Li Xiaoyu patted them on the shoulders.
"We're fellow disciples and comrades-in-arms. Supporting each other is only right."
Zeng Shushu looked at him and suddenly grinned.
"Senior Brother Li, you're something else now."
"From the Chief Seats of every peak down to the sweepers and servants, who in the entire Green Cloud Sect doesn't respect you?"
"Even my dad, that old stick-in-the-mud, was going on about you in front of me yesterday. He said you're the true pride of the Green Cloud Sect, and told me I ought to learn from you."
"You're now the undisputed leader of the Young Generation in our Green Cloud Sect."
Hearing this, Li Xiaoyu felt no smug satisfaction.
He looked at the friends who had fought at his side, at the young disciples diligently cultivating in the distance, and at Green Cloud Mountain, which had survived the calamity.
Li Xiaoyu's gaze grew resolute.
"Being a leader isn't so easy."
Looking toward the distant Sea of Clouds, Li Xiaoyu said softly, "The burden on my shoulders is heavy."
Zeng Shushu and Lin Jingyu watched his upright figure, sensing the weighty responsibility of a leader.
They exchanged a glance, seeing admiration and trust in each other's eyes.
In time, the aftershocks of the Green Cloud calamity gradually subsided.
With all the disciples working together, reconstruction proceeded in an orderly fashion.
The broken Rainbow Bridge was reconnected, the fallen halls were raised anew, and the spiritual energy in the mountains once again grew abundant and peaceful.
Everything was moving in a better direction.
Yet a dark cloud still hung over Li Xiaoyu's heart.
The threat of the Demon Sect had been temporarily lifted, but they would surely return.
No. It still wasn't enough.
My strength was still far from sufficient.
He needed greater power, enough to