"Master?"
Xu Taiping now also recognized Lü Daoxuan, who was leaning against the Bronze Gate.
But the Lü Daoxuan before him looked neither like the green-robed Daoist who had posed as Recluse Sansan nor like the white-haired, white-bearded man who had appeared at the Mount Taiyue Immortal Abode.
The Lü Daoxuan before the two of them now not only had a body knotted with muscle.
Even his face looked far younger than at any other time Xu Taiping had seen him.
It was as though an aged soul had been placed inside a young man's body.
At the same time, they could see shackles and chains fastened around Lü Daoxuan's wrists, ankles, forearms, and upper arms.
Those chains trailed from his body into the gap beneath the Bronze Gate behind him.
But what truly confirmed to Xu Taiping that this man was his master, Lü Daoxuan, was the True Martial Back Tai Shang Mantra Flower Coin hanging around his neck.
This flower coin was precisely the treasure Xu Taiping had obtained from Youyun Pavilion to protect Lü Daoxuan against the corrosion of demonic qi.
After confirming his identity, Xu Taiping immediately tried to approach Lü Daoxuan.
But just as he tried to take a step, his feet seemed rooted to the ground, and he could not lift them at all.
Boom!
And at that very moment.
Lü Daoxuan, who had only just stood up, was sent flying by a palm shimmering with Five-Colored Radiance that reached out from the dazzling light.
Bang!
Lü Daoxuan's body once again slammed heavily against the Bronze Gate.
This time, however, the instant he was struck and sent flying, Lü Daoxuan seized the wrist of the arm reaching out from that dazzling light.
Boom!
A white-robed figure whose entire body shone with gemlike Five-Colored Radiance,