Bai Yun turned around impatiently, her gaze urgently searching for the source of that voice.
When she finally saw clearly that the person standing behind her truly was Bai Ze, the tears in her eyes could no longer be held back and came pouring out.
Without the bearing of the continent's foremost powerhouse, she darted straight toward Bai Ze like a joyous little bird and plunged headfirst into his broad, warm embrace.
"Brother, where on earth did you go? I searched for you for so, so long. I finally found you... sob, sob..." Bai Yun clung tightly to Bai Ze, chokingly pouring out the longing and worry in her heart.
Watching Bai Yun cry like a child in his arms, Bai Ze gently patted her back and comforted her softly. "All right, you're already so grown up. Why are you still such a crybaby, just like when you were little?"
As he spoke, Bai Ze smiled faintly and gently ruffled Bai Yun's hair, as though time had returned to her carefree childhood days.
At that moment, he slowly raised his head and fixed his gaze on the golden heavenly staircase above, which shone with dazzling light.
Yet in the very next moment, that golden heavenly staircase, once incomparably sturdy and brilliantly radiant, began to tremble slightly.
Fine cracks then spread rapidly like a spiderweb, covering the entire surface of the staircase in the blink of an eye.
Bang!
A crisp sound rang out, and the golden heavenly staircase instantly exploded into countless tiny points of light.
Like brilliant stars in the night sky, those points of light shimmered with captivating radiance before drifting outward in every direction at tremendous speed.
As though scattered by an invisible gust of wind, they vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye,