Such a strange and mysterious bond left Nuwa, who had always been clear-minded and free-spirited, at a loss for how to get along with them and how to face them.
Should she regard them as past lives? As incarnations? Or as another self bound by Fate?
Countless thoughts tangled in her heart, leaving her utterly at a loss.
After hesitating for a moment, Nuwa finally stepped forward. Looking at Xuan Qing beside her, calm and composed as ever, she spoke softly, her voice filled with confusion:
"Teacher... then, Fellow Daoist Ling Xi and the others..."
She trailed off halfway through, unable to find the right words.
What exactly were they to her? Old acquaintances, former selves, or strangers?
The overlap of Fate across ancient and modern times made this reunion far too subtle, far too unreal.
Seeing the conflict and confusion in his disciple's eyes, Xuan Qing could not help but smile.
He raised a hand and gently rubbed Nuwa's head. His movements were calm and gentle, carrying the clarity of one who had seen through the ages.
Then, his gaze swept across Ling Xi, Dao Xuan, Zhuo Guang, and the other former inhabitants of Return to Void. He spoke slowly and clearly, completely removing the final Shackles from everyone's hearts.
"No need to struggle over it."
"They have long since severed all Karma with their pasts by their own hands, stripped away every Fate of the old world, and shed the Dao traces and entanglements of the former Prehistoric Era."
"From the moment they sank into Return to Void for ages, endured the extinction of Heaven and Earth, and were reborn to return to the heavens, they became entirely new living beings."
"The joys and sorrows, Fate, rights and wrongs, and identities of the past all perished with the