October.
Loa had seen the Eastern Sea at the end of the wilderness.
It was an expanse of gray water that melded with the sky, making it impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. The wind blew in from the sea, carrying a salty, fishy smell completely unlike the scent of grass on the prairie. He sat by the shore for an entire afternoon, watching the tide rise and fall, over and over, as though the land itself were breathing.
Then he returned to the prairie.
He began wandering aimlessly across the vast grasslands. His movements were unpredictable; even he did not know where he would go the next day.
Wangcai, on the other hand, was delighted. There was fresh prey everywhere on the prairie-a rabbit today, a marmot tomorrow, and occasionally even a lone wild ox.
He ate until his belly was round, and even his coat grew a little shinier.
Wuzhui was at ease, too. The prairie let him run freely, as fast as he pleased.
Loa never stopped cultivating.
His tempering of the cervical vertebrae through the Heavenly Pillar Method had reached the fourth vertebra. His progress was much slower than before, but he was in no hurry.
Every time he sat down to cultivate, he could feel that paper-thin barrier-it was right there, neither near nor far, with light visible through it from the other side.
It was not a dazzling light, but the pale glow along the horizon before dawn. You knew the sun was just behind it; it simply had not risen yet.
Piercing it would mean reaching the Saint level.
But he had not yet reached the point where his power would overflow and break it on its own. There was no hurry. He was close.
While Loa cultivated