Chapter Fifteen: The Divine Mountain of Disarray

"Greetings, Master." The three spirits knelt on the ground, performing the ritual of three bows and nine kowtows to accept their master. Seated upon the divine throne, Nanluo nodded slightly, gazing at the three disciples he had just accepted. With a satisfied smile, he said, "Since you have entered my tutelage, you must abide by my rules."

"Please instruct us, Master!" The three spirits looked at Nanluo with burning eyes, speaking with utmost respect.

"First, all things are to be done for the good of our sect," Nanluo declared, his majestic and dazzling golden eyes fixed upon the three. His tone carried an indescribable severity and chill.

The interests of the sect, when laid bare, were simply the interests of the master. Yet Nanluo could not say this outright—it would seem undignified. Thus, he coined the phrase "the interests of our sect."

All three, being innate deities possessed of remarkable intelligence, understood precisely what Nanluo meant. They immediately bowed in respect and replied, "We obey, Master!"

The unspoken meaning of "We obey, Master" was certainly, "All things are at your command."

Seeing that his disciples understood, Nanluo nodded slightly, ever more satisfied, thinking to himself that clever students always put a master's heart at ease.

"Second, you must not engage in fratricide within the sect," Nanluo continued, his golden eyes as if peering into their very thoughts.

"Understood!" the three responded without hesitation or the right to dissent, bowing respectfully.

Nanluo nodded again and smiled, saying, "Rise."

"Rise?" The three spirits looked at Nanluo in disbelief.

Little Water hesitated, then asked shyly, "Master, are there only two rules?"

Little Fire and Little Wind also gazed at Nanluo, curious and somewhat embarrassed.

In their young minds, they had always imagined that a sect would have hundreds or even thousands of rules.

Nanluo saw straight through them and laughed, half exasperated, "What use are so many rules? We innate gods and demons have always acted as we please, unfettered by anything! So long as you remember these two, I am satisfied."

"Hehehe," the three laughed awkwardly, filled with yearning for the unfettered, joyous life of the innate gods and demons.

After all, though they were born as innate deities, they had always been hunted and had never enjoyed even a day of that carefree life.

"Enough. You may withdraw," Nanluo said, closing his golden eyes with gentle authority.

Instead of immediately leaving, the three exchanged a glance, stepped forward, and bowed respectfully. "Master, please grant us names."

Nanluo opened his golden eyes and looked at them, a trace of a smile on his lips. These three truly were perceptive and thoughtful disciples.

He was, of course, aware of the importance of bestowing names. Yet it was the disciple who should request it, not the master who should offer it unbidden. Thus, he had pretended not to remember, waiting for them to ask.

After all, without a name granted by their master, could they truly be considered his disciples? At the very least, not in a proper and recognized sense.

These three lived up to their innate divinity, insightful and considerate, taking the initiative to request their names.

"Little Water, I grant you the name Xuanyuan," Nanluo said, looking at the little one who, like himself, followed the laws of water, and favored him accordingly.

"Thank you, Master." No longer Little Water, Xuanyuan stepped forward, bowing with excitement and gratitude.

"Little Fire, I grant you the name Heavenly Fire," Nanluo said, looking at the innate fire spirit before him. Despite the contradiction between fire and his own water, he bore no ill will.

"Thank you, Master." No longer Little Fire, Heavenly Fire took a step forward, bowing with excitement and gratitude.

"Little Wind, I grant you the name Wind Princess," Nanluo said, gazing at the timid innate wind spirit. He was not entirely satisfied with her demeanor, but the little girl had potential—she simply lacked tempering.

Thus, Nanluo ultimately accepted her.

"Thank you, Master." No longer Little Wind, Wind Princess stepped forward, bowing with excitement and gratitude.

Nanluo regarded his three disciples with a nod of approval.

Suddenly, his golden eyes shone with dazzling, blazing light, releasing three beams of gold that shot straight into the foreheads of the three spirits.

Struck by the golden light, they instantly fell into a deep state of enlightenment from which they could not extricate themselves.

Blue laws of water appeared around Xuanyuan, enveloping him.

Heavenly Fire was wreathed in divine flames, as if the god of fire himself had descended.

Wind Princess was surrounded by azure winds, quietly lifting her into the air.

Seated upon his divine throne, Nanluo watched the three spirits in their trance, smiling. "Innate gods truly are different. As soon as they receive their inheritance, they fall into enlightenment. It seems that when they emerge, they will have become true gods."

His body suddenly radiated endless golden light, splitting off an avatar. He instructed, "Take them back to the Divine Food Hall."

The avatar waved its hand, collecting the three disciples, and vanished in an instant.

"This journey to Unbending Divine Mountain will surely be a storm of blood and slaughter," Nanluo thought, gazing at the distant, indistinct silhouette of the mountain, a growing sense of foreboding in his heart.

It was precisely because of this that he sent away the three, who would only have been a burden, in order to focus on the coming battle.

His golden eyes suddenly blazed with cold and majestic light. With a chilling laugh, he declared, "Then let the sky and earth be thrown into chaos, and let the sun and moon lose their light!"

Suddenly, across the nine heavens, endless dark clouds gathered. Countless bolts of lightning danced within the storm, intermittently flaunting their brilliance.

Beneath the boundless clouds, a divine vessel, radiant with golden light, sped swiftly toward Unbending Divine Mountain.

This mountain, transformed from the spine of the fallen Pangu, was the pillar of heaven in the Great Wilderness.

As the celestial pillar, beneath it flowed the ancestral dragon vein of the earth, while all around were myriad mountains and countless hidden dragons.

Unbending Divine Mountain was the greatest place of cultivation in all the primordial world, without equal.

Thus, the beings of the wilderness, whether drawn by reverence for Pangu or by the desire to possess a sacred ground for cultivation, flocked toward the mountain.

Yet, as the transformed spine of Pangu and the pillar of heaven, the mountain was suffused with his will, enough to overawe countless petty beings.

Unable to seize the mountain itself, the denizens of the wilderness waged fierce battles for the surrounding peaks.

In the end, the three major sovereign powers of Central Wilderness joined forces, vanquished all other contenders, and claimed the greater part of the mountain range.

The remaining sovereign forces each occupied a small section.

Thereafter, the three major powers of Central Wilderness sealed off Unbending Divine Mountain, forbidding entry to any below the rank of god-king.

These three were the Qilin Clan, the Central Wilderness Alliance, and Puppet City.

On a bright and peaceful morning, a divine vessel quietly arrived at Unbending Divine Mountain.

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