"Ah?"
The immortals and gods jolted, then looked as if they had been granted a great pardon. Their excitement was impossible to hide as they all fell to their knees.
"Thank you, Dao Ancestor!"
"Thank you, Dao Ancestor, for sparing our lives!!"
Immortal voices surged like a tide, wave after wave, blanketing heaven and earth.
They did not dare linger for even a moment. Almost amid their cries of thanks, they shot to their feet and fled like ten thousand birds leaving their nests, startled geese cutting through the sky, transforming into streams of light.
Divine feathers rose beneath some of their feet; others turned into flowing dawn clouds; still others leaped through the clouds and vanished into the void.
For a time, immortal light soared into the skies throughout Ancient Dao Heavenly Origin, and spiritual energy churned, yet not one person dared look back at the white-clad figure standing with his hands behind his back.
It was not that they were disrespectful. They simply did not dare—
If they looked one moment longer, their minds might be forever trapped within it, unable to pull free.
Even on their journey, they did not dare think too much, much less discuss anything that had happened in Ancient Dao Heavenly Origin. They treated it as a taboo too deep to mention.
Within the Immortal Palace, the immortal radiance gradually faded into silence, as though heaven and earth had shut off every path of escape.
Only the Primordial Kui Vulture remained, sprawled alone outside the main hall. At this moment, it resembled a lone beast separated from its pack upon the Wasteland. Its Immortal Body trembled faintly, but its eyes held no anger, no fear, no struggle—only an ash-gray stillness.
He said nothing, merely stared fixedly at the lamp flame still burning before