As the young scholar finished writing, the gathered commoners burst into cheers, pride welling up in their hearts.
The ink applied to the boulder was clearly specially prepared. Once the young scholar finished, the stonemasons took their turn. These skilled craftsmen would carefully carve and polish it, preserving Meng Shiming's calligraphy on the boulder forever.
Yi Shuyuan stayed until the stonemasons came forward before leaving the crowd. Rather than heading into the increasingly prosperous city of Heaven-Bearing Prefecture, however, he went out through the eastern gate toward the main road beyond.
This was an outer wall built after Heaven-Bearing Prefecture's expansion. Outside it, the main road was broad, with numerous horses and carriages passing along it.
Yi Shuyuan gazed toward the northwest. Beyond the limits of his sight lay boundless distances-the lands where Great Yong had defeated the khanate and brought the Northwestern Kingdoms to heel.
"Sir, with Great Yong's flourishing destiny as his foundation, the Violet Star Spirit Lord must be firmly established upon his Divine Seat by now, mustn't he?"
"That goes without saying!"
Heavenly gods indeed ought not interfere in mortal affairs, but the Violet Star Spirit Lord had been Mingzong of Great Yong, an emperor enshrined in the imperial ancestral temple and honored with sacrifices throughout the realm. The more Great Yong prospered, the more smoothly the Spirit Lord's cultivation progressed. The two were inherently inseparable.
"Let's go!"
"We're leaving already? Aren't we going to look around Heaven-Bearing Prefecture?"
"We'll come another time."
With that, Yi Shuyuan rose upon the wind again. This time, he was not heading northwest to witness Great Yong's military achievements, but northeast.
Where there was rise, there was also decline. The once-mighty Great Yan now existed almost in name alone.
As Yi Shuyuan flew over the Mo Mountain Range, the distant