Inside the Ruined Temple, the Divine Statue cracked.
Outside the Temple, Yuanshi Tianzun held the Pangu Banner, his Sage might pressing ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers low.
Yet when that cyan-robed figure opened his eyes within the Divine Statue, the entire Barren Mountain instead fell terrifyingly quiet.
Dust peeled away.
Cobwebs burned to nothing.
The clay Divine Statue crumbled inch by inch, and a figure clad in cyan stepped out of the purple-gray incense.
Gu Changqing raised his eyes.
His gaze passed through the half-closed Temple doors and landed on Yuanshi Tianzun before the Nine Dragon Agarwood Carriage.
There was no anger.
Nor any surprise.
Only a faint impatience at having his peace disturbed.
"Yuanshi Tianzun."
Gu Changqing spoke softly.
"A Heavenly Dao Sage, of the Pangu orthodox lineage... weighty enough, at least, for me to step outside and take a look myself."
His voice was very soft.
Yet it reached Yuanshi Tianzun's ears with perfect clarity.
Boom!
Beneath the Nine Dragon Agarwood Carriage, nine Yuqing dragon shadows growled in unison.
Yuanshi Tianzun's sage eyes abruptly turned cold.
He stared at the cyan-robed figure in the Temple, his Sage's divine thought performing ten million divinations in an instant.
The past.
The future.
Destiny.
Karma.
Every result was a purple-gray blank.
Within the Heavenly Dao River, it was as though Gu Changqing had never existed.
Yet there he stood.
Standing in the Ruined Temple at Guanjiangkou.
Standing before Yuanshi Tianzun's eyes.
Even when facing the Purple Heaven Palace, Yuanshi had never experienced such a sense of unfamiliarity.
"Who exactly are you?"
Yuanshi Tianzun's voice was low, the Pangu Banner humming in his hand.
Gu Changqing smiled faintly.
"Who I am is of no importance to you."
He stepped out of the Ruined Temple.
With his first step, a purple-gray