After their lunch, everyone started preparing in order to go out. There was one problem though.

-Do I have any clothes I can use A'Jiu? Luo Binghe asked. His clothes were not appropriate for where they were going. Moreover it was drenched in the blood of the Old Palace Master from when Akabane was mutilating the man.

-Hmm. Yan'ge should have some robes that fit you. Go ask him.- Shen Jiu told him. He really should have let Luo Binghe go and pack his stuff before letting him come here.

-Alright. I'll be back, A'Jiu!- Luo shouted as he walked to Xie Yan’s room. The bamboo cottage was simple in structure. When you walk in, you stand in the living room, which had three hallways connected to it. The right hallway will lead you to the dining room and kitchen, and the left will lead you to the bath. The last hallway leads to all the bedrooms. Basically, it was your ordinary house.

(If only the residents of the house were also normal, you'd have a perfect household.)

Luo Binghe came into Xie Yan’s room and asked for some clothes. Sure enough, Xie Yan had this one robe that was fit for the occasion.

-What's the occasion, Yan-gongzi? This one doesn't know what event needs such fine clothes to which we were allowed to go to.- Luo Binghe questioned.

-There is a festival in the place we're going to. The Miraj Festival.- Xie Yan explained. -It is a festival that showcases the cultures of the Five Founding Huaban[1]. You see, when they started building their empire, they sought out people from cultures of their choosing, and together, they built a foundation. They ascended and had enough power to move between the heavenly and earthly realm. They are the strongest beings in this realm but are secretive, only people they deem worthy ever get to know of their existence.- Xie Yan elaborated.

Luo Binghe, however, was left even more confused. He has not heard about these people before. And that is saying something considering that when he searched the continent for his Shizun, he found out about many titles. Shogunate was the people who ruled the Land of the Rising Sun[2], President for the Pearl of the Orient Sea[3], Maharaja in Aryavarta[4], Emir in the Land of the Two Holy Mosques[5], and Iama for The Roof of the World[6].

But he had never heard of the Five Founding Huaban before. Were they on another continent? That could be the reason why he was not able to find his Shizun. But that also didn't make sense. He ordered his demons to search every nook and cranny of the demon realm and earth, and that included all the portals that leaded to different parts of the world. His demon underlings can be pretty stupid though, so he supposed it did make sense that they didn't inform him about all the rulers in the world.

(He didn't about their name being native to their country. A lot of foreigners also named stuff off of their language, saying that Chinese words were beautiful and flowery.)

-Will we get to meet them?- Luo Binghe asked. He wanted to know what these people were like. They were surely astounding if they were able to make people of different nations live together in unity.

-Most likely. After all, it's been a while since me and Jiu'er checked in with Mother, so she might be worried. Especially after the trial incident.- Xie Yan concluded.

Luo Binghe’s mouth gaped and his mind stopped working, leaving him so out of it, Xie Yan had to help adjust his robes a bit. His Shizun was acquainted with the Five??? Xie Yan too?! Moreover, one of them is their so-called mother??!!

Seeing his expression, Xie Yan stopped what he was doing and asked him, -Jiu'er didn't tell you?-

-No, he didn't.- Luo Binghe told him.

-Hm. Just be patient with Jiu'er. That part of his past is a memory I assume he doesn't want to disclose just yet.- Xie Yan admitted. When they found Jiu'er and took him to Mother, she admitted that was not the first time she had met Jiu'er.

She looked at Jiu'er with sad eyes and Akabane and Xie Yan decided not to discuss it any further.

-A'Bing! A'Yan! Hurry up or me and A'Jiu will leave you!!- Akabane’s voice called out.

-Coming.- Xie Yan shouted. -Come on, Bing'er, let's go.-

-Mn.- Luo Binghe replied.

They left the house and spotted Akabane and Shen Jiu near a rock, and Luo Binghe’s soul left his body when he saw what his Shizun was wearing.

Sure, Luo Binghe himself looked amazing. His inner layer was white with gold highlights with a light red outer robe, with black lace designed as dragons at the end of the red robe.

But Shizun looked mesmerizing. He had three layers from what his eyes could see (he knows that there are way more layers). The first one was grey, like the one he would usually wear except lighter. The second one was a very light green, Shizun’s signature color (again unusually paler and lighter), with a dark forest green used to make Plum Blossom at the end of the robe. The outermost layer was white with cranes at the end of his sleeve made from a light green grey silk.

-A'Jiu looks even more beautiful in such fine robes!!- Luo Binghe shouted as he hugged and nuzzle his Shizun.

-Nonsense!- Shen Jiu huffed, a pink tint could be seen from his ears and cheeks. Who knew the little beast could be so sticky? -Let go of me so we can go already!- Shen Jiu demanded.

-Okay, A'Jiu...- Luo Binghe said, drooping as if he were a puppy told that his owner can't play with him at the moment.

(Luo Binghe then realized everyone had white color inner robes and light colored outer robes except Shizun, who had white on the outside instead. He thought it odd considering everytime he saw the two, Akabane and Xie Yan would wear dark colored clothes.)

-Why is everyone wearing white and light colored robes?- Luo Binghe asked.

-Oh. That’s because all of the Five Founding Huaban's hair are white! They also wear light-colored robes everytime you see them, with the occasional dark color on their sleeves.- Akabane informed.

(All of them have white hair?) -Were they born with that hair color?- Luo Binghe asked as they started walking.

-Yes, they were.- his Shizun replied. -The leader of The Five Founding Huaban was the one who took care of all the other Huaban when they were children. No one knew how purely white her and others' hair was because they purposefully showered it with ink and dirt.- his Shizun said as a matter of fact. -Everyone only found out about her hair color when she and the others were submerged in water during their coronation day.- his Shizun told the story as if he saw it with his very own eyes (he didn't by the way).

'Shizun sure does know a lot about the Five Founding Huaban.' Luo Binghe was in awe of all his Shizun knew. Yan-gongzi told him further details about them while they were still changing. From what he gathered, the Five Founding Huaban are very powerful yet elusive and mysterious figures. It only made him more amazed when he realized what Yan-gongzi said was true, they really did know the Five Founding Huaban at a personal level!

-Ah! Here we are!- Akabane suddenly exclaimed, snapping Luo Binghe out of his thoughts. In front of them was a curtain of Vines. Akabane opened it and everyone went out, leading to a path way and... a dock?

Luo Binghe then realized something that left him shook to the core. Under the dock, it was not serene blue waters, but fluffy white clouds.

'We're on a floating island?!?!'

-Binghe?- Shen Jiu called out. He knew Luo Binghe wasn't ready for this. He should've really just explained to him first instead of listening to Akabane to surprise him.

[]

-Come on, A'Jiu, it'll be fun!!- Akabane pleaded.

-I'm not sure. He might've seen the whole continent, perhaps the whole world plus the demon realm--

-Which is exactly why he'll be fi--

-But. The whole world had not seen a floating island. The last time anyone saw a floating island was when the Five Founding Gods still didn't seal themselves, back when they created an abode to watch over mortals and immortals alike.- Shen Jiu reasoned.

But Akabane kept pestering him, until finally, he gave in to Akabane’s request.

'Even Tianlang Jun wouldn't keep pestering me like this. I wish Mother sent someone else to patrol the area with Yan'ge that day.'

[]

Luo Binghe was brought out of his tupor when he heard Shizun’s voice. -Yes, A'Jiu?-

-Are you alright? I know it can be a bit overwhelming.- Shen Jiu asked, and Luo Binghe melted.

-Is A'Jiu worried about this one?- Luo Binghe asked teasingly.

Shen Jiu sputtered. Then Xie Yan called out, -Jiu'er! We got our ride!-.

-Coming!- Shen Jiu replied. He extended his hand to Luo Binghe. -Come on Binghe, let's go.-

Luo Binghe grabbed the hand and as they walked, he felt like he was in heaven.

His Shizun was holding his hand!! Hand!!

But he suddenly woke up from his daydreaming when he saw their ride was a giant, floating Black Moon Python Rhinoceros.

-...-

-...I am not going on that.- Luo Binghe said.

-Oh come on, A'Bing! Don't hold a grudge against all of them just because you had a bad experience with one!! All those that came from the Endless Abyss were traitors that rebelled against the gods. How else are they not able to fly like this one, it's because the gods took it away from the disloyal ones as a punishment!- Akabane explained.

Luo Binghe paused. There were good ones? Does that mean all the monsters of the Abyss were once beings that were created in the image of the gods? He shuddered. The monsters there were so disfigured and vicious that it was a miracle he didn't throw up everytime he saw one. But when he thought about it, some of them did look like some celestial beasts he had seen in the forbidden section Qing Jing (Yes he had snuck in there out of spite). It made him wonder how seriously the gods took loyalty.

Luo Binghe reached out to the creature and tried to pet it, and it let him, even so much as nuzzling into his hand. Luo Binghe was left speechless. Who knew these creatures could be so friendly? Not to mention, unlike the Black Moon Python Rhinoceros he fought during the Immortal Alliance Conference which had dull brown scales albeit a little shiny, this one had gradient scales going from blue to turquoise and they glittered like the Quiet Pool in Qing Jing during the night of a full moon.

Luo Binghe hopped on top of the dragon-looking demon and they finally set off, flying a little higher into the clouds.

15 minutes later Luo Binghe sees something floating in the sky and his mouth drops open.

In front of them is a huge floating Lotus Flower, enough to fit even the capital of Jianghu[7]! Inside of the lotus is a huge shrine with a tree growing from the center of it, and four other buildings, each one in a certain corner of the floating lotus and looking as if they were supposed to be grand mansions, in fact, even grander. There was also a huge lake at one of the buildings, glistening as if it were made of crystal. In short, it looked like a place created by literal gods.

-Welcome to Shu Fanrong[8] Sect, A-Bing!- Akabane exclaimed.

And Luo Binghe fainted.

---------------------------------------
Notes:
[1]Huaban - literally means "Flower Petals".
[2]Land of the Rising Sun - Japan
[3]Pearl of the Orient Sea -Philippines
[4]Aryavarta - India
[5]Land of the Two Holy Mosques - Saudi Arabia
[6]The Roof of the World - Tibet
[7]Jianghu - China
[8]Shu Fanrong - means hidden (癙) and bloom, florescence, glory, or prosperity (繁榮). I actually put the Chinese letters cuz I feel like searching for the one I used would be tiresome.

I was thinking that if Shen Jiu rested somewhere on solid ground or in the demon realm in the OG one-shot, Luo Binghe would've found him way sooner. So he lived in the sky, and the only reason Binghe found him was because he wanted an update on what was happening back on the surface so he convinced Akabane, Xie Yan, and the others to let him. We all know how that turned out.