Mo Fan ultimately chose Situ Yunzhen, and immediately knelt on one knee before him.
“Disciple Zheng Dao pays respects to Master!”
“Hahahaha…!”
“Good!”
Situ Yunzhen’s face lit up with joy upon hearing this. He then laughed heartily and said, “Zheng Dao, rest assured, you will never regret the choice you made today!”
With that, he waved his hand casually, and a vast force immediately lifted Mo Fan, who was kneeling on one knee, from the ground.
At this moment, Ancestor Yunshang beside them let out a helpless sigh, but then smiled at Mo Fan. “Since you have made your choice, it can only mean that you and I are not fated to be master and disciple. I hope that under Brother Situ’s guidance, you will advance even further. I look forward to seeing our Sacred Ground produce a sixth Nascent Soul cultivator in the near future!”
“This disciple will certainly do his utmost and not disappoint the ancestor’s high expectations!”
Mo Fan cupped his hands towards Ancestor Yunshang. She nodded, then her figure flashed and vanished from the spot.
When Yunshang reappeared, she was already in mid-air. She then announced, “This ancestor declares that this year’s sect grand competition has concluded!”
“At the same time, this ancestor has another announcement to make!”
“From this day forward, Zheng Dao is removed from the Heavenly Ranking and promoted to the third direct personal disciple of our Tianlu Sacred Ground!”
Yunshang’s voice was not loud, yet it spread throughout the entire Tianlu Dao field.
With a flash of light, Mo Fan vanished directly from the spot.
By the time his group of “grass protectors” arrived, Mo Fan’s trace had long since disappeared.
Among the women, Lu Qianqian stared blankly for a long while at the place where Mo Fan had vanished, murmuring, “Senior Brother Zheng Dao, I clearly should congratulate you, yet why can I not say it out loud… Compared to you becoming a direct personal disciple, I would rather you remained first on the Heavenly Ranking. That way, there would be no distance between us…”
Just then, a figure appeared beside Lu Qianqian and sighed. “Girl, stop standing there foolishly. Come back with Grandpa!”
“Grandpa, I have clearly tried very hard. In order to get a little closer to Senior Brother Zheng Dao, I also managed to squeeze onto the Heavenly Ranking. Yet why is he still so far away from me, to the point where I cannot even say goodbye…”
Lu Qianqian turned her head, looking at her grandfather with a face full of sorrow.
“Girl, the fates of all of us were actually predetermined long ago. Some are born as divine eagles that soar through the heavens, while others are destined to flounder in the mud for their entire lives.
Zheng Dao is merely someone who has been toyed with by fate for a time. He may appear to have been born in the mud, but in truth, he is bound to rise straight up sooner or later!
From the moment those two Nascent Soul ancestors set their sights on him, you and he were already people from different worlds!”
“Grandpa, I am so tired. Do you think Senior Brother Zheng Dao will remember me?”
“But it does not matter. Becoming a direct personal disciple is far better than being a core disciple, after all. I should be happy for Senior Brother Zheng Dao!”
Lu Qianqian smiled bitterly, her expression desolate.
Seeing his granddaughter like this, Lu Yao shook his head, yet said meaningfully, “Sometimes advancing too quickly is not necessarily a good thing. Although everyone yearns to be a direct personal disciple, within those enormous benefits also lie enormous risks!”
“However, we cultivators are destined to defy the heavens from the moment we step onto the path of cultivation. This life will never be peaceful!”
…
Mo Fan naturally had no idea that his sudden departure had broken the hearts of so many women.
He had been taken away by Situ Yunzhen. During this process, Mo Fan’s heart was filled with apprehension, fearing that his false identity would be seen through by Situ Yunzhen.
Fortunately, Liu Zhengde’s skin-painting secret art was extraordinary and did not arouse the slightest suspicion from Situ Yunzhen.
After soaring through the clouds and mist for a while, Mo Fan followed Situ Yunzhen to the summit of a high mountain.
The mountain was called Cloud Mist Peak, and it was also Situ Yunzhen’s place of cultivation.
As soon as he arrived at Cloud Mist Peak, Mo Fan saw countless figures sitting cross-legged at the mountain top, cultivating by inhaling and exhaling the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
“The one thing this master has loved most in his life is imparting knowledge and teaching disciples. So, as you can see, all the cultivators on this mountain are disciples who have acknowledged this master.”
Situ Yunzhen pointed at the figures cultivating below, and his words shocked Mo Fan so much that his mouth hung open.
In Mo Fan’s view, this was somewhat exaggerated.
He could understand a mighty Nascent Soul expert like him imparting knowledge, but having hundreds of disciples all over the mountain was a bit excessive, was it not?
Of course, at this moment, Mo Fan did not dare to voice his thoughts.
Perhaps seeing through what Mo Fan was thinking, Situ Yunzhen smiled. “Of course, they are different from you. They are merely this master’s registered disciples, whereas you are this master’s fifth direct personal disciple, and also the only surviving direct personal disciple at present!
So your status is far above theirs.”
Only after hearing Situ Yunzhen say this did Mo Fan feel much better. Otherwise, if all his desperate fighting had only earned him the same treatment as hundreds of others, he would have found it rather hard to accept.
However, soon his brows furrowed slightly again. There was a lot of information revealed in Situ Yunzhen’s words. He immediately asked, “Master, does that mean the four senior brothers ahead of me have all died?”
“Yes, they have all died!”
Situ Yunzhen sighed helplessly, which made Mo Fan’s heart feel a little uneasy.
Good heavens, becoming his disciple seemed to come with a rather short lifespan!
“These are all painful matters for this master, so I will not mention them further. But rest assured, in the future this master will certainly let you inherit my mantle!”
Situ Yunzhen smiled faintly, then proceeded to introduce Mo Fan to the registered disciples below.
“Pay respects to the eldest senior brother!!”
The disciples all opened their eyes, then stood up and bowed respectfully to Mo Fan.
Although Mo Fan was only Situ Yunzhen’s fifth direct personal disciple, since the previous four had all died, he naturally became the eldest senior brother of these registered disciples.
“There is no need for such courtesy, everyone!”
Mo Fan quickly waved his hand, indicating that the cultivators could continue their cultivation.
Seeing this, Situ Yunzhen smiled, then explained many things that Mo Fan needed to pay attention to as his disciple, as well as the benefits and so on…
After a long while, he finally bestowed a token upon Mo Fan and smiled. “This is the direct personal disciple token. With it, you may go to the Sacred Ground’s scripture depository to browse cultivation methods suitable for yourself!
At the same time, you may use this token to go to the Merit Tower to receive corresponding cultivation resources!”
Mo Fan was immediately delighted upon hearing this. This was a good thing!
After accepting the token, he tentatively asked, “Master, is the Tianlu Derived Spirit Art in the scripture depository?”
“The Tianlu Derived Spirit Art is one of the three town-sect cultivation methods of our Tianlu Sacred Ground. Naturally, it is not in the scripture depository. Even this master cannot transmit it to you privately. Instead, you must go to the forbidden ground to seek Ancestor Wuji’s bestowal.”
Situ Yunzhen explained with a smile, “This is because of the Sacred Ground’s rules. To prevent the three great methods from leaking out, whenever a direct personal disciple wishes to cultivate the complete versions, they must go to the forbidden ground. Not only to receive the transmission from Ancestor Wuji, but also to have him place a spiritual restriction preventing the method from being passed on.
So if you wish to learn it, this master will shortly apply to Ancestor Wuji on the matter. Only after Ancestor Wuji agrees can this master truly take you there.”
Mo Fan nodded upon hearing this, then quickly bowed to Situ Yunzhen. “Then I will trouble Master with this!”
“It is no trouble. You are my disciple, so naturally I must help you. However, before that, this master suggests you first visit the scripture depository to see if there are any cultivation methods suitable for you.”
“Yes!”
The next day.
Mo Fan left Cloud Mist Peak early in the morning and headed to the scripture depository.
Situ Yunzhen stood at the mountain summit, gazing at Mo Fan’s receding back. His originally gentle gaze gradually turned cold, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly upwards.
