"We got back a little later than expected."
Destiny Monk glanced at Lin Qiye and spoke slowly.
Lin Qiye swept his gaze across the temple. Fallen leaves had piled up and rotted before the gate, clearly left uncleared for a long time. Wooden chairs and tables were scattered haphazardly around the courtyard, and even the offerings on the altar inside the temple had fallen to the ground in disarray.
Lin Qiye frowned slightly.
He remembered that the last time he had come, Destiny Monk had kept this temple spotless. How had it become like this now?
"What happened?" Lin Qiye paused. "Did you get upset because I wouldn't let you go down the mountain?"
"I don't have such pointless emotions."
"True... then what about all this?"
"My attention has been elsewhere lately, so it has indeed been a long time since I cleaned this place..." Destiny Monk looked somewhat weary. "Sit down first. Let's discuss business."
Seeing this, Lin Qiye did not press further and sat down opposite Destiny Monk.
"I brought my mother back, along with Athena, the Goddess of War, and Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt. Besides that, the Shang Xie Association moved all of Utopia to Great Xia. Jinian has also broken through into the divine realm and is currently within Great Xia as well."
Destiny Monk nodded slightly, casually picked up several scattered chess pieces from the ground, and placed them on the board.
"Good. That gives us more pieces to use... What are the specifics?"
Lin Qiye recounted everything he had encountered on this journey in meticulous detail. Destiny Monk narrowed his eyes and listened with the utmost focus.
By the time Lin Qiye finished, the sky had already darkened. Destiny Monk rose and lit several candles inside the temple. Dim yellow light illuminated