Feeling Hongjun teleport him out, Tongtian breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness, thank goodness."
Looking at the long-missed light, Tongtian could not help shedding tears of joy.
At the same time, Tongtian heard voice transmissions from his eldest brother Laozi and second brother Yuanshi.
"Watch your words and actions in the future."
"You... sigh, handle those matters yourself. Consolidate your cultivation soon."
Though the two had gone into cultivation, Tongtian had been their younger brother ever since they had taken form.
Ever since Hongjun had taken him away, it would have been a lie to say they had not been worried. Thus, they had kept watch over everything happening on Xuanqing Peak.
Yuanshi had originally wanted to lecture Tongtian further, but remembering that their master had only just sent him back, all the reprimands on his lips became a single sentence.
Hearing his eldest and second brothers' words, Tongtian's nose suddenly stung.
This was also the first time since taking form that he had been separated from Laozi and Yuanshi for so long.
Tongtian nodded toward Eight Sceneries Palace and Jade Void Palace, then returned to his own Biyu Palace.
"Hmm? Why is it still sealed?"
Tongtian examined the hall doors before casually removing the restriction upon them.
The instant the doors opened, seven animals covered in bruises stared blankly at Tongtian.
Long-Eared Rabbit reacted the fastest, immediately dropping to his knees at Tongtian's feet.
"Master, please uphold justice for us!"
Seeing this, the other living beings immediately understood Long-Eared Rabbit's intent and began talking over one another to Tongtian.
"We wholeheartedly seek the Dao, yet we were humiliated for no reason."
"That, that senior brother even wanted to drive us away."
As they recounted their tale, they did not mention a single thing they themselves had done. The warmth in Tongtian's heart gradually began to fill with chill.
"That senior brother even said our origins were too lowly and that we were unworthy of becoming your disciples."
"He also forbade us from telling you, saying he would beat us even harder otherwise."
"Poor us—we took form without anyone to guide us. We finally found an opportunity, only for it to be so difficult."
Perhaps because there were so many of them, the more they spoke, the more outrageous the story became.
In the end, Tongtian listened to their tearful complaints with a livid face before saying directly, "Enough."
As soon as Tongtian spoke, they stopped talking, though their crying became especially piercing.
Long-Eared Rabbit, having jumped around the most earlier, had been beaten the hardest by Nan Ji.
His eyes darted about, and he hugged his rabbit leg while softly groaning, "Ow, ow."
Listening to them, Tongtian instinctively felt that the Nan Ji they described seemed like an entirely different person from the one he knew.
But on second thought, there had only been three people on Xuanqing Peak at the time.
His eldest brother would not do such a thing, and his second brother would disdain doing so. That only left Nan Ji.
With that thought, Tongtian waved his hand, and a shower of Spirit Dew immediately scattered over the seven.
As the Spirit Dew fell, the wounds on their bodies slowly vanished.
"You may cultivate here for now. Your master will return shortly."
As he spoke, Tongtian thought he should still go find his second brother.
The closer Tongtian came to Jade Void Palace, the more uneasy he felt. The longing for Yuanshi he had felt in Purple Heavens Palace gradually faded.
Thus, Tongtian changed direction and headed for Eight Sceneries Palace.
But before Tongtian even reached the entrance, Laozi's voice sounded by his ear. "Nan Ji has gone to the East Sea. If you insist on taking in those seven living beings, accept them as attendant boys. You cannot directly impart the Three Pure Ones Primordial Scripture or our teacher's Yellow Court Scripture to them."
Though Tongtian could not make sense of it, he realized Laozi's words were reasonable.
Thus, Tongtian returned to his Biyu Palace and accepted the seven as attendant boys.
He then taught them several rudimentary methods of transformation before beginning to consolidate his cultivation and deduce cultivation techniques within Biyu Palace.
Meanwhile, although Nan Ji had left in high spirits, he only felt helpless once he truly departed Kunlun.
The Great Desolation was so vast, and its living beings numbered far more than trillions.
Though Nan Ji knew those people's names, he did not know where they were.
Thinking of this, Nan Ji gradually slowed down. Then inspiration struck, and he muttered to himself, I may not know the four direct disciples, but surely the Three Goddesses Xiao know?
The East Sea, Three Immortal Island!
Thus, based on the Three Pure Ones Primordial Scripture the Three Pure Ones had taught him, Nan Ji quickly determined the location of Three Immortal Island.
When Nan Ji landed, the beating of his wings slowly blew away the spiritual mist surrounding him.
"Huh? Where is everyone...?"
At a glance, Nan Ji found no one on the island, so he swept his divine sense across the entire island.
Sure enough, he discovered three living beings hiding in the deepest part of the island.
Nan Ji stepped onto the ground. Without even using an earth-escape technique, he entered the earth through the Wine Crystal laws brewed by the Twelve Ancestor Witches.
Upon reaching the island's deepest region, Nan Ji discovered a hidden world within; the center was actually hollow.
However, Nan Ji did not suddenly appear before the three. He stopped while still some distance away and said, "Fellow Daoists, Nan Ji of Xuanqing Peak has come to visit."
Seeing that Nan Ji had found them even here, the three Xiaos did not continue hiding.
"Fellow Daoist Nan Ji! Since you are here, come in." A woman's voice came from within the cave.
Only after receiving the three Xiaos' permission did Nan Ji head deeper into the cave.
After entering, he found that the space was not particularly spacious.
Seeing Nan Ji's graceful, otherworldly appearance as a young man, Yunxiao quietly lowered her guard and explained, "Please forgive the laughter, Fellow Daoist Nan Ji. I am Yunxiao. These are my second sister Qiongxiao and youngest sister Bixiao. We are being pursued by enemies and had no choice but to hide here."
"Uh, there were no living beings outside just now. May I ask who your enemies are...?"
Nan Ji scratched his head and asked curiously.
After all, he clearly remembered that one of the Three Goddesses Xiao's treasures was called the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors.
It seemed that treasure had been transformed from two flood dragons.
Bixiao was the youngest. Seeing Nan Ji ask, she immediately said, "Who else could it be? Those two Primordial Yin-Yang Flood Dragons beneath the sea around Three Immortal Island often come bully us."
Hearing this, Qiongxiao kindly said, "Fellow Daoist, you should leave quickly. Our elder brother has already lured those flood dragons away. If they come looking again, we will have no choice but to flee."
"Huh? Then your elder brother is still being pursued by those flood dragons. Is he in danger?" Nan Ji hurriedly asked.
After all, Zhao Gongming could be considered one of Uncle Tongtian's fine disciples. He absolutely could not be killed by those two flood dragons.
"Our elder brother Zhao Gongming was transformed from innate pure qi. How could those two flood dragons possibly catch up to him?" Bixiao answered bluntly.
Qiongxiao anxiously looked at Bixiao and said, "Oh no, why did you reveal our elder brother's true form?"
"I... Fellow Daoist Nan Ji does not look like a bad person." Bixiao replied aggrievedly.
"But you still cannot..."
Yunxiao, however, could only look helplessly at her second sister Qiongxiao and third sister Bixiao before explaining, "Please forgive the laughter, Fellow Daoist. Our elder brother..."
"It's fine, I'll be right back!"
Nan Ji did not want anything to happen to his uncle's foremost outer disciple, so before Yunxiao could finish, he turned and left.
When Nan Ji reached Three Immortal Island, he extended his late-stage Grand Unity Golden Immortal divine sense into the surrounding area and began searching for Zhao Gongming and the two flood dragons.
Before long, Nan Ji indeed found Zhao Gongming.
Though he had never seen Zhao Gongming before, that man was being chased into a miserable state by two flood dragons.
Nan Ji immediately transformed into his true form and, with a beat of his wings, arrived before Zhao Gongming in an instant.
"Fellow Daoist, please stop."
Before you continue