Forge Me a Sword

After leaving the Demon Race, Chu Yuan headed for the Fourth Battlefield.

The dark Eerie Domain parted, and a great road of golden light emerged beneath his feet.

On either side, within the darkness, countless gazes seemed to be fixed upon him.

At the end of the road, Ming stood with his hands behind his back, his expression calm.

Chu Yuan was momentarily speechless, then stepped forward.

"I don't care about such displays."

"It was only to make them see the situation clearly..."

"...So they'd stop sitting on the fence?"

Ming glanced at him and said calmly, "Then can you return the Primordial Unity Diagram to me?"

Chu Yuan chided him playfully. "Stop talking nonsense. You really know how to joke..."

"..."

Ming himself knew he could not get it back. Besides, once something had been given away, he had never intended to ask for it back.

He changed the subject. "The Second Era... has vanished? What of Mausoleum?"

"He offered himself of his own accord, seeking a path to survival for his people. I agreed."

Hearing this, Ming was somewhat dazed. Only after a long while did he sigh. "That counts as a kind of release..."

Chu Yuan asked, "Were you close with him?"

"Not particularly. We had dealings a few times, at least."

Chu Yuan studied him for a few moments before suddenly asking, "Why did you never tell me before that those who merge with the Dao are so hard to kill?"

"Hard to kill?" Ming shook his head. "Not necessarily. They're simply difficult to utterly erase. But once they are scattered even once, they lose their power. What remains... is merely to wear them away slowly with time."

"I don't care about that. Where am I supposed to find the time to slowly wear them away?