"Only a little over two years have passed since we last met, but why does it feel as though it has been more than a decade? And the feeling you give me—it is as if you have become an entirely different person."
On Five Immortal Island, Mountain God Yi Xun looked Ye Zhen up and down without pause, his face filled with astonishment.
Ye Zhen smiled, lifted the cup of steaming Spirit Tea before him, and drained it in one gulp.
"Really? Why have I not noticed? What has changed about me?"
"Though you used to appear mature beyond your years, you still possessed the uninhibited spirit and lively impulsiveness that no young person could erase. With every gesture and glance, you radiated hot-blooded heroism—the bearing of a youthful hero.
"But after merely two years apart, all that youthful heroism in your eyes has vanished. Your entire person seems utterly transformed.
"When you look at me, I actually feel an indescribable kindness. It is as though a single glance from you tells me that you are a good man.
"It feels as if the person sitting before me is not a youthful hero, but a great and virtuous monk whose heart embraces compassion. If I were not certain that you are Earl Ye, I would nearly think someone had impersonated you," Mountain God Yi Xun said.
"Not that extreme, surely..." Ye Zhen gave an awkward laugh. Even though he had left the Yizhi Sand Sea over a month ago, the helplessness in his eyes still could not be wiped away.
That helplessness had arisen from watching helplessly as thousands upon thousands of Sand Clan people died in the Yizhi Sand Sea.
"You have become more mature, more restrained, and there is now a sacred quality in your every movement." As