"Shut up, Light," growled Darkness. "Boy, join me — I’ll make sure every desire you’ve ever had, and even those you haven’t thought of, are satisfied."
The great promise of fulfilling desire from Darkness oozed with temptation, his voice low and velvet-smooth, like poison disguised as wine.
If he had known what kind of desires Yu Xuan harbored in the depths of his wild imagination — including establishing a sect of battle maidens with wings, constructing a Kindergarten so he can rule the future generations, raising a fire-breathing goose army, or developing a pillow that takes away the sleeper’s anxiety and heart demons — Darkness would’ve choked him on the spot.
Unfortunately, Yu Xuan was too deep in thought, distracted by his mental checklist of impossible life goals.
Sensing an opening, the others jumped in with their offers like salesmen at a treasure auction.
A crackling voice echoed next:
"Listen, child, I am Daoist Thunder Jr. Pay no mind to these over-the-top fools. How about joining me for tea first?"
The speaker shimmered with sparks of vibrant blue lightning.
"Thunder, you dare poach my disciple?!" Darkness snarled.
Daoist Thunder Jr. remained composed, though the air around him pulsed with rising tension. The crackling of lightning intensified like calm before a storm.
Then came a deep, rumbling voice that sounded like mountains grinding against each other.
"Child... join my peak. I will shape you into one as strong and unmoving as the very earth beneath the heavens."
A massive projection of stone and crystal hovered mid-air — Daoist Terra, the Earth Peak Master, calm and heavy like a sleeping titan.
Suddenly, a distorted, echoing voice emerged, fragmented across space:
"Forget those fossils. Come with me, and I’ll show you the wonders between the stars," said a being that looked like a figure folded through space.
"Daoist Vastness, you dare steal what is not yours?" hissed another voice.
This one shimmered with emerald-green light and exuded a timeless, eternal calm — ageless, yet boundless.
Daoist Timeless had arrived.
He floated like a ripple on an ancient pond, the flow of time bending around his presence.
"Vastness," Timeless said coldly, "you only exist because I allowed the world to move forward."
Daoist Vastness scoffed, his voice echoing across space.
"And yet without space, where would your time even pass? Admit it — I am the superior."
Yu Xuan looked at the two figures now arguing over philosophical primacy and thought blankly:
’Is this the legendary Time vs Space arc now? Should I be taking notes?’
But before he could finish his thought, a slow, serpentine laugh echoed around the room:
"Kuhuhuhu... child... would you like a drink?"
A new figure emerged — her form like violet mist, and robe trailing into black liquid. Her aura reeked of poison, elegance, and danger.
Daoist Venomess, Mistress of the Poison Peak.
"Don’t be scared, dear child," she said, "My disciples are the most loyal... the most deadly... and very good at brewing tea."
Yu Xuan instinctively took half a step back. That sounded like the setup to a slow-acting assassination.
"Are we allowing poison cultivators to tempt disciples with bright future like me now?!" Light shouted. Light didn’t like it.
"She has a license," muttered Daoist Thunder Jr., shrugging.
Yu Xuan was getting whiplash from the barrage of offers.
Then, a ghostly voice whispered into his mind — cold and emotionless:
"Choose me. I am Daoist Seeking. No attachments. No emotions. Just pure cultivation and truth."
Yu Xuan almost nodded before he realized, ’Wait... this guy sounds like he’ll make me a monk.’
And before the madness could continue—
"ENOUGH!" boomed Elder Kun.
His sleeves flared with a powerful wave of qi, shaking the walls. The entire space trembled under his command.
"All of you! Stop treating this like a play! Let the child breathe!"
The room finally fell into silence — if only briefly.
And in that silence, Yu Xuan looked around and asked the one question no one expected:
"...What if I want to create my own peak?" he muttered, he knew his question was stupid but he wanted to ask that.
"...What did he just say?" Darkness whispered.
Daoist Waterfull gasped.
Daoist Thunder Jr. coughed.
Daoist Timeless ethereally shimmered and cracked.
Daoist Vastness... literally fissured across space.
Yu Xuan replied innocently, "...Was it something bad that I said that?"
"Hahahahaha...!", The one to laugh was Elder Kun, slapping his knee like an old sage knowing some hidden truth.
The others ignored him for now.
Darkness turned to Yu Xuan, eyes gleaming. Surprisingly, he wasn’t angry — quite the opposite.
"Such grand ambition! As expected of my disciple! Hahaha!" Darkness burst into booming laughter.
"Darkness, he’s not your disciple!" Light interjected sternly. Then, turning to Yu Xuan, he added, "Child, do you realize what you’re proposing is... highly unrealistic?"
Daoist Waterfull crossed her arms, her watery form swaying, unbalancing the equations.
"It seems you’ve let arrogance cloud your judgment. Someone must teach you humility."
"You’re right to have dreams, child," said Daoist Venomess said smoothly, "but even dreams require... qualification."
Daoist Thunder Jr. chuckled softly, remaining the most neutral.
"Let the child dream. Every hero began as a fool with a wish."
Daoist Timeless observed Yu Xuan quietly, his ageless eyes narrowing just slightly.
"...Are you saying this because of your affinity?"
"Ignore them," Daoist Vastness declared, warping space around himself dramatically. "Boy! Come with me, and I’ll show you galaxies that bend to your will!"
It seems Daoist Vastness didn’t care about his previous declaration.
The bickering resumed like squabbling immortals at a family dinner until —
"Elder Kun," Light said sharply, "have you finally gone senile?"
Elder Kun’s laughter sputtered into a dry cough, but a sly smile lingered on his face.
"Senile? Me? Heh... You brats think I say everything out loud?" he replied, dusting his robes.
The other projections exchanged puzzled glances. Was he hiding something?
Still chuckling under his breath, Elder Kun turned to Yu Xuan.
"Child... show them your medallion."
The room quieted again. Why would a medallion matter?
Without a word, Yu Xuan retrieved it from his space ring — the golden medallion that had been given separately to him during the soul trial, the one he’d quietly kept in the space ring as soon as the crystal popped it out.
As soon as the medallion was revealed, the room... reacted.