Across tens of millions of years, Luo Luo locked eyes with the white-robed sage from ancient times.
With a dull thud, the half-broken brick that had struck his back fell to the ground, rolling twice before coming to a stop.
Luo Luo: "..."
Her right hand hung awkwardly mid-air, neither retracting nor staying put.
Heavens bear witness—she hadn’t been the one to hit him!
Li Zhaoye had explicitly instructed: If you encounter the Divine Sovereign, do not act. Wait for me.
And even if she were to act, surely throwing a brick wasn’t the way?
Luo Luo stood frozen in utter bewilderment. She glanced around, only to find the crowd had neatly retreated, leaving her completely isolated.
There was no explaining this away.
Bracing herself, she turned her gaze back to the white-robed sage.
This man was… strange.
Though his face was strikingly beautiful, vivid as if painted with bold strokes, the first impression that surfaced in her mind was… plainness.
An unsettling plainness.
As though he existed beyond the mortal world, untouched by even a speck of dust.
His eyes rested on her—not as if looking at a person, but at a roadside flower, a blade of grass, or perhaps a lump of dirt.
He hadn’t turned to seek out the "culprit." He’d simply glanced in the direction the stone had come from, nothing more.
His eyes held no emotion whatsoever.
"You—what kind of sage are you?!" A woman hidden behind Luo Luo suddenly shrieked at him, her voice thick with tears. "My son is suffering so much—how could you refuse to save him? You have no conscience! You—you—may your whole family die!"
"Look at the other immortal masters, then look at you! How dare you call yourself a sage!"
"You turn your back on those in need, yet you shamelessly linger here! Have you no shame?"
"Get out! Leave now!"
The accusations erupted like a storm, and Luo Luo, standing at the forefront, found herself at the center of the fury.
"Calm down," Luo Luo said helplessly. "If you provoke him, he could wipe you all out with a single slap."
The crowd fell dead silent.
After a moment, the white-robed sage lowered his lashes and turned away, continuing forward without a word.
Gradually, murmurs rose again.
"He… he wouldn’t dare!"
"If he, a sage, dares lay a hand on us, his reputation will be ruined!"
"Exactly! If he strikes us, we’ll make sure the whole world knows!"
Luo Luo couldn’t resist adding another dose of blunt honesty: "He could just kill everyone. Dead men tell no tales."
The crowd: "..."
Many silently tucked away the rotten vegetables and eggs they’d been clutching.
An old woman tugged at Luo Luo’s sleeve. "What nonsense are you spouting? Life is hard enough as it is—we need to drive him away, let him be someone else’s problem!"
Luo Luo glanced back at that ethereal, untouchable figure.
Curiosity got the better of her. "How exactly has he been a problem for you?"
The old woman faltered, then quickly pointed toward a woman clutching a young boy. "Look at poor Huzi! His mother begged and even kowtowed, but he didn’t so much as glance their way!"
Luo Luo followed her finger—ah, yes. This was the same woman who’d just cursed the sage’s entire family to death.
"What’s wrong with Huzi?" Luo Luo asked.
A man nearby answered indignantly, "Old Man Zhang broke his leg with a hoe! Such a pitiful child—any other immortal master would’ve given him a miracle cure by now!"
Luo Luo frowned. "Why did Old Man Zhang hit him with a hoe?"
The crowd erupted with answers:
"Ah, just bad luck! Huzi’s just a kid—he cursed Old Man Zhang’s family to die, just joking around! Who knew the hillside would collapse that very night, burying Old Man Zhang’s wife, sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren alive? They couldn’t even dig them out. The old man lost his mind, said Huzi’s curse killed them, and smashed his leg with a hoe!"
Luo Luo went still. "I see..."
Though it had been countless years, she still remembered the agony of losing family.
The world suddenly empties. No home to return to, no path ahead.
That kind of loneliness cuts deep.
Without thinking, she asked, "What happened to Old Man Zhang?"
"He’s dead! Jumped into the river!" another man snapped, glaring. "Old Man Zhang’s family dying has nothing to do with my son! Instead of pitying my boy, you care about him? You’re just like that hypocrite sage—talking without understanding suffering! If my son isn’t healed, he’ll be crippled for life! Who’ll take care of him then?"
Luo Luo: "..."
She genuinely didn’t understand. "If Old Man Zhang’s family dying wasn’t your son’s fault, then why is your son’s injury the sage’s responsibility?"
"You—!" The man rolled up his sleeves, ready to strike.
Someone else shouted, "Empress Taiyi would never turn her back on the suffering! She saves the desperate—not like this so-called sage! Drive him out! Bring us Empress Taiyi!"
At the name, Luo Luo’s eyes narrowed.
"We want Empress Taiyi!"
"Yes, forget this useless sage—give us Empress Taiyi!"
"Just our luck—why won’t he leave? He’s sucking us dry!"
Huzi's father charged at Luo Luo, raising a fist the size of a sandbag to strike her, his mouth spewing filthy curses: "You damn bastard, your whole family should drop dead!"
Luo Luo: "..."
This man actually thought someone as meek as her would be easy to bully.
She aligned her fingers, her gaze lightly flickering toward his pressure points.
Just as she was about to strike, a blur flashed before her eyes.
A figure in white robes stepped in front of her, his wide sleeves fluttering like clouds and breeze, effortlessly deflecting Huzi's father’s incoming fist.
When the sage stood still, people hurled vegetables and eggs, shouting for blood.
The moment he moved, silence fell like a heavy curtain.
With a thud, Huzi's father dropped to his knees before the sage.
One by one, the crowd around them knelt as well.
Without a word, the sage in white robes walked past the crowd and strode forward.
Luo Luo instinctively followed.
The entire street fell into hushed stillness.
"BOOM!"
A mountain-like demon collapsed, head severed from its body, crashing to the ground with a resonant thud.
Li Zhaoye’s lips pressed into a thin line as he slowly lifted his cold, piercing eyes.
He found himself standing in the Hall of Sealed Divinity.
Glancing down at his own hands, cracked with fissures, he tightened his grip on his sword, Changtian.
With a metallic shing, he raised it, his battle-hungry gaze locking onto his next prey.
"Don’t back down now, you coward!"
Sparks flew as the sword scraped against the temple floor. He lunged forward, the blade slicing through the air in a ruthless, elegant arc, cleaving through the giant demon.
"WHOOSH—CRASH!"
With a flick of his wrist, blood dripped slowly from the blade.
Drip.
Drip.
Each drop struck the floor, thick and heavy.
Further ahead, his ears twitched. After a brief pause, he spun Changtian in his hand and charged down the corridor.
Soon, Li Zhaoye and Xu Junzhu reunited.
"Luo Luo isn’t here?"
"She’s missing?"
They exchanged glances.
Li Zhaoye nodded. "Push forward."
Xu Junzhu frowned. "Would Luo Luo have gone deeper inside?"
Li Zhaoye bared his teeth in a grin. "She’ll have to find me."
Xu Junzhu: "..."
She gave a slight nod and moved ahead.
Unaware of the bloodshed unfolding elsewhere, Luo Luo walked beneath twin suns, trailing behind the sage in white as they passed through crowds and streets.
He never spoke a word.
Luo Luo kept him in her peripheral vision—she had to stay alert in case he suddenly transformed into that brutal, terrifying God-Sovereign.
Before long, the two left the town behind.
Following the river northward, his gaze remained serene, occasionally lifting to stare at the twin suns in the sky, lost in thought.
When he stopped, she stopped.
When he walked, she followed.
As dusk fell, one sun dipped below the western mountains while the other remained suspended overhead, its hue shifting—from blinding white to gold, then crimson, and finally a dull gray.
By the time the moon rose, the lingering sun had taken on the silver glow of moonlight.
Now, two moons hung in the sky—one full, one crescent.
A shiver ran down Luo Luo’s spine.
This world felt as real as her own, which made its bizarre celestial phenomena all the more unsettling.
Moonlight cast overlapping shadows—every tree, every rock bore a ghostly double. Staring too long made her dizzy.
She glanced at the sage, who was once again gazing absently at the sky.
While he daydreamed, she practiced her techniques.
When he moved, she followed.
He seemed… not quite right in the head. As long as he didn’t attack her, she’d openly shadow him.
Night passed swiftly. The crescent moon faded, while the "full moon" remained fixed above.
At dawn, as the eastern sun painted the sky in fiery hues, the hovering disc turned orange-red.
Once again, twin suns ruled the heavens.
Luo Luo continued trailing the sage.
She found him utterly peculiar—detached from everything, yet he’d pause to listen to the wind, watch the water, or crouch beside an ancient tree, utterly engrossed in an ant colony’s migration.
He observed falcons hunting birds, birds snatching fish, fish devouring shrimp.
After days of following him, Luo Luo no longer feared him.
His existence felt… elemental. Like a mountain, a river, the wind.
He passed through towns, witnessing births and funerals.
People still hurled vegetables and eggs at him.
Luo Luo kept her distance to avoid the splatter, muttering, "Li Zhaoye, your ancestor is seriously strange."
He seemed to possess no cultivation, no temper.
After days of travel, she hadn’t encountered a single demon, nor heard the word "demon" from anyone’s lips.
Which was baffling.
She’d clearly heard these people praising the Three Sovereigns—Taiyi, Hongmeng, and Tianyin.
Yet their legacy in later ages was their sacrifice to seal the ancient demons.
So… where were the demons?
Luo Luo couldn’t make sense of it.
Passing by an ancient temple, the white-robed sage once again began staring blankly at the two suns in the sky.
Luo Luo’s heart stirred, and she vaulted over the temple wall, landing in the courtyard. She roused an old monk who was chanting scriptures on a meditation cushion.
"Hey—" Luo Luo momentarily forgot how to address a monk. After a brief, awkward stare-down, she blurted out dryly, "Old benefactor?"
The old monk clasped his hands together. "...Young benefactor."
Having successfully exchanged greetings, Luo Luo got straight to the point: "Monks don’t lie—do you know where to find demons?"
The old monk replied solemnly, "Demons exist only in legends."
Luo Luo pressed, "None in this world?"
The old monk answered, "It is said that in ancient times, demons once invaded but were driven away by the sage."
Luo Luo blinked slowly.
Hearing someone from ancient times speak of their own antiquity felt strangely surreal.
"The sage?" she asked. "You mean the one people throw vegetable leaves at?"
The old monk nodded and chanted a Buddhist invocation.
Luo Luo frowned. "Then why do people throw things at him?"
The old monk sighed. "The sage is too close; antiquity is too far."
Luo Luo: "...Speak plainly."
The old monk: "Amitabha."
Luo Luo: "..."
Her first interaction with a monk lived up to the stereotype—utterly incomprehensible.
Reluctantly, she muttered her thanks, stood up, leaped backward, and vaulted back onto the wall.
The old monk called after her, "...Young benefactor, you could use the gate."
Thud.
Luo Luo was already gone.
Outside the temple, the white-robed sage was watching bees gather nectar from flowers.
Not far behind him, a group of people sat in a tea shed, sipping cold tea and loudly praising the Three Deities.
"Have you heard? Empress Taiyi intervened again during the flood in Cucumber Prefecture, saving countless lives!"
"God Tianyin slaughtered all the vicious wolves on the grasslands—imagine how many livestock he spared!"
"God Hongmeng’s deeds go without saying—healing the sick and wounded, tending to so many nobles. Unlike some people... their reputations far exceed their merits! Tsk, tsk!"
"Some folks have no shame, lazing about and hogging space. Why don’t they just scram already?"
Each remark was deliberately projected outward, clearly meant for the white-robed sage across the street.
Luo Luo glanced at him.
He showed no reaction, as if deaf and mute.
The bee, its legs heavy with nectar, took flight, and the sage straightened up, continuing his journey.
Luo Luo’s gaze lingered on him.
She noticed that every time he stood, it seemed to take slight effort, as though bearing an invisible weight.
Lost in thought, she realized he had already drifted far ahead.
Luo Luo hurried to catch up.
"Hey," she ventured, trying to strike up a conversation, "those people insult you, throw vegetables at you... does it make you seethe inside?"
Naturally, he ignored her.
Undeterred, Luo Luo mused aloud, "What if one day, you snap and turn evil, destroying the world? Honestly, I think you might as well start now—beat up anyone who crosses you."
He walked on without pause.
Luo Luo followed him over two mountain peaks until they reached the roaring upper reaches of a river.
A massive dam split the raging currents into two branches.
The thunderous roar made her ears ache, and the ground trembled beneath her feet.
The sage walked slowly along the silt-clogged embankment, pausing now and then to inspect it.
Luo Luo knew he’d be here a while.
By now, she had learned to occupy herself—while he observed, she practiced her swordplay in a nearby clearing.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Spiritual energy burned like fire in her veins, and each slash left faint trails of flame in the air.
Suddenly, the world shuddered with an indescribable force.
Instinctively alert, Luo Luo sheathed her sword and scanned for the source.
It was him.
His hands lifted slightly, and the earth trembled as grains of sand rose into the air.
For miles around, a terrifying sandstorm seemed to form.
Whoosh—hum—
The swirling sand funneled skyward like a colossal, sky-darkening vortex.
Heart pounding, Luo Luo retreated to higher ground.
Gradually, the river’s condition became clear—once the silt was cleared, the churning yellow waves calmed, leaving the wide river smooth as satin, its waters now transparent.
Beneath the massive sand vortex stood the white-robed figure.
As his hands lowered, the tons of suspended sand obeyed like an extension of his will, settling onto the dam with the precision of a master craftsman. The embankment visibly strengthened before her eyes.
The river flowed peacefully onward, its waters clear.
Luo Luo murmured, "Ah... preventing disaster before it strikes."
His work would spare the downstream regions from floods for decades.
Thud.
With the final layer of sand in place, he bent slightly, inspecting his handiwork.
Luo Luo studied his expression—still utterly impassive.
Satisfied, he resumed his journey.
His power left her awestruck.
That display of moving mountains and diverting seas—it was the stuff of legends.
She was even less worried about him laying a hand on her now—with such a vast gap in their cultivation levels, worrying was pointless.
What she needed to guard against now was Li Zhaoye.
She feared he might suddenly charge out from somewhere and attack this terrifyingly powerful sage.
"You’ve done good deeds, yet you never speak of them?" Luo Luo trailed behind him. "Li Zhaoye and I are different—when we do good, we make sure to shout it out loud so everyone knows!"
The white-robed sage rarely turned to look at her.
He still said nothing, merely raising his hand to lightly brush against the passing wind—as if responding to her, or perhaps not at all.
Luo Luo: "..."
This sage was even harder to communicate with than the old monk.
She continued following him forward.
In the illusionary realm, time held no meaning, and Luo Luo gradually grew accustomed to the sight of twin suns hanging in the sky.
The fire spiritual energy within her grew steadier day by day.
Then, one day, she felt her spiritual energy grow unusually restless, a low, thunderous rumble faintly echoing in her ears.
The white-robed sage’s steps gradually lifted into the air—he walked upward, step by step, treading on nothingness.
Luo Luo: "..."
That level of skill was downright terrifying.
She opted to ride her sword, drifting along behind him.
As they ascended above the clouds, Luo Luo saw the source of the fire energy’s agitation—they had arrived at the mouth of a massive volcano.
The air was thick with the dry, scorching scent of sulfur.
The volcanic crater resembled a boiling cauldron, its surface churning with enormous, blistering bubbles.
The hum of flames reverberated around them, the intense heat distorting the air.
Occasionally, molten lava spewed from the volcano, raining down like fiery droplets, exploding against the blackened rock and painting the surroundings in bursts of brilliant orange.
Step by step, he descended into the void.
Luo Luo: "..."
She hovered cautiously in midair, watching as he parted the lava and vanished into the volcano’s depths.
The energy of the world here was wild and searing—perfect for her cultivation.
Steeling herself, Luo Luo formed a hand seal and maneuvered her sword through the blistering currents, pushing herself to train harder amidst the scorching waves.
"Boom..."
A deep rumble echoed from the volcano’s heart.
As far as the eye could see, the earth trembled faintly for miles.
Luo Luo didn’t know what he had done, but she could clearly sense some profound change unfolding deep within the earth.
The power of a sage was truly fearsome.
"With strength like this, he could probably level the Divine Sealing Hall?" Luo Luo mused to herself. "But compared to ‘that thing,’ who’s stronger?"
That thing was truly horrifying.
The sacrifices in later eras—who knew what they were for?
Shaking her head, Luo Luo dismissed the thought. Riding a surge of boiling heat, she channeled all her energy into her golden core and slashed a blazing sword aura into the sky.
"Whoosh—BOOM!"
The sword energy dyed the heavens crimson, like a streak of dazzling sunset.
Li Zhaoye suddenly paused.
He lifted his head, gazing in confusion at the towering ceiling of the Divine Sealing Hall.
"Her aura."
Xu Junzhu landed beside him after cutting down a demon, frost spreading beneath her feet.
"Luo Luo? Where?"
Li Zhaoye kept his eyes on the sky. "Up there... probably?"
Xu Junzhu: "..."
After a moment of silence, she said gravely, "Eldest Brother, have you noticed that the demons here are much weaker than the ones in the real Divine Sealing Hall?"
Li Zhaoye smirked. "To Him, they are weak."
After all, this was only an illusion born from His memories.
Xu Junzhu frowned in thought before nodding. "In that case, we should investigate the deepest part of the Divine Sealing Hall—see what truly lies there."
Li Zhaoye flicked the demon blood from his sword and strode forward.
Luo Luo trained relentlessly by the volcano, day and night.
Then, in an instant, she sensed an overwhelming stillness—a profound "presence."
The moment the thought crossed her mind, the lava pool rippled, and the white-robed sage emerged.
Molten rock settled slowly behind him.
Luo Luo knew this volcano wouldn’t erupt for many years to come.
She followed the sage away from the volcano, continuing their wanderings.
After witnessing his power, seeing people throw rotten vegetables and eggs at him only made Luo Luo sigh in exasperation. "Ignorance truly breeds fearlessness!"
In her spare time, she studied ancient texts and inscriptions.
According to records from the primordial era, the sage had once driven back extraterrestrial demons, protecting this land.
Yet despite his immense power, he never answered the pleas of mortals, slowly accumulating resentment over time.
Luo Luo was beginning to understand the old monk’s words—"The primordial era is too distant, the sage too close."
If the sage had remained aloof from the world, people might have revered him out of mystery. But instead, he wandered the streets freely, appearing gentle and unassuming—feeding the boldness of the masses.
Occasionally, Luo Luo would grab someone to argue with.
"Are you an idiot? Empress Taiyi doesn’t control floods—how many people could she even save? And yet you keep whining about it! Have you forgotten how long it’s been since a flood ravaged the sage’s lands?"
"No floods, no earthquakes, no volcanic eruptions—do you think all this happens on its own? Use your brain for once, will you?"
"Hahaha, so God Tianyin heals and saves people, does he? But only the high and mighty with names and titles. What’s it to you, a nobody? You think he’d spare a glance your way? Who do you think you are?"
"If it weren’t for the Sage driving away the demons, those so-called 'Three Gods' would’ve been devoured in one bite—no leftovers! Hah!"
"……"
The result of taking the Sage’s side in the argument was Luo Luo and the Sage getting pelted with twice the usual amount of rotten vegetables and eggs.
Over time, she grew familiar with him—or so Luo Luo liked to think.
She learned to read the subtlest shifts in his expression, to know when he intended to stay and when he was about to leave.
She even began to trace the pattern of his movements.
He wandered seemingly without purpose, yet always orbited that motionless sun in the sky. Its shadow never fell past his waist.
Every time he lifted his gaze to it, a flicker of exhaustion—so faint it could almost be missed—passed through those calm, unreadable eyes.
"There really are no demons in this world."
Trailing behind him, Luo Luo had grown accustomed to talking to herself.
"A world without demons… feels almost unnatural," she mused. "I wonder where you’ve driven them off to!"
She didn’t expect an answer.
Yet the white-robed Sage ahead of her suddenly halted.
Slowly, he raised a hand toward the sky.
There, blazing unmistakably, was a second sun.
