Guangchengzi spoke again, his voice trembling:
"Master..."
"That... that Xuandu..."
Yuanshi raised a hand, cutting him off.
"No need to say more."
The five words fell like eternal ice.
Guangchengzi shuddered from head to toe, not daring to speak again.
Yuanshi rose to his feet, standing with his hands behind his back before the cloud bed.
He lifted his gaze beyond the palace gate, toward above the nine heavens.
Within those eyes, Jade Purity Immortal Light flickered uncertainly.
"From today onwards, the Great Wilderness will no longer have only Heavenly Dao Sages."
"From today onwards, both the Human Dao and Earth Dao will have Sages."
"From today onwards, my Chan Sect... will no longer be the strongest in the Great Wilderness."
As his words fell, Jade Void Palace sank into deathly stillness.
The Twelve Golden Immortals bowed their heads, not daring to look at him.
Several hundred Chan Sect disciples trembled.
Yuanshi stood alone before the cloud bed, gazing at the empty palace gate.
Silence.
A long time passed.
He slowly spoke:
"Invite Elder Brother."
The three characters fell, as though a heavy burden had been lifted.
Guangchengzi raised his head, his eyes full of confusion.
"Master, the Grand Pure Sage, he..."
Yuanshi looked at him, his voice calm.
"Elder Brother did not return to Shouyang Mountain."
"He is on Kunlun Mountain."
"He arrived while This Master was preaching the Dao."
Guangchengzi froze.
Then he rose and strode out of the hall.
A moment later.
Outside Jade Void Palace, a figure slowly approached.
His Daoist robe was ash-white, his face withered and haggard.
Purple Purity Dao Light surged around him like a tide, yet beneath that radiance lay exhaustion that could not be concealed.
Laozi.
He had not returned to Shouyang Mountain.
After returning from the Netherworld Underworld, he had