Lishui Palace.
A clear moon hung high overhead.
Should I stop? Jiang Ning thought as he looked at Miaoguan on the shore.
Then he shook his head to himself.
The greatest pitfall was hesitation and indecision.
The moment he had stepped forward, he had known there was no retreat. One step back, and he would plunge into a ten-thousand-foot abyss.
He had thought it through that day.
He had chosen to step forward only because he had the strength to do so.
What he needed to do now was simple: stand by his choice and follow this road to its bitter end.
He had to gather as many resources as possible so he could take that step sooner.
Once he did, he believed his accumulated strength would make him truly invincible in the mortal world.
From then on, the mortal world would belong to mortals.
One more Immortal Medicine, and my Indestructible Vajra Body should break through again. Then I might truly be able to take that step.
Even if it doesn't, I'll lose nothing. Retreat isn't an option anyway.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, his resolve grew firmer.
Meanwhile.
Miaoguan rose when she saw the brightness in Jiang Ning's eyes across the lake.
"Your Highness, do you still intend to go through with it?"
Outside Luoshui County.
It was noon.
Merchants trickled through the city gate in scattered groups.
Two women sat at a square table in a tea stall a little over a hundred meters away.
One looked slightly older, around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with a cool aloofness in her eyes.
She seemed withdrawn, as though she had spent too long alone.
The other—a girl, rather—was different. Her face brimmed with lively spirit.
She looked about sixteen or seventeen, no older than eighteen.
"Sister Chang