Dawn had not yet arrived when Zhao Wen departed.
He stood at the sect gate beneath the dim sky, the peaks still wrapped in drifting clouds. Without ceremony, the token in his hand dimmed, and his figure faded as if swallowed by mist. Heaven of Resting Peaks returned to stillness.
Not long after, Qing Shi arrived at the Immortal Courtyard.
Lin Yuan was seated there, his gaze resting on the distant peaks. He did not turn when Qing Shi approached.
"How is he?" Lin Yuan asked.
Qing Shi stopped a short distance away. "His body's pollution has been fully removed. His meridians are open. Last night, he sensed spiritual qi for the first time."
Lin Yuan's fingers paused.
"He only needs to store it now," Qing Shi continued. "Once the qi settles in his dantian, he will enter the first level."
Lin Yuan nodded slowly. "Then it is nearly time."
His gaze shifted, passing over the nearer peaks and resting on the farther ones—where Stillwater lay.
"Isn't it time to see Gu Yan?" he asked.
Qing Shi inclined his head. "I am going there now."
The Immortal Courtyard fell silent as Qing Shi departed.
Stillwater greeted him with a weight Heaven did not possess.
The air was thinner, rougher. Spiritual energy flowed, but unevenly—strained by the world itself. Qing Shi descended toward a familiar region, where an old cultivation ground lay hidden between ridges.
Gu Yan was already there.
He sat cross-legged upon a stone platform, his aura steady yet heavy, like a mountain burdened by time. His hair was white, though his face bore fewer wrinkles than a mortal of similar age. Cultivation had preserved him—but only just.
He wore a deep indigo robe threaded with bronze. At his waist hung a token edged in bronze light.
Regional Recorder.
Peak Foundation Establishment.
Two hundred and seventy years old.
Thirty years remained.
Gu Yan opened his eyes the moment Qing Shi appeared.
He rose slowly and bowed.
"Dao Warden" Gu Yan said.
Qing Shi looked at him quietly.
Time had carved Gu Yan down piece by piece. Many of his peers were already gone—some failed breakthroughs, others simply reached the end of their lifespan. When the Integration happened, Gu Yan had been only twenty. Now, two hundred and fifty years had passed.
The elders of his era were dead.
The stories of the age without spiritual energy—of blocked meridians and poisoned bodies—were now treated as fairy tales by the young. Even Gu Yan's own disciples had not survived the years. Some died early. Some perished chasing realms they could not reach.
Only he remained.
And before him stood Qing Shi—unchanged.
The same presence. The same face. As if the centuries had passed like a single night.
Gu Yan felt awe.
And sadness.
"Immortality," Qing Shi said calmly, "is a path one walks alone."
Gu Yan nodded. "I have long understood that."
They spoke next of the world.
"Much has changed in the last fifty years," Gu Yan said. "Talents appear more frequently now. Breakthroughs come faster. Techniques are more refined."
His expression darkened slightly.
"But conflicts have grown."
Qing Shi listened without interruption.
"The Azure Frost Sect and the Crimson Hollow Sect clashed over a mid-grade spirit vein in the western ranges," Gu Yan continued. "What began as a dispute between elders turned into open slaughter. Three mid foundation cultivators fell. Late foundation cultivator was gravely injured."
He paused.
"The Luo Clan rose quickly using an inherited bloodline art. It alarmed the surrounding regions. The Heavenly River Clan attempted to suppress them. That feud has yet to end."
Gu Yan's voice remained steady, but the weight behind it was clear.
"There are more techniques, more resources," he said. "But also more greed. The younger generation has never known scarcity. They do not understand what it meant to cultivate when the heavens were silent."
Qing Shi regarded him for a long moment.
"If not for your cultivation limits," Qing Shi said, "you would have already been promoted to Junior Regional Steward."
For the briefest instant, Gu Yan's eyes sparkled.
The emotion vanished just as quickly.
"What cultivation is required for that rank?" Gu Yan asked.
Qing Shi replied evenly, "What lies beyond Foundation."
Gu Yan's breath slowed.
"What realm is that?" he asked.
Qing Shi looked at him.
And did not answer.
The wind moved through Stillwater's peaks.
The chapter ended there.
End of Chapter 43