Wuji Heavenly Palace.
Li Qingshan slowly rose to his feet.
No earth-shaking aura surrounded him. If anything, he seemed calmer than before his seclusion.
Yet Chu Yingluo could clearly sense that the Li Qingshan before her had undergone a transformation, as though he had shed his old bones and been reborn.
He seemed to have merged with heaven and earth around him, yet also to stand beyond them.
With every breath, countless laws of the Great Dao arose and perished in the void. Even the Strange Black Mist shrouding Wuji Heavenly Palace instinctively drew away from him.
Li Qingshan still appeared to have the cultivation of a Peerless Immortal King, but his transformation had left him radiating an unfathomable aura.
"Master, Tower Lord, thank you for protecting me!"
Li Qingshan looked at Chu Yingluo and Little Tower and spoke with sincerity.
He had spent ten thousand years comprehending the Dao within the Chaos Heaven-Opening Diagram. Though only ten years had passed outside, the Strange Black Mist beyond Wuji Heavenly Palace had never stopped its assault.
Dried blood stained Chu Yingluo's white robes.
Little Tower's chubby face was deathly pale, and even the Chaos Tower's glow had dimmed.
Li Qingshan needed no explanation to know how dearly they had paid to keep anything from disturbing his enlightenment.
"Between you and me, what need is there for thanks?"
Chu Yingluo smiled faintly.
Seeing Li Qingshan awaken safely, clearly having gained so much, swept away every worry in her heart.
"Exactly. Why stand on ceremony with the Tower Lord?"
Sitting atop the Chaos Tower with his legs crossed, Little Tower said, "You're the Heavenly Emperor's successor. If the Tower Lord doesn't protect you, who will? But blocking those Black Mist Monsters for you cost me plenty of my essence. You'd better make it