Shiheng bowed in salute as his words slowly faded, his clear, solemn voice echoing softly through the world, where the flow of time had only just resumed.
In the void, Betru stood quietly. His eyes, as deep as an eternal starry sky, rested on the young man before him, who had survived life and death without losing his character, knew gratitude and strove to improve, and remained steady and reserved. A final, barely perceptible trace of approval flickered in his eyes.
He had lived through endless ages and seen countless prodigies across myriad worlds, yet no one had ever been like Shiheng: a commoner with no support and no inherited legacy to rely upon, who had forcibly carved out the heaven-defying path of Four-Element Soul Mutation while still at the Saint realm. Such character and perseverance were enough to make even him, the sovereign of a plane, regard Shiheng in a different light.
Before Shiheng could voice his thanks again, the aura surrounding this uncrowned king of the Yulan Continent, this supreme powerhouse who roamed the myriad worlds, stirred ever so slightly.
There were no earth-shaking phenomena, no surging waves of energy, not even the faintest stirring of wind. His figure simply began to grow indistinct and thin, like clouds dispersing in the breeze or morning mist meeting the warm sun.
In no more than an instant, Betru's figure vanished completely from the world. He came and went like the wind, free and untraceable, leaving not the slightest trace of his form, as though he had never appeared in this world at all. Only a faint, ancient, far-reaching aura lingered in the air, slowly dissipating like the lingering resonance of the Great Way, confirming that the heaven-defying opportunity just bestowed upon Shiheng, enough to shake the entire Yulan Continent, had