Crimson clouds drifted across the sky outside the Scripture Pavilion, forever bathed in the warm hues of dusk.
Xiao Xiao had visited Mu Chen several times at regular intervals. Seeing him absorbed in comprehending divine abilities, she had left him undisturbed.
This should have been her sixth visit. Time truly flew; another half a year had passed.
Xiao Xiao had not deliberately kept track of the days. While cultivating, her mind had simply stirred, and she had naturally made her way toward the Scripture Pavilion.
Before she reached the pavilion, she sensed a difference.
That profound, restrained rhythm, like the boundless vault of heaven, had vanished.
The pavilion stood quietly beneath the eternal warm light. Flame patterns along its eaves shimmered with a gentle glow, no different from the other buildings around it.
Without pausing, Xiao Xiao strode up the steps and pushed open the crystal door that had stood ajar for half a year.
Light and shadow shifted.
The scene inside came into view, seemingly little changed from when she had brought Mu Chen here six months ago.
Rows of shelves stretched away in silence, objects bearing legacies resting quietly within crimson halos.
Only a lone figure sat cross-legged in the largest open space at the center.
He still wore black, his posture straight and tall.
He merely sat there quietly, without the slightest trace of spiritual energy spilling from his body, yet he seemed to have become one with the surrounding space.
For some inexplicable reason, Xiao Xiao felt as though she were looking at her father...
He seemed to have just awakened from a great dream, or finally stepped out of a vast painting to stand once more in the world of the present.
As though sensing her, Mu Chen turned to look.
Their eyes met.
Xiao