Primordial Era: The Three Senior Brothers of the Taiqing Clan

However, at the same time, the idea of ​​taking on a disciple also arose in Yuanshi Tianzun's mind. He would just have to wait until he returned to the mountain this time to give it a proper consideration.

Meanwhile, Chen Qing looked up at the churning clouds in the sky and thought to himself, "I don't know if I should say this or not."

According to his memories, the Heavenly Tribulation of Transformation was usually only a thousand feet in diameter. But the tribulation clouds before him were almost ten thousand feet in diameter!

But he hasn't taken human form yet, so he can't run away even if he wanted to. There's no other way but to tough it out!

"Boom—"

With a deafening roar, a bolt of lightning as thick as a bucket tore through the sky and struck Chen Qing directly. His ox-like body was instantly enveloped in the lightning, his entire being tingling unbearably. He hurriedly mobilized his internal magical power, desperately trying to defend himself.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

……

In the blink of an eye, a full eighty bolts of tribulation lightning had struck. At this moment, the tribulation clouds in the sky turned completely purple, and enormous lightning dragons surged and weaved within them.

Chen Qing himself didn't know how he had survived. From the first lightning bolt, the lightning struck down relentlessly like raindrops, each one more ferocious than the last. According to his estimation, the second lightning bolt was at least twice as powerful as the first, the third twice as powerful as the second, and so on.

Later, Chen Qing was struck so hard that he became delirious, and only his instincts remained to drive his magic to fight against the heavenly lightning.

At this moment, the tribulation clouds were still churning violently, as if brewing a final, fatal bolt of lightning.

Chen Qing stared intently at the sky. Suddenly, the entire cloud of calamity trembled violently, and a speck of gray emerged from the cloud, which then transformed into a thin, hair-like gray lightning bolt, silently striking down towards him.

The instant the lightning struck him, Chen Qing felt as if his entire body was being torn apart, the excruciating pain reaching the very depths of his soul.

After an unknown amount of time, the tribulation clouds in the sky finally dissipated slowly. Chen Qing gradually regained consciousness, and recalling the gray lightning bolt, he still felt lingering fear—he had almost given up. If it weren't for the years of solitude that had forged an incredibly resilient mind, his consciousness would probably have already collapsed and perished.

Thankfully, we finally made it through. I can finally take human form.

Thinking of this, Chen Qing felt an indescribable joy welling up inside him.

After the calamity clouds dissipated, a beam of divine light descended from the sky and landed on the giant blue ox, both healing its injuries and helping it transform into human form.

After the dazzling light faded, the blue ox's body vanished. In its place appeared a robust young man with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, dressed in a black Taoist robe.

Chen Qing looked himself up and down and nodded in satisfaction. Apart from having two extra horns on his head and his hair being a bit longer, he looked almost exactly the same as in his previous life—still as handsome as ever.

As for those two horns, keeping them won't hurt; they actually look quite unique. This is the most suitable Dao form for him after the Heavenly Dao bestowed its power of transformation.

Just as he was immersed in the joy of transforming and a little narcissism, a voice suddenly came from behind him, startling him.

"Brother, what's your disciple doing, twisting and turning like that?"

Chen Qing hurriedly turned around and saw that three Taoist priests were standing behind him. The one who had spoken earlier was a young man, who was now looking at him with great interest.

Upon seeing the three people clearly, Chen Qing was shocked—it suddenly occurred to him that at this time, for three people to appear together, and for a combination of old, middle-aged, and young, there was probably no one else but the Three Pure Ones!

I never expected to run into the Three Pure Ones here! And judging from their appearance, they've been here for quite a while.

A thought quickly crossed his mind, and he immediately bowed deeply, saying, "Greetings, three seniors!"

All three nodded slightly. Of impeccable birth, exceptionally talented, and so courteous—not bad, not bad at all.

As Chen Qing was trying to guess the three men's intentions, Laozi spoke up: "I am the true descendant of Pangu, Taiqing Laozi. I see traces of my Taiqing lineage's Daoist teachings on you. May I ask why?"

Chen Qing's mind raced. He couldn't very well say that he was a time traveler from the future, and that he had acquired traces of the Taiqing lineage through cultivation using the Tao Te Ching, could he? Heaven knows what the consequences would be if he said that.

Forget it, let's just come up with any explanation.

He said, "I don't know what happened either. Ever since I became conscious, a cultivation method has appeared in my mind, and I have been cultivating according to that method until today."

Without further ado, Chen Qing went straight to explaining the cultivation method he had gleaned from the Tao Te Ching.

After listening, the three remained silent for a moment. Laozi continued, "This technique does indeed bear traces of my Taiqing lineage, but it is quite crude. I don't know why it appeared in your mind... Perhaps, it is the will of Heaven."

If Chen Qing still didn't know what to do after all that, then he must be out of his mind. He immediately and without hesitation knelt down, pleading, "Please, Master, accept me as your disciple!"

Looking at the lad who understood so quickly, Laozi smiled and said, "From now on, you will be the senior disciple of my Taiqing lineage and the first disciple of the Three Pure Ones."

Chen Qing was stunned—he hadn't expected that he had become a disciple so early and had actually become the chief disciple of the Three Pure Ones.

He dared not delay and quickly replied, "Yes, disciple Chen Qing, thank you, Master!"

"Hmm." Laozi nodded. "Chen Qing? Not bad, not bad."

He turned around, looked at the dignified-looking middle-aged man beside him, and introduced him: "This is your second uncle, Yuanshi."

Chen Qing quickly stepped forward. He knew that this person valued rules and etiquette highly, so he bowed respectfully and said, "Greetings, Second Martial Uncle!"

Yuanshi looked at Chen Qing, who was so well-mannered, and nodded slightly: "Not bad. Cultivate well in the future, and do not disgrace the prestige of the Three Pure Ones of Pangu."

"I will follow the teachings of my second martial uncle."

Laozi then looked at the young man on the other side and said, "This is your third uncle, Tongtian."

Chen Qing stepped forward again and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Third Martial Uncle!"

Tongtian was quite easygoing. He nodded and said with a smile, "You're not bad, lad. Now that you call me Martial Uncle, I should give you a gift, but I came in a hurry today and didn't bring it with me. I'll make it up to you later."

Chen Qing knew that the Three Pure Ones had only recently taken human form and didn't often roam the prehistoric world, so they didn't possess many treasures. Nevertheless, he happily bowed and thanked them, saying, "Thank you, Martial Uncle!"

Tongtian's words made Laozi and Yuanshi feel awkward, realizing that neither of them had given a gift upon meeting!

Of course, Laozi was the most embarrassed, because when Chen Qing became his disciple, he didn't even give him a discipleship gift!

But there was nothing they could do; they didn't have anything of note to offer!

Hongjun has only just begun to preach and has not yet accepted disciples or distributed treasures. As the head of the Three Pure Ones, Taiqing Laozi only has one companion spiritual treasure, the Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang Exquisite Pagoda.

The Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda is indeed a fine item, the foremost treasure of acquired merit. It was formed from the primordial and yellow energy fused with immeasurable merit after Pangu created the world. Hanging it above one's head grants invincibility. When it is unleashed, all evil spirits retreat and all magic cannot touch it.

Although it is a treasure acquired later in life, its power is no less than that of a treasure acquired innately, and it also has the effect of suppressing destiny.

However, this treasure is indeed wonderful, but as Lao Tzu's only treasure, how could he bear to give it away, even if that person was his own disciple?

Actually, the three of them had some trinkets on them, which they had made and collected themselves. However, while those things were nice to play with, they were not suitable as gifts for apprenticeship or meeting.

Even the unconventional Tongtian was too embarrassed to bring it out, let alone the even more face-conscious Yuanshi and his master Laozi.