Feng Xian'er turned and took two or three steps back the way she had come, then suddenly stopped again.
"Shisan, I don't know what you want to do, nor do I want to know how you plan to do it. But remember, some things in this world matter more than life, yet life is the foundation of everything. If you lose your life, those things will be lost along with it."
Lin Shisan stood at the entrance to the Nine Yang Pavilion, watching Feng Xian'er's dark blue figure recede into the distance.
He stood there for a long time, so long that the blazing white midday sunlight turned a warm yellow, so long that the golden runes inside the Nine Yang Pavilion behind him completed one silent circuit after another.
He took a deep breath, then resolutely raised his hand and pressed it against the Nine Yang Pavilion's bronze doorframe. Its cold, rough texture seeped from his fingertips into his meridians. With a clang, the doors opened, and a scent both familiar and strange washed over him.
He recalled coming here to comprehend the Dao when he had first joined the Danyang Sect, only to nearly be devoured by Gai Jiuyou's divine sense projection.
He had never expected to return, much less with a decision he was still wavering over, one that might even lead him in the opposite direction.
"Three days should be enough."
Lin Shisan murmured those words, then turned and walked into the Nine Yang Pavilion.
The Bronze Gate slowly closed behind him with a dull thud, shutting out all the daylight.
The instant the Bronze Gate of the Nine Yang Pavilion closed behind him, Lin Shisan felt his surroundings fall so quiet that he could hear his heartbeat.
The Nine Yang Cauldron stood in the pavilion,