Liu Nian left once again, still without paying for his wine.
Su Mo remained seated by the window, his white robes fluttering as he watched everything outside...
Only this time, Su Mo raised his head.
The Heavenly Dao... was different!
Autumn winds gathered dew; spring rains sang opera.
In a hazy blur, who knew how many more years passed...
Little Xuanji still had not returned, seemingly unable to tear himself away from the Mortal World.
Instead, Liu Nian and the Phoenix Venerable often came to the tavern to sit with Su Mo, who enjoyed peace and quiet, and chat about everyday matters.
Liu Nian, the Emperor of the Mortal Realm, seemed to be gradually showing signs of weariness as well.
The Phoenix Venerable often looked toward Su Mo, though no one knew what she was thinking...
Nothing in the world seemed to have changed. People still worked at sunrise and rested at sunset.
The tavern in the city no longer seemed to waft the fragrance of tea, like an old man in his twilight years.
The face of that white-robed figure in the tavern's loft had also begun to show some age...
This seemed to be something Su Mo had done deliberately, so that he would be like the people in the city.
He, too, would grow old...
The Reincarnation Mirror fastened to Su Mo's bound hair often gleamed with a bronze light, reflecting his increasingly aged face.
Within its hazy Spirit Consciousness, it knew that this was caused by Su Mo's cultivation.
Yet it still sensed the desolation in the white-robed man's heart...
Time was like flowing sand, impossible to grasp.
The imperial notices posted throughout the world still sought that "Confucian Sage," and even this little city was no exception.
People often passed beneath the tavern and