Not a Clever One Among Them
Zhang Xuezhou's abilities are indeed inferior to Donghua's; he must admit this fact.
Zhang Xuezhou remembered that Donghua had been pursued a long time ago, and finally managed to get rid of the entanglement by having many dead souls chant their prayers.
At that moment, Zhang Xuezhou had a premonition, but the pursuers had already entered the greenhouse where he was.
Without a strong mental force to maintain the state of traversing the void, one would inevitably be attacked without realizing it, and might even think that they have encountered a spatial distortion.
"That old hag is acting crazy again, misleading me! You're not 'black' after all!"
A young face entered the greenhouse, dressed in a gray robe.
Seeing Zhang Xuezhou regain his senses and focus his attention, he was somewhat surprised, and then pointed to Zhang Xuezhou's soul and body.
Who is Hei?
Zhang Xuezhou looked out of the greenhouse.
The giant tree's pull remained, but the greenhouse he was in seemed to be stuck in a river flowing against the current, and his progress became extremely slow.
If the other party doesn't remove the ability that hinders the shuttle, Zhang Xuezhou will have a hard time completing this shuttle.
Instead of asking who the other person was, he asked who they were looking for.
"A hidden individual, an extraterrestrial cultivator who previously borrowed this artifact!"
The young man in the gray robe pointed to the greenhouse, providing relevant information with a hint of uncertainty.
He found the same traveler, but the greenhouse the other person was in was completely different from the one he had seen before. The greenhouse he had seen before was dilapidated and looked like it was about to let in the wind, and he needed to chant scriptures to ward off the calamities of the void. But the greenhouse he saw now was very new and did not look like the same treasure.
Are you looking for Donghua?
Zhang Xuezhou didn't need to think to know that the other party was looking for Donghua, and he could even vaguely guess the other party's possible identity.
"Donghua?"
The young man in the gray robe frowned slightly, realizing that the object he was looking for and the object he had targeted were different, and this realization made him feel somewhat uneasy.
"You're no better!"
Having learned the truth quickly, the young man in the gray robe seemed somewhat annoyed.
He reached out and pointed at Zhang Xuezhou in his soul form, then exclaimed in surprise and forcefully withdrew his hand that had shattered the soul.
"I didn't expect you to have such a good character; you actually won over Mudfish!"
Are you Hongjun?
Zhang Xuezhou had never seen a cultivator kill so swiftly.
He had chosen the most concise way to communicate, and then used the name 'Donghua' as a hook to steer the conversation, hoping to get the other party to hold Donghua accountable. If the other party had any needs, Zhang Xuezhou could provide assistance. However, after receiving incorrect information, the other party showed no interest whatsoever and chose to kill him directly.
The palpitating sense of danger gradually subsided in Zhang Xuezhou's heart, and he felt as if he had experienced the same palm strike that the Emperor had faced back then.
This is indeed a chasm, like the crushing force of being two levels higher in cultivation; this kind of flat, crushing pressure is hard to resist.
You two have a good relationship!
The young man in the gray robe nodded and exclaimed in admiration.
"You should know who the loach I'm talking about is," Hongjun asked.
"Are you referring to His Excellency?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.
"Your Excellency? Does Zhulong have to curry favor with me Mingdu?"
"Your Excellency" is a respectful title for Zhu Jiuyin, which sounds somewhat incongruous, but as long as there is someone above Zhu Jiuyin, this title will have its meaning.
"Does he need to perform global positioning to mark your soul?"
Hongjun pointed at Zhang Xuezhou, and a fiery red mark began to flicker in Zhang Xuezhou's previously normal soul, even appearing on the forehead of his soul.
Hongjun didn't need to ask endless questions; a simple response was enough to divert the discussion in other directions.
Zhang Xuezhou had no choice but to nod quickly.
He had come into contact with beings like Xuanming and communicated with Xuanming very smoothly, but when facing Hongjun, he was almost like a greenhorn, always struggling to grasp the key points.
"He wants to use my teleportation ability to build a soul-traveling channel so that he can discuss the Dao with outstanding cultivators from another world," Zhang Xuezhou replied earnestly.
"He's finally showing a little bit of normal thinking and knows how to properly utilize his talents!"
Hongjun sighed, seemingly quite dissatisfied with Zhu Jiuyin, much like a teacher looking at a foolish student.
"The coordinate markings he constructed are so-so; achieving normal communication in the void would be extremely difficult, even with your help, you piece of rotten wood. His skill is utterly pathetic!"
Hongjun pointed at Zhang Xuezhou's forehead several times, clearly very dissatisfied with the coordinate imprint that Zhu Jiuyin had hastily created using the Great Wilderness Creation Scripture.
"I'm thinking of pulling the other's soul over here, which will save us the trouble of long-term communication in the void," Zhang Xuezhou said. "As long as the soul goes with them, the two sides will definitely be able to communicate normally!"
"You're not smart either. How can such a small cart carry a mule? It'll probably have to turn back halfway," Hongjun said. "That cultivator who was exchanging ideas was also stupid, actually taking such a risk to travel through the void. If he's unlucky, he won't even be able to return with his physical body. Your attempt to emulate Zhuangzi's 'If I hear the Dao in the morning, I can die content in the evening' is utterly foolish!"
After cursing Zhu Jiuyin, Hongjun cursed Zhang Xuezhou Zhang Xuezhou, and then Ren Anran, who blindly followed Zhang Xuezhou into the fray. Hongjun was clearly extremely dissatisfied with the three parties' irrational behavior and even named specific cases for criticism.
"I hope the teacher will teach me!"
The more one enjoys cursing, the more one enjoys lecturing. Zhang Xuezhou, with a thick skin, displayed his old shamelessness again, directly bowing and begging to be taught.
"There's nothing to teach you. I just need to make a mark, using the traces left by this rotten wood as it drifts through the river of time and space!"
Hongjun was slightly taken aback.
Although it was a mess caused by a bunch of idiots, at least they weren't ashamed to ask questions, which was the only redeeming quality he noticed.
"If you don't understand, you should ask more questions," Hongjun said with a headache. "Your skills are not proficient, and you don't even try to figure them out. You don't even try to figure them out, and you don't even ask questions. You're like fools all day long, only knowing how to go into seclusion and travel around. Going into seclusion for a thousand years and traveling Three Realms will only increase your age, not your abilities!"
"That's right!"
Zhang Xuezhou nodded in agreement.
He vaguely felt that his memory was becoming somewhat hazy, and for a moment he forgot the question he wanted to ask Hongjun.
He was almost completely under Hongjun's guidance, unable to extricate himself, and even if he had something on his mind, he would forget it. Judging from this state, this was not a problem with Zhu Jiuyin and the Three Pure Ones Heavenly Venerables, but most likely a problem with Hongjun.
Ordinary people would even forget Hongjun's name, let alone face Hongjun. They would inevitably forget their previous thoughts and could only follow Hongjun's rhythm. In this state, communicating with him would undoubtedly make them look like fools.
In short, Hongjun was not wrong in criticizing this phenomenon, but the root cause of these problems lies with Hongjun himself.
"Not bad. Keep up the good work, and hopefully we'll have a chance to meet again someday!"
As a shiver involuntarily ran through his body, Zhang Xuezhou felt Hongjun's voice fade into the distance, and he realized he had regained consciousness in the Sinkhole No. 2.