["You fear Chen Fan?"]
[Zero gave voice to the Great Dao's voice, seemingly bewildered by this unexpected answer.]
["What is there to fear? He is merely an [Otherworldly Demon] who has yet to fully mature. So what if his Golden Finger defies the heavens?"]
["How could someone acting like 'a child carrying gold through a bustling market' make you afraid?"]
[Faced with Zero's barrage of questions, the "big shot" shrouded in boundless mist merely smiled faintly.]
[Then, abruptly, the Great Dao's voice rang out in reply:]
["The one I fear... is not the Chen Fan of the present!"]
[At those words, both beings fell silent, as though by tacit agreement.]
[The atmosphere froze into a stalemate. After an indeterminate stretch of time, Zero spoke first.]
[The Great Dao's voice sounded in a soft murmur:]
["Is it because of that sword's cry?"]
[This tentative question alone elicited an affirmative response from the "big shot."]
["Exactly!"]
[An indifferent Dao resonance sounded from within the mist once more:]
["I learned about Chen Fan's experiences in his second future simulation from Wu Yong."]
["I witnessed that unobservable sword's cry. It was not even a deliberate strike from some being, but an echo!"]
["At first, I thought it was some offensive Golden Finger ability, or a talent Chen Fan had acquired."]
["But later, I discovered I was wrong..."]
[The "big shot" paused, then continued speaking through the Great Dao's voice:]
["It was not until your second great battle with the other [Otherworldly Demon]."]
["At the very end, that Otherworldly Demon used an ability that summoned one ten-thousandth of the sword cry's mighty power!"]
["Only after witnessing that mighty power with my own eyes could I be certain: it was no Golden Finger ability!"]
["It was pure strength. The [Dao God] who once championed the path