Swallowing the Stars: Ten Thousand Times Return for Taking on Disciples

Chapter 372 Disciple Zhenyan pays respects to his teacher
"Let's choose this one, exchange it!"

Without hesitation, Lu Qingshan quickly checked the information and then chose to redeem the item.

Anyway, I'm not planning to use this treasure myself, so there's no point in knowing more about it.

Immediately after Lu Qingshan confirmed the exchange, his Treasure Points balance changed.

The 100 Treasure Points quota disappeared, leaving only 13 Treasure Points remaining, which was the remaining portion from the sale of the Treasure Silver Moon Flowing Sorrow Sword.

The exchange mechanism is quite user-friendly; it deducts the loan amount first, while retaining the valuable points he already had.

"Boom!"

It was accompanied by a loud rumbling sound.

The stone slab in front of them slowly cracked open from the middle, the crack growing wider and wider, as if there were a bottomless abyss below.

Lu Qingshan glanced down and immediately sensed extreme danger, as if there was something terrifying inside.

Then!

A gray light flashed, and a treasure shaped like an hourglass flew out of the abyss, flying straight to Lu Qingshan. Lu Qingshan raised his hand and easily caught the hourglass treasure.

The Sunken Rock Hourglass... a treasure of the domain type, it's probably worthy of being stored in the Ancestral God Sect's treasure trove.

Lu Qingshan observed the appearance of the hourglass.

It was about three feet tall, and its appearance was like that of a rock that had been tempered. It was transparent and gray crystal-like, and inside it was covered with silver patterns like spider webs, like countless galaxies twinkling. At the top of the hourglass, there was a mysterious crystal the size of a pigeon egg, which shone with a gray halo in Lu Qingshan's hand.

From the outside, it looks like a decoration.

But the countless tiny, mysterious grains of sand inside are the true core of this treasure.

"A fine treasure!"

After observing it for a moment, Lu Qingshan put the sinking sand hourglass away. This was the first time he had exchanged a treasure from the human treasury.

After spending all his credit, Lu Qingshan glanced at the huge stone disc that was slowly closing. He coveted many of the treasures inside, but fortunately, he could enter it at any time in the future.

Lu Qingshan turned and left the side hall of the city lord's mansion. Venerable Guiyi had already left, and he teleported back to Qingshan Residence.

……

Although the news of Lu Qingshan's return to Chaos City was kept secret, others in the City Lord's Mansion still saw him.

Three days later.

King Zhenyan received the news and came to visit.

During this meeting, King Zhenyan was less carefree than before, and instead appeared more reserved and respectful.

There was no way around it... Although Lu Qingshan's strength had also overwhelmed him before, they were still at the same level, just like how True King Yan treated other Grandmasters. He didn't feel superior to them. But now Lu Qingshan was a Universe Venerable, a whole level above him, and on the same level as his teacher.

"True King Yan, it's only been a short time since we last met, why are you acting all coy? Do you think I'd eat you?"

Lu Qingshan smiled and led the True Prince Yan into the living room.

"You won't eat me, but you are the Supreme Being of the Universe."

Looking at the unique aura emanating from Lu Qingshan, King Zhenyan felt a pang of envy.

"Just a Universe Venerable, nothing special... You, True King, have the potential to become a Universe Venerable, there's no need to be so petty. Let's stay the same as before."

Lu Qingshan raised his hand and took out a bottle of Purple Fire Ape Wine.

This was a bottle of fine wine containing 800 billion Chaos Units that Blood Ghost King had previously placed in the Thousand Vine Star-Eating Grass Divine Kingdom. It was nothing to him now.

"Purple Fire Ape Wine!"

King Zhenyan's eyes lit up. Sensing that Lu Qingshan's attitude hadn't changed, he felt much more relaxed.

Lu Qingshan poured him a glass of fine wine before smiling and saying, "Zhenyan, you didn't come to my Qingshan Residence today just to freeload off me, did you?"

"No."

After taking a sip of the fine wine, King Zhenyan relaxed considerably. He shook his head and said, "I've come to visit you for two reasons: first, to congratulate you, King Wanfa, on your breakthrough to the Universe Venerable realm; and second, on behalf of two friends..."

King Zhenyan then recounted the request his two friends had made to him.

"Oh, Black Mist King and Anju King, these two are both famous Grandmasters in Chaos City, with extraordinary strength. Why would they be willing to submit to me?"

Lu Qingshan was somewhat surprised.

He really didn't expect that after his breakthrough, two Grandmasters who had been granted the title of King would come to join him, and they were extremely powerful among the Kings. Even the Nine Swords Venerable only had one such helper.

"The reason is simple: there are many benefits to following you, Venerable Wanfa. You have such great potential, becoming a Universe Venerable in a short time. You will definitely improve in the future. Following you is promising, and you are also very generous. You should not mistreat your subordinates... The two of them just happen to lack the backing of a Universe Venerable. You, Venerable Wanfa, have just broken through and are short of people, so they naturally came to join us."

King Zhenyan spoke the truth and did not say anything about how the other party revered the Venerable Wanfa.

Grandmasters who have been granted the title of King, especially those with extremely high strength, will not pledge allegiance to a particular person simply out of admiration. Ultimately, it all comes down to self-interest. They will only pledge allegiance to a cosmic venerable one if that person can bring them benefits.

The same applies to Longyu Wang's defection to the Nine Swords Venerable.

Even a few random bits and pieces leaked by the Universe Venerable would be enough to keep a peak-stage King-level expert half-dead.

“That Black Mist King has been my friend for billions of years, and her potential is no less than mine… The key is that she is an upright person. I can vouch for her. Once she pledges allegiance to you, Venerable Wanfa, she will definitely work for you wholeheartedly and will not be half-hearted.”

King Zhenyan knew his old friend well enough to dare to say such a thing.

"As for King Anju, I don't know much about him... He's much older than me. Before I came to Chaos City, he had already been cultivating in seclusion there for countless years. No one has seen him make a move in all these years, but I estimate that he's quite strong, at least no weaker than King Black Mist."

Hearing what Zhenyan King said, Lu Qingshan nodded slightly and said, "Since you, Zhenyan King, are here as an intermediary, I will accept these two."

After saying that, he looked at Zhenyan Wang and smiled, "Actually, I still like you the most, Zhenyan Wang."

"what!"

The True King, who was drinking, almost choked.

He quickly waved his hand and said.

“I can’t… According to my heart, I would naturally like to pledge allegiance to you, Venerable Wanfa. After all, if I pledge allegiance to you, I would definitely be able to drink the Purple Fire Ape Wine often. But I already have the backing of a Universe Venerable and am the leader of our ape race. I am where I am today entirely because of my teacher’s training. I dare not betray my sect.”

"No, I don't mean for you to join me, but rather I want you to become my disciple."

Lu Qingshan smiled and shared his thoughts.

Upon hearing this, King Zhenyan stared wide-eyed.

"Venerable Wan... Venerable Wanfa... You're not joking with me, are you? We have a history..."

Before he could even utter the word "friend," King Zhenyan was immediately drawn to an object in Lu Qingshan's hand, his gaze seemingly glued to it.

Lu Qingshan casually placed the earth-attribute Beast God Inheritance Token on the table and said, "I know this treasure is very important to you, and it can even help you break through to become a Universe Venerable. However, it is too precious. Even though we are friends, I cannot easily give it to you. Therefore, I plan to take you as my disciple. If you are my disciple and help me in the future, I will naturally not be stingy with this inheritance token."

“This… this…” King Zhenyan was completely dumbfounded.

He was certain that this was the Beast God's Inheritance Token, and it was even an Earth-attribute Beast God's Inheritance Token that matched his own attributes.

This was the treasure he had been longing for.

It appeared right before him. All he needed to do was become... a disciple of the Venerable One of Ten Thousand Laws, and he could obtain this inheritance token, receive the inheritance from the Ancestral God Sect, and have a great chance of becoming a Universe Venerable...

but……

King Zhenyan took a deep breath and forced himself to look away. He said, "Venerable Wanfa, this matter is too surprising to me. I want to go back and think about it carefully."

"It's okay, you can take your time to think about it, there's no rush."

Lu Qingshan smiled.

"Then I'll go back and think about it now."

King Zhenyan glanced once more at the hexagonal token on the table, which resembled a rock, took a deep breath, and stood up, refusing even the Purple Fire Ape Wine.

"Ah."

Lu Qingshan simply nodded and watched as True King Yan teleported away.

"I met the teacher."

"teacher……"

"teacher."

Upon returning to his residence, the disciples greeted him one by one, but King Zhenyan did not respond as usual. As if possessed, he walked into his cultivation chamber and slammed the door shut.

Back in his own little space, King Zhenyan slammed his hands on the ground repeatedly, creating huge craters before he calmed down a bit.

"The Venerable Wanfa actually possesses a Beast God Inheritance Token, and it's even an Earth-attribute token that matches my element. He'll bestow it upon me as long as I become his disciple!!"

King Zhenyan was very excited and wanted to agree immediately.

But thinking of his people and his teachers, he restrained the impulse.

If one doesn't consider clan and teacher when becoming a disciple of Venerable Wanfa, he doesn't feel much psychological pressure. He simply had a good relationship with Venerable Wanfa before, and there are countless examples of teacher-student and friend relationships in the primordial universe, with many disciples being more powerful than their teachers.

Moreover, the King of Ten Thousand Laws is now the Venerable of Ten Thousand Laws, a whole level above him, so no one would laugh at him even if he became his disciple.

Not to mention the incomparably precious Beast God Inheritance Token, which even a Universe Venerable cannot produce.

But he has his own community and his own teachers... His teachers raised him from humble beginnings, and he cannot abandon them for his own benefit.

Hu Hu Hu.

After forcing himself to calm down, Zhenyanwang entered the virtual universe and arrived at the temple of the ape-man race.

The old, frail, black ape-man has always been here.

"teacher."

King Zhenyan walked to the side of the black, aged ape-man.

"Zhenyan, your mind is in turmoil. Has something happened?"

The ape-man leader revealed a slight smile.

"Master, it's like this... I just went to Venerable Wanfa's house to congratulate him on breaking through to the Universe Venerable level..."

King Zhenyan did not hide anything and told his teacher everything that had just happened, down to the smallest detail.

After he finished speaking, the black, old ape-man suddenly stood up and slapped him hard on the head.

King Zhenyan staggered from the blow and fell to the ground.

“Teacher, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have had such thoughts.”

King Zhenyan quickly admitted his mistake, thinking that his teacher was angry because his ideas had wavered.

"Elm head!"

The old, black ape-man looked at Zhenyan King with exasperation and said, "You still don't know where you went wrong!"

"Teacher, where did I go wrong?" King Zhenyan's mind was in complete turmoil.

The ape-man chieftain said, "Your mistake was not agreeing to the Venerable Wanfa on the spot. What if things changed and you missed that precious opportunity?"

"what."

King Zhenyan never expected that his teacher would be angry about this.

"That King of Ten Thousand Laws became a cosmic venerable in just over a dozen epochs. Not to mention the future, he is probably even stronger than me now. How is it beneath you to be his teacher?"

"In this world, who doesn't strive? Don't even mention you, I, your teacher, will strive, the Lord of the Universe will strive, the great creator of the giant axe will strive. When opportunity knocks, not seizing it... that would be foolish!"

"It's just a master-disciple relationship. Venerable Wanfa didn't say you had to sever ties with me. It's just that you have another teacher. What's the big deal? Would I, your master, hinder your future just to save face? Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

“No…no.” King Zhenyan quickly shook his head.

"Then what are you hesitating for? Go to Green Mountain Residence right now, go to Venerable Wanfa and become his disciple, and get the Beast God Inheritance Token... In the future, you must not be disrespectful to him, but treat him as you would your master, and do things for him well!"

"Don't feel guilty. Some people might gossip, but do I care? I don't care. My only pursuit in life is to make the ape-man race strong. It's too difficult for me to support the entire race by myself. I dare not risk my life or take any risks... Every time I open my eyes, countless pressures weigh on me. If you can break through to the Universe Venerable and become the second leader of our ape-man race, you can also help me share some of the pressure."

"Master, I understand."

King Zhenyan knelt on the ground, kowtowed fiercely, and then disappeared into the temple of the ape-man tribe.

Watching his disciple leave, the black ape-man sighed, sat down on the ground, feeling both gratified and regretful.

"What a disappointment... We're so poor... Even our most promising disciple got poached."

How could the ape-man leader remain completely unfazed by having his disciples poached by someone of the same level? His actions just now were merely a show for his disciples, intended to avoid putting too much pressure on them.

"I hope Zhenyan can seize this opportunity to become a Universe Venerable. If that's the case... compared to the entire Ape Clan, my personal loss of some benefits is nothing, nothing at all..."

……

The initial universe was a dwelling in the green mountains.

King Zhenyan returned here after only a few minutes.

"Have you thought it through?"

Lu Qingshan asked with a smile.

King Zhenyan nodded, then knelt on the ground with a thud: "Disciple Zhenyan greets Master."

"Get up. Although we will be master and disciple from now on, we will still get along as before."

After accepting the bow from King Zhenyan, Lu Qingshan did not put on airs as a teacher. He stood up, helped King Zhenyan up, and continued speaking.

"When you see your teacher in the future, there is no need to bow."

"Yes."

King Zhenyan nodded, but he didn't think so in his heart. Since he had already become a disciple, how could he not show respect?

Lu Qingshan picked up the inheritance token from the table, placed it in Zhenyan King's hand, and said, "Take this token first. The journey to the Ancestral God Sect is long and there may be dangers. Don't rush to go. I will ask Venerable Dragon Whale to come back and pick you up and personally take you to the Ancestral God Sect."

(End of this chapter)