The other side.
Not long after Li Zhōujūn entered Shuiyun City.
Zhu Xiaoyun, who was beneath the tree, also awakened from his coma.
When he realized that an additional cultivation technique had appeared in his mind, he was utterly bewildered.
"Seriously, what is this? How can people still forcibly stuff cultivation techniques into someone else's brain these days?" Zhu Xiaoyun stood up and, still dazed, prepared to head toward the Azure Emperor Temple.
"Ow!" Zhu Xiaoyun cried out in pain.
He had only just gotten to his feet when he slammed into the tree with a bang.
"This is so embarrassing—waahhh!" Zhu Xiaoyun clutched his head and ran toward the Azure Emperor Temple, wailing loudly.
Within Shuiyun City.
Li Zhōujūn had transformed into the appearance of an old man and was sitting in a corner of a teahouse. He seemed to sense what had happened to Zhu Xiaoyun, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face. "He's still just a child after all. Youth is wonderful..."
The other side.
Atop a celestial mountain shrouded in clouds and mist.
Great Emperor Changming stood with his hands behind his back.
Behind him stood a figure whose entire body was wreathed in black vapor, its true appearance impossible to make out.
"Great Emperor." The black-vapor figure respectfully addressed Great Emperor Changming's back, his attitude extremely humble.
"Li Yuan, how many years have you followed me?" Great Emperor Changming asked with his back to the black-vapor figure.
"Since the Great Emperor saved me, I have followed you for countless ages. Under your guidance, my cultivation has also broken through to the Nine Tribulation God Emperor realm." The black-vapor figure, Li Yuan, answered thus.
"So much time has passed in the blink of an eye..." Great Emperor Changming sighed.
"The Great Emperor's kindness is something