A month later.
In a market town within the Three Southern Passes, crowds bustled amid the bitter scent of spirit herbs and the rusty tang of iron.
Ji Yuan concealed his aura and mingled with the passing crowds.
It had been so long since he had returned that the bustle and peace around him felt almost unfamiliar.
Just then, his Divine Sense suddenly detected an aura speeding over the market town.
"Hm?"
Ji Yuan was slightly surprised and let a trace of his own aura leak out.
The other aura stopped abruptly in midair. A voice rang out in Ji Yuan's Sea of Consciousness.
"Xu—Brother Xu, is that really you?!"
Ji Yuan smiled and turned into a streak of blood-red light. In an instant, he was before the man.
The man wore a plain gray robe and had a face so ordinary it vanished from memory at a glance. If not for his familiar aura, Ji Yuan might not have recognized him.
Of all the people Ji Yuan knew, only one could manage that: the Thousand Illusion Old Devil.
"You—"
The Thousand Illusion Old Devil kept his voice low, though he could not hide his excitement and astonishment. "You really came back?!"
Ji Yuan smiled calmly. "Fellow Daoist Thousand Illusion, I trust you've been well."
"Well? I nearly thought you'd died over at South Pass One!"
The Thousand Illusion Old Devil looked Ji Yuan up and down, his gaze so intense it seemed to pierce through him.
"Fellow Daoist Xu, you're truly a model for the rest of us. I thought it would be splendid if you managed to gather a little intelligence over there, but I never imagined—you actually destroyed the Five-Element Godslayer Cannon!"
"Just luck. Just luck."
Ji Yuan smiled again.
The Thousand Illusion Old Devil glanced down