"We know. We witnessed it all along. We have long known."
His voice was gentle and warm, his gaze like water. The withered leaf trembled softly in the mountain breeze, and his voice settled just as softly. "This is good, too. At least it will let them grasp how hard-won and precious time is, and the weight and measure of life."
"Moo?!" Big Black Ox was utterly dumbstruck.
Big Black Ox slowly lifted his eyes, watching Chen Xun rise from the stone steps. An aura was gathering around him-a vast, earth-shaking grandeur, a terrifying force that enveloped the entire Myriad Mountains.
It did not erupt with a crash or overwhelm heaven and earth. It was a vast aura from somewhere impossibly deep and distant, bearing an ancient will, silently surging, surging, spreading, expanding-
Like a star obscured by clouds for far too long, until, in one silent instant, the clouds parted.
Light pressed down, filling the heavens and earth.
The mountain forests fell still. The wind fell still. Even the broken steles and withered stones scattered in the depths, their ages unknown, seemed to tremble ever so slightly at that moment.
"Dao Ancestor!"
In that instant, Qianqiong's clouded gaze cleared completely.
Chen Xun put on a bamboo hat. Tree shadows swayed across his face, light and darkness interlacing. He actually smiled. "Qianqiong, I know where they are. They won't die. They simply aren't here for now."
"Moo, moo!!"
"For... forbidden... Dao... Sea."
Qianqiong spoke shakily, as though he had seen something unbelievable in Chen Xun. He was so profoundly shocked that even his soul quaked.
Shing-
A faint, clear note rang out.
It came from a crooked, misshapen silver Mountain-Splitting Axe. Chen Xun slung it across his back and lowered his head slightly, hiding his face entirely in shadow, leaving