After Master Shangqing left with a distrustful look, Lin Fan was speechless and thought to himself, "Am I still your cute disciple or not?"
"Can we still have a little bit of trust between master and disciple?"
"Will we still be able to happily go down the mountain to travel together in the future?"
If Master Shangqing had heard these inner thoughts of Lin Fan, he definitely would have said, "I, your poor Daoist, deeply regret taking in such a wretch of a disciple."
"Do you have any shame left? Trust? I'd rather believe Pangu would resurrect than ever trust a disgraceful wretch like you again!"
"Travel together happily? Damn it! Even if the Heavenly Dao itself were to use heavenly punishment to force me, I would never go traveling with a non-entity like you."
From this, one could see the depth of Master Shangqing's resentment along the way.
After Master Shangqing left, Lin Fan chose a secluded spot on Kunlun Mountain abundant with innate spiritual Qi to serve as his cave dwelling.
Sitting inside the cave, Lin Fan sorted out the two sets of cultivation techniques left behind by Master Shangqing. One focused primarily on the primordial spirit and was created by Master Shangqing based on the Pangu creation imprint he had obtained; the other focused primarily on the physical body, which was none other than the Xuanmen Daoist protective divine technique of later generations—the Nine-Turn Profound Technique. Once the nine turns were achieved, one could attain the Dao and become a saint.
However, the difficulty was extremely high and almost impossible to achieve, which was why very few in the Daoist sect practiced it. Until the time of the Investiture of the Gods, the only ones in the Xuanmen Daoist path who practiced it were Yuding Zhenren under Chanjiao's Yuanshi Tianzun and his disciple Yang Jian. Yang Jian himself was considered the foremost third-generation disciple during the Investiture of the Gods, and even many second-generation disciples were no match for him, which showed just how formidable this profound technique was.
Having finished organizing them, Lin Fan decided to cultivate the Shangqing technique first. After all, in the current Primordial World under the Heavenly Dao, everyone's cultivation primarily focused on the primordial spirit to comprehend the Heavenly Dao.
Physical cultivation techniques could only serve as auxiliary practices. Only the Wu Race was an exception; born naturally without primordial spirits, they could only cultivate their physical bodies, temper their Qi and blood, and forge their bones and muscles.
Before long, Lin Fan fell into deep comprehension of the Shangqing technique, and the magic power within his body began to transform toward the Shangqing immortal arts.
At the peak of Kunlun Mountain, Master Shangqing watched Lin Fan in secluded cultivation with a satisfied smile on his face, and then he too went into seclusion to comprehend the Heavenly Dao.
Practitioners in cultivation cannot perceive the passage of time. No matter how the outside world changed, Kunlun Mountain remained entirely serene.
In the blink of an eye, three thousand years passed, and Lin Fan finally opened his eyes. At this moment, the sun and moon revolved within his eyes, mountains and rivers shifted, and his aura was heavy and majestic.
Clearly, through these three thousand years of seclusion, Lin Fan had not only transformed all his magic power into the Shangqing immortal arts, but had also progressed further, successfully breaking through to the early Daluo Golden Immortal (early) realm with a stabilized foundation.
A Daluo entity is neither within the Three Realms nor among the Five Elements; no matter how time changes, I remain steadfast and unmoved. At this point, Lin Fan had transcended life, death, and reincarnation; unless a tribulation befell him, he was immune to all spells and would live as long as heaven and earth.
In addition, Lin Fan had also cultivated the Nine Turn Profound Technique to the fifth turn, giving his physical body the strength equivalent to the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm. Even if he stood completely still, ordinary acquired spiritual treasures could not harm him in the slightest.
This gave Lin Fan a great deal of peace of mind, increasing his self-preservation capabilities by quite a few chips.
Inside the cave dwelling, Lin Fan stretched lazily. Three thousand years of seclusion had long since driven him stir-crazy.
After all, even though Lin Fan was in the Primordial World, deep down he still possessed the soul of a modern person; how could he endure such loneliness?
Three thousand years would equal thirty cycles of reincarnation and rebirth for an ordinary person.
For Lin Fan, although it was just a single session of seclusion, it was still a bit too much to bear.
Therefore, the moment Lin Fan awoke from his seclusion, he eagerly rushed out of the cave dwelling, greedily breathing in the fresh air of Kunlun Mountain.
Lin Fan looked around. Kunlun Mountain truly lived up to its reputation as a blessed immortal land and the ancestral vein of the Primordial World. Medicinal herbs aged hundreds or millions of years could be seen everywhere, scattered all over the ground; immortal cranes circled and danced among the forest woods, and spiritual apes played and frolicked in the mountains. What a truly magnificent scene of an immortal blessed land.
With the Three Pure Ones currently in seclusion, Lin Fan could be considered the semi-master of Kunlun Mountain. Therefore, he began roaming around the mountain, casually collecting various heavenly treasures and storing them in the Chaos Pearl, planning to transplant them elsewhere once he found a permanent dwelling in the future.
Thus, another several thousand years passed. On this day, Lin Fan was giving a lecture on the Dao from a high platform, while down below, a multitude of living beings on Kunlun Mountain sat, lay, crouched, or curled up quietly in various shapes and forms.
What Lin Fan was expounding upon were the most fundamental and simple methods of taking human form and basic breathing and meditation practices.
This was not because Lin Fan had a compassionate heart, pitying the living beings of Kunlun Mountain for how difficult their cultivation was. His original intention was simply that he was bored out of his mind and wanted something to do.
After all, for thousands of years, he was the only person on the vast Kunlun Mountain with no one to talk to, relying entirely on talking to himself. If he didn't find something to do, Lin Fan felt he would become the very first neurotic Daluo Golden Immortal since the creation of heaven and earth.
Giving a lecture to them just happened to give him something to do, and it also allowed him to review the old while learning the new and plug any gaps in his own knowledge—killing two birds with one stone.
Seeing them kowtow, bow, and shed tears of gratitude toward him after taking human form, a trace of warmth and a sense of accomplishment welled up in Lin Fan's heart. Only then did he put aside his playful attitude and begin to take the matter seriously.
"Come to the Three Pure Ones Hall to see me immediately." Just as Lin Fan was lecturing on the Dao, a voice transmitted directly into his mind, giving him a start.
"Today's lecture on the Dao ends here. We shall continue another day, you may all withdraw," Lin Fan said swiftly.
Without waiting for the crowd to disperse, Lin Fan transformed into a streak of light and headed toward the peak of Kunlun Mountain, leaving behind the multitude of living beings gazing at his retreating figure with awe in their eyes.
In a flash, Lin Fan arrived before the Three Pure Ones Hall. To call it a hall was generous; in reality, it was merely three thatched huts standing atop the peak of Kunlun Mountain.
Ever since Lin Fan had arrived at Kunlun, he had never been to this place, so out of curiosity, he began to look it over carefully.
"You wretched disciple, what are you dawdling outside the hall for? Why haven't you crawled in here before your master?" Master Shangqing's exasperated voice rang in Lin Fan's ear.
Lin Fan rolled his eyes, straightened his robes, and pushed open the hall doors with a respectful expression as he stepped inside.
Stealing a glance, he saw that the interior of the hall indeed contained its own universe, with infinite space. Three high platforms stood in the center of the hall, upon which sat three figures.
In the middle was an old man with white eyebrows, white beard, and white hair, possessing a benevolent and kindly expression—none other than Taiqing.
On the left was a middle-aged man with a dignified demeanor, dressed in luxurious purple robes and radiating supreme nobility—none other than Yuqing.
On the right was Lin Fan's nemesis of a master, Master Shangqing.
At this moment, seeing that Lin Fan didn't even offer a greeting upon seeing them, but just stood there blankly in a daze, Master Shangqing instantly felt his anger flare up and shouted angrily, "You wretched obstacle, why haven't you come over to pay respects to your two uncles yet? What are you standing there stunned for?"
Lin Fan started, snapped back to his senses instantly, and hurriedly walked before the Three Pure Ones while muttering and grumbling under his breath, "Hey! This master of mine! Why yell so loud? My ears aren't deaf."
"He's been in seclusion for so long, and the moment he comes out he doesn't even care about his cute disciple me, still calling me a wretched disciple left and right."
"If I'm a wretched disciple, then what does that make you, old man? A wretched master?"
"Master must have gone senile from seclusion!"
Lin Fan thought his murmurs were quiet enough that no one could hear them, but he forgot: who were the people standing right in front of him?
Those were the future Heavenly Dao Saints, the Xuanmen Three Pure Ones, beings in the Primordial World whom absolutely no one dared to provoke.
Hearing these whispered complaints, both Taiqing and Yuqing couldn't help but twitch the corners of their mouths, wanting to laugh but holding back out of consideration for Master Shangqing's face.
Meanwhile, Master Shangqing's face turned as dark as the bottom of a wok, and the oppressive aura of his cultivation leaked out involuntarily from sheer anger, causing the space within the entire Three Pure Ones Hall to vibrate violently.
In his mind, he cursed inwardly: "Damn it! As expected, this poor Daoist and this wretched disciple are completely at odds, our horoscopes clash.
"The moment he comes out of seclusion, this punk comes to piss me off!
"Listen to that! Is that human talk? A wretched master? You damn well scour the whole Primordial World, is there anyone who would talk behind their master's back right in front of them like this?
"Don't I want any face? This time I've really lost all my dignity in front of my two elder brothers."
"Damn it, what on earth was I thinking back then to take in such a high-maintenance, face-losing wretch?"
Lin Fan, of course, neither saw Master Shangqing's expression nor heard his inner thoughts.
Right now, with a respectful expression, Lin Fan walked up before the Three Pure Ones and bowed deeply, saying, "Disciple Lin Fan pays respects to Master and two Uncles.
"May Master and your two Uncles attain the Great Dao soon and enjoy the holy thrones."
"Hmph! Attain the Dao? Attain my ass! I've already become a wretched master, I've already gone senile according to him—what kind of Great Dao am I supposed to attain?
"I'm afraid before I even attain the Dao, I'll be angered to death by this wretched disciple of mine and sent straight back to the Primordial World." Finally unable to hold back any longer, Master Shangqing glared at the seemingly honest and kind-hearted nemesis of a disciple right before his eyes and began chewing him out furiously.
Lin Fan was suddenly startled, raising his head in shock to look at the spittle-flying Master Shangqing.
A cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
"Uh!"
"Well, you see!!"
"It's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding! Master."
"Even if you gave this disciple ten guts, this disciple wouldn't dare badmouth Master!"
Lin Fan waved his hands repeatedly, speaking with an air of absolute righteousness, while thinking in his heart that he must deny this to the death.
"This disciple's admiration for Master is like the surging waters of a great river rolling on endlessly, like a great flood overflowing out of control!
"Master is just like my own parents reborn in my heart, how could this disciple ever dare show disrespect to Master?
"It's all a misunderstanding! Master."
Lin Fan defended himself at lightning speed, unleashing a triple-denial combo.
It left the furiously ranting Master Shangqing, along with Taiqing and Yuqing who were watching the show, completely dumbfounded.
They couldn't help but lament inwardly: "Is it really alright for someone this shameless, playing dumb while knowing the truth, and talking nonsense with his eyes open to be a disciple under our Three Pure Ones sect?
"With such a comedic character around, will we ever be able to show our faces outside on Kunlun Mountain in the future?"
Instantly, an awkward atmosphere permeated the space between them.
After a long while, it was the eldest of the Three Pure Ones, Taiqing, who stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "Nephew, get up. You have an extraordinary birth and peerless innate bones. From now on, you must cultivate diligently, so as not to let down your teacher's guidance, nor bring shame upon the reputation of us Three Pure Ones.
"Furthermore, you must not speak ill of others in the future; such behavior does not befit a disciple of the Three Pure Ones.
"Do you understand?"
Lin Fan had no choice but to rub his nose, smile awkwardly, and nod repeatedly in agreement.
Although Yuqing didn't particularly care for Lin Fan's personality, considering that this fellow was at least the premier disciple under the Three Pure Ones, and moreover possessed Pangu's bloodline—making him practically kin to the Three Pure Ones themselves—with a heaven-defying background and extraordinary Qi Fortune, he too addressed Lin Fan: "From now on in your cultivation, if there is anything you don't understand, you may come and ask me."
Lin Fan obediently nodded in agreement as well, bowing repeatedly in gratitude to Taiqing and Yuqing.
"Since you've already paid your respects to your two uncles, why don't you get lost outside and cultivate?" Master Shangqing's anger flared up all over again at the sight of Lin Fan.
"Uh..."
"Master, your disciple hasn't seen you in nearly ten thousand years, your disciple can't bear to part with you!"
As he spoke, Lin Fan even reached out to wipe his eyes, feigning tears.
"If you have something to say, spit it out. If you have a fart, release it.
"If you're not going to speak, get lost right now."
True to being Lin Fan's master, Master Shangqing knew the moment he saw Lin Fan's act that this brat was up to no good and definitely had an agenda.
"Uh!!!"
"Well, you see, Master?"
"Your disciple just wants to leave Kunlun and travel through the Primordial World for a while."
After his ruse was exposed, Lin Fan rubbed his hands together embarrassedly while kneeling there and speaking with cautious trepidation.