The subtle change in the Human Sect Stele made Laozi pause for a moment.
But immediately afterward, he snapped back to his senses.
Yes!
There was no mistaking it!
That aura was unmistakably the feeling of Human fortune.
It was faint, and even seemed to have appeared out of thin air.
But to Laozi, the Leader of the Human Sect, nothing could have been more familiar.
Or rather... it had been far too long since Laozi had felt it.
The Human Sect Stele drew it in, and it ultimately merged into the depths of the stone.
Or rather, it merged once more into the very foundations of the Human Sect.
At that moment, towering waves surged across the deathly still lake of Laozi's heart.
He almost thought his senses had deceived him.
After despair came this sudden hope.
The enormous contrast was more than he could digest at once.
"Elder Brother?"
Heavenly Venerable Yuanshi called softly.
He looked at Laozi's dazed expression.
Bitterness filled his heart.
It seemed this blow had truly been too much for his elder brother.
Even his state of mind had become somewhat unstable.
"Second Brother!"
Laozi abruptly raised his head.
The deathly pallor of despair had vanished from his face.
In its place was wild joy.
An exhilaration that had reached its very peak.
And a trace of excitement he could scarcely conceal.
"It worked!"
Laozi uttered those words in a voice brimming with excitement.
Hearing this, Yuanshi was utterly bewildered!
It worked?!
What worked?!
After all, Yuanshi had sensed absolutely nothing earlier.
The two of them had not even breached the barrier of the Human World Realm.
How could anything have worked?
For a moment, the look Yuanshi gave Laozi became strange beyond description.
*Had the setback been so great that even Elder Brother