By the time the incense in his hand had burned away, Xu Ying finally straightened his back.
This unexpected journey had left him with many new insights.
Dao Master Zuo Lian said, "Since we've already paid our respects, one matter weighing on my heart has been settled. Fellow Daoist Xu, let us part ways here."
Xu Ying hurriedly said, "Brother Dao, don't you want to give me something?"
Dao Master Zuo Lian looked at him in confusion.
Xu Ying blinked. "Something like a token, perhaps. Think again. Do you have anything like that on you?"
"You mean the Dao Alliance Token?"
Dao Master Zuo Lian shook his head. "That item is ominous. If you encounter one, Fellow Daoist, you'd best keep your distance. You did me a great kindness, and I cannot harm you."
"Ominous?"
Xu Ying froze. Why was the Dao Alliance Token ominous? Why should he keep his distance from the Dao Alliance?
Dao Master Zuo Lian saluted them. "Fellow Daoists, let us part ways here."
Xu Ying was just about to try to persuade him to stay when Dao Master Zuo Lian had already summoned the tower ship and boarded the old vessel.
"The Dao Alliance is neither as powerful nor as righteous as you imagine. Contact with the Dao Alliance will only bring disaster."
Dao Master Zuo Lian urged the tower ship into motion and sailed into the Sea of Chaos. His voice drifted back. "Fellow Daoist Xu, there is no karma in chaos, but karma may also be reversed. Effect becomes cause, cause becomes effect, and karma falls into disorder. Since the Kaiyuan Divine Axe brought you here, then somewhere beyond perception, a great force must be guiding you to accomplish what you are destined to do. And also..."
He gradually receded into the distance,