distinction of time or space, no difference between light and darkness, and not a single sound. Where Zixiao Palace lay, Lin Fan had no idea, and he could only drift aimlessly through the boundless Chaos.
After an unknown length of time, just as Lin Fan was wandering without purpose, he felt a faint guidance from the void pulling him forward. Joy flared in his heart, and he hurriedly altered his course, accelerating fiercely toward the unseen pull, leaving a long trail of tail flames behind him that quickly vanished into the Chaos as though they had never been.
After yet another long stretch of time, Lin Fan finally caught sight of a palace standing quietly in the midst of the Chaos, remaining unshakeable no matter how fiercely the currents of Chaos Qi buffeted it.
Approaching the structure, he looked up at the plaque above the gates. The three characters "Zixiao Palace" thrummed with the rhythm of the Dao, seeming to contain countless fundamental truths of heaven and earth. Even with Lin Fan's current cultivation at the peak of the Daluo Golden Immortal realm, he could not help but become captivated, seized by a sudden sense of his own insignificance, like an ant before the cosmos.
This alone showed how profound a Saint's comprehension of the Heavenly Dao truly was.
"Beneath the Saints, all living beings are mere ants."
"How true those words are!"
Lin Fan sighed with emotion.
He shook his head and stepped into Zixiao Palace.
The moment he crossed the threshold, Lin Fan felt as though he had been transported into an entirely different realm. The interior was vast, with time flowing differently across its expanse, and the three thousand guests of Zixiao were nearly all assembled.
Though crowded, the hall was utterly silent, devoid of idle noise, for no one wished to leave the Saints with an impression of rudeness.
Lin Fan glanced toward the very front rows. Sure enough, the Three Pure Ones sat atop the first three prayer mats, eyes closed in silent meditation. Seated on the fourth mat was a peerless beauty who should be none other than the future Mother of the Human Race and Saint of Merit, Nuwa.
On the fifth mat sat a kindly old Daoist with red hair, red eyebrows, and a red beard, clad in a blazing scarlet fiery cloud robe—none other than the Primordial World's ultimate good man, Taoist Hongyun.
On the sixth mat sat a gloomy, forbidding old Daoist wearing an expression that warned strangers to keep away—Kunpeng of North Nether.
In addition, Dijun and Donghuang Taiyi of the Sun Star; Patriarch Styx of the Blood Sea; Zhenyuanzi of Wuzhuang Temple; and a host of other legendary figures of the Primordial World familiar to future generations were all present.
As he looked around, Lin Fan reached the space directly behind the Three Pure Ones. He fell to his knees and bowed, saying, "Your unworthy disciple Lin Fan pays respects to Master and my two Senior Uncles. Hundreds of thousands of years have passed—I hope my three revered teachers have been well."
Up ahead, Master Shangqing, who had been sitting with his eyes closed in meditation, snapped them open at the sound of that voice. In his agitation, his aura leaked outward, and the overwhelming pressure of the Daluo Golden Immortal peak instantly swept across the surroundings. The gathered guests hurriedly channeled their energy to resist.
"Third Brother!" shouted Taiqing Daoist in a stern voice.
Master Shangqing snapped out of his shock, instantly drawing back his aura and cupping his fists in apology to those around him.
He looked again at the figure kneeling before him, still finding it hard to believe, and extended a trembling right hand to point at Lin Fan.
After a long moment, all the thousand things Master Shangqing wished to say melted into a single, trembling utterance: "Good, good, good!"
"As long as you're alive!"
"As long as you've come back!"
His voice choked with emotion, showing just how turbulent Master Shangqing's inner feelings were at that moment.
Lin Fan was also deeply moved, never imagining that Master Shangqing had invested such profound emotional weight in their master-disciple bond. Seeing so many gazes fixed upon them, and wishing to spare his master any loss of dignity, Lin Fan rolled his eyes and flashed a grin.
Abandoning all regard for appearances, he threw himself directly onto Master Shangqing, burying his face in the Daoist's robes and wailing loudly with a flood of tears and snot: "Master!"
"Your disciple finally gets to see you! It's so wonderful!"
"All these hundreds of thousands of years, your disciple has missed you so much, old man!"
"Just look at me!"
"Look at your adorable disciple—after all these months, I've even starved myself thin!"
"Master! Oh, Master!"
"Your disciple truly missed you!"
As he spoke, he even wiped his tears directly onto Master Shangqing's Daoist robe.
Instantly, everyone in Zixiao Palace watched Lin Fan's performance with twitching expressions, unable to hold back their amusement. Taiqing Daoist and Yuanshi Tianzun both pressed hands to their foreheads, their brows twitching violently as they stared at this utter handful of a disciple.
The two of them thought in unison: *Ah, why did we Three Pure Ones have to be saddled with such a creature as a disciple? Our faces have been completely disgraced!*
*I really want to smack him to death. What should I do?*
As one of the main characters, the target of Lin Fan's embrace, Master Shangqing's complexion shifted from white to red, red to black, and black to purple like a shifting palette, evidently driven nearly to fury by Lin Fan's outrageous antics.
He hurriedly shoved Lin Fan away and snapped, "You rebellious wretch, stop your howling!"
"With so many fellow Daoists present, you pull a stunt like this on me?"
"What, do you feel the Three Pure Ones haven't lost enough face yet?"
"Hundreds of thousands of years apart, I thought this little scoundrel had mended his ways, but he's still the exact same shameless rogue!"
"Very well, today I am going to teach you a lesson, you little wretch, so you remember your master's dignity."
Master Shangqing raised his hand as if to strike him, but a voice rang out to intervene: "Daoist Shangqing, stay your hand. Your disciple's feelings for you are genuine, and the bond between master and disciple runs deep."
"He simply couldn't control his emotions and let them show—it makes this old Daoist quite envious, almost stirring up thoughts of taking a disciple myself. I hope Daoist Shangqing can spare him."
Master Shangqing had never intended to actually strike him anyway. After all, his precious disciple had been missing for so long that everyone thought he had perished; now that he had suddenly reappeared, how could he truly bring himself to hit him? He was simply looking for a convenient excuse to back down.
With a smile, he said to the Daoist, "This little scoundrel is simply incorrigible, making a laughingstock of me before Daoist Hongyun."
He turned back to Lin Fan and barked, "You scoundrel, if Daoist Hongyun hadn't interceded on your behalf today, I would have taught you a proper lesson."
"Hurry and thank Daoist Hongyun for his righteous words."
Knowing better than to overplay his hand, Lin Fan scrambled to his feet and bowed to Hongyun. "Many thanks, Patriarch Hongyun."
Daoist Hongyun nodded at Lin Fan and smiled kindly. "No matter, no matter. Little friend, you mustn't provoke Daoist Shangqing's anger again in the future."
Before his brain could catch up with his mouth, Lin Fan blurted out, "It's fine, Master and I have always gotten along this way. He doesn't mean it, and he won't die from anger."
Realizing the moment he said it that something was terribly wrong, he slapped a hand over his mouth and lowered his head, not daring to look at Master Shangqing again.
The gathered guests in Zixiao Palace could not help but smile warmly.
Suppressing his rising fury, Master Shangqing growled, "You little wretch, get over here and sit down properly. Wait until we return to Kunlun Mountain, and I'll show you how I handle disciples."
"Hmph!"
With a cold snort, Master Shangqing settled back into place, and Lin Fan obediently took a seat behind the Three Pure Ones.
Zixiao Palace plunged once more into silence.
In the rear hall of Zixiao Palace, watching Lin Fan's clownish antics, even Hongjun, the venerated Saint whose emotions were rarely visible, could not help but crack a smile. "This grand-disciple of mine is certainly quite a character," he murmured softly.
Time flowed on, and three thousand years passed in the blink of an eye. Inside Zixiao Palace, not a sound stirred as everyone awaited the Saint's discourse on the Great Dao.
At that very moment, a commotion broke out from the entrance. Two more Daoists stumbled in, supporting one another. They were ragged, covered in dust and grime, and bore numerous scars on their bodies, clearly having suffered quite terribly in the Chaos just to reach this place.
The two advanced, and seeing that every seat was taken, their expressions grew even more wretched, as if someone owed them tens of millions and refused to pay.
One of them, a gaunt-faced Daoist with a bitter expression and his hair bound in a flowered bun, burst into loud, grieving tears: "Senior Brother! We traveled countless tens of thousands of years from the Western Continent just to seek the Dao, yet the front rows are completely filled! If we have to sit at the back, how can we possibly hear the Saint's discourse clearly?"
"We hoped to acquire the Saint's Dao so we could return to the barren lands of the West and civilize all living beings there."
"If we cannot hear the Saint's teachings clearly, how can we face the trillions of souls in the West waiting for salvation, Senior Brother?"
"Senior Brother! If we cannot listen to the Dao, what point is there in living?"
Hearing these words, the other Daoist felt grief rise up within him, his expression growing even more bitter and his worried countenance deepening.
"Fellow Daoist, pray do not despair. I deeply admire your great ambitions. I am nothing more than an idle person myself, so I shall gladly yield this seat to you. Consider it my meager contribution to the living beings of the West!" Once again, Patriarch Hongyun stepped forward to offer consolation.
"Daoist, your righteousness is boundless. I, Zhunti, am endlessly grateful." The Daoist's expression shifted at lightning speed as he beamed and seated himself upon Patriarch Hongyun's cushion.
"Master, why does this Daoist change his expression so quickly? His acting is so clumsy—he's not even as good as me!" Lin Fan chimed in, unable to watch any longer as he voiced his mockery.
Daoist Zhunti's face shifted instantly. He glared furiously at Lin Fan, but upon seeing the gazes of the Three Pure Ones turned his way, he could only force an awkward smile.
His gaze then shifted to Patriarch Kunpeng sitting nearby. "You feathered and horned, egg-born, moisture-engendered creature—how could you possibly be fit to sit in this sacred seat? Hurry up and yield it to my Senior Brother!"
"Daoist Zhunti speaks correctly; you are unworthy to sit on the same platform as us." It was Lin Fan's Second Senior Uncle, Yuanshi Tianzun, who had always disliked creatures with fur and horns, and thus spoke up in support.
Poor Patriarch Kunpeng had been sitting innocently at home when disaster dropped from the skies. Seeing that the opposition held the numerical advantage, he had no choice but to rise and surrender his seat, though he shot a murderous glare at Patriarch Hongyun before doing so.
From that moment on, the seating was finalized. The hour had arrived, and the Great Dao was about to be expounded.