"I'll have to trouble you with what comes next, fellow Daoist. My Junior Brother asked me to keep the Demonic Evil in Transoxiana in check, but now Qiuyuzi and I must both leave. If no one remains here to hold the line and something happens, I'll not only have no answer for my Junior Brother—the whole stretch of the Great River will fall into disaster..."
Beside the Great River, before the River Lord Temple, Nanmingzi put away the White Jade and cupped his hands to a Daoist in black.
The Daoist's expression remained mild. "I owe you a favor, so of course I'll repay it. Besides, the spiritual energy along the Great River grows richer by the day. Meditating in seclusion nearby might bring me some gains. But your return this time holds misfortune, not blessing. Remember, Longevity is no easy thing."
"My path to Longevity came from Taihua. Without my Master’s Sect, where would I be today? Even if a mountain of blades and a sea of fire await me, I'll go!" Nanmingzi laughed heartily. "Besides, my Junior Brother has talent enough to astonish the heavens. As long as he lives, no matter what happens to Taihua, it will rise again one day."
With that, he turned and left. The earth beneath his feet warped as he used Shrink the Earth to an Inch, covering a hundred miles in one step. In the blink of an eye, he vanished into the distance.
Watching Nanmingzi's receding figure, the black-clad Daoist calculated on his fingers and shook his head.
"To place one's Master’s Sect above the Great Dao—what folly! Besides, a mountain sect with a thousand years of history will scatter once it falls. How could one man revive it? Taihua's fortune has long been in decline. Human effort can scarcely