But that flicker of emotion was quickly suppressed.
"Such a great kindness cannot go unrepaid! Thank you, sir, for avenging us." The five were overwhelmed with gratitude and fell to their knees.
"I merely ate one of your flatbreads. There is no need for such ceremony."
With a slight sweep of his hand, Lu Qing lifted their kneeling forms.
The five froze. Yan Da suddenly understood that this was because of his momentary kindness back then.
"Without your help, sir, the Tiger Demon would only have grown more vicious and continued harming others. We must bow in thanks for your grace. This is the only way our hearts can rest."
Seeing this, Lu Qing lowered his hand again.
Since they put it that way, Lu Qing said no more.
The trace of resentment and fear in the five over having been eaten vanished as well.
With the Tiger Demon gone, the phantom servants here would likewise disappear.
Even Lu Qing found it difficult to see through the distance between life and death.
Yet this time, Lu Qing looked thoughtfully at his palm before lowering it. He settled his mind. "Walking among people, each exchange between us becomes a small thread of Cause and Effect."
"Gratitude and enmity are common sights within Cause and Effect, but to speak of the mortal world through Cause and Effect alone is still lacking something."
Lu Qing gained a new insight. Within the Golden Core, he had already vaguely grasped this step. What he needed to do in cultivation through the Nine Realms was cultivate the shape of Heaven and Earth. Naturally, the Heaven and Earth of this step was not Heaven and Earth in the ordinary sense.
"It must provide a foundation. Heaven and Earth are solid, inherently external; the qi within the Golden