The first light of morning broke, and the rising sun shone bright.
Early the next morning, the crowds at the foot of Floating Cloud Mountain dispersed. Some returned home to nurse their wounds; some, frightened at heart, sought to flee Fengyang Commandery; others hurried elsewhere to reinforce other battlefronts.
Out of a certain reverence, they had tidied the foot of the mountain, leaving no trace of their encampments and not a scrap of rubbish.
As they went their separate ways, word spread that the Truth-Seeking Abbey had driven back the True Dragon and successfully withstood the Demon Tide.
The common people rejoiced, rushing about to share the news, singing and dancing. Cultivators were both surprised and delighted, and began reassessing the relationship between the Truth-Seeking Abbey and the Peaceful Heaven Sect. Rather than echoing others and letting rumors sweep them along, they began weighing matters carefully and thinking rationally.
When the news reached the various battlefronts, the forces there were heartened, their morale soaring like a rainbow. The Truth-Seeking Abbey had given them a fine start.
At Emerald Screen Mountain, the Rising Sun Sect and the Underworld faced each other in a stalemate. The former tended wounds, gathered the remains of fallen disciples, rearranged formations, and built defensive lines, while the latter busied themselves collecting departed souls.
When reports that the Truth-Seeking Abbey had sheltered half-demons and repelled the True Dragon arrived together, True Lord Chaoguang laughed aloud. Relieved of his concern for the Floating Cloud Mountain battlefield, he praised Xuanming to the skies.
True Person Chaotun felt much the same. When a disciple voiced his doubts, worrying that the Truth-Seeking Abbey had joined the Peaceful Heaven Sect in its wrongdoing and that this might all be an act, the head of the Rising Sun Sect smiled and said:
"The