"Senior!"
Fang Chen's voice was a little hoarse.
He looked at the Realm Spirit Clone's aged, weary face, then at the faint redness around his eyes where he had held back his emotions, and said:
"All these years, you've been trying to repair the Ghost Realm and wake the Ghost Immortal Emperor, haven't you?"
The Realm Spirit Clone raised his head and met Fang Chen's gaze.
Moisture glimmered in those clouded old eyes, but no tears fell.
"Yes!"
His voice was soft, yet carried an unshakable resolve. "All these years, whenever a Human Cultivator brought to the Outer Heavens from the Barbaric Ancient Region or one of the outlying Great Regions came to the Land of Ending and entered the Ghost Realm, I helped them. But I didn't help them for free!"
"In return for my help, they had to offer resources. I used every bit of those resources to repair the Ghost Realm and help the Ghost Immortal Emperor recover!"
"We collected anything that could aid the repairs: the Spiritual Power that spilled over as cultivators trained in the Ghost Realm, the fighting spirit left after their battles, the flashes of insight that escaped when they comprehended Law. All of it flowed together like countless little streams feeding a lake, mending, bit by bit, the wounds the Spear of Order left behind!"
The Realm Spirit Clone lowered his eyes. "The Ghost Realm's shell is much stronger than it was during the Second Heaven-Extermination War. Its Defensive Formations and Space Law have recovered considerably too. But the Ghost Immortal Emperor's Seal remains, and the Spear of Order's residual power still coils inside him!"
"Unless a force pure enough and sharing the same source as Order Force enters the Seal from outside, it can never be broken. He will never wake!"