Hongyun was not surprised or astonished by Laozi's appearance.

After all, Laozi had not deliberately concealed his traces all the way here, and Hongyun had already sensed him while fighting Ancestor Minghe, so naturally, there was nothing to be surprised or astonished about.

Instead, he felt just a tiny bit of surprise that Yuanshi and Tongtian were not following by his side.

However, sensing the faint, powerful aura and pressure on Laozi that was different from before, Hongyun knew that Laozi had stepped into the Great Luo Golden Immortal Perfection realm a step ahead of him.

At the same time, he also guessed that Yuanshi and Tongtian should be in the stage of breakthrough right now, which was why they didn't follow along.

As for whether Laozi simply didn't want to deliberately call them over, Hongyun naturally had no way of knowing.

After listening to Laozi's words and giving him a deep look, Hongyun calmly replied: "What, Fellow Daoist Laozi asks these things now, could it be that you also want to spar and exchange blows with this poor Taoist just like that Minghe? If it is like this, this poor Taoist is actually quite willing!"

"This way, I can just happen to see the might of the Great Luo Golden Immortal Perfection realm, allowing my subsequent breakthrough to be a bit faster. Along the way, I can also experience the Great Dao of Pangu's Three Pure Ones and witness the demeanor of the head of Pangu's Three Pure Ones, which can be considered this poor Taoist not coming to these Kunlun Mountains in vain."

Listening to Hongyun's words, Laozi did not reply immediately, but instead looked at Hongyun with deep eyes, as if wanting to see whether Hongyun's recent use of the Great Space-Time Karma and Fate Restriction Technique to forcibly Seal the yuantu and abi swords truly caused him to have no consumption and burden at all.

"The yuantu and abi swords are supreme treasures born in response to the Great Wilderness's slaughter Dao, and they are extraordinary to begin with. Being controlled by Minghe, the slippery and powerful Lord of Destined Slaughter Dao, they possess even greater might. I dare say that even with my current cultivation at the Great Luo Golden Immortal Perfection realm, I have no certainty or means to forcibly Seal the yuantu and abi swords in Minghe's hands."

"Even if this Hongyun is extraordinary in strength and superb in Divine Ability, he shouldn't be able to appear so relaxed and at ease himself after sealing such a treasure. To say there is no form of consumption and burden whatsoever, I absolutely will not believe it. Moreover, his Three Lives Body Great Divine Ability should..."

Laozi's thoughts spun endlessly, but he did not make any moves. Instead, with a calm, non-contriving, and slightly detached tone, he said: "The fated opportunity here has already been forcibly collected by Fellow Daoist. Presumably, Fellow Daoist will not yield it anymore. If you and I were to fight again, I'm afraid it wouldn't have much meaning, and it would damage the harmony between you and me too much, which is not what this poor Taoist desires."

"However, following the Innate Gourd Vine of Mount Buzhou, you and I have met once again, which shows that the affinity between you and me is indeed quite deep. If we do not sit down and discuss the Dao, would that not fail our affinity and violate the will of heaven? I wonder what Fellow Daoist Hongyun thinks?"

"Hahaha... Since Fellow Daoist has such refined interests, how could this poor Taoist ruin Fellow Daoist's mood? To discuss the Dao with Fellow Daoist here for three thousand sessions is truly a great fortune between heaven and earth. This poor Taoist naturally accepts!"

Hongyun responded with a loud laugh, readily agreeing.

Immediately afterwards, Hongyun reached out and beckoned towards the horizon, causing two floating clouds to descend from the sky.

Hongyun sat cross-legged on one of them, then lightly patted the top of his head, manifesting an auspicious cloud.

Infinite Dao Rhyme naturally radiated from it, making him appear very composed and at ease, with an aura that was long, steady, and powerful, causing Laozi's eyebrows to twitch slightly upon seeing it, and a glimmer of slight doubt and uncertainty flashed across his eyes and disappeared.

Then Laozi gave Hongyun another deep look, his face maintaining its calm, non-contriving, and detached expression, hiding his specific thoughts.

He simply floated up and sat cross-legged on a floating cloud, his auspicious cloud manifesting, spontaneously initiating the sound of the Dao.

As the auspicious cloud shifted and transformed, it evolved all sorts of principles of heaven and earth.

Seeing this, Hongyun also chanted the sound of the Dao, the auspicious cloud atop his head shifting and transforming to evolve the principles of tens of thousands of heaven and earth Great Daos.

Gradually, it intersected and entangled with Laozi's shifting auspicious cloud, continuously colliding to spark profound, wonderful, and indescribable sparks of the Dao.

This was a profound method of discussing the Dao that one could only possess after becoming a Daluo Golden Immortal, using this to discuss the ultimate principles of heaven and earth with each other, mutually discussing and verifying the Dao they cultivated.

Those discussing the Dao could also most directly draw nourishment from each other, reap rewards, and constantly improve and perfect themselves, making it a top-tier Great Dao of cultivation.

This not only reflected the importance of companions among the four basic conditions of cultivators—wealth, companions, methods, and land—but also most straightforwardly explained why many powerful beings of heaven and earth in the Great Wilderness greatly liked and were enthusiastic about discussing the Dao, frequently preaching and expounding on the Dao.

That was not because they were bored and had refined leisure, but simply because this truly helped cultivation, and it was the Great Dao of heaven and earth!

...

Nine years later, the sound of the Dao ceased, and the auspicious cloud dissipated. A very brief discussion of the Dao among heaven and earth powerful beings came to an end.

After Laozi calmly nodded to Hongyun in acknowledgment, he floated up on his cloud and turned to leave.

"This Laozi is clearly trying to probe my true strength and condition, but I really don't know what other specific thoughts he has. This person's thoughts are simply too deep, complex, and unfathomable, giving people a feeling of being completely impenetrable."

"Comparing it this way, no wonder that Tongtian is so likable, and even that Yuanshi gives me the feeling of becoming pleasing to the eye."

Watching the direction in which Laozi went far away, Hongyun's thoughts surged, and his expression shifted uncertainly, making his specific thoughts difficult to discern.

After a long while, Hongyun withdrew his gaze, and then a slightly abnormal flush gradually appeared on his face, his aura slightly unstable.

If one were to look inward into the depths of Hongyun's Primordial Spirit, they could discover that the Three Lives Body flickered with a sense of chaotic Laws, becoming somewhat illusory.

It was sitting cross-legged in the depths of the Primordial Spirit, constantly and rapidly absorbing primordial qi through the chaos primordial qi bead to stabilize itself.

"You three Fellow Daoists have worked hard!"

Hongyun's Primordial Spirit swayed, bowing with cupped hands to the Three Lives Body.

"Fellow Daoist is too polite, you and I are one entity, there is no need for this!"

"Furthermore, with the chaos primordial qi bead continuously deriving primordial qi, it is actually not as serious as imagined. There is no need for Fellow Daoist to deliberately take action; as long as we properly recuperate and rest by ourselves for a period of time, there will naturally be no major obstacle. Fellow Daoist does not need to worry too much."

The Three Lives Body slightly opened its eyes and said to Hongyun's Primordial Spirit.

Hongyun nodded slightly, and only then did his mind return, while heading back toward the direction of the Fire Cloud Cave while pondering over some matters.

Nine years ago, Hongyun used the profundity of the Three Lives Body to cast the Great Space-Time Karma and Fate Restriction Technique to forcibly Seal the yuantu and abi swords. It looked like nothing was wrong, but in reality, it was not the case.

Just as Laozi guessed, although Hongyun's means were indeed superb, forcibly sealing the yuantu and abi swords produced no small amount of consumption and burden in all aspects, whether for Hongyun's main body or for the Three Lives Body.

At this time, if Hongyun and the Three Lives Body could calmly recuperate in an all-round and wholehearted manner together for a period of time, there basically wouldn't be too many issues.

But with Laozi's arrival, Hongyun naturally could not reveal any flaws.

Therefore, he first used the Hongmeng Heaven-Measuring Ruler in coordination with the Three Lives Body to forcibly suppress his own main body, generating no anomalies and revealing no flaws.

Then, he secretly used the chaos primordial qi bead to continuously derive primordial qi for the Three Lives Body to absorb and refine for recovery, while also recuperating Hongyun's main body and maintaining the function of suppressing the main body.

Only then did he avoid revealing flaws during the process of discussing the Dao with Laozi, preventing Laozi from seeing through his true condition.

But as a result, Hongyun became relaxed, yet the Three Lives Body did not have Hongyun's cooperation for all-round, wholehearted calm recuperation.

This caused the impact brought by the consumption and burden from all aspects on the Three Lives Body to continuously deepen, increasing severalfold, and suddenly becoming somewhat entrenched and difficult to reverse, shaking the Foundation of the Divine Ability.

This was why the current appearance of chaotic Laws and becoming somewhat illusory had emerged.

Fortunately, the primordial qi was indeed extraordinary, and under continuous absorption and refinement, it allowed the Three Lives Body to sustain itself, and even enabled Hongyun's main body to be recuperated and restored close to completion.

This made it so that even if Hongyun removed the suppression now, there wouldn't be too major a problem.

Had it not been for this, although Hongyun wouldn't be in danger, even if the Three Lives Body Divine Ability weren't crippled, it would likely have to recuperate and rest for a long time to come, temporarily unable to be used at all.

"Wait, could that Laozi have taken the name of discussing the Dao with the intention of completely crippling this Three Lives Body Great Divine Ability of mine?"

Having already quickly flown out of the Kunlun Mountains, a thought suddenly popped into Hongyun's mind, and he instantly stopped abruptly in the the void, looking back at the Kunlun Mountains.

His expression also gradually turned uncertain and gloomy.