In the sky, the Divine List blazed with boundless radiance, Chaos energy intertwining with the blazing sun's light like an ancient painting spanning heaven and earth. Beneath it, countless names shone upon the five scrolls: Immortal, Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow.
The Nine Heavens Azure Cloud List bore not only the names of prodigies, but also the weighty, sweeping trajectories of this generation's heroes across the heavens.
Yun Qing stood at the edge of the First-Stage Platform, his crimson robes snapping in the mighty heavenly wind, his bearing one that could subdue the eight directions.
As though sensing something, he turned his head slightly, his gaze piercing the layered clouds toward the distant east. There stood the Yun Clan's majestic ancestral grounds, the home that held the tenderest place in his heart.
"At last, I can go home."
The Azure Cloud contest, where every step set hearts pounding, and the grief of watching his clansmen spill their blood had finally drawn to a close.
The bells had fallen silent. The rankings were settled.
Even Yun Qing felt a faint trace of relief pass through him.
Unconsciously, he gently brushed the ten-thousand-year heart-soul jade box against his chest. Little Golden Fur lay quietly within, "dead as dead could be," without so much as a wisp of aura remaining, bringing him a strange sense of reassurance.
It's over, Brother Huang. I didn't let you down.
Yun Qing murmured inwardly. According to the procedures of previous contests that Yun Huang had told him about, once the rankings were finalized, only two final stages remained.
"Fortune returning to its bearer" and "the Heavenly Dao's bestowal of treasures."
"The Heavenly Dao's bestowal of treasures," Yun Qing murmured, genuine anticipation stirring in his Double Pupils.
According to ancient records and Yun Huang's account, the Heavenly Dao