Return to the Celestial Sanctuary

Standing to the side, Zhuge Jinglong, Dugu Qirong, and Gongsun Yanguang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the disciples they offered were all prodigies highly valued by their family patriarchs, what if this Holy Ancestor didn't think much of them?

After all, the ten disciples under him already represented the absolute pinnacle of talent in the entire Nine Heavens Realm.

If he found it annoying and got angry, the loss would outweigh the gain.

Thank goodness it went well.

Little did they know that Gu Changyuan's cultivation was closely tied to the disciples under his faction.

The more disciples he had and the higher their talents, the faster his cultivation would improve.

Such a good thing delivered right to his doorstep was exactly what he wished for.

Seeing that Gu Changyuan had finished discussing matters with the five family heads, Xu Mengyao, who had been holding back for a long time, finally found her chance and leaned in.

With sparkling eyes, she stared at Jun Mukong and Jun Anshi behind Gu Changyuan, teasing with a smile:

"Master, you just came back from the Western Regions. Where did you pick up these two grand-disciples?"

She couldn't help it; Jun Mukong and Jun Anshi's appearances were simply too outstanding. The young man was handsome, the young woman was beautiful, and both had extraordinary temperaments.

Even if their cultivation wasn't high, it was hard for Xu Mengyao not to notice them.

As for why she assumed they were grand-disciples and not ordinary disciples...

In Xu Mengyao's eyes, her master had exceedingly high standards. He wouldn't bother bringing back disciples with mediocre talent for his own disciples to take in.

They would at least need to reach the talent level of someone like Dugu Shiling or Xuanyuan Lanfeng before he would let them join his disciples' tutelage and become grand-disciples.

These two before her must have met her master's standards to be brought along by him.

Prompted by Xu Mengyao's words, the gazes of the five family heads finally fell uniformly on Jun Mukong and Jun Anshi.

Earlier, they had been entirely focused on the Shangguan and Xuanyuan families sending their disciples into the Holy Land, paying no mind to these two unfamiliar youths.

Looking closely now, the two indeed had striking appearances, truly one in ten thousand.

However, when they circulated their probing secret arts to check the duo's cultivation and talent, they all frowned.

The cultivation the two displayed was merely at the Golden Core Realm, and their talent seemed completely ordinary, hardly counting as outstanding.

Hearing this, Gu Changyuan raised his hand and lightly knocked Xu Mengyao on the head.

"Is that how you talk about your junior brother and junior sister?"

Junior brother and junior sister?

Xu Mengyao froze.

The hand covering her head slowly dropped, her mouth forming an "O" shape as her eyes widened.

Junior brother and junior sister?!

Not grand-disciples, but junior brother and junior sister?!

Her master had actually taken in two new disciples?!

She whipped her head around, her gaze landing on the two again as she scrutinized them carefully.

But no matter how she looked, she could only see that their cultivation and talent were ordinary, with absolutely nothing remarkable about them.

Xu Mengyao wasn't the only one thinking this; the five family heads were also shaken, the confusion on their faces instantly replaced by shock.

One had to know that Gongsun Qingling was currently the most talented among the younger generation of the five great families, yet even she hadn't managed to become this senior's direct disciple.

It seemed the true talent of these two was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.

Gu Changyuan looked at Jun Mukong and Jun Anshi, waving them over.

"Xiao Kong, Xiao Shi, come here."

Hearing this form of address, the corners of their mouths twitched.

Xiao Kong? Xiao Shi?

Wasn't the speed at which their master changed their nicknames a bit too fast?

But they didn't overthink it—he was their master anyway, so how he wanted to address them was up to the old man.

The two obediently stepped forward.

Pointing at Xu Mengyao beside him, Gu Changyuan introduced:

"This is your Ninth Senior Sister, Xu Mengyao."

Jun Mukong and Jun Anshi hurriedly bowed:

"Ninth Senior Sister."

A radiant smile immediately bloomed on Xu Mengyao's face. She took a step forward and patted both of their shoulders, one with each hand.

"Good, good, good! To be exceptionally taken in as disciples by Master, your talents must not be low! In the future, if your senior sister gets into trouble, I'll have to rely on you two to back me up!"

Jun Mukong: "..."

Jun Anshi: "..."

The expressions on their faces instantly stiffened.

A Half-Immortal powerhouse, asking two Golden Core kids to back her up?

Does that even make sense?

Listening from the side, Gu Changyuan couldn't help but raise his hand again and knock Xu Mengyao on the head.

"A senior sister who doesn't properly take care of her junior brother and sister, but instead asks them to take care of her."

Gu Changyuan shot her a glance.

"You really are quite the senior sister."

Ignoring her complaints, Gu Changyuan clapped his hands lightly.

"Alright, since everything is settled, it is time for us to return to the Holy Land."

His gaze turned to Dugu Shiling at the side:

"Shiling, do you plan to stay here and keep your master company for now, or return to the Holy Land together with us?"

Dugu Shiling didn't hesitate in the slightest, respectfully replying:

"To answer Ancestral Master, I will stay here and keep my master company for now."

Gu Changyuan nodded slightly. "Very well."

Subsequently, his gaze shifted to Gongsun Qingling, Xuanyuan Lanfeng, and Shangguan Zhuoye.

"Let's go. I will take you back to the Holy Land."

The three looked respectful, hastily voicing their agreement as they quickly walked over to stand beside Gu Changyuan.

The surrounding crowd bowed one after another to respectfully send them off.

Gu Changyuan gave a slight nod and waved his right hand—

A soft light enveloped everyone.

In the next instant, everyone vanished from the Zhuge family's plaza. When they reappeared, they were already at Tianyuan Mountain of the Heaven and Human Holy Land.

Heaven and Human Holy Land, Tianyuan Mountain.

With a flash of light, Gu Changyuan and his group appeared out of thin air.

At this moment, several figures happened to be gathered at the top of the mountain.

They were precisely the disciples who had remained in the Holy Land—Bai Ling'er, Xiao Yi, Qin Yu, Fang Yuwei, Yun Tianhe, and Han Feng.

Sensing their master's aura, they immediately converged together.

Seeing their master bring back so many people at once, the faces of Bai Ling'er, Qin Yu, and the others were filled with curiosity.

Qin Yu was the first who couldn't hold back, blurting out loudly:

"Wow! Master, did you go and ransack an entire family? How did you bring back so many disciples all at once!"

As his voice fell, the entire scene went quiet for a moment.

Beside him, Fang Yuwei wished she could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

Her husband was great in every way—stable personality, kind-hearted, hardworking in cultivation, and impeccable in how he treated her.

It was just that his brain was sometimes truly missing a screw.

He spoke completely without thinking.

She could only look helplessly at Gu Changyuan.

Gu Changyuan, however, didn't mind.

He understood this sixth disciple of his too well.

He smiled, turning sideways toward the people he had brought, and began to introduce them:

"This is Gongsun Qingling, who is now Lingxi's disciple."

Gongsun Qingling took a step forward and bowed slightly to everyone.

"This is Shangguan Zhuoye, possessing the Crimson Sun Spirit Body."

"This is Xuanyuan Lanfeng, possessing the Flowing Wind Shadow Body."

He looked at Xiao Yi:

"Little Yi, Zhuoye's physique is also of the fire attribute, sharing the same origin as yours. From now on, he will enter your tutelage."

Then he looked at Han Feng:

"Little Feng, Lanfeng's physique belongs to the wind attribute like yours, so he will enter your tutelage."

Hearing their master's introductions, all the disciples widened their mouths in shock.

Their master had merely taken a trip to the Central State, yet he had actually packed up and brought back all the top-tier prodigies of the five great families.

Especially Gongsun Qingling, who was currently in the limelight in the Central State; who didn't know she was a once-in-a-millennium genius?