Hou Yuanchao gave a soft cough and walked over. The disciples immediately grew solemn and bowed. "Eldest Senior Brother!"
Hou Yuanchao nodded slightly, then said to Cheng Yuan'an, "Junior Brother, Master hasn't personally taught disciples for years. I've been doing it in his place. Starting tomorrow, you'll train with me!"
Cheng Yuan'an knew this was true. He hurriedly nodded and thanked his senior brother.
From then on, Cheng Yuan'an followed Hou Yuanchao in cultivating Dao Arts. Five or six days passed.
The Daoist who had ridden the Azure Ox came again. This time, he brought two other Daoists whose bearing was just as extraordinary.
Over the next several days, more Daoists arrived at the temple. They shut themselves in the rear courtyard with the Founding Patriarch day after day, though no one knew what they discussed.
After gathering for two or three days, the Daoists went their separate ways.
Cheng Yuan'an did not dare disturb them. He simply trained, and soon became so absorbed in cultivation that he forgot all about it.
Only many, many years later, when he looked back, did he realize this had been the beginning of a change in the course of world history...
At the time, Cheng Yuan'an knew nothing of that. He continued cultivating dutifully under Tang Changsheng.
In the mountains, years lost their count. Sixty years passed in a blink.
One day, a long howl suddenly shook the valley, startling everyone.
A rainbow appeared across the sky and plunged downward. In the next instant, wind and clouds surged, the clouds gathering like a funnel.
In broad daylight, a colossal star appeared in the sky, seeming even larger than the sun.
Across the land, the heavens split and the earth cracked. Mountaintops collapsed.
No one had ever heard of or seen an omen like