On his imperial carriage, Fang Qianyuan sat cross-legged in quiet composure, his presence majestic.
His master's final words still echoed in his mind.
"You are now a Heaven-Tier Powerhouse, bearing responsibility for the welfare and interests of everyone in our sect, and even the countless people of the world. You should accomplish something, leading the sect-and even the entire human race-onto the right path!"
"Sadly, for the moment, even I have no way of knowing where that right path lies. Teaching it to you is therefore out of the question."
"I can only hope that you will persevere, searching above and below, and ultimately achieve something."
"Great is Qianyuan! All things draw their beginnings from it, and it governs heaven!"
"I hope you can live up to your name and become a pillar holding up the heavens for our Azure Cloud Sect, and even for the entire human race and all living beings beneath heaven!"
There had also been the Sect Master's earnest admonitions.
"You are our Azure Cloud Sect's newly ascended Heaven Tier. Majestic and dignified, steady and magnanimous-that is the bearing you should possess."
At first, he had not fully understood the weight those words carried. But now, at the gathering, with every eye upon him, he felt the curious, awed, excited, and admiring gazes cast his way by spirit-taming cultivators, aristocratic clans, sects, and even emissaries of other races. At last, understanding dawned.
He no longer represented only himself. He was the face of the Azure Cloud Sect, its very root and bone.
His bearing, his conduct, even his honor and disgrace, his rise and fall, had become tightly bound to the Azure Cloud Sect, a great sect of the world with a long history, their karma intertwined.
He was a newly ascended powerhouse, a