Amen

A white lotus bloomed. Time slowed around it, then, without warning, sped up as it withered. Before long, another white lotus bloomed from the rotting mud.

Birth, decline, extinction—a cycle of return and rebirth.

Jiang Taixu stared fixedly at the white lotus, understanding dawning in his eyes. The aura around him waxed and waned with it.

A long while later.

"All conditioned things are impermanent, all phenomena are without self, and Nirvana is stillness." Jiang Taixu raised his head, his presence almost vanishing from this world. "Thank you for teaching me, Senior."

Chaos swirled around them. Not far ahead, atop an illusory Glazed Ten-Thousand Character Seal, Su Lin sat cross-legged in the Void, his body suffused with supreme radiance. His fingers held the gesture of a flower, while brilliant, pure motes of firefly light emerged from the Void and merged into the Merit Light Wheel behind him.

"We can still address each other as fellow cultivators. This power is only a night-blooming flower. Dust returns to dust, earth to earth; afterward, I'll have things to learn from you as well." Su Lin opened his eyes and looked at Jiang Taixu.

"None of us wished for matters to come to this."

"Consider these Buddhist teachings something to draw insight from, and an apology for Ye Fan's failure to explain the situation earlier. I hope you won't hold it against him."

"The situation is largely under our control now, but uncertainties remain. If you don't wish to remain involved, God King, you're free to leave. I'll have Ye Fan come apologize in person another day."

"There's no need for that, Senior. What comes later can wait." Jiang Taixu cupped his hands and said solemnly:

"I understand now how you could perform such a wondrous technique of heaven-reaching Fortune to save Caiyun's life."