Shan Long and Yuan Ju had long since grown used to such things.
Still, Yuan Ju carefully measured the length of the High Priest's remaining leg. After a quick calculation, he said with delight, "Just as I thought. In the Isolated Star System, the 'Pitfall' process has stalled."
"Is what's happening to me really 'Pitfall'? 'Emptying' is more precise. You keep using a broader concept to cover a narrower one. That can make you careless." Shan Long High Priest was neither pleased nor upset. Teaching came first, so he continued evenly, "Besides, the process stalling here may not be a good thing. It can stop for a while, but hardly forever. Stay in the Isolated Star System too long, cut off from Divine Grace, and who knows what other problems might arise?"
Yuan Ju quickly lowered his head and acknowledged the lesson.
"Now, tell me. When you used the Eyes of All Gods to observe this region, what did you learn?"
This was a regular part of Yuan Ju's studies, and he did not hide his doubts. "I observed those engineering ships. Of the thousands aboard, most were muddleheaded, while some had other things on their minds. Turbid currents surged everywhere. I could hardly see any reverence or sincerity. Why did you describe them that way? A more cautious assessment would have been truer. I've never seen you... embellish things like that before."
Shan Long High Priest nodded slightly. "This is your first time in an undeveloped 'Isolated Star System.'"
"Yes."
"Then you must understand that the standards used in the Central Star Zone must change out here, in such a desolate stretch of the Starry Sky."
"But surely the heart's intentions don't change with the place?"
"Can breathing within a framework be the same as breathing without constraint?" Shan