Catching up with a friend

Above the mountain peak, more than eight thousand three hundred zhang high, the vast, clear sky stretched cloudless for ten thousand miles.

Against that azure firmament, a black scar hundreds of miles long stood out starkly.

It even made the white jade palace suspended above Du Cang Mountain seem smaller still.

Du Cang Mountain was as quiet as ever that day.

At a secluded residence on the eastern side of Du Cang Mountain, a door opened from within, and a young man in pale gold Daoist robes walked slowly outside.

His gaze settled on the middle-aged man seated at the stone table in the courtyard, dressed in the pure white Daoist robes of the Empty Mountain Sect.

Two longswords, one black and one white, stood beside the stone table.

"It's been a long time, Elder Li."

The Lingxiao Temple disciple in pale gold Daoist robes spoke with a faint smile.

The robes of Lingxiao Temple cultivators primarily featured gold and red, with gold representing lightning and red signifying fire.

This "young man" in pale gold Daoist robes was Bai Jinye, the elder of the Lightning Command Pavilion on Lingxiao Temple's Nine Heavens Terrace.

He was also a Guardian of the Dao of Du Cang Mountain.

"If I remember correctly, I believe I came to visit you seven days ago, Elder Bai."

Li Haowen spoke evenly.

Bai Jinye smiled and shook his head at that.

"Did you? To me, those seven days felt like seven years."

Each day dragged on like a year.

For Bai Jinye, that was indeed how things were.

Because he could not cultivate.

Although Bai Jinye had been lucky enough to escape the assassination attempt three years earlier with his life, he had paid a price.

Both his martial spring and his meridians had suffered severe damage.