Upon hearing the information provided by True Man Yuanling, Yu Sheng didn’t speak for a mont, but fell into a brief recollection and pondering.
He had very little contact with the figure claiming to be "Yun Qingzi," but just from that brief encounter, he didn’t see any "cultured and friendly" aura from him, although to say how "crazy" he was... evidently, he hadn’t reached that level either.
Mood swings? Split personality? Possession?
An ancient power who lived from the "previous era" to this day, a powerful ancient figure who could traverse freely in the fringe areas of the galaxy, what could he have encountered to reappear in such a clearly troubled ntal state after disappearing for a millennium? True Man Yuanling ntioned that Yun Qingzi went missing after a fierce battle with so formidable enemy, so what exactly was it that clashed with him at the border of the galaxy?
Yu Sheng furrowed his brow in thought, but his train of thought was soon interrupted by a figure suddenly rushing into the great hall.
The little junior brother of Xuan Che, nad "Xuan Yun," dashed in from outside, shouting excitedly as he ran: "Master! Master! Master Uncle and the others are back!!"
Yu Sheng was montarily stunned by these words, then imdiately reacted—
The Master Uncle of Xuan Che, with his legendary experiences and nurous female confidants who was unfortunately captured ten years ago by a fairy while nightclubbing downhill, has recently been rescued and returned!
Yu Sheng vaguely recalled that one of the main reasons he ca to Qianfeng Ling Mountain was to et this strange man... He never expected to encounter even more bizarre situations before eting the person.
Oh, destiny is truly unpredictable.
Just as he was contemplating this, he saw two rays of colorful light flying in from the auspicious clouds of the Immortal Mountain outside the great hall, then landing inside, transforming into two figures in the blink of an eye.
One appeared to be middle-aged, tall and thin, with a long, lean face, wielding a horsetail whisk, dressed in a light purple Taoist robe, exuding an aura of an immortal—Yu Sheng rembered seeing him in a news section of the Border Communication; if he recalled correctly, this should be the presiding elder of Qianfeng Ling Mountain’s Beast Taming Bee, True Man Yuanhe.
The other was truly remarkable; though middle-aged in appearance, he was majestic, with sword-like brows, starry eyes, and an imposing deanor, wearing a moon-white long shirt, with white hair and brows, despite a sowhat pale complexion, of extraordinary temperant. Yu Sheng took just one glance and felt that this person could easily appear as the central character in cinematic works—spanning twenty pages of relationships of all ages and genders.
Moreover, he was evidently the handso yet tragic type—career utterly ruined, romantic failures leaving him with nothing but misery. In the finale, lying atop the ground, with the cara circling around his unbearably handso face.
The true Sect Leader of Qianfeng Ling Mountain, presiding elder of Divine Weapon Peak, Master Yuan Hao.
Yu Sheng was montarily dazed before seeing True Man Yuanling step forward, but the old man didn’t have ti to speak when the handso elder opposite already retreated half a step, clasped his hands: "Third Junior Brother has already greeted us on the way."
True Man Yuanling staggered slightly, lifting his gaze to the side at True Man Yuanhe, showing so dissatisfaction.
True Man Yuanhe flicked his horsetail whisk: "Couldn’t hold back."
"When Senior Brother is at fault, how can a Junior Brother truly act," True Man Yuanling’s face stiffened as he regarded his senior and junior, not knowing who the words were addressed to. Then he coughed twice, stepping half a step to the side, adding, "Today, we have honored guests present, let’s not discuss botherso matters—this is Mr. Yu Sheng from the Boundary Land, whom I ntioned to you in communications a few days ago, and this is Miss Erin, a puppet from Alice’s Cottage."
Yu Sheng quickly carried Erin forward to greet them, while True Man Yuanling continued introducing: "This is the elder of Qianfeng Ling Mountain’s Beast Taming Peak, also my junior brother, Yuan He... this is my senior brother, Yuan Hao, also Qianfeng Ling Mountain’s true Sect Leader..."
The old man’s tone when saying "Sect Leader" sounded as if his molars were bleeding...
"I’ve heard about it, heard about it," Master Yuan Hao appeared dignified but conversed with a calm and ordinary tone. First, he casually observed Yu Sheng several tis, before suddenly smiling, "The affair of ’Angel Fall’ shook all realms, I was thinking at the ti if I had the chance, I really wanted to see this expert..."
Just as he finished speaking, True Man Yuanling furrowed his brows from the side: "You were able to receive external news ’at that ti’?"
Master Yuan Hao’s expression was a bit subtle, he awkwardly smiled before replying: "She... usually lets see the news and such."
Yu Sheng saw the opposite’s state and nearly couldn’t hold it back...
During this process, Erin on his shoulder had been turning her head around, observing, alternating her gaze between Yuan Hao and Yuanhe, then staring at Yuanling, occasionally furrowing her brow in thought, until finally unable to resist, she pointed at the white-haired, youthful-spirited True Man Yuanling: "Why are you so old?"
True Man Yuanling: "...Ah?"
Erin has always been straightforward: "Your two senior and junior brothers look so young, especially your senior brother. How co your image turns out to be an old man?"
"Ahem, for cultivators like us, appearances can sotis be misleading," True Man Yuanling coughed awkwardly twice, "I’m not too concerned with such matters. Besides, I have to take on the responsibilities of acting as the sect leader and keep a batch of unruly disciples in line, so..."
Before he could finish, Erin gave an "oh," and the little puppet nodded seriously, "I get it, it’s like how the less hair a programr has when applying for jobs, the more senior they are, right?"
Yu Sheng covered his face, "That’s just a stereotype."
Erin put her hands on her hips, "Stereotypes exist for a reason!"
"... Actually, Erin has a point," True Man Yuanling said with a smile, "And I’ve looked like this for many years, I’m quite used to it. If I really changed my appearance, it wouldn’t matter how others react, I might not be able to adjust myself."
"Oh," Erin nodded, then rolled her eyes and pointed at Master Yuan Hao, "Then with his looks, he must have many romantic tribulations..."
Yu Sheng couldn’t take it anymore, reached out to cover the puppet’s entire face, while explaining to the old handso guy opposite, "Don’t mind her, she’s just candid... Don’t bite! Let go! Let go!"
Master Yuan Hao wasn’t upset. Instead, he laughed self-deprecatingly upon hearing Erin’s words, "Ah, you’ve seen right through , my apologies."
After chatting a bit, once everyone was familiar with each other, True Man Yuanling lightly coughed twice and directed his gaze towards his senior brother.
"Senior brother, you’ve had a hard ti all these years, and you’ve been traveling tirelessly lately. Why not rest today, and tomorrow we..."
Before he could finish, Master Yuan Hao waved his hand, "No rush, I’ve had quite enough ’rest’ these years. I’m actually more eager to move around right now, and I just heard... lately sothing unusual happened around the Taixu Spirit Hub?"
True Man Yuanling raised an eyebrow slightly, then spoke with a tone tinged with helplessness, "Ah, I knew you wouldn’t be able to sit still, especially after learning about recent events. Indeed, so things have happened lately — it all started with a peculiar exotic realm discovered above Taiyou..."
True Man Yuanling proceeded to relay all the details concerning this peculiar exotic realm to his long-awaited-at-ho senior brother, especially emphasizing the mysterious "Emperor’s Legacy," and various traces seemingly pointing to an "old world" found within the realm. After explaining, he pondered briefly and added, "Currently, we suspect that the scope of that exotic realm is much larger than we imagined, with entrances on both Taiyou and Taixu Spirit Hub. There may even be ’rifts’ leading to that realm in other parts of the Feiyu Star Domain."
Master Yuan Hao (Yu Sheng actually wanted to directly call him old handso guy) listened intently throughout, frowning in thought for a long ti before looking up at Yu Sheng again, "You encountered a group of unidentified black-clad cultivators, all wearing peculiar masks, who claid to be searching for that ’Emperor’s Legacy’?"
"Yes, and they attacked as soon as we t," Yu Sheng nodded, "Now I suspect they weren’t specifically lying in wait for us, but rather stumbled upon us while looking for ’heritage’ clues in the exotic realm, and acted suddenly to prevent news from leaking — it’s just that they lost the fight."
Master Yuan Hao continued to frown, pondering for a mont, then suddenly raised his hand and conjured sothing into existence, displaying it before Yu Sheng: "Is it a mask like this?"
Yu Sheng: "...?!"
He was dumbfounded staring at the mask conjured out of thin air by the old handso guy, noticing its dark color and surface marked with bizarre cratered patterns, resembling dried tree bark or wavy patterned stone, exactly like the ones previously worn by the black-clad cultivators, leaving him utterly astonished.
Even True Man Yuanling beside him was stunned, "Senior brother, where did you get this?!"
"Over ten years ago, near the border at an abandoned outpost," Master Yuan Hao said casually, "At the ti, my Flying Boat malfunctioned..."
Just as he began to explain, Erin already had her eyes wide open, "Was there ever a ti your Flying Boat worked properly?!"
"Don’t interrupt," Yu Sheng imdiately poked the little puppet (though he was quite tempted to ask the sa question), then looked at the old handso guy in front of him, "Go on, go on."
"Uh, back then the Flying Boat malfunctioned, forcing a landing in an asteroid belt. While in a bind, I found an abandoned outpost built on an asteroid and planned to use the remaining materials there to repair the Flying Boat’s Spiritual Disc.
"Initially, everything went smoothly. Although the outpost had been abandoned for years, its structure was still intact, with many things inside being useful. But as I ventured deeper into the outpost, things began to appear bizarre.
"Deep within the outpost, I discovered so rooms that logically shouldn’t exist at all — so rooms repeated endlessly, one after another, so rooms exceeded the boundaries of the outpost structurally, and so were empty yet brightly lit, always filled with strange noises and shadows...
"And in one of those bizarre rooms, I found a mask like this, and a dead black-clad individual within."
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