"Junior Du Xin pays her respects to the Starbound Hall Master!"
"Junior Ying Feng pays his respects to the Starbound Hall Master."
Du Xin and Lu Xiaotian successively bowed to the old man before them, who wore a starry daoist robe and had a slight, wiry frame.
"Mm. Young Friend Du has truly mastered the Nine Sublime Palace's teachings. To have fought her way out of that Cloudsteel Sand Domain—she's certainly raised the morale of our Heavenly Court's immortal army." The Starbound Hall Master nodded, pointedly ignoring Lu Xiaotian's presence. Yet in secret, he was watching closely to see how Lu Xiaotian would react.
"Speaking of which, I owe my survival to Fellow Daoist Ying's help. He also led me through the Cloudsteel Sand Domain this time, helping me evade the enemy's searches several times. Otherwise, the army of cloud-sand puppets inside would have surrounded me long ago." Du Xin put in a good word for Lu Xiaotian.
"Oh? It seems Young Friend Ying gained quite a lot after emerging from the esoteric Buddhist secret realm. His strength has improved considerably, and this time he's rendered such a remarkable service." The Starbound Hall Master smiled faintly.
"Fellow Daoist Du is just praising me. I was only trying to stay alive and doing what was expected of me. How could that be called a service worth rewarding?" Lu Xiaotian shook his head. He was in no hurry to claim credit; if anything, he wanted to refuse it. If the Yuxuan immortal army suffered heavy losses in the Cloud-Sand Domain because of him, and he was blamed for it afterward, Lu Xiaotian couldn't bear such responsibility.
"Young Friend Ying is truly modest. Since you also came out of there, why don't you tell me what you saw?" the Starbound Hall Master said.