Time flowed steadily onward, little by little.
Grass withered and turned green again. Trees shed their leaves and came back to life. All things seemed caught in a cycle, repeating according to some mysterious law. Seven years passed in the blink of an eye.
Yet those years brought great change. Events shook the Big Dipper one after another.
The Bronze Immortal Palace, spoken of in legends since ancient times, appeared. Countless powerful cultivators nearing the end of their lives flocked toward it as though marching to their deaths. The Peacock King, a pinnacle expert who had roamed the world eight hundred years ago, emerged from seclusion and confronted the Ji Family, causing a sensation.
But none of that was the most astonishing news. A young man from the Eastern Wasteland had risen with miraculous speed, and he, too, had crossed the Ji Family.
He had burned one of the family's formidable elder granduncles to death, prompting the Ji Family to put a bounty on his head.
Yet he continued to thrive. Rumor had it that he had recently used a teleportation formation to reach the Northern Region, where even Yaoguang had issued an order to kill him.
No one could track his elusive movements. Many were dumbfounded, and some predicted that if he survived, the Big Dipper would soon be swept by another storm of bloodshed.
After Wu Xuantian had taught Jiang Tingting for three years, his tempering had helped her reach the Dao Palace realm despite being only eight or nine years old.
At his suggestion, Jiang Tingting returned to the Jiang Family, while he went into seclusion.
In a nameless valley, spiritual energy flowed through heaven and earth in a gentle pattern. Life flourished: grass grew tender and green, flowers gave off their fragrance, and water once more