Fu Dongxu, initially wary, relaxed upon seeing the tree-like figure and hearing its voice.

He took a step forward into the air. “Fu Dongxu is here!”

The towering tree-person abruptly turned, its massive frame thudding against the earth with each step, truly possessing an earth-shaking momentum.

“Namo Amitabha, that scared me.” Ku Jue slyly retreated behind Fu Dongxu, muttering, “Who is this old fellow? So disrespectful? I wasn’t even looking for trouble… yet in Xuankong Temple, no one would dare speak to me like this.”

Ignoring him, Fu Dongxu advanced several steps and cupped his hands in greeting. “Senior Cang.”

The tree-person lowered its head, its emerald eyes devoid of emotion as it scrutinized Fu Dongxu.

Fu Dongxu held his cupped hands without lowering them.

After a moment, the tree-person split neatly down the middle, revealing a tall, white-haired old man with the face of a youth who stepped out.

It was as if he had pushed open a pair of inward-folding, semi-circular doors and emerged from his “house.”

The tree-person remained rooted in place, appearing to truly transform into a tree-house, its interior empty.

This was not Ku Jue’s first time fanning the flames; indeed, in this situation, his intervention was clearly unnecessary.

This strangely appearing white-haired old man walked up to Fu Dongxu, looked at him again, and then spoke. “I am quite old, Cang. So old that no one remembers me.”

“You jest,” Fu Dongxu replied. “With virtue and standing like yours, who would forget you?”

The Mirror World Platform leader’s demeanor was markedly different now, even adopting the etiquette of a junior. This clearly indicated the newcomer’s extremely high generation and extraordinary position within the Jing Country system.

“Is that so?” The white-haired old man continued to observe him. “Then why would someone arbitrarily command my disciple, place him in peril, and cause him to disappear?”

“Cough.” Fu Dongxu gently reminded him, “The Mirror World Platform reported this matter to you multiple times in advance. You agreed to it, actively participated in formulating the plan, and even traveled to Zhuang Country to find Zhuang Gaoxian… only then did this matter proceed.”

The white-haired old man’s accusatory momentum suddenly collapsed.

For a moment, he didn’t know how to respond or where to begin. He had rushed out in a fit of pique, determined to find someone, anyone, to hold responsible for this matter. Yet, he suddenly realized, “Good heavens, did I lose my disciple?”

He had forgotten something when he left the house!

The white-haired old man stood frozen.

As a junior, though also a True Person in cultivation, Fu Dongxu found it awkward to press the point and further embarrass his senior. He remained silent.

For a while, a peculiar silence descended upon the dense forest of Feng Hou, broken only by the rustling of leaves in the wind.

Fortunately, Ku Jue was present.

He enthusiastically emerged from behind Fu Dongxu and directly grasped the white-haired old man’s hand. “Ah, Senior Cang!”

The white-haired old man, caught off guard, found his right hand clasped. Seeing a bald monk before him, he couldn’t help but be surprised. “You know me?”

“How could I not?” Ku Jue said with a reproachful tone. “Senior Cang, a figure of high virtue and standing, how could I not know you?”

“Forgive me, my memory isn’t the best, perhaps from being in seclusion for too long…” The white-haired old man asked somewhat awkwardly, “And you are?”

Fu Dongxu began to speak. “He is…”

“I am Ku Jue!” Ku Jue gripped Cang Cang’s hand tightly and declared loudly, “No sect, no school, just a common person, now wholeheartedly pursuing the Dao.”

You wear a monk’s robe and shave your head, and you say you’re wholeheartedly pursuing the Dao…

Even if Cang Can were to remain in seclusion for another eight hundred years, he would find this statement utterly unreliable.

“Have we met?” He could only continue to ask.

Ku Jue showed no embarrassment. “Though we haven’t met before, we will certainly meet often in the future!”

“Ah, truly!” He shook his head. “I was just thinking you were about to make a move on my friend and was preparing to engage with you. Fortunately, I held back. This is truly like a flood washing away the Dragon King Temple; one family doesn’t recognize another!”

Fu Dongxu quickly interjected. “I am essentially not friends with him. This monk is from Xuankong Temple!”

“Didn’t we all leave?!” Ku Jue glared at him angrily.

Fu Dongxu’s heart was in turmoil. Xuankong Temple truly was a useful signboard. This old monk employed it so naturally, whether it was timely or not!

Cang Can was slightly taken aback. “One family?”

“Alas.” Ku Jue still held his hand tightly. “My disciple is Jiang Wang, the very one pursued by your disciple. Where is the logic in this fate? Now they have both disappeared. Shouldn’t we two sympathize with each other, share the same boat, become one family? As the saying goes, mountains are high and waters are complex, casting doubt on the path; pity the heart of the worldly master!”

Cang Can withdrew his hand, a strained smile on his face. “So, he is a Qi thief!”

“What words are these!” Ku Jue said reproachfully. “All are brothers within the four seas; the ends of the earth are like neighbors. We are of the same human race, the same sorrowful people, both searching for disciples… Why divide by country, separate by sect? Isn’t that laughable? Great love is boundless, fellow Daoist!”

“Words are easily spoken,” Cang Can said, unmoved.

“Easily spoken?” Ku Jue laughed coldly. “We, the generation of True Persons, understand the Dao and prove our hearts. How can anything be easily spoken? What is spoken must be done! I left Xuankong Temple precisely to shed the idea of sectarian division. Do you dare to leave your sect? We, the generation of True Persons, are free and unrestrained. What need is there to guard against sectarian division? The same applies to national division! I dare to curse Jiang Shu, do you dare to curse Ji Fengzhou?”

Ji Fengzhou was the taboo name of the current Jing Emperor.

Cang Can was slightly stunned and said, “I also dare to curse Jiang Shu!”

Ku Jue looked at him in surprise, perhaps not expecting this person to be so shrewd.

Fu Dongxu could no longer stand by and watch them chat. With a cold expression, he stepped forward, positioning himself between the two, and looked at Ku Jue. “Stop talking nonsense. Senior Cang is magnanimous, but that doesn’t mean you can be presumptuous!”

Ku Jue looked at Fu Dongxu with great injury. “Why do you treat us two differently?”

Fu Dongxu: ……

Did he even need to ask? Didn’t he know whose side he was on?

Ku Jue shifted half a step to the left, slightly exceeding Fu Dongxu, and said to Cang Can, “They chased people and didn’t even see them. I feel my disciple and your disciple can become friends. You don’t know each other until you fight!”

He paused for a moment. “We can also become friends!”

Cang Can realized that perhaps the era had changed, and he couldn’t quite keep up with the monk’s words. He turned to look at Fu Dongxu and asked, “What’s wrong with this person?”

“I don’t know either,” Fu Dongxu shook his head and counter-asked, “Otherwise, should we kill him?”

“Is it convenient?” Cang Can asked.

“Didn’t you hear him say he has no country and no sect?” Fu Dongxu said. “I think we can kill him casually.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Ku Jue said angrily, “Plotting to kill me to my face, is this reasonable?! Killing people damages the heavens!”

Fu Dongxu silently stepped aside, forming an angle with Cang Can. He reached out and swiped towards the sky, as if covering the sky with a layer of black cloth. Daylight instantly turned to night.

He said menacingly, “Then let’s cover the sky first.”

Ku Jue raised both hands. “I surrender! Jing Country is the world’s strongest country; it wouldn’t do something as low-class as killing a surrendering person, right?”

Fu Dongxu saw that although he had raised both hands high, his left hand formed the Vajra Seal, and his right hand formed the Fearless Seal. There was no sincerity of surrender whatsoever. Just as he was about to press the point further, his heart suddenly moved. His left eye instantly crystallized, becoming like colored glaze, with dense symbols flowing like a waterfall.

His faint killing intent dissipated.

“Zhongshan Yanwen is coming!” he said.