The air above Golden Rooster Ridge was strangely quiet.
Only moments ago, Kong Xuan had stood on the summit, his Five-Colored Divine Light stripping half the sky of its original colors. In the blink of an eye, he had vanished clean away through the Five Elements passage he had opened beforehand.
Daoist Zhunti stood in midair, the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree in his hand still giving off a faint, precious glow.
Zhao Gongming glanced down at the Five Elements passage, now completely sealed, and could barely keep the corners of his mouth from rising.
Kong Xuan really had left.
And he had done it without the slightest hesitation.
He had unleashed all five colors and clashed head-on with a Saint for one round.
Seen the gap.
Opened a path.
Retreated.
The whole process had flowed as smoothly as if he had rehearsed it beforehand.
Yet Zhao Gongming knew perfectly well that this really was something Lin Yuan had taught him on the spot earlier.
When a Saint came, try one round first.
If you could fight, keep fighting.
If you could not, leave.
A confrontation that had looked likely to grow bigger the longer it went on had been brought to an abrupt close by Kong Xuan after seven steps.
Zhunti had stared at Lin Yuan for a long time before finally saying, "You've taught everyone around you how to run." Even now, Zhao Gongming wanted to laugh whenever he recalled it.
Lin Yuan himself saw nothing wrong with that remark.
"Saint," Lin Yuan said, cupping his hands, "our fellow Daoist has already left. This encounter should count as over, shouldn't it?"
Daoist Zhunti looked at him. "You think it's over?"
Lin Yuan looked up at the faint thread of karma from the Western Regions that still connected to Kong