"Talk it out? How can we talk it out when this old guy is trying to steal my disciple!" Ancestor Martin huffed, his beard bristling and eyes wide.
Ancestor Cyrus retorted indignantly, "Ian Song’s talent for formations is so high—if he doesn’t learn formation arts from me, staying here is just a waste of time!"
"A waste of time? Are you saying I don’t know how to teach a disciple?" Ancestor Martin gritted his teeth.
"Have you ever had a disciple before?"
Ancestor Cyrus sneered coldly.
"I just prefer quality over quantity!" Ancestor Martin declared with conviction. "Besides, my disciple even invented a new pill-refining Divine Ability. With talent like that, he should study pill-dao with me. What’s he going to learn from you—some random formation stuff? Now that would be a waste of time!"
"Nonsense!"
Ancestor Cyrus shouted back, "What’s so great about pill-refining? It’s boring and exhausting, takes forever and drains your mind. It can’t compare to the endless variety and excitement of formation arts!"
"You two Senior Brothers, since Ian Song is gifted in both pill-dao and formations, why not let him apprentice under both of you? Is there any point in all this arguing?"
The usually stern and taciturn Ancestor Grimm spoke up, and the two instantly stopped bickering, both looking thoughtful.
After a moment of silence—
Ancestor Martin looked at Ian Song and asked, "Disciple, are you willing to study formation arts under your Martial Uncle?"
"I am willing!"
Ian replied. Although the Divine Temple had plenty of formation manuals, he’d always been self-taught in formations. If he could get a good teacher’s guidance, his formation skills would surely improve a lot.
"Ha! Wonderful!" Ancestor Cyrus couldn’t help laughing out loud. "Good disciple, hurry up and kowtow to your master!"
Ian didn’t hesitate—he knelt down and gave Ancestor Cyrus nine loud kowtows.
"By the way, Third Brother, you still haven’t given my disciple a meeting gift, have you?"
Ancestor Cyrus helped Ian up, then turned to Ancestor Grimm.
"That's right, Third Brother, don’t be stingy like some people!" Ancestor Martin chimed in. Although he’d agreed to let Ian apprentice under Ancestor Cyrus, he was still a bit unhappy about his disciple being split in half. So, whenever he got a chance to tease Ancestor Cyrus, he wouldn’t miss it—though, of course, he was also hoping to get some extra benefits for Ian.
"Exactly, Third Brother, your gift had better not disappoint!" Ancestor Cyrus nodded in agreement, seemingly oblivious to Ancestor Martin’s teasing.