Atop Immortal Prison Mountain.
Ji Yuan appeared out of thin air in the great hall without warning.
He stood motionless, his aura drawn inward.
He seemed to have melted into the world around him, without a trace of sharpness showing.
Liu Yuan, who was on duty in the hall, sensed that familiar yet unfamiliar presence at once.
He jerked his head up. One glance filled his eyes with surprise.
In a flash, he came down from the dais and cupped his hands to Ji Yuan. "Brother Ji, you're finally out of seclusion!"
This was the arrangement Ji Yuan had made with them years ago.
On public occasions, at sect ceremonies or during formal deliberations, they could call him "Lord of the Immortal Prison."
But in private,
they were brothers who had faced life and death together. There was no need for empty formalities; their old ways of addressing one another would do.
Ji Yuan smiled at Liu Yuan and returned the greeting.
"Yes, I'm out."
Liu Yuan stepped closer and studied him carefully from head to toe.
After a long look, he frowned instead. "This seclusion of yours—how did you change so much?"
Ji Yuan laughed. "Oh? What changed? My cultivation hasn't advanced an inch in these ten years. I'm still stuck at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage."
That much was true.
For ten years, he had devoted all his attention to developing his technique.
He had spared no thought for advancing his cultivation.
Liu Yuan shook his head. "Not your cultivation. Your bearing. Your whole bearing has changed."
He hesitated, searching for the words.
Only after a long pause did he continue. "Before, even when you could cut down a Nascent Soul Peak cultivator with one sword strike and became the Lord of the Abyssal Depths, however powerful your