He was so surprised because, back in the Lower Realm, when Dongfang Yuejian had spoken of the Shangqing Clone Art, she had mentioned that an ancestor of their Dongfang Household had once encountered a mysterious cultivator named Kang Cangzi while traveling in Outer Heaven.
Not only had this cultivator mastered the Complete Shangqing Clone Art,
but his Daoist arts reached the heavens, and he was immensely powerful.
Seeing his reaction, the Old Palace Master asked curiously:
"Young fellow Daoist, have you perhaps met that friend of mine?"
Xu Taiping shook his head.
"I haven't met him, but I've heard of a cultivator who also goes by the Daoist name Kang Cangzi."
He then told the Old Palace Master everything Dongfang Yuejian had told him about Kang Cangzi.
After hearing Xu Taiping's account, the Old Palace Master froze.
Only after a long while did he draw a deep breath and say with a helpless smile:
"Kang Cangzi, oh, Kang Cangzi, you still haven't ascended? Could you still be fixated on that seventeenth Origin Law?"
He shook his head and sighed.
"This obsession of yours runs far too deep."
Hearing this, Xu Taiping asked curiously:
"Upper Immortal, do you believe the Kang Cangzi I just mentioned is that close friend of yours?"
The Old Palace Master nodded.
"In all likelihood, it's him."
He explained:
"No one understands his nature better than I do."
Xu Taiping immediately frowned.
"To think this Kang Cangzi was actually an Immortal Official from the time of the Ancient Heavenly Court. It seems finding him won't be so easy."
The Shangqing Clone Art he possessed was incomplete. Only by finding Kang Cangzi could he complete it.
Hearing this, the Old Palace Master lowered his eyes in thought for a moment. Then the corners of his mouth lifted slightly,