There seems to be some natural naivety in Li Qingquan who finally reacted, kneeling down again and saying, "Disciple Qinglingzi, greets the grandmaster!"
Hong Jun raised his hand in an offering gesture, an invisible force lifting Li Qingquan. He stroked his short beard beneath his chin and said with a chuckle, "Ah, there's no need for such excessive courtesy!"
"Now that everyone is here, let us continue our journey!" Hong Jun glanced towards the Western horizon and spoke indifferently.
Everyone replied, "Agreed!"
In the Southern Wilderness, the Yellow Spring Sea.
"Huang Quan, fellow daoist, I am Hong Jun! Today, under the guidance of the grandmaster, I came to visit!" Hong Jun stood at the edge of the vast yellow sea that stretched out endlessly and shouted towards the distance.
After a long pause, the calm sea stirred into rolling waves, and an ancient-styled pavilion rose from the center of the lake. An elderly man with kindly eyes and a gentle expression inside the pavilion clasped his hands and greeted, "Hahaha, this morning I saw birds approaching and knew joyful events were coming. Little did I expect it would be Fellow Daoist Hong Jun. Truly a joyous occasion! Hahaha…"
Hong Jun tossed out the Tai Chi Diagram, transforming it into a rainbow bridge. Leading his three disciples, they stepped onto it while he said, "Fellow Daoist Huang Quan is too modest. Today we came without invitation, and if Fellow Daoist doesn't blame us, it is indeed a great fortune!"
"Hahaha, you two old fellows, stop being so courteously false to each other!" A middle-aged man wearing a dark black robe stepped out from the sea. "You old chaps, having known each other for years and still putting up such a pretense, it's making my ears calloused listening to it!"
At those words, Li Qingming, standing behind Hong Jun, was covered in metaphorical black lines on his forehead, pressing down: "Yet another weird old creature appears, and he's utterly blunt!"
"Oh? Nine Nether, it's indeed rare to see you!" Hong Jun lightly raised his eyebrows and said.
"You old geezer, fully aware that I and Huang Quan are as brothers, yet still behaving so hypocritically! Truly despicable!" Despite Nine Nether's harsh words, his face was filled with smiles.
"Jiu, mind your words. There are juniors present!" Huang Quan's eyebrows twitched as he admonished Nine Nether.
"I get it, lecturing me again!" Nine Nether waved his hand impatiently, suddenly fixating his gaze on the two brothers Li Qingming, making Li Qingming suspicious whether Nine Nether had some sort of improper interest.
Nine Nether said, "These two little fellows are quite intriguing! I say, Old Tao Hong Jun, I didn't expect under your guidance to have two such impressive people!"
Hong Jun smiled and replied, "Oh? From where do you draw such conclusion?"
"That fellow has a past and present life filled with obscurity, I can only faintly see a huge panda," Nine Nether pointed towards Li Qingming and then moved his pointing hand towards Li Qingquan, continuing, "This little fellow has no past life, and in this life he unexpectedly dons a yellow robe, abounding in Qi Fortune; moreover, his original form is also a Swallowing Sky Bear! Let alone what these two youngsters will become in this life, merely having the original form of a Swallowing Sky Bear is already extraordinary! Fellow Daoist, you really have good calculations!"
Hearing this, Li Qingming was stirred, thinking to himself, "Donning a yellow robe, Qi Fortune abounding?" He scanned Li Qingquan who was smiling cooperatively at that moment, unable to imagine that soon after, this naive younger brother would be clad in a yellow robe, full of authority! Then he thought to himself, "It seems I must plan well for him!"
The Three Pure Ones were also deeply astonished, murmuring to themselves, "Swallowing Sky Bear, what is that?"
Hong Jun first gave a mysterious smile, saying, "I haven't schemed anything; this is merely an opportunity!"
"Alright, Jiu, stop causing trouble! Fellow Daoist Hong Jun, may I ask what brings you here today?" Huang Quan really couldn't stand it anymore and redirected to the main topic.
After thinking deeply for a while, Hong Jun said, "Both fellow daoists might already know, Luo Hou has established a Demon Sect in the Western lands, bringing the entire West under the Demon Sect's domain. I fear it won't be long before he marches towards the East. Given the current strength of the Innate Three Clans, trying to resist Luo Hou is like a fool's dream. I have come today to request the help of both fellow daoists to jointly oppose Luo Hou!"
Huang Quan fell silent for a long moment before asking, "What is your plan, fellow daoist?"
A sharp light twinkled in Hong Jun's eyes as he replied:
"Challenge Luo Hou, to determine the fate of Qiankun!"