On Xieyang Mountain, in front of the collapsed pagoda, a plastic bag fell to the ground. The things inside rolled out, leaving a shallow trail in the snow.
A young man stood dazedly in front of the collapsed pagoda, various expressions flashing across his somewhat dark face.
The corners of his mouth trembled continuously, jumping between rising and falling, finally settling into a calm expression.
With a sigh of relief, the young man looked back at the direction of the continuous muffled sounds and roars from the foot of the mountain, a hint of impatience in his eyes. Then he walked to the pagoda and was about to kick it.
But the young man looked at the golden Buddha blocking the entrance, hesitated for a moment, and chose to kick somewhere else.
A huge beam was shattered by the young man's kick, as if it were a small stone. The excess force even caused the entire ruins of the pagoda to explode. Various debris flew everywhere, landing in the distance.
Retracting his foot, the young man bent down and obediently picked up the things that had fallen on the ground: two pieces of bread, a bottle of soda that might or might not still be fizzy, and two somewhat withered fruits.
After putting these things back into the plastic bag, the young man walked into the ruins of the pagoda with a swagger.
"I was wondering why you, old fool, suddenly had the heart to stop sending me food..." The young man's voice was full of contempt as he walked straight to the lotus platform and sat down casually in front of the seated old monk.
The old monk didn't respond, remaining in a meditative posture like an extinguished oil lamp.
And the young man continued to talk to himself in front of the old monk. "What, it's been a long time since you've seen your favorite disciple? Are you moved, or are you thinking about how to get me back?
"Forget it. You weren't much stronger than me back then. What ability do you have now?" The young man casually picked up the fruit he had brought. After one bite, his brows furrowed.
His gaze shifted downwards, to the old monk's legs, which were covered by his long robe. His gaze penetrated the thick robe, but a gloating expression appeared on his face.
"You really know how to make a fuss, turning yourself into this ghostly state, and bringing your disciples along with you, tsk tsk tsk..."
The old monk didn't move, or rather... this body would never move again.
As he laughed, the young man's smile gradually faded. He looked at the old monk's silent appearance and didn't say anything for a long time.
The young man just looked at his master, at this person who had thrown him into the abyss when he was at his most spirited. The corners of his mouth began to twitch again.
Finally, a somewhat crazed smile appeared on the young man's face.
"Finally..." He raised his hand and held his head in frustration, his laughter hidden in his throat, causing his whole body to tremble.
His nails scratched hard across his face, leaving a momentary red mark that quickly faded.
"Old thing... you can't control me anymore!!" He burst out into a wild laugh. If the pagoda hadn't been completely leveled by his kick, it would probably have collapsed a second time.
He laughed wantonly, freely, yet with a hint of misery.
He just laughed loudly. The trace of misery flashed by, finally turning into endless pleasure.
Suddenly, the young man raised his head and looked at the shooting star that streaked across the night sky behind him. His eyes lit up as if he had seen a target.
"I was originally thinking of chasing that disgusting guy..." A smile filled the young man's face. "I didn't expect... there's an interesting prey here too...
"This aura... is very similar to that sword strike before, but stronger... is it the Taixuan Sword Qi? That Madman Ma is still alive?"
He had only lost twice in his life. Once was to Ma Feima, and the other was to this old fool in front of him.
He casually waved his hand, stood up from in front of the old monk, and turned to walk slowly out of the pagoda.
"Taixuan Sword Qi..." he stood on the mountain, looking at the firelight at the foot of the mountain, and muttered to himself. "What is the strongest Taixuan Sword Qi like..."
["No matter how strong it is, it can't be stronger than us now..."] A small black shadow seemed to be floating beside the young man. His voice was a little childish, but it was clearly similar to the young man's.
["You are the strongest now! What martial arts, what skills, even those technologies can't do anything to you!"] It whispered in the young man's ear with a seductive voice.
"Oh," the young man replied flatly. Suddenly, the young man glanced coldly at the black shadow circling around him.
"None of your damn business?"
The black shadow froze. The next moment, the young man raised his hand and waved away the black shadow, an expression of disgust on his face. "That bastard... he'd better not let me catch him..."
The young man directed his disgust into the distance. Dozens of kilometers away, the stooped figure that was rapidly fleeing trembled violently, and its escape speed actually increased by a fraction.
"But before we set off..." The young man retracted his gaze, an excited smile on his lips.
"Let's have some appetizers first!"
A gust of wind blew from the mountaintop, rolling up a flurry of white snow.
And the white ring that subsequently exploded seemed to announce to the world—
The appearance of a Herrscher.
---||---
At the foot of the mountain, Fu Hua had just delivered a sword strike. When she turned back to continue her attack, a strong sense of crisis made her look up.
There's something up there...
Before this thought had even finished in her mind, Fu Hua felt something pass by her, so fast that she couldn't even catch a glimpse of its trail.
The headwind and the explosion behind her arrived almost simultaneously. Fu Hua turned her head sharply, only to see Parvati, which had been reduced to a pile of large and small fragments.
It didn't even have time to struggle... it was taken out in one move...
A figure stood in the midst of the scattered pieces of Parvati. In his hand was an irregular ice-blue core, from which a rich Honkai energy was continuously overflowing.
"So this is the thing that makes such a big thing move?" the young man asked himself in a questioning tone, then threw the crystal away with a sense of boredom.
The crystal rolled on the ground a couple of times and landed in the snow.
The young man then turned back, raised his hands to Fu Hua, who had landed cautiously in the distance, and cupped his right fist in his left palm in front of him.
"Hello, I am Gu Chu. Please give me your guidance."
Fu Hua's heart sank as she looked at the young man's cupped-fist gesture.
"Who are you?" Fu Hua asked, withstanding the overwhelming pressure.
"Me?" A hint of surprise appeared on Gu Chu's face. He lowered his hands and thought for a moment.
"A Herrscher."