Beyond countless light-years, vast fields of shattered meteors drifted through the void, revealing nothing but desolation.
Suddenly, a golden gaze appeared out of nowhere. Its source could not be seen, as though the starry sky itself had opened its eyes.
The stream of golden light hovered in the icy void. Like a hawk that had lost its prey, it slowly circled in place, searching.
Wherever its gaze fell, invisible ripples spread outward, carrying the majesty of one scrutinizing all things—and a trace of barely perceptible... confusion?
And beneath that gaze,
Deep within the void, amid layer upon layer of dimensional cracks, the mountain formed from stars that was Hidden Heaven Pavilion was frantically leaping through space, evading the spreading golden ripples again and again.
"Ten thousand tribulations upon my body become my robes; the extinction of all worlds becomes my shield... Hide the Heavens!"
At the mountaintop, the gathered figures had long since lost their former ease and laughter. Every one of them wore an incomparably grave expression as they summoned their respective... Dao Fruits!
One fruit after another shone brilliantly. Their levels of power were similar, yet the auras they emitted were utterly different.
More importantly,
Every fruit was covered, to varying degrees, in cracks!
An aura of extinction permeated them, like maggots clinging to bone, leaving scar after scar upon Dao Fruits that had once been flawless!
However...
At this moment, no one cared about the "injuries to their Dao Fruits"—or perhaps they had already grown accustomed to them.
Protected by Hidden Heaven Pavilion, the gazes of the crowd finally relaxed slightly as they cautiously peered beyond the mountain—
At that golden light still sweeping madly through the outside world!
"Li Qingshan?"
The middle-aged man in black robes first spoke in startled uncertainty, but his tone quickly turned