Not only Lin Xun, but even Heng Xiao also felt like his mind had gone blank.

The founding ancestor of Xuanji Dao Sect was an Emperor who had made himself known throughout the starry skies in the ancient era. He was a legendary figure who would cause a stir in the entire Cloud State as soon as he made an appearance.

Despite that, he was currently kneeling to salute a young man like a junior would!

Anyone who saw this would probably go crazy.

The old man himself, however, didn’t show the slightest hint of unwillingness. His demeanor and speech were so natural that people would think his action was perfectly normal, as if it was just right and proper for him to do so!

Heaven, earth, king, parents, and teachers were to be respected, so although Lin Xun was only his teacher’s junior brother, Bo Yazi still considered him his senior!

After a long silence, Lin Xun reluctantly accepted this reality and said, “Bo Yazi, get up.”

Only then did the latter stand up. Then, he glanced at Heng Xiao and said, “You stay put here.”

This jolted Heng Xiao out of his trance. He hurriedly nodded.

“Junior Uncle, follow me.” Bo Yazi made a guiding gesture and led the way to the cave beneath Return Trove Peak.

Lin Xun followed closely behind.

Only after they disappeared from sight did Heng Xiao come back to his senses. He slapped his forehead and muttered, “Junior Uncle? Just who is Jin Duyi?”

……

It was a whole other world inside the cave. It was a spacious room with bronze lamps hanging on all the four walls and a praying mattress at the center of the floor.

“My seclusion place is a bit crude. I hope you don’t mind it, Junior Uncle,” said Bo Yazi.

“Senior…forget it, I’ll just call you Bo Yazi. Since you’ve recognized me as your…junior uncle, maybe you could listen to what I have to say?” Lin Xun was so helpless that he phrased his words awkwardly.

“Please feel free to speak your mind, Junior Uncle.” Bo Yazi’s expression showed that he was all ears.

Lin Xun’s lips twitched imperceptibly before he said, “While I’m indeed a bit higher than you in terms of seniority in our sect, I’m not using my true identity at the moment. So…how about you don’t address me as Junior Uncle?”

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Since Bo Yazi was not the pedantic type, he nodded. “Take a seat, Fellow Daoist.”

This made Lin Xun feel much more relaxed. He sat down on the ground.

Bo Yazi waved his sleeve. A low table appeared, on which rested a teapot and two teacups.

He asked while pouring tea, “Junior…Fellow Daoist, can you tell me about Teacher?”

Lin Xun thought about it and decided to just tell the old man his situation.

Learning that Lin Xun had never met Li Xuanwei either, Bo Yazi fell into a short silence before saying despondently, “That’s understandable. Teacher once mentioned to me that Fangchun Mountain accepts disciples based entirely on fate, who scatter throughout different worlds, and that most of the time they are only known by their names. Now it seems that he was telling the truth.”

Lin Xun agreed.

Over the recent years, he had only met Forty-Ninth Senior Brother Ghost King Xuan Kong, Ninth Senior Brother Ge Yupu, Eleventh Senior Brother Pu Zhen, and Thirteenth Senior Brother Li Xuanwei.

As for the others, he had only heard about the senior brother who mastered the Sacred Combat Art as well as Senior Brother Xue Ya, but he had never seen them in person.

Ge Yupu had also said that it was impossible to meet the other disciples who had fallen in the Dao War of Emperors again.

Lin Xun then talked about the occurrence when he had left the Kunlun Dominion.

Back then, he had entered a mysterious starry void and, while traveling through it, encountered one Emperor after another who had tried to block his path.

It had been Li Xuanwei’s wisp of will power that then emerged from the Three Thousand Vicissitudes and helped him repel them all!

This was why he had been able to leave that place unharmed. After six whole years of torment in the dead starry sky, he had arrived at Tianqu World in the Ancient Nebula Road.

Bo Yazi’s eyes glowed with awe and reverence as he listened to this story. He exclaimed, “Teacher never disappoints! Even if it’s just a wisp of his will power, it’s still not something those Emperors can contend with!”

Lin Xun was also emotional as he recalled those scenes.

Thirteenth Senior Brother Li Xuanwei’s dashing style was indeed without equal!

Bo Yazi said earnestly, “Although I don’t know his whereabouts, I believe that Teacher is still alive. That wisp of will power was definitely not the only thing left of him.”

Lin Xun nodded. “That’s what I thought as well, which is why I came to Xuanji Dao Sect to see you.”

How could an unrivaled figure like Li Xuanwei have died?

Whether it was Li Xuanwei, Ghost King Xuan Kong, or Ge Yupu, they all appeared to have fallen from what one would gather from Lin Xun’s meeting with them, but he always had this feeling that they would have gone out with a bang if that was really the case instead of leaving so quietly!

This feeling seemed quite childish, but Lin Xun would rather believe it.

He then realized something from earlier and asked, “You mean you don’t know where Senior Brother Li Xuanwei might be either?”

Bo Yazi shook his head. “Since our last parting, I’ve never seen nor heard of him again.”

A wave of disappointment surged in Lin Xun’s heart.

He had come to Xuanji Dao Sect to gain some clues for his search for Li Xuanwei, thus deducing the whereabouts of the other Fangchun Mountain disciples.

Now, it seemed that this plan wasn’t feasible.

Lin Xun mused.

Senior Brother Pu Zhen left too hastily. Moreover, he didn’t seem to want to tell me about matters concerning Fangchun Mountain…

He remembered clearly Ge Yupu had said that Li Xuanwei had only accepted Bo Yazi as a nominal disciple, and that he could try to pry some information from Bo Yazi.

Unfortunately, Bo Yazi couldn’t give him an answer either.

“Fellow Daoist, have some tea.” Bo Yazi handed a cup of tea to Lin Xun.

Lin Xun thanked him as he accepted the cup with both hands, then casually asked, “By the way, why did you go incognito all these years and remain here as your sect’s guardian?”

Bo Yazi sighed, “This, in fact, has something to do with my background.”

He proceeded to explain in detail.

After the end of the Dao War of Emperors in the ancient era, Bo Yazi had been on the road from Xuanji Dao Sect to the battlefield to scout for news when he had been met with the ambush of two Emperor experts.

In the end, he had escaped with serious injuries.

Only later on had he learned that those two Emperors were respectively from Panwu Dao Court and Heaven and Earth Dao Court.

As for why they had attacked him, it was because they had somehow found out that he was a disciple of Fangchun Mountain!

“At that time, I had only heard that some of Teacher’s fellow disciples had fallen in the battlefield of the Dao War of Emperors, so I wanted to collect their remains and bury them properly. Who could have thought that something like that would happen?”

Upon bringing up this matter, his face clouded over with resentment.

“Fortunately, I was hiding my identity at the time, so they only suspected that I was a disciple of Fangchun Mountain and didn’t recognize that I’m the founding ancestor of Xuanji Dao Sect. That’s why my sect narrowly escaped their sight.

“But even so, I couldn’t just go out in the open anymore, so I wove a lie and said that I had gone out to roam worlds. Otherwise, those people would only destroy Xuanji Dao Sect if they found out who I really was.”

Knowing the full story, Lin Xun then frowned, “Panwu and Heaven and Earth Dao Courts both view Fangchun Mountain as an enemy?”

Bo Yazi nodded. “Correct. Although I wasn’t a part of the Dao War of Emperors, I’ve heard that almost all of the forces that participated in it regarded Fangchun Mountain as their enemy.

“I’m not sure exactly how many of those forces there were, but it’s confirmed that behemoths like Panwu, Heaven and Earth, and Primordial Dao Courts, as well as the Imperial Kong Clan are among them.”

Lin Xun couldn’t control his shock.

This was the first time he had learned the identities of Fangchun Mountain’s enemies and that at least three of the Great Six Courts belonged to this category!

“What exactly happened during the Dao War of Emperors?” His heart drummed as the feeling that there was a hidden agenda behind this kept becoming stronger!

Come to think of it, Bo Yazi was an Emperor expert, yet he only had a smattering of understanding of the Dao War of Emperors. One could only imagine how deep the secrets behind this war were!

“Right!” Bo Yazi suddenly remembered something. He got up and walked to a stone wall, on which was painted a young man who stood in the sea of clouds, holding a three-inch jade bottle with a smile.

The young man was dashing and unrestrained like an idle crane. His eyes and lips were curved up into a reassuring smile.

This was a portrait of Li Xuanwei!

Lin Xun curiously came over and surveyed the painting.

“Look here, Fellow Daoist, it is the Dao Immeasurable Bottle that Teacher is holding,” said Bo Yazi.

Lin Xun looked closely and instantly saw something out of place. The bottle in the painting, even though it was drawn, appeared illusory and ethereal.

“Senior Brother, please excuse me,” he said to the man in the picture before reaching toward the painted Dao Immeasurable Bottle.

Bo Yazi wanted to stop him but ultimately decided against it. Since Lin Xun was his teacher’s junior brother, it wasn’t disrespectful of him to do so.

When Lin Xun’s fingertips touched the bottle in the painting, it felt as if they were touching nothing, as if they were passing through a curtain of light.

He suddenly had an idea. Taking out his own Dao Immeasurable Bottle, he pressed it onto the illusory one in the painting, and immediately, the two bottles fused together.

Buzz!

A magnificent shower of light drifted out, knocking Lin Xun back a few steps.

Bo Yazi’s pupils constricted at what he saw next.

Above the sea of clouds, the smiling Li Xuanwei seemed to come to life as a dreamlike dao light flowed out and streamed up and down him.

“Junior Brother.” The man in the painting casually stretched his limbs and said with a smile, “Last time we parted outside the Kunlun Dominion. Now, we finally meet again.”

His voice was bright and clear.

Lin Xun was utterly shaken, unable to believe his eyes.

“Oh, our little fisherman is here also.” Li Xuanwei blinked and laughed merrily.

Bo Yazi’s expression had changed completely, so excited that his voice cracked, “Teacher! Is it really you?”

Li Xuanwei’s eyes were flooded with emotion. “This portrait was created with my will power and left by me personally. Do you still think it’s fake now, little lad?”

Bo Yazi just froze there, his lips trembling.

It’s…it’s really my teacher Li Xuanwei!