Xiang Yang's defeat and killing of Gu Shentong did not spread very quickly. However, Gu Zhong, the head of the Gu family, soon left Anyuan County looking utterly despondent. With Gu Shentong dead, the Gu family's future decline had become a foregone conclusion.
The Gu family had flourished because of Gu Shentong, and it would decline because of Gu Shentong, as though completing a cycle.
What followed were visits from no small number of martial artists. A flower-bedecked sedan needed everyone to lift it; Xiang Yang had slain a Celestial Being while still in the Innate realm, and his future was boundless. Even if they could not befriend him, they certainly should not offend him. For a time, the little cottage on Black Mountain where Xiang Yang lived was thronged with visitors, much to his annoyance.
On the third day after the great battle, Xiang Yang's small wooden cottage on Black Mountain received another two guests: the Wan father and son, Wan Dongliu and Wan Tiancheng.
The cottage was crude and dim, unfit for receiving guests. Thus, Xiang Yang led the two men to an open space outside. A stone table and stools stood beneath blue skies and white clouds, surrounded on all sides by green shade, birdsong, and fragrant blossoms—a different sort of natural scenery altogether.
Xiang Yang treated these two differently, with warmth and ease rather than the stiff reserve he showed other experts. Their conversation was harmonious as well.
After some initial pleasantries, Wan Dongliu directly stated his purpose.
"This time, Tiancheng and I came for two reasons.
"First, when he learned how unpredictable and dangerous this battle would be, he begged me to lend you a hand at the critical moment. But your martial arts may well surpass even mine. He was simply worrying over nothing.