Thinking this, Xiao Hua took out a jade slip and looked it over again and again. Then he raised his head, seeming to search for the sun to determine his direction.
Suddenly, an extremely familiar Buddhist sense emerged from within the Mo Ran Black Forest, followed by an equally familiar voice transmission that rang by Xiao Hua's ear in utter astonishment. "Xiao Hua??? Why are you here! Hahaha, this truly is the Mo Ran Black Forest. How strange—how utterly strange!!"
Wasn't that laughter the very laughter of the humanoid figure that had appeared after the hidden path in the Mo Ran Black Forest was destroyed?
"Han Zhu??? Isn't he at the Taiqing Sect? How... how could he appear in the Mo Ran Black Forest? Could Bai Fei have been wrong?" Xiao Hua was utterly stunned. He stopped midair in disbelief and turned to look toward the Mo Ran Black Forest. Sure enough, a white-haired cultivator in a light-colored Taoist robe flew leisurely out of the forest. The old man had two thick, black broom-like eyebrows, and beneath them, his eyes carried a trace of surprise. The pale golden Taoist crown atop his head was especially conspicuous.
"This junior, Xiao Hua, greets Martial Uncle Han Zhu!" Xiao Hua did not dare be negligent and hurriedly bowed in greeting.
"Hehe, rise!" Han Zhu was quite informal with Xiao Hua. With a wave of his hand, he laughed. "You are now a resounding figure across the Xiaoyu Continent! You are no longer that Qi Refining brat this old man saw years ago! Your progress over these past decades has truly gratified this old man!"
Han Zhu had completely shed the harsh rebukes he had given outside Xuntian City years ago and treated Xiao Hua with great kindness.
"I would not dare," Xiao Hua