Yi Xiao and Qin Yun exchanged glances.
Both saw surprise in each other’s eyes, mixed with overwhelming gratitude.
They were about to bow toward Fu Long Mountain when the world changed around them, and they found themselves outside the mountain.
"Qin Yun (Yi Xiao) expresses deepest thanks to the Saint Mother for saving our lives!"
Both knelt outside the mountain.
They remained there for nine whole days before finally getting up to leave.
A beautiful shadow sat cross-legged on a boulder in the mountain, her figure thin and her silhouette forlorn. Infinite sadness and solitude enveloped her, casting a poignant shadow on the striking woman.
Yet, in her eyes, there remained a glimmer of hope.
Like the stone she sat on, she did not move.
Two figures approached from a distance, a man and a woman, landing before the mountain. When they arrived, Qin Yun and Yi Xiao were still kneeling outside. Seeing this, they immediately understood the whole story.
"Surely it was mother, unable to bear witnessing the separation of the couple, who cast the Great Method."
The handsome man with a straightforward appearance glanced at Qin Yun and Yi Xiao, deducing the situation then and there.
The two passed by Qin and Yi.
The latter two were also in the Golden Core Realm, yet failed to notice anything.
Looking up, as if seeing the woman on the mountain, they exchanged glances and swiftly made their way up. Upon reaching her, their worried expressions faded, replaced with brilliant smiles.
The woman, holding an immortal sword and ascending the mountain, radiated heroic vigor. Within a few steps, she was in front of the stony woman. The two bore a semblance to each other; the former crisply said, "Mother, Lu Xiao and I have come to see you."
Lu Xiao was right behind her.
Seeing his mother after so long, his heart was a turmoil of emotions. Unskilled at concealing his feelings, he tried his hardest, yet ended up with an extremely forced grin, "Mother."
Ao Le was lost in thought, but upon seeing her children, her eyes brightened slightly, and she smiled, "You should be diligently cultivating in Chun Shen, why have you come to Fu Long Mountain?"
This smile was void of its former spirit.
Lu Xiao and Lu Yao looked at each other.
Finally, it was Lu Yao who spoke up, "Daughter knows mother loves to be with family. Plus, Lu Xiao and I have just recently ascended to the Primordial Spirit Unification Realm, we were so delighted we had to come and share the joy with mother."
Ao Le’s expression softened further; she surveyed Lu Xiao and Lu Yao before nodding slightly, smiling gently and saying, "Accomplishing Unification Realm after 16,000 and some odd years, though not as impressive as your father, yet much stronger than your mother was."
Ao Le paused for a moment, her thoughts drifting again.
Seeing this, Lu Xiao knew his mother must be thinking of his father again, and despite his reluctance, he implored, "Father once said he would return after sixteen years; now it’s been a full 16,000 years. Why does mother insist on waiting in desolation here? Why not return to Chun Shen, or let Lu Yao and I stay at Fu Long Mountain to keep you company? Better than being so alone."
Seeing her , Lu Xiao felt a deep pang of heartache.
When father Guang Yuan was still around, mother was nothing .
But 16,000 years ago, after father defied the heavens and battled immortals, killing three Earth Immortals and elevating mother to an Earth Immortal, he suffered backlash.
And since then became Silent Annihilation, never to return.
Mother searched every corner, nearly driven mad.
She even assaulted Combat Heavenly Gate, Jiuzhen Immortal Sword Sect, Green Sea Youxu Palace, slaying dozens of True Immortals and enduring fierce battles with the Three Great Earth Immortals for sixteen years.
Afterward, she sat still in Fu Long Mountain, waiting for 16,000 years!
"Sixteen thousand years."
Hearing this, Ao Le appeared to remember something, her mouth curving slightly, revealing a rare smile. She looked to the concerned Lu Xiao and then to Lu Yao, who was glaring at Lu Xiao with some irritation, and couldn’t help smiling, "Your father’s Divine Skills are boundless, and he never spoke false promises. If he said he would return, he will surely come back. If not after sixteen years, I’ll wait a hundred and sixty years, a thousand and six hundred years, sixteen thousand years. Even one hundred and sixty thousand years, or one million six hundred thousand years, I will wait."
"An Earth Immortal’s Life Span is limitless."
"Sooner or later, he and I will reunite in Fu Long Mountain."
Listening to this, Lu Xiao and Lu Yao couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
With a resolute gaze, Ao Le looked towards her children, "You too must cultivate diligently, lest when your father returns, he finds only your mother waiting."
Lu Xiao and Lu Yao bowed their heads in acknowledgment. They took the opportunity to ask their mother many questions about cultivation. Seeking advice was secondary; their main wish was to talk with their mother and alleviate her loneliness.
But three days later.
The two were still driven out of Fu Long Mountain.
The siblings walked out and looked back, only to see the lush greenery of Fu Long Mountain with flowers blooming in all seasons.
At the mountain’s peak.
Ao Le, dressed in a pale purple robe, sat calmly, sometimes sad, sometimes joyful, watching sunrises and sunsets, clouds forming and dispersing.
The previous sixteen thousand years were as if a single day, unchanging.
And in the years to come—
It would remain the same!