"I do not know either," Ji Haoxuan whispered. "But... he seems to be growing deeper and more unreachable. A figure who subrges himself in the mortal world after experiencing such tribulation is truly incomprehensible."
"Hmm... his cultivation hasn't risen, and he doesn't seem to have gained anything," murmured Ji Yuanyi, staring at the back of the black-and-white robe. "I thought he was experiencing a Divine Transformation calamity, but it wasn't. Brother, did Senior Gu receive a catastrophe after saying he defied heaven at that banquet?"
Ji Haoxuan did not answer imdiately. He stared at the steady back. "Perhaps it was not a calamity, Yuanyi. But rather, an acknowledgnt. Besides, who can guess what Senior Gu was doing to bring about heavenly wrath?"
"Perhaps he obtained a treasure or sothing that made the sky angry," quipped Wei Tianfeng while crossing his arms. "Or who knows, but seeing him like this... I truly cannot think of how soone like Senior Gu exists among a flock of mortals."
Zhi Xuan’s back suddenly dissolved, fading and vanishing into thin air. It left the three young practitioners, who possessed Weaver Transformation cultivation, shocked and dazed. A sudden silence gripped the corner of the tea shop.
Ji Haoxuan stepped forward until his fingers gripped the fragile wooden fence, his eyes sweeping through the crowd of mortal lanterns, but the figure in the black-and-white robe had vanished like smoke swept away by the night wind. However, suddenly, a cold and deep aura appeared behind the three of them.
"Following in the shadows of others will only make you lose the light beneath your own feet," Zhi Xuan’s voice flowed lowly. "You again, what is it you want?"
Ji Haoxuan, Wei Tianfeng, and Ji Yuanyi instantly froze, as if the ti around them had just been frozen by an essence colder than eternal snow. They slowly turned their bodies, finding Zhi Xuan leaning against the wooden pillar of the shop, his face half-covered by the shadow of the shingle roof, radiating a haunting tranquility.
"Se—Senior Gu..." Ji Haoxuan bowed deeply, his back breaking into a cold sweat despite the strong night wind. "We did not an to offend. It is just... the tracks left in that canyon... we were rely curious about them."
"Curious?" Zhi Xuan said, one eyebrow slightly raised. "Huang Tu is getting closer; in two days, the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets will wait for no one. Tell , why have you co here?"
Wei Tianfeng took a long breath, placing his wine jar on the rickety wooden table with a soft thud. "Senior, we did not co to peek at your cultivation secrets. We are aware that with our strength, we are not even worthy of staring at the dust behind your steps."
He paused for a mont, his eyes staring straight into Zhi Xuan’s sapphire eyes which now looked like bottomless lakes. "We ca because we felt the vibration above the Chi Di sky. That thunder... it was no ordinary thunder. And when we saw Senior standing on this bridge, releasing a mortal lantern, we realized one thing. We, these Young Kings, have lived too long in a shell of arrogance."
"We wish to walk behind you toward Huang Tu," Ji Haoxuan added, his voice steadier. "Not as a burden, and not as followers expecting rcy. But rather as—"
"Juniors!" The voice shrieked, coming from Ji Yuanyi who interrupted Ji Haoxuan’s words, making the atmosphere suddenly surge with an oddity.
Ji Yuanyi took one step forward, her face turning as red as a shrimp boiled in a hot cauldron. "We... we want to be your juniors! That is what my Brother ant! We want to see how Senior tears the sky, but from a safe enough distance so we don't get struck by lightning too!"
A silence heavier than Mount Tai instantly clamped the air in the tea shop. Ji Haoxuan stood frozen, his hands still in a bowing position trembling slightly; not out of fear, but because of a supre embarrassnt that made him want to split the earth and hide inside it.
Wei Tianfeng, who usually always had sharp words to retaliate, suddenly choked on his own saliva. He stared at Ji Yuanyi with wide eyes, as if the girl had just announced that she wanted to cultivate into a wild boar.
Zhi Xuan just remained silent. His eyes as deep as the ocean blinked once, staring at the small girl whose breath was racing with an expression that was hard to decipher. On his shoulder, Ao Sheng, who had been hiding, suddenly poked his small dragon head out, letting out a snort that sounded very much like a suppressed laugh.
"Juniors?" Zhi Xuan repeated, his voice flat, yet there was a rare note of confusion.
"Correct!" Ji Yuanyi exclaid again, trying to cover her nervousness with a louder voice. "Senior is very great and... very old—I an, very senior! So it is natural for us who are still young and naive to call ourselves juniors. Isn't that right, Brother?"
"Yuanyi... shut your mouth," Ji Haoxuan hissed with a voice trembling from inner turmoil.
"Very... old?" Zhi Xuan murmured slowly. He touched his own face, feeling his own skin. He had indeed traversed five hundred years of cultivation, but that was actually youthful within the cultivation world.
Xiao Die and Yuyan Die, hiding behind his robe collar, began to vibrate. Not out of fear, but because of the laughter they were holding back so hard that their wings emitted a strange hum.
"Pfft—Senior, listen to that!" Xiao Die’s voice sounded like a squeak in Zhi Xuan’s ear. "An 'Old Senior.' Does Senior want to prepare a wooden staff to help Senior walk?"
"Hahaha! Master, perhaps the wrinkles on your forehead while holding back that lightning earlier really did look like an ancient turtle's skin to this girl!" Yuyan Die added with an equally sharp mocking tone.
Zhi Xuan stood still for several breaths. The night wind, which usually felt like a dagger to other practitioners, now only blew hollowly past his rigid robe. His gaze was fixed on Ji Yuanyi, scrutinizing every inch of the girl’s face which looked so sincere in her deadly innocence.
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Ji Haoxuan imdiately stepped forward, his face as pale as a corpse newly risen from the grave. "Senior! Please forgive my sister’s ungrounded tongue! She... she just hangs around the elders in the sect too often, so her vocabulary has beco... limited!"
"Brother, but isn't it true?" Ji Yuanyi interrupted with sparkling eyes, completely unaware of the inner storm she had created. "Senior Gu has an aura so vast, as if he has seen the collapse of three dynasties and the birth of ten suns."
Zhi Xuan closed his eyes for a mont, letting the night wind wash away the oddity creeping through his mind. For a mont, he rembered his tis in the Southern Continent of Xing Luo, when he was still crawling amidst the dust of humiliation. Five hundred years was indeed not a short ti for a mortal, but before the eternity of the Dao, it was rely a blink of an eye.
"You wish to make your Senior?" Zhi Xuan said, his eyes opening. "I am not used to being followed and I walk with my own steps. You, if you wish to consider yourselves as such, then consider yourselves as such. However, do not think of walking behind wherever I go."
"We understand, Senior," Ji Haoxuan answered with a tone full of reverence. "It is enough to be allowed to breathe under the sa sky and see Senior’s back heading toward Huang Tu; that is more than enough for our Dao Hearts."
"So, Senior will consider us juniors?" Ji Yuanyi asked, her eyes blinking. "Yuanyi ans, like we can call Senior as Senior!"
Zhi Xuan did not answer verbally. He rely turned his body, turning his back to them and staring at the expanse of lanterns which were now starting to drift away downstream. His black-and-white robe fluttered slowly, radiating an aura that was no longer oppressive, but felt like a quiet mountain under the moon.
"That is your assumption, not mine," Zhi Xuan replied, his tone calm. "If you seek protection in Huang Tu just because I carry the Banner of Calamity, then you are better off gathering with the Young Kings and regional stars participating in the expedition."
"We do not seek protection, Senior. We seek direction," Ji Haoxuan concluded with a voice that was trembling yet firm. "And we have a plane-crossing vessel that is quite grand. If Senior Gu is willing and perhaps does not wish to be on the sa ship as the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, we have plenty of space for that!"
Zhi Xuan fell silent, his eyes staring at the ripples of water reflecting the light of his purple lantern, which was now almost lost, swallowed by the river's bend. Ji Haoxuan’s offer was not without intent; being on the private ship of a Western Young King was certainly much quieter than being on the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets' ship, which would surely be filled with cynical stares and hateful whispers from the followers of the great clans.
Zhi Xuan did not answer with a statent; he only smiled thinly. Zhi Xuan stepped forward. His single step seed to fold space, and in an instant, his figure had beco a tiny speck in the distance before completely rging with the darkness of the night.
"He... he didn't refuse!" Ji Yuanyi gave a small hop, her hair braids swinging happily. "Brother, did you hear that? He didn't refuse to be called Senior! I will be the junior of a 'Devil'! Isn't that wonderful?"
Wei Tianfeng took a long breath, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with his robe sleeve. "Yuanyi, you are truly walking on a thin wire between courage and death. I swear, when you called him 'very old,' I felt my head was already rolling across this tea table."
"He... could he have accepted my invitation?" Ji Haoxuan murmured, trying to interpret the smile from that figure. "Lu Qingyan will also occupy that ship; she has been thinking about it and told since yesterday. As for Wu Xinghan, he seems to have realized and isn't stupid. He and Wu Xingyan will be with us as well."
"Lu Qingyan and the Wu siblings..." Wei Tianfeng snorted, the corner of his lip pulling into a sour smirk. "Wu Xinghan just realized that ng Zhan, Shi Jing, and Jing Kuang are fools. It’s good if Xinghan realized early."
"And what about ng Zhan?" asked Ji Yuanyi, her face turning sour at the ntion of the fierce practitioner's na. "Will he really ally with the Chen Clan to take down Senior Gu?"
"ng Zhan is not just a fool; he is a buffalo whose nose has been pierced by his own anger," Wei Tianfeng replied. "Ally? Yuanyi, Mo Yan is far from Chi Di. And who exactly is ng Zhan to have the right to influence the Ancient Chen Clan? Didn't I tell you, Ancient Clans regard soone like ng Zhan as no more than an ant."
"Besides, no Divine Transformation experts will co to the land of Huang Tu," Ji Haoxuan added. "Senior Gu is a peak-stage Weaver Transformation; even his presence alone is as if he were a Divine Transformation expert. Who would want to randomly disturb a figure like that?"
"You are right, Brother," Ji Yuanyi nodded. "Very well, then the Wu siblings and Lu Qingyan will be on our ship. Elder Xuan Ji will not feel insulted if Senior Gu actually arrives on our ship. Or perhaps, Elder Xuan Ji himself will change ships."
Ti seed to speed away like a heavenly arrow released from a bow. The next two days were spent in haunting preparation across Chi Di. At the air dock near the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets, a magnificent ship was ready, radiating a silvery protective formation that shook the sky, standing alongside the ship from the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets itself.
As the dawn of the seventh day broke, the eastern horizon of Chi Di did not show a warm red glow, but a heavy grey cloud, as if the sky itself was holding its breath before the gates of Huang Tu opened. On the ship's deck, Lu Qingyan stood with her fan closed, while the Wu siblings stood with faces much calr than during the banquet.
"Look at those clouds, Xinghan. As if Chi Di is letting us go," Lu Qingyan murmured, her eyes fixed on the blackening horizon.
Wu Xinghan nodded, his fingers gripping the ship's railing until his knuckles turned white. "If not for Haoxuan’s invitation, I might still be sitting on the Pavilion ship with ng Zhan, planning a stupid arrangent that would only end in a grave."
"It's good you realize, Brother," Wu Xingyan interrupted, her voice soft yet sharp. "ng Zhan and Shi Jing are currently boasting on the ship next door about how they will 'teach a lesson' to Senior Gu inside Huang Tu later."
"So, where is Haoxuan now?" asked Lu Qingyan, scanning the vast deck. "And that little girl, Yuanyi? Aren't they the most excited to wait for our distinguished guest?"
"They are at the lower dock, with Wei Tianfeng," Wu Xingyan answered, pointing toward the ship's gangplank. "They insisted on welcoming Senior Gu personally. Look, there they are."
At the dock, Ji Haoxuan stood tall in his grand robes, accompanied by Wei Tianfeng who looked restless without a wine jar in his hand. Ji Yuanyi stood between them, tiptoeing with eyes constantly scanning the crowd of practitioners beginning to flood the air dock.
"Brother, is he really coming?" Ji Yuanyi asked in an anxious tone. "What if he changes his mind and chooses to fly alone? Or what if he prefers Elder Xuan Ji's ship?"
"Calm down, Yuanyi," Ji Haoxuan replied, though his own eyes radiated doubt. "He did not refuse our offer yesterday. For a figure like him, silence can an consent."
"But look at that crowd!" Wei Tianfeng exclaid, pointing toward the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets ship. "The envoys of small clans have already begun to board. ng Zhan is there, look at his arrogant face. He keeps pointing at our ship while laughing."
"Let the dogs bark, Tianfeng," Ji Haoxuan hissed. "What I'm worried about is, if Senior Gu really cos, what about the other practitioners? His presence alone is enough to trigger a riot."
Suddenly, the commotion at the air dock abruptly subsided. The sound of footsteps from thousands of practitioners, the shouts of rchants, even the roar of flying ships seed to be sucked into a single point of hollow silence. A cold aura not originating from the weather began to creep across the dock, bringing a stillness that seed to co from the being itself.
"He's coming..." Wei Tianfeng whispered, his hand instinctively gripping his wine jar tightly. "He... he is really coming."
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