The Most Ancient Secret (Thanks to reader Huan Meng Yan for the alliance leader donation)

Qiong sensed that something was amiss. He felt restless and agitated, unable to calm his heart no matter what he did. He stopped teaching Earth, Xuan, and the other eight, then headed for his teacher's secluded retreat.

Tai Chu's retreat was empty, containing nothing at all, as though Tai Chu had never existed.

"Teacher!"

Qiong slumped against the corner of the wall in a daze. He knew that his teacher was dead.

Tai Chu had explained to Qiong many times what life was and what death was, but Qiong had never experienced death himself. He had never been able to understand the expression Tai Chu wore whenever he spoke of "death."

So this was death.

"Holy Teacher, what happened?" Earth asked.

Qiong looked at his eight students, grief welling up in his heart. In a trembling voice, he said, "Teacher Tai Chu—your grandteacher—has gone to reincarnate."

"Remember this. This is the Life and Death Reincarnation Rule."

Although Earth and the other eight had never attended Tai Chu's lessons, they often played around him, and their feelings for him were no shallower than Qiong's.

They were merely still ignorant and naive, unable to understand what exactly "death" was.

Qiong sighed. The road before these eight students could grow up was still long.

"Take a week off. Classes will resume next week."

Several years passed. There were still only nine people in the Myriad Realms: one teacher and eight students.

Qiong felt that this life was quite good. With Tai Chu gone, he was the sole authority. Everyone respected him and listened to him.

Tai Chu had never taught Qiong that this feeling was called a sense of control, and that it was often the beginning of dictatorship.

Standing within the World Barrier, Qiong looked toward the world not far away, and