"We knew. We witnessed it all along. We had known long ago."
His voice was calm and gentle, his gaze like water. A withered leaf trembled softly in the mountain wind, and his voice drifted down with it. "This is good too. At least it will let them understand how hard-won and precious time is, the weight and measure of life."
"Moo?!" Black Bull was completely dumbfounded.
Its eyes slowly lifted as it watched Chen Xun rise from the stone steps. The latter was gathering a force—a vast, earth-shaking aura, a terrifying force that enveloped the entire Ten Million Mountains.
It did not erupt with a bang, nor did it blanket heaven and earth. It was instead a vast momentum from somewhere impossibly deep and distant, bearing some ancient will as it silently surged, surged, spread, and expanded—
Like a star that had been veiled by clouds for far too long, until, in some silent instant, the clouds parted.
Light pressed down, blanketing all beneath the sky.
The mountain forest fell still. The wind fell still. Even those broken steles and withered stones scattered in the depths, their ages unknown, seemed to tremble ever so slightly at that moment.
"Dao Ancestor!"
In that instant, the murkiness in Qian Qiong's eyes completely cleared.
Chen Xun put on a bamboo hat. Tree shadows swayed across his face, light and darkness intertwining. He actually smiled. "Qian Qiong, this Dao Ancestor knows where they are. They will not die. They are simply not here for now."
"Moo moo!!"
"Forbidden... Forbidden... Dao... Sea."
Qian Qiong spoke in a trembling voice. It was as though he had seen something unbelievable within Chen Xun, leaving him utterly shocked; even his divine soul shook violently.
Clang—
A soft, clear hum rang out.
It was a crooked, silver Mountain-Splitting