The great doors of the Central Heavenly Prison slowly closed behind Huang Shoujie. Two massive slabs of rune-black iron slid together, finally cutting off that bone-chilling cold.
He climbed the steps with two Executive Officers and entered the bustling streets of Tianjing City.
The morning light was still faint, yet the roads were already crowded with pedestrians.
For a moment, he stood still and looked up at the light of heaven.
"My lord?" an Executive Officer behind him asked softly.
"Have you—" the other Executive Officer began as well.
"Felt it already..." Huang Shoujie murmured. "Freedom?"
It was very strange.
At that moment, the three of them seemed like separate components rather than living people in their own right, stiffly piecing together a single sentence.
Three unrelated remarks, joined without cause or effect, spoke as one and became a merciless question to Heaven—
My lord, have you already felt freedom?
The words themselves held no power, yet they could be touched by the will of heaven.
Looking across all of ancient and modern history, there had only ever been a handful worthy of being addressed as "my lord" by the Divine Hero.
And the only one he could greet in such a covert manner was that prisoner.
He had endured twists and turns along the way, suffered through every hardship, before finally setting foot in Tianjing City. Only now could it be said that he had finished his task.
Only now could there be this greeting beneath Heaven's will, this composure in the present moment.
He had come to Tianjing today for the ideal of equality.
The Divine Hero was a leading figure of the Equality State.
Throughout all history, among those who had aspired to [equality], the one before him was the World-Honored One!
As early as the Middle