A mountain peak of unknowable height.
It stood beyond the sea of causality, towering above the river of time.
At the summit stood only a pine tree that had been dead for who knew how many ages. Beneath it, a white-robed middle-aged man had been waiting for a long time.
"The scenery here is truly not bad."
Li Fan climbed onto the lofty peak, smiled faintly, and said, "I had never been here before. I never expected there to be such a magnificent place."
After he finished speaking, the white-robed man, who had been sitting beneath the pine tree for a long while, also said softly:
"The scenery is beautiful. Unfortunately, being alone for too long is rather lonely."
Li Fan looked at him, walked over with a smile, and said:
"With the mountains and rivers as companions and the clear breeze as a friend, how could there be any talk of loneliness?"
He sat down opposite the white-robed middle-aged man and said:
"Li Fan."
"How should I address you?"
A smile spread across the white-robed middle-aged man's genial face. It seemed Li Fan's question had stumped him. He said:
"...My name? I've forgotten it over the course of many ages. Hmm... perhaps you can call me..."
"Wuji, or the Silent One."
Wuji. The Silent One.
The instant those two names were spoken, Ziling and Su Baiqian, standing behind Li Fan, suddenly felt something indescribable. It was as though the mountains and rivers around them, the clear breeze, and the entire mountain peak that transcended time and causality had all ceased to exist. Only the true void and desolation of the universe remained.
An inexplicable chill swept in from every direction. It was not true coldness, but a coolness as though the universe was meant to be this way, making