“Your hometown world, hmm.”

The Bodhi Patriarch pondered for a moment before nodding.

“Your hometown world is indeed extraordinary. There are some geniuses in the Three Realms. It would be a good thing to bring them out early. Since that’s the case, I will send you back for a visit first. But you must remember, once you leave that world, it won’t be so simple to go back. If you want to return home in the future, you must use this talisman to contact me first.”

With that, the Bodhi Patriarch handed over a talisman.

“Thank you, Master!”

Xu Zong was overjoyed and accepted the talisman, thanking the Patriarch.

The Bodhi Patriarch nodded slightly.

Although this disciple is talented, he is not arrogant and is so obedient. It’s really rare.

His disciples, after passing through the Immortal Palace and learning some Dharma Doors in the Three Realms Palace, he would send them down the mountain to experience. This little disciple has only been on the mountain for five years, but he has learned a lot of Dharma Doors and it’s time for him to go out and explore.

In the Bodhi’s view, cultivation cannot be all about hardship. Ultimately, one must experience trials to achieve great abilities.

“Before you leave the mountain, there is one more benefit that I want to give you.”

The Bodhi Patriarch flicked his finger and a stream of light entered Xu Zong’s mind.

“You have many divine abilities to protect yourself, and you don’t need my interference in the cultivation of the divine body. But in the cultivation of Qi, although you have learned many Dharma Doors on my mountain, those Dharma Doors may not necessarily suit you. So, I have created a Multi-Treasure River Formation for you. The power of this formation depends on the number of treasures, and it should be very suitable for you.”

Originally, he was going to create a powerful escape technique for his disciple, but his own spatial and temporal divine abilities were better than any escape technique when cultivated to the peak.

“Go and prepare. When you are ready, I will send you off. Remember, after leaving the mountain, you must not reveal my true name without my permission.”

“Disciple remembers.”

Xu Zong bid farewell to the Bodhi Patriarch and left the Taoist temple.

He said he was preparing, but in fact, he didn’t have much to prepare. Thinking that there were many Dharma Doors in the Immortal Palace that he hadn’t seen, he headed towards the Immortal Palace.

Arriving at the Immortal Palace, Xu Zong met the Celestial God Silver Moon again. Remembering that he had borrowed a One Qi Elemental Water Bead from him before, he took one out from his Celestial Realm treasure and returned it to him.

“You’re able to repay the debt so quickly. Have you come into some money recently, little junior brother?”

Silver Moon Celestial God asked with a smile.

“Just so-so, senior brother. Do you have backups of the Immortal Palace Dharma Doors here?”

Xu Zong smirked and asked Silver Moon Celestial God.

“You want the Dharma Doors again? How many this time?”

“All of them.”

“All of them?”

Silver Moon Celestial God was taken aback and looked at him strangely.

“Why do you need so many?”

As he spoke, he also took out a storage treasure and handed it to Xu Zong.

“So soon?”

Xu Zong was surprised as he took it. Goodness gracious, inside were neatly arranged countless bookshelves, exactly the same as those in the Immortal Palace.

“I also like to arrange them for fun in my spare time.”

Silver Moon Celestial God said nonchalantly.

Are you a child?

Xu Zong thought to himself.

“Actually, I’m going to leave the mountain for a while soon, and I probably won’t be back for a while.”

“I see.”

Silver Moon Celestial God suddenly realized.

To leave the mountain after more than five years is quite impressive.

After obtaining backups of all the Dharma Doors, Xu Zong left the Immortal Palace.

“Martial Uncle! Martial Uncle, please wait!”

As he walked towards the wooden house, a divine demon caught up from behind.

“You are… the Long Spear Divine Demon?”

Xu Zong recognized his face and remembered that when he first arrived at the Immortal Palace five years ago, he saw this divine demon fighting a Fourth Order Puppet.

“I am Yi Ji.”

The divine demon Yi Ji was tall and burly, with a terrifying presence like a bear.

“Why are you stopping me?”

“It’s like this, Martial Uncle. I want to be your follower!”

The divine demon Yi Ji smirked, looking very pleased, as if he had some ulterior motive.

“Don’t you have a master?”

Xu Zong was slightly surprised.

On this Inch Mountain, many spirit beasts and divine demons come as followers, following human cultivators and demon cultivators up the mountain. They should all have masters.

“My master died accidentally while training at the foot of the mountain. The Patriarch took pity on me and didn’t drive me down the mountain, so I have been able to stay on the mountain to cultivate.”

Yi Ji’s expression became gloomy for a moment, then he smiled again.

“My aptitude is dull. I have been cultivating for over a hundred thousand years and still haven’t been able to defeat the Fourth Order Puppet, so I want to follow you, Martial Uncle!”

Xu Zong’s expression moved slightly, but he already understood in his heart.

“I see. The Dharma Doors in the Immortal Palace must be passed through a test or defeating the corresponding puppet in order to learn them. But the Dharma Doors I have don’t necessarily require such trouble. You want to learn those Dharma Doors from me, right?”

Xu Zong had the privilege given by the Bodhi Patriarch to learn any divine abilities without having to go through a test. So, he had backups of all the Dharma Doors in the Immortal Palace and the Three Realms Palace.

As a result, people with aptitudes as dull as Yi Ji’s naturally set their sights on Xu Zong, as learning the Dharma Doors from him doesn’t require such troublesome rules.

“Your brain isn’t dull at all!”

“Hehe, my brain only lights up a few times.”

Yi Ji smiled foolishly, then said seriously.”Martial Uncle, if you do not trust me, I can make an oath to the Heavenly Dao right now! By the Heavenly Dao above, I, an Innate Celestial Demon of the Yiji season, swear to follow my master Teng Qinghu from this moment on. As long as it does not harm my own dignity and life, I will obey all of Master’s commands without defiance!”

As he spoke, he had already taken the initiative to make the oath to the Heavenly Dao.

This oath to the Heavenly Dao is an absolutely inviolable pledge. Generally, when sects recruit disciples, they require the disciples to make an oath not to betray. If violated, the punishment of the Heavenly Dao will descend without the sect having to act, causing the violator to die and their Dao to vanish. Thus, in the Three Realms, betrayals of one’s sect are extremely rare.

However, such oaths usually have constraints. For example, Yiji also had conditions that his dignity and life could not be harmed. If Xu Zong were to violate these conditions first, then even if Yiji were to betray, it would not be his fault, and the Heavenly Dao would not punish him.

Moreover, the oath to the Heavenly Dao is useless against Dao Ancestors, for they are beings who have comprehended a Heavenly Dao.

“Is this too hasty?”

Xu Zong was slightly taken aback.

“You’ve made your oath to the Heavenly Dao too early, haven’t you? What if I don’t give you the Dharma Door? What then?”

“Ah, this…”

Yiji was immediately stunned.

Right, the conditions haven’t been agreed upon yet, why did I sell myself so quickly?

“Well then… Martial Uncle, look, I’ve already made the oath to the Heavenly Dao, so…”

Yiji looked at Xu Zong with a troubled face.

“Don’t worry, since you have chosen to follow me, I will certainly not treat you unfairly.”

Xu Zong did not take advantage of the honest man for amusement. Since it was no loss to him, he readily agreed and then pondered for a while.

“Here’s what we’ll do: you ask among those masterless Celestial Demons on the mountain how many are willing to follow me. As long as they are willing to follow me, I am willing to give them a Dharma Door from the fourth level of the Celestial Palace every year, one from the fifth level every ten years, one from the sixth level every hundred years, one from the seventh level every thousand years… and so on. However, I only want Celestial Demons of the Returning Void level, and you will receive the same treatment.”

“That’s great, I’ll go right now!”

Yiji was overjoyed and hurriedly sent messages to his Celestial Demon companions.

Xu Zong was also very pleased; he hadn’t expected that by using the secret techniques of the Celestial Palace, he could attract a group of Returning Void level Celestial Demons for nothing!

Since the old ancestor had not said that these Dharma Doors could not be passed on, he could certainly deal with them as he saw fit. The Dharma Doors of the Celestial Palace could be used to attract followers, while the Dharma Doors of the Three Realms Palace were more complicated and not easily transmitted to outsiders.

These Returning Void level Celestial Demons, although only at the level of Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals, were naturally good at fighting, and their combat power was fully capable of rivaling that of Heavenly Immortals. A group of Returning Void Celestial Demons could make even some ancient great clans tremble with fear.

Before long, Yiji brought five Celestial Demons, all beaming with joy, to Xu Zong’s wooden hut.

These five Celestial Demons, like Yiji, had lost their masters and were cultivating alone on the mountain. Upon learning of Xu Zong’s recruitment conditions from Yiji, they almost agreed without a second thought.

After arriving at Xu Zong’s place, these five also made their oaths to the Heavenly Dao one after another, becoming Xu Zong’s followers.

“What weapons are you skilled with?”

Xu Zong, having gained the loyalty of six Returning Void Celestial Demons, was very happy and asked the six.

“I like the long halberd!”

Yiji, the Celestial Demon, took the lead.

“I am skilled with the long spear.”

“I use the great hammer.”

“…”

The Celestial Demons each stated their preferred weapons.

Xu Zong swept through his Celestial Realm treasure and quickly found several top-grade immortal long halberds, long spears, and great hammers, which he handed to the Celestial Demons. He then allowed them to choose a Dharma Door equivalent to the fourth level of the Celestial Palace from his storage treasure.

“Thank you, Master!”

The six were immediately overjoyed and even more grateful to Xu Zong.

Celestial Demons are straightforward; if you treat them well, they will naturally reciprocate with all their heart.

“You all enter my Celestial Realm treasure first.”

“Yes, Master!”

The six nodded in unison and were then taken into the Celestial Realm by Xu Zong.

Following that, a grey-white vortex opened in front of Xu Zong.

Xu Zong took one last look at the Mount Fangcun where he had lived for over five years and then stepped into the grey-white vortex.

…

In the world of The Nine Cauldrons, Teng Family Village.

More than five years, nearly six, had passed, and the entire Teng Family Village had undergone a drastic transformation. The appearance of a mountainous tribal village had long since vanished, replaced by numerous towering buildings and a large flow of people coming and going.

A grey-white vortex appeared, and Xu Zong stepped out from it. With a sweep of his divine sense, he took in the current state of Teng Family Village.

“It seems that Qingshan has indeed passed on the Xingyi Quan.”

Xu Zong nodded to himself.

The entire Teng Family Village looked like a holy land of martial arts. Countless practitioners of Internal Martial Arts from the Nine Provinces continent flocked to Teng Family Village, making it as broad as a county city.

Xu Zong moved and directly used the Void Shifting technique to arrive at the inner courtyard.

Teng Qingshan was writing in his study when suddenly a shadow loomed before him. Startled and thinking it was an attack from a high-level Daoist of the Hollow Void, he reflexively threw a punch.

With that punch, a sharp golden light wrapped around it, and he seemed to transform into a long spear. With a forward step and a chopping punch, he struck at the shadow above!