A True Person begins to grasp the essence of Heaven and Earth, their every action a manifestation of the laws that govern all.

The battle between two such figures in this era caused the clouds for ten thousand miles to shift, and the surging river to churn.

And Jiang Wang flew, flew, desperately flew.

He pushed himself to go faster, to escape the battlefield more quickly.

The battle roared behind him.

That roar challenged his very Dao heart.

He had seen Ku Jue’s injuries and knew that the old monk was likely no match for Zhuang Gaoxian.

Ku Jue, with his boastful and conceited personality, had secretly sent him a voice transmission, urging him to flee first, a clear indication of his overmatched state.

The yellow-faced old monk, who lorded over Suspended Temple, could no longer afford to boast and had to face reality, which spoke to the direness of the situation.

The feeling of becoming a burden filled Jiang Wang, a proud heart, with shame and pain.

But he could only flee without looking back.

The only way he could help Ku Jue was to get as far away as possible.

*Still too weak…*

*Still too weak…*

He flew with all his might, pushing his physical body to its limit.

The pain of that extreme state was the only thing that could somewhat comfort his heart.

The sounds of battle gradually faded, and the aura that shook the Heavens and Earth could no longer be felt.

Jiang Wang didn’t know how long he had been fleeing. He only knew that he had to run, to escape as far as possible.

He crossed vast distances with his physical body, and when he finally stopped, he was surrounded by desolate wilderness. He landed on a barren mountain, having long since passed the Tianma Plains, which he had initially considered a safe haven.

He had paid no attention to the route during his desperate flight, relying only on a rough estimation. He didn’t know if he was in Wei, or Wo. Wei being slightly to the south, and Wo to the north.

Or maybe he was in neither.

This barren mountain was eerily silent. Apart from the few birds he had startled upon landing, there was no other movement.

He had been running for too long.

He had been fleeing since outside Xin’an City, walking the line between life and death in the Water Mansion and the Demon Cave. He finally managed to carve out a path of light in endless despair, extinguishing Zhuang Chengqian, only to face the collapse of the Demon Cave and a new round of pursuit.

By the time he had fled here, the sky had already darkened.

Countless stars hung high in the sky.

Jiang Wang sat alone on the mountaintop, cross-legged and proper, his longsword clutched tightly in his hand, staring blankly at the starry sky.

He had once told An An that their father was one of those stars, hanging in the sky and watching over them.

While comforting his sister, he had also hoped that it was true.

In truth, he had never expected Ku Jue to come to his rescue.

He had never hoped for any good fortune, nor had he counted on anyone.

But Ku Jue had come.

After being repeatedly rejected as a disciple, the monk had still come from thousands of miles away.

Appearing, calling him “disciple” over and over.

At that life-or-death moment, the figure that stood before him wasn’t imposing, but it gave him a long-lost sense of security.

He felt protected. He felt that someone was shielding him from the storm.

His Dao essence was nearly exhausted, unable to support further flight at his extreme speed.

But that wasn’t why he had stopped.

So much time had passed that there was no need to flee any longer.

If Zhuang Gaoxian intended to pursue him, he would have done so already.

Either Ku Jue had stopped him, or he had chosen to give up. In any case, the threat from Zhuang Gaoxian was temporarily no longer a concern.

He sat here, waiting for a result.

A result that might not come. If, if the old monk Ku Jue was unharmed, he would be able to find Jiang Wang. Just as he had sensed Jiang Wang’s danger from afar.

He waited like this for an entire night.

A whole night without sleep, clutching his sword tightly.

Only Jiang Wang himself knew how long that night was.

He watched as the stars slowly filled the sky, and then watched as they dimmed one by one, as the deep darkness swept across the sky like a receding tide, and then the sun rose, and the world was filled with light.

Dawn broke, and his heart sank.

The world was so bright, and he was all alone.

Jiang Wang didn’t speak. He simply stood up silently, brushing away the morning mist and the waiting of the night.

He had always been resolute, always strong.

He roughly determined the direction he should take and decided which way to go.

Just as he took a step…

A figure fell from the sky, crashing to the ground in front of him with a deafening thud.

The figure, writhing in pain, was a gaunt, yellow-faced old monk.

It was Ku Jue.

Jiang Wang gripped his sword, glanced into the distance, and, seeing no sign of Zhuang Gaoxian, crouched down to examine Ku Jue’s condition.

He saw that the old monk’s eyes were closed tightly, his body curled up, his teeth clenched, his face pale. Blood trickled from the corners of his mouth, and his breath was extremely weak.

It seemed he had used every last ounce of his strength to escape to Jiang Wang.

“You…” Jiang Wang released his sword, reached out to support the monk’s thin shoulders, and his voice trembled uncontrollably. “How are you?”

He had always been wary of Ku Jue. From the moment he met the monk uninvited in Qingyang Town, he had been on his guard. It wasn’t that he was born distrustful of the world, but many people had taught him the importance of caution.

The old monk’s repeated, forced attempts to take him as a disciple had actually displeased him greatly.

He didn’t want to become a disciple, and even less to trust someone.

Since he began cultivating, the only master he had truly acknowledged was Dong A. But Dong A had trampled his trust and dependence into the dust.

The life-or-death battle in Xin’an City had severed their master-disciple relationship for good.

Before and since then, he had never considered taking another master.

He told himself that he had no deep connection with Ku Jue. The two of them had never truly spent much time together, nor had they ever truly understood each other. Every meeting was a chase. He had never believed that Ku Jue truly considered him one of his own.

Words were just words, how could they be taken seriously?

But he hadn’t expected that when he was truly in danger, it would be Ku Jue who came from thousands of miles away, dragging his wounded body after a great battle, to shield him from Zhuang Gaoxian.

Who had fought a bloody battle for him above the Long River.

Jiang Wang wasn’t a heartless person. He couldn’t help but be moved, couldn’t help but feel guilty.

“How are you?” he asked.

He desperately tried to recall the healing techniques he knew, but Ku Jue’s internal energy was so chaotic that he couldn’t even grasp the specifics of his injuries, let alone know where to start.

His mediocre healing techniques had little effect even on himself, let alone on a True Person.
He was utterly dejected.

“Mmm…” Ku Jue’s eyelids fluttered slightly, and at that moment, he weakly opened his eyes.

He looked at Jiang Wang, his voice lacking its former arrogance, instead weak and feeble.

“Jing Shen ah… This master thought I would never see you again.”

Jiang Wang forcefully suppressed the stinging in his nose, grasping his thin, frail hand. “Master Ku Jue, you…”

His voice choked with emotion, unable to continue.

“Alas…” Ku Jue looked at him mournfully. “Before this master dies, there is only one wish unfulfilled.”

“Master, please speak,” Jiang Wang said, desperately controlling his emotions. “What is your wish?”

He felt the hand he was holding tighten slightly, weakly.

Ku Jue said, his breath like gossamer, “It is that Jing Shen, you have not formally entered my tutelage. This master has not been able to personally tonsure you.”

Such profound affection!

Jiang Wang’s heart felt heavy. He pursed his lips. “Master, your kindness is etched in my heart. But I cannot deceive you. The knots in my heart are unresolved, my enduring hatred remains. I cannot achieve detachment, cannot enter the monastic order.”

Ku Jue struggled, exerting a little force with his hand, appearing weak and obstinate, heartbreakingly so. “The Buddhist path is not actually so strict… tonsure first, then achieve detachment later, that is also permissible!”

Jiang Wang was not a heartless man. In this moment, whatever Ku Jue requested, he would try his utmost to fulfill it. But his cultivation had reached this point, guided by his will and his choices.

He still did not understand the tenets of Buddhism well enough, let alone say whether he agreed with them.

The more sincere one is, the less one can deceive oneself.

“Master,” Jiang Wang said, suppressing his sorrow, “I am grateful for your misplaced affection. Jiang Wang can deceive himself, but how can he deceive you? Jiang Wang has attachments in his heart, a path under his feet. Walking the Buddhist path, he cannot go far. To agree now, then change his mind later, how can he be worthy of you?”

He lightly drew his index finger across his scalp, severing a strand of his long hair. “Jiang Wang cuts off this lock of hair, as a substitute for his head, to swear an oath to the master. Though I cannot be tonsured in this life, I already regard the master as family. After the master departs, Jiang Wang will certainly take good care of the Hanging Temple, ensuring the master’s incense burns eternally, his golden statue is revered forever!”

The sincere words came to an abrupt halt.

He could not help but cry out in pain.

Because a hard fist had already slammed into his eye socket, knocking him cleanly to the ground.

Ku Jue executed a carp-like flip and sprang to his feet.

“Cut your turtle bastard stinking head for this Buddha to play with? Cut hair as a substitute for the head?!”

He cursed and swore while raining blows on Jiang Wang, “This Buddha labored so hard to help you fight, and you are reluctant to shave your head?!”

“Running off alone to kill people? Assassinating the Vice Minister, making enemies with a True Person?!”

“An Internal Palace cultivator dares to provoke a True Person, wouldn’t an Outer Building cultivator be challenging a True Lord?!”

“This master is practically dead, and you’re still Master, Master, calling me Master every other word!”

“After this master leaves, take care of the Hanging Temple? Does the Hanging Temple need *you* to take care of it?!”

“Pah! This master will leave? *You* leave! This master can’t leave even if I wanted to!”

Ku Jue beat and berated, berated and beat, a cathartic torrent of curses, a violent storm of punches and kicks.

He truly harbored deep resentment about Jiang Wang’s refusal to formally become his disciple.

Finally, he kicked Jiang Wang in the buttocks, leaving a clear imprint of a straw sandal.

“Reflect properly for this master!”

Then, wiping away the fake blood from the corner of his mouth, he brushed the dust off his body, grumbling as he leaped into the air, disappearing into the horizon.

Jiang Wang, his face swollen and bruised, rolled over, lying on his back on the ground, looking at the cloud-filled sky lit by the bright sun.

He grinned.

At first, it was silent, then the sound grew louder and louder.

“Hahahaha!”

His mouth stretched wider and wider, his laughter becoming more and more unrestrained.

Finally, his head lolled to the side, and he fell asleep.

From entering New Peace City at night, until just now, he had not relaxed for a single moment.

He was too tired.