The words fell.
Silence lingered in the Cave of No Light.
The red sunlight did not fade. If anything, it grew brighter.
Countless scenes emerged within the radiance.
They were nothing earth-shattering: no sects collapsing, no battles between prodigies, no mighty figures drawing their swords and pointing them at the sky.
An old farmer with a head of white hair, his back bent, who had spent his whole life hoeing a few meager fields.
A woman who had married a poor man and spent the rest of her life stitching away in a leaky, three-room earthen house.
A child from some mountain village who could barely read and had never once left those mountains.
Ordinary.
So ordinary it was almost pitiful.
Mo Qianxun slowly gathered the light in his palm and unhurriedly straightened his sleeve.
"I've bothered you plenty over the years, and I know you don't think much of people from the Jade Capital Pavilion."
He stood where he was, his voice even. There was no hint of aggression in it, nor the slightest trace of flattery.
"Out of consideration for your old friendship with True Lord Moyang, I'll speak plainly today."
"If you hand over the Star Palace Atlas, you and I both know what Xuanyang will do with it. Follow that road to the end, and all that will happen is that he'll dust off his sleeves and leave, while the mess of this world gets left to those who come after."
"But if you give it to me..."
Mo Qianxun raised his eyes and looked indifferently at the enormous White Elephant before him. A trace of menace slowly curled his lips.
"Old Xuanyang only thinks of running away now that he's grown old. But I'm different."
His voice was low, yet every word was firm.
"I