Kunlun Mountain.
Before the Jade Void Palace, the void rippled silently.
A Green Clad Figure slowly materialized, standing outside the palace gates with his hands behind his back.
Xuandu lifted his gaze to the tightly shut gates, then to the Jade Void plaque hanging above them. His eyes were calm as still water.
The gates were tightly shut.
But the panicked auras beyond them, and the disordered Jade Purity Immortal Light, could not escape his perception.
Yuanshi was inside the palace.
And he was watching Xuandu.
A faint smile slowly curved Xuandu's lips.
It was a subtle smile, yet it carried the knowing air of someone who saw through everything.
He said nothing.
He simply stood before the palace gates with his hands behind his back, waiting quietly.
Three breaths.
Five breaths.
Ten breaths.
"Creak..."
The palace gates slowly opened.
Beyond them, Primordial Heavenly Venerate stood on the jade steps. Jade Purity Immortal Light flickered around him, and the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi hovered above his head, its radiance dim.
His stern face was now clouded with gloom.
Yet beneath that gloom, there was a trace of apprehension he could not conceal.
"Xuandu."
Yuanshi spoke, his voice cold as Eternal Ice:
"What brings you to my Kunlun Mountain?"
Xuandu looked at him and smiled faintly.
The smile was slight, but the calmness it carried sent a chill through the heart.
"Why pretend you don't know, Fellow Daoist Yuanshi?"
He spoke slowly, his voice not loud, yet clearly reaching into the Jade Void Palace:
"In the Purple Heaven Palace, this disciple said..."
"Once I returned from mending the heavens, I would settle accounts of karma with you all."
He paused, lifting his gaze slightly.
"Now I'm here."
As his words fell, silence abruptly descended before the Jade Void Palace.
The Immortal