The light of dawn seemed to point the way toward a new tomorrow as a group of a thousand people headed north, leaving Tianming City behind. They were mostly tribulation elders of Tribulation Peak. To avoid being pursued by the enemy from behind, the tens of thousands of tribulation elders had split up into batches during their return to Taiji Peak Lake.

The Origin Phoenix and Arcana Sword Legions continued guarding the other cities beyond Tianming City. As for the Fienddragon Legion, it had more or less been decimated. Many members of the Xuanyuan house had perished on the battlefield. As such, their celebration didn't last long.

They were all too tired from all the fighting. Tianming managed to spot Xuanyuan Muxue among the group and was relieved to see that she had survived. "How are your injuries?"

"They're fine. I used a spirit herb to heal up."

Tianming looked at her face, illuminated by the sunlight. It was the visage of a woman with faith and courage. "So, you'll finally accept the Frosty Mercurius, right?" Tianming said, raising his brows.

"Of course. It's about time for evolution."

"Very good." He gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"What's up, big hero?" she asked.

"Nothing much, little hero," Tianming said, feigning a cough and doing his best impression of an old man. "Young one, if you work hard enough, even you will be able to mature into a real, upright man."

"Stop messing around, idiot." She rolled her eyes and ignored him.

"So, what’re your plans now?"

"I'll go back to Taiji Peak Lake and see how things develop. What about you?"

"What a coincidence. I had the same thing in mind."

"How original."

Walking beside them were Xuanyuan Yucheng and Beigong Qianyu. After going through this life or death experience, they seemed to have fallen deeper in love with each other. Beigong Qianyu was bidding her mother, the coral fairy Beigong Linlan, goodbye. The latter had to return for the time being with the tribulation elders from her sect.

When they were more or less done, Tianming suddenly had a thought. He went over to them and asked, "Ladies, have you seen Sect Master Jian?"

"My dad? If I'm to guess, he probably returned to Taiji Peak Lake to make a report," Beigong Qianyu said with a slight look of disappointment.

"Is he in such a rush? Why wouldn't he at least meet up with your mother? A send off sounds in order," Tianming said.

"They've actually been separated for years..." she awkwardly said.

"Ah, I get it...." It's no wonder Tianming had a feeling the married couple didn't seem to talk much.

"Imperial Son, partings are just another common occurrence in life," the coral fairy said with a smile. She held her daughter's hand and continued, "Yu'er, come back to the sect with me this time."

"Are you sure it'll be any safer than Taiji Peak Lake?"

"Are you saying you don't want to come with me?"

"Not really, but—"

"It's because of this boy, right?" The coral fairy glanced at Xuanyuan Yucheng, causing him to stiffen up.

He came up and said, "Greetings, Coral Fairy. I am Xuanyuan Yucheng."

Beigong Qianyu pulled her mother’s arm close and said, "Mom, I've made my decision. I'll spend the rest of my life with him."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"What's so good about him?"

"Coral Fairy... I... admittedly, I don't have many strengths to speak of. All I can do is promise that I'll protect her with all I have, including my life. If I ever break that promise, you are always welcome to claim my head..." Xuanyuan Yucheng stammered, though not for lack of dedication. He was just too nervous.

"Alright, I'll mark your words. The others here shall be witness to your oath."

"No problem. I'll acknowledge them as witnesses," Xuanyuan Yucheng said.

"Sect Master, don't scare the poor young man with such formalities! Hahaha..." the tribulation elders of Triflair joked around.

"Very well." Beigong Linlan smiled and gave her daughter a hug with a conflicted gaze. Before she left, she whispered to her daughter, "He seems like a dependable young man. You have my blessing. Make sure to stand strong with one another."

"Mom, what about you and Dad?"

"Not another word of that. The days of us sharing the same bed and dreams are over." She smiled as she helped tidy up her daughter's hair before bidding Tianming farewell and leaving with the other elders.

......

Some hundreds of kilometers east of Tianming City was Greensparrow Mountain. It was named that as it looked like a little bird mid-flight. The upper half of the mountain was snowy, while the lower half was a swamp forest.

The sun was rising in the east, giving the blanket of snow on the mountain a golden tinge. At the peak of the mountain was a figure clad in green, standing with his hands behind his back. The light from the rising sun completely drowned out the man.

This was none other than Feng Qingyu. Within a few short days, his heavy injuries had completely healed up and the charred skin from before was nowhere to be seen. Now he stood tall and straight, like a sharpened sword. His recent hardship had somehow sharpened his glare as he squinted at the sun.

He was among the most terrifying and cruel people of the Hexapath Divine Realm. He had complete authority over everything there and was used to wielding all that power, as was apparent from his ever-calculating gaze.

All of a sudden, a neatly dressed man in blue descended from the sky behind him. The pair, blue and green, seemed to blend together into one on the mountain peak.

"Took you quite a while," Feng Qingyu said with a dissatisfied tone as he turned around. The one who had just arrived was none other than Jian Wuyi.

"Qingyu, why didn't you act even though you recovered? They wouldn't have lost so badly if you’d been there." Jian Wuyi met his gaze, seemingly trying to figure out the answer to his question. Though he called him Qingyu, it sounded slightly different. It wasn't the usual characters for 'green' and 'hell', but 'green' and 'feather' instead. Most people had already forgotten that version of the name, which was last used by Feng Qingyu before he turned thirty.

Back then, he felt that his name sounded a little too soft and gentle, so he had it intentionally changed; then, using his new name, he rose to fame and stayed there for more than two centuries. Most people had forgotten his old name by now.

"Why should I have acted?" Feng Qingyu asked with a smirk.

"Wouldn't the two old folks come cause trouble for you for sitting and watching while they lost?" Jian Wuyi said, his brows furrowing.

"And how are they supposed to know I've recovered? Couldn't I just pretend I needed a few more days to recover? Not to mention, I was in seclusion here. There was no way I could've predicted that the pathetic ghost sect would lose so badly."

"Even if they don't directly bring it up, you can be sure they'll cause trouble for you in the future," Jian Wuyi said.

"It doesn't matter. The more they lose in the fight with the Monorigin Sect, the better. Ideally, I'd want Zi Xiao to die too, but only after they take the Monorigin Divine Realm. As for the two old fools, they're struggling against the tide of the twelfth-level death phase. They'll eventually die too. Once they’re all gone, the world will be ours to rule."

"You have a point. Everyone's plotting to gain an edge over each other. Let's just hope the alliance holds up for the time being. Now that Nonahall has lost so many, they’ll have far less sway and pose less of a threat than before." Jian Wuyi relaxed a little after coming upon the realization.

"You're right. Might is right. As long as we keep the charade going, they'll direct their desire for revenge toward Taiji Peak Lake," Feng Qingyu said with a smile.