Great Sage Dynasty.
Capital.
Minister's Residence.
Zeng Shilin gazed at the full moon in the night.
He stood alone in the courtyard, his eyes fixed in the direction of the Southern Territory.
The night wind was faintly cool.
He wore only a single thin garment.
"Cough, cough."
Zeng Shilin's shoulders trembled twice, and a deep, shadowed look filled his eyes.
Moonlight shrouded him.
It cast his face deathly pale.
His lips quivered slightly.
He remained silent.
He stood in the courtyard for a long, long time.
At last, an almost imperceptible glimmer flickered in his eyes.
That glimmer flowed.
In the end, it fell upon his lapel.
A gentle breeze stirred, sending Zeng Shilin's white hair drifting.
He clenched his fists tightly.
His fists were packed with strength.
"Brother Qin."
In the darkness, Zeng Shilin's voice was incomparably hoarse.
At last, he slowly raised his head.
He bowed deeply toward the south.
His waist bent.
Bent all the way down.
"Wait until you return in triumph."
Master Xu's Estate.
Master Xu's face was pale.
He slowly raised his head.
Still, he looked toward the south.
Abruptly.
He coughed.
"Cough, cough."
As the cough subsided.
He gently drew a white handkerchief from his robes and used it to wipe the corner of his mouth.
A streak of blood bloomed across the handkerchief like a plum blossom.
Ignoring the blood on the handkerchief, he looked toward the formation floating above the meditation cushion before him.
The formation was less than seven inches across.
Yet it floated steadily in the air.
A transparent butterfly fluttered its wings atop the formation.
He watched that butterfly.
Without speaking for a long time.
Finally, as though he had made some decision.
He took a jade-green compass from his robes.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he