Spirit Realm Yunlu Daoist Palace, Star Hub Hall.

Dharma Master Hong Jue reclined casually atop a radiant cloud of stars, playing with a Jade Scroll in his hand. As Chen Sheng walked in slowly, Hong Jue glanced up at him, eyes gleaming instantly, and put down the Jade Scroll with a laugh:

"Entered the third volume?"

Chen Sheng walked to the center of the hall, bowed respectfully toward the Jade Couch: "Fortuitously glimpsed a trace of the life and death opportunity, and finally entered."

Dharma Master Hong Jue sat up, and with a touch of his fingertips, a cup of celestial tea appeared out of thin air in front of Chen Sheng:

"You’ve learned to be humble now, haven’t you, lad?"

"The Five Volumes of the End, the third ’Life and Death’ isn’t the most grueling, but you breaking through so swiftly still exceeds my expectations. It seems your recent journey yielded great rewards."

Chen Sheng accepted the celestial tea, and as its aroma cleared his Heart Spirit, he asked: "Master specifically summoned me here, surely not just to test my cultivation, right?"

Dharma Master Hong Jue laughed heartily: "You’ve got some smarts."

"Your three senior brothers have many disciples under them. Now that your cultivation is accomplished, it’s time for you to pass on the legacy of the End pathway."

"This isn’t an errand I’m giving you; it’s your own Taoist lineage endeavor."

Chen Sheng immediately bowed solemnly: "Disciple understands! Passing on the Taoist lineage is a duty, Master can rest assured, disciple will carefully select a successor."

Dharma Master Hong Jue nodded in satisfaction and tossed over a Golden Token:

"Have your eldest brother Taiyuan arrange it for you. There’s no need to be too rigid with the rules, you can select both within and outside the Daoist Palace, pick a few promising seedlings."

...

Half a month later, in the Emperor’s Hall, where sandalwood incense curled gracefully, Taiyuan Daoist was organizing procedures in front of a water curtain. Seeing Chen Sheng enter, he eagerly waved:

"Junior brother is here, I’ve arranged the process for accepting disciples for you."

He pointed at the text on the water curtain, patiently explaining:

"In the Spirit Realm, we can be considered Great Powers; your and my identity are special indeed, and when accepting disciples, it has to be done with flair."

"First, organize a Dao discussion banquet, invite the friends from Yun State to witness."

"I’ve already informed the Daoist Academy and the other two Daoist Palaces to help promote and recommend it, then those who are interested in becoming disciples will naturally send in their Visit Cards."

"I’ve arranged for an initial screening to weed out those trying to fish in troubled waters, then have the remaining ones attend the banquet."

Chen Sheng leaned in for a look; the water curtain was densely packed with the process from Visit Card screening to banquet testing:

"Eldest brother is indeed meticulous, even the trivial matters are well arranged."

Taiyuan Daoist chuckled lightly:

"This isn’t all my doing, I merely set the plan; the ones executing it are your few senior nephews, disciples submit to their labor."

"In a few days, you’ll enjoy such treatments too. Oh, the Visit Cards have been mostly screened, and there are three thousand seven hundred left."

"So many?"

Chen Sheng had initially thought a few hundred would be plenty, given the traditionally strict selection for the End pathway lineage.

Taiyuan Daoist sipped leisurely from his tea cup and explained:

"Junior brother, you’ve spent so much time secluded cultivating, you’re unaware of your reputation in Yun State now."

"The youngest ten tribulation Great Power, a cultivator most likely to achieve Integration; yet to even pass the first Dao Tribulation, and already a top-tier Great Power..."

He recited Chen Sheng’s labels non-stop.

In the eyes of ordinary cultivators, the division of Refining Void Great Power is quite crude, roughly divided into novice, ordinary, first-class, and top-tier.

Typically, the first three Void Refinings are just entering, four to six are ordinary Great Powers, seven to nine are first-class, starting from the tenth tribulation is regarded as top-tier Great Power.

Top-tier Great Power is seen by many as an Integration candidate!

With Chen Sheng’s age, this point stands out even more!

Chen Sheng waved his hand: "This isn’t praise, it’s clearly setting me up; I just entered, how could I have ten tribulation combat power, what makes me a top-tier Great Power?"

Taiyuan Daoist set down his tea cup, his eyes filled with laughter:

"You can’t put it like that. Recently, Master and several other Dharma Master elders discussed Dao, and they’ve already revealed to the outside that you’ve cultivated the third volume of the End."

"The lineage of our End pathway’s legacy has gained some reputation; they naturally know what the third volume signifies,

"Entering the third volume equals having the ticket to ten tribulation combat power, those old fellows are shrewd, they’re desperate to send their juniors under your tutelage."

Well then, Chen Sheng realized, this is preemptively attributing combat power to me.

Taiyuan continued:

"By the way, how many disciples do you plan to accept? If you have enough energy, accepting more wouldn’t harm, it would bolster our lineage’s prestige." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Chen Sheng thought about having to also manage the Medium Thousand Worlds layout in the future, and immediately shook his head with a smile:

"Forget it, it’s better to have quality over quantity when accepting disciples; picking three or so that match my disposition and teaching them well is enough, too many and it would be hard to manage."

...

Soon enough, it was the day of the disciple acceptance banquet, the "Gathering Immortal Pavilion" within the Daoist Palace was richly decorated.

Seventy-two coiling dragon Jade Pillars were entwined in seven-colored immortal ribbons, rendering the entire pavilion dreamlike and surreal.

Chen Sheng wore a Moon White Daoist Robe, seated at the primary position, exuding an innate aura that commanded respect.

Taiyuan Daoist sat beside him to lend presence, with over ten Inner Sect Void Refining cultivators from the End lineage standing behind him, each with a steadfast aura.

Inside the pavilion were numerous guests; Elders from Yun State Daoist Academy had all arrived, esteemed Daoists from the other two neighboring Daoist Palaces attended personally, along with some Refining Void Great Powers from medium-sized sect forces.

Chen Sheng’s old acquaintances—Chen Xihua, Venerable Wuyue, Mansion Master Bai and others—were seated at a corner table, watching the grandeur of the pavilion with deep sentiment.

Chen Sheng stood, first exchanged greetings with various Daoists from the Daoist Palaces, then proceeded to the table of old acquaintances, smiling and bowing: