Primordial Era: The Three Senior Brothers of the Taiqing Clan

The saints dispersed, leaving only Nuwa standing there. She looked at Haotian and smiled meaningfully, saying, "Perhaps it would have been much more effective for you to go directly to Chen Qing than to us." With that, she turned and left.

Haotian's face darkened. In his eyes, Chen Qing was only qualified to participate in the council at Zixiao Palace because of the Three Pure Ones' favor. Otherwise, why would he disregard Chen Qing?

Haotian and Yaochi served in the Zixiao Palace for many years and knew very little about the affairs of the prehistoric world.

Otherwise, they would understand the weight of Nuwa's words.

Chen Qing's current strength is such that even the Sage Zhunti cannot do anything about him. Moreover, the Three Pure Ones are very powerful. As the chief disciple of the Three Pure Ones, if Chen Qing could get their support, Haotian would have almost no worries about rebuilding the Heavenly Court.

Yaochi sighed, the excitement on her face long gone. She stepped forward to comfort her, "Don't overthink it. You can apologize another time. Let's go see the Heavenly Court first."

"Hmm," Haotian responded in a muffled voice. The two left the chaos and headed towards the Heavenly Court.

Leaving aside their disappointment at seeing the Heavenly Court ravaged by the Weak Water after the Lich War, Chen Qing followed the Three Pure Ones all the way to Kunlun Mountain. It was the same grand hall as before, but now it had been renamed Jade Void Palace.

There were more people in the hall; all twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect had arrived. To Chen Qing's surprise, Randeng had actually become a disciple of Yuanshi.

At this moment, Randeng looked at Chen Qing at the forefront with a complicated expression. That battle from back then was still vivid in his mind. He had hated Chen Qing, but as news of Chen Qing's victories spread throughout the prehistoric world, that hatred had long been replaced by fear.

He feared that Chen Qing might come knocking on his door one day and kill him without warning. To save his life, by sheer chance, he became a disciple of Yuanshi.

Just then, Chen Qing also looked over. Seeing Randeng's tense appearance, Chen Qing smiled nonchalantly. He had long since forgotten about the grudge from when they fought over the spiritual treasure.

Now that Dipankara has joined the Chan Sect, he's practically family. Although later legends say he and several disciples joined Buddhism and became the Ancient Buddha Dipankara, that hasn't happened yet. With me here, I will never let that happen again.

Ran Deng was startled by Chen Qing's sudden smile. Only by joining the Three Teachings would one understand just how high Chen Qing's status was.

Although the three religions have separated, Chen Qing's influence within them is second only to the three sages. He has the support of the sages above him and the adoration of his disciples below; even the newly initiated disciples admire this senior brother greatly. If Chen Qing were to truly target him, he would have no chance of survival.

Thinking of this, Randeng stepped forward amidst the astonished gazes of the disciples and bowed deeply to Chen Qing: "Senior Brother, I have offended you greatly that day, please forgive me."

In this life, Randeng was not appointed as the vice leader of the Chan Sect, but was just an ordinary disciple, and his status was much lower than before.

Chen Qing waved his hand dismissively, "It's alright. Competing for opportunities and spiritual treasures is all about individual ability, it's nothing. Now that you've become a disciple of your master, you should cultivate diligently and not tarnish the reputation of the three religions."

Seeing that Chen Qing had no intention of pursuing the matter, Randeng breathed a sigh of relief and respectfully said, "I will follow Senior Brother's teachings."

The three disciples at the head of the table already knew what had happened that day through karma. Seeing that the two had reconciled, they said nothing more. Although the other disciples were curious about what had happened between Randeng and their senior brother, they dared not ask and pretended that nothing had happened.

Afterwards, the newly accepted disciples of the Chan Sect stepped forward to greet Chen Qing. Chen Qing returned their greetings with a pleasant expression.

Then, amidst the excited gazes of his disciples, Chen Qing once again tossed the basket used to hold the innate spiritual treasure.

The story of Chen Qing's "inhumanly extravagant" distribution of spiritual treasures had long been known among the disciples of the three religions.

All the newly initiated disciples were eager to meet this legendary wealthy senior brother—why not meet their idol and obtain the spiritual treasure they had always dreamed of?

Even though they had heard about it before, seeing the basket, which was of the level of a primordial spiritual treasure, and the thick primordial aura emanating from it, still made the disciples' mouths twitch.

Seeing everyone staring longingly at the baskets, wanting to go forward but hesitant, Chen Qing smiled and said, "Go ahead, one for each person."

Unlike Bixiao, the disciples of the Chan Sect were not mischievous. They all thanked the basket respectfully before crowding around to examine the magical treasures carefully. After looking at them for a long time without being able to discern anything special, they smiled sheepishly and each grabbed one at random.

Feeling the powerful aura emanating from the magical treasure in their hands, all the disciples beamed with joy.

"Thank you, Senior Brother!"

"No need to be so polite. Focus on your cultivation in the future."

"I will heed my senior brother's teachings!"

Chen Qing nodded. The disciples of the Chan Sect, under the strict discipline of Yuanshi Tianzun, had a completely different style from those of the Tongtian Sect. The Tongtian Sect disciples were carefree and unrestrained, while the Yuanshi Sect disciples were methodical and meticulous in their conduct. It's not a matter of which was better or worse; they simply had their strengths.

At this moment, Chen Qing noticed that Ran Deng was standing to the side, glancing at the basket from time to time, but never taking a step.

At this moment, Ran Deng was filled with remorse—regret for offending Chen Qing back then. Now, seeing the other disciples each possessing a Primordial Spiritual Treasure, he could only look on with envy.

Although Chen Qing had forgiven him and the two had reconciled, he didn't believe he would still have a share of the spirit treasure. So, despite his desire, he didn't move an inch.

"Go get the magic treasure quickly, or I'll take it back later, and you won't get it even if you want it," Chen Qing said with a smile.

How could he not see through Ran Deng's thoughts? Since he had said he wouldn't hold it against him, he would naturally treat him as one of his own fellow disciples and wouldn't show favoritism.

"Huh?" Ran Deng was shocked. He hadn't expected Chen Qing to let him go and get the spiritual treasure as well.

He gave Chen Qing a deep look, then bowed respectfully, "Randeng thanks Senior Brother for bestowing this treasure!"

This bow was sincere and heartfelt. Putting everything else aside, his demeanor alone was something he couldn't match.

Chen Qing nodded: "Go ahead."

Having received approval, Randeng walked excitedly to the basket. Looking at the pile of innate spiritual treasures fluttering in the basket, even though he had heard about them before, he was still greatly shocked—after all, the only thing he could be proud of was a spirit coffin lamp.

He excitedly reached out, but unsure which item to take, he simply closed his eyes and randomly picked one. Sensing the aura of the innate spiritual treasure in his hand, Randeng beamed with joy, wishing he could hug it and kiss it.

For years, those innate spiritual treasures seemed to be avoiding him; aside from picking up some worthless junk, he hadn't acquired a single one of noteworthy quality. Now, he had finally obtained another treasure!

Laozi and Tongtian, who were at the head of the table, twitched slightly at the corners of their mouths. They were secretly glad that they had already met these disciples and given them rewards, otherwise they would have been embarrassed today.

Suddenly, they realized that being Chen Qing's master and uncle was a lot of pressure. Lao Tzu was extremely satisfied with this disciple, but there was one problem—Chen Qing liked to run around all the time, which left him with few opportunities to teach him.

But this kid's cultivation level kept rising rapidly, and he had one opportunity after another, which even made his master envious.

The only consolation is that Xuandu, the remaining disciple, has stayed by his side, which at least allows him to experience what it's like to be a master.

Yuanshi waved his hand, signaling all the disciples to leave, except for Chen Qing. Knowing they had important matters to discuss, the disciples didn't say much and took their leave to familiarize themselves with their magical treasures.

After the palace doors closed, Tongtian spoke first: "Little Qingzi, why didn't you want to be the Heavenly Emperor in Zixiao Palace? He was appointed by the Dao Ancestor and is in charge of the primordial world; his power is considerable!"

Chen Qing smiled and said nonchalantly, "What's so good about the Heavenly Emperor? He's bound to have endless karma and has to deal with a whole bunch of troublesome things."

Besides, with my current cultivation level, becoming the Heavenly Emperor wouldn't bring me much benefit; in fact, it would only restrict me. It's better to focus on cultivation; who knows, I might even reach the level of you, my senior uncles, someday.”

In the end, Chen Qing was full of confidence.

The Three Pure Ones' eyes lit up, and they looked at him approvingly. As for his final statement about "reaching the realm of a sage," although they knew how difficult that was, they still held hope for him.

Chen Qing has been creating miracles all along, hasn't he? Who could have imagined that the little guy who followed behind them back then has grown up to be this big now?

"Are you pursuing the path of proving your way through force?" Yuanshi asked.

"That's right. I believe this path suits me better." Chen Qing said confidently.

Lao Tzu sighed and slowly said, "Most cultivators in the primordial world practiced the method of severing the three corpses passed down by the Dao Ancestor in order to become saints. Although there are many ways to prove the Dao through force, they are extremely difficult, and no one has ever succeeded."

How could they not know the difficulty of proving the Dao through force? They had also walked this path in the past, but later felt that the hope was slim, so they changed to the method of severing the three corpses.

However, since their disciple was confident, they couldn't very well stop him. Besides, after becoming saints, they had a deeper understanding of the method of severing the three corpses, and they vaguely felt that something was amiss, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it.

Now that Chen Qing has taken a different path, they want to see how far he can go.

Of the six saints in the primordial world today, plus Dao Ancestor Hongjun, it is estimated that only Hongjun himself became a saint by severing his three corpses.

The other saints all broke through to the final step by relying on the Primordial Purple Qi and boundless merit, so they can't be considered true saints who severed the three corpses. To say there's no problem here? Chen Qing doesn't believe it.

Otherwise, apart from these six saints, why has no one else been able to break through the great supernatural powers of the prehistoric world, from ancient times to later generations?

Even if they couldn't become saints, they should have broken through to the level of Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal, but none of them succeeded, which is why Chen Qing thought so.

Moreover, he did not want to be a saint under the Heavenly Dao, for those below saints are mere ants, and even saints under the Heavenly Dao are ants. What he wanted to do was break through the Heavenly Dao, transcend the primordial world, and truly achieve freedom and unrestrained roaming of heaven and earth.

Seeing that Chen Qing's mind was made up, the Three Pure Ones did not try to persuade him further.

Just then, a strange fragrance wafted from the horizon, the cries of phoenixes echoed, purple clouds stretched for 30,000 miles to the east, celestial flowers fell, and the sounds of drums and music resounded throughout the world.

"Oh, Junior Sister Nuwa has arrived." Tongtian raised an eyebrow.

As soon as she finished speaking, a woman appeared in the main hall and bowed gracefully to the Three Pure Ones at the head of the table: "Nuwa greets her three senior brothers."

The Three Pure Ones dared not presume and rose to return the greeting. Nuwa then turned to Chen Qing and nodded, "Greetings, Fellow Daoist Chen Qing."

Chen Qing quickly bowed and said, "Chen Qing greets Martial Aunt Nuwa."

After everyone had exchanged greetings, Laozi spoke up, "Junior Sister Nuwa, is your sudden visit related to Fuxi?"

When Chen Qing took away Fuxi's true spirit, he could deceive others, but he couldn't deceive the Sage. Besides, the iconic apricot-yellow flag clearly indicated that Chen Qing was behind it. Nuwa's arrival at this moment was naturally for this matter.

Chen Qing was initially puzzled—she had seen Nuwa several times, but Nuwa hadn't mentioned it, so he assumed she hadn't noticed. Now it seemed she probably had other intentions.