“Congratulations, Master,” he said excitedly. “It appears that this Violet Furnace Lord promotion has resulted in you acquiring a new apprentice, and that we have acquired a new Junior Brother. Feimu, why haven’t you bowed to your new Master yet?”
A glow of excitement also appeared in Ye Feimu’s eyes. He took a deep breath, and was just about to walk forward, when An Zaihai spoke up. “Junior Brother Ye,” he said coolly, “this is somewhat incongruous with protocol.”
The interchange between the two immediately caused the expressions of the six other Violet Furnace Lords to flicker. However, they didn’t reveal what they were thinking. The expressions of the Furnace Lords, however, all changed; naturally they could pick up on what was happening.
Ye Yuntian’s goal was all too obvious. That having been said, the Furnace Lords generally didn’t favor Fang Mu, and most of them liked Ye Feimu. Each and every one of them watched with various thoughts and ideas running through their heads.
As far as the ordinary master alchemists, not many of them understood what was going on. However, they could pick up on some of the clues. They watched on, speechless, waiting to see what would happen. The sub-Patriarchs from the other Sects were all experienced and astute; how could they not see what was going on?
In fact, they had begun to expect this development some time ago. Of course, they were more than happy to watch such a scene unfold.
Fatty watched on wide-eyed. He glared at Ye Feimu, and had long since begun to curse him inwardly.
Pill Demon was the big exception. From the very beginning, he hadn’t said a single word. It was as if he hadn’t heard or seen anything that had transpired.
As all eyes came to fall upon the scene, Ye Yuntian gave a slight smile. “Oh?” he said, a strange note in his voice. “Elder Brother An, Junior Brother doesn’t really understand what you mean. Would you mind clearing up my confusion?”
“Ye Feimu wasn’t the only person to step foot onto the peak of the mountain,” replied An Zaihai calmly.
Ye Yuntian laughed loudly. “Oh, so that’s the protocol you were talking about, Elder Brother An. Junior Brother would of course never overlook such a matter. However….” He was only half-way finished speaking when suddenly, a booming sound erupted from the screen depicting the world from the Celestial Land.
When the booming sound appeared, it was obvious that it was coming from within the Celestial Land itself. The entire Celestial Land was shaking, and the nexus of it all was none other than Violet East Mountain. Immediately, all of the spectators looked over.
Even Ye Yuntian’s words were immediately drowned out by the boom.
No one noticed, but Pill Demon’s eyes suddenly emitted an unprecedented glow, and a smile slowly spread out across his face. It was a smile of satisfaction, filled with emotion and contentment.
Back in Meng Hao’s world of illusion, he continued to reside in Eastern Emergence County. Three more years passed. Meng Hao was currently ninety-nine years old, and had once again returned to his Master’s grave. He looked at the gravestone, and his face filled with emotion.
“Heaven and Earth are just resting places for the myriads of living creatures. Time represents the passage of hundreds of generations of passing travellers.” A smile broke out on Meng Hao’s face. Life is a journey, every turn of which is filled with new scenery. This path that he tread now contained his mark. Whether the mark was shallow or deep didn’t matter. That was because, it was his choice.
“Maybe my path hasn’t even arrived.” He shook his head. Perhaps in the future he would realize what his purpose in life was. For the moment, he still didn’t know. Since he didn’t know, he wouldn’t force himself to choose. When traveling, it is never possible to know what unfathomable things might occur. That is what makes it beautiful.
A carefree smile broke out on Meng Hao’s face. When it did, his white hair became black. His crooked frame straightened. His features were no longer ancient, but once again filled with the vigor of youth.
He took a deep breath, then looked at the gravestone and dropped to his knees to kowtow a third time!
The kowtow of Sunset Gazing!
With this kowtow, Karma was finalized, and the Master and apprentice relationship solidified. If you do not sever the bond, then neither shall I….
With this kowtow, Eastern Emergence County began to turn translucent behind Meng Hao, and then disappeared.
With this kowtow, the entire world around him began to disintegrate, leaving behind only the grave.
With this kowtow, a roaring sounded out between Heaven and Earth. Everything began to fall apart. Meng Hao… opened his eyes, and the world vanished. He saw the sky once again, the world of the Celestial Land. And there he stood on the peak of Violet East Mountain.
He looked off into the distance, and then took a step forward. As he did, ripples like that on t