"!"
"Huayuan!"
"Wonderful! It really is you!"
The person flying toward them was undoubtedly Ancestor Linghu himself. Before he had even arrived, he was already cheering as he hurried to greet Li Huayuan.
However, he hadn't come alone. He had brought Li Huayuan's junior brother, Lei Wanhe, along with more than a dozen Yellow Maple Valley disciples, some of whom Li Huayuan knew and some he didn't.
"Senior Brother Li!"
"You're back?"
Seeing him, Lei Wanhe, who was following behind Ancestor Linghu, hurriedly bowed to Li Huayuan and asked with delight.
"Ah!"
"Greetings, Martial Uncle Li!"
"Greetings, Martial Uncle Li!"
"Martial Uncle Li!"
"Greetings, Martial Uncle Li..."
The Yellow Maple Valley disciples who followed the two men down to the ground didn't dare be neglectful either. They all bowed to Li Huayuan.
"..."
Looking at the frail, elderly Ancestor Linghu before him, then at Lei Wanhe and the Yellow Maple Valley disciples, Li Huayuan's thoughts swirled. In the end, all he could do was sigh.
"Huayuan pays his respects to Ancestor!"
At last, he had no choice but to bow respectfully to Ancestor Linghu first.
After all, whatever else had happened, he and Ancestor Linghu had once been master and disciple. Though there was no saying in the cultivation world that a master was a father for life, proper etiquette was still essential.
"Junior Brother Lei."
Then he turned and cupped his hands to Lei Wanhe, acknowledging him in greeting.
"Good, good, good!"
"What matters is that you're back!"
"You have no idea—in the past few days, I was just talking about you with your junior brother Lei..."
"Hm?!"
"Wait..."
Ancestor Linghu was about to continue exchanging pleasantries when he suddenly seemed to notice something unbelievable. His eyes widened slightly, and he took two steps back, scrutinizing Li Huayuan from