The midday sunlight shone upon his face, a gentle breeze drifted past, blowing into the living room. At last, Andrew Han heard that long-lost yet strangely familiar cold voice.
It was unmistakably the aged voice of Miles Ning.
He was really awake?
Andrew Han hesitated to speak, almost doubting his own Starlight-tier hearing, and was a little afraid to turn around.
He was the pillar of Green Mountain Sect, the guardian of Riverford, not only the eccentric master who watched over Andrew Han's martial path, but had nearly become a new member of Andrew's family of four.
This was Miles Ning.
There was only one Miles Ning in the world, a man of utmost integrity and honor.
"Master, you’re finally awake."
Andrew Han slowly turned around and looked at Miles Ning sitting on the sofa, feeling a strange sense of the changing tides of the world.
The old man in the black leather jacket, still as cold and indifferent as ever, sat on the sofa just like before, his wrinkled hand reaching into the air to pick up a red Zhonghua cigarette.
Pa!
With a snap of his fingers, a tiny flame sprang to life.
The wavering firelight cast gentle shadows over Miles Ning’s wrinkled face, now tinged with healthy color. "How long has it been?" he asked.
"A little more than half a year," Andrew Han replied with a gentle smile.
"Master, you needn’t worry. All the Netherfiends and giant Demons have been wiped out. From now on, there will be no more monsters or specters."
Andrew strolled over to the nearby sofa and sat down at ease, his manner relaxed and content.
Clouds drifted, winds rose and fell, yet none of it could compare to the tranquility of this moment. Andrew felt a deep calm and leisure fill his heart. The world seemed so beautiful, and even Miles Ning appeared brighter than before.
"Mm." Miles Ning squinted his eyes. "So the monsters and specters are truly extinct? I never imagined that after just a sleep, the world would change so utterly, and all past troubles would vanish like clouds and smoke."
The news struck him with an almost overwhelming shock.
Once a Law Realm Venerable, Miles Ning knew all too well the terror of Netherfiends and giant Demons. In sheer numbers, those fiends far outstripped Law Realm experts—defeating them had always seemed impossible for humanity.
So now, waves of emotion surged in Miles Ning’s heart.
Because victory had always seemed unattainable, humanity had compromised, striving only for stability and time.
And yet—
Had humanity truly won? How did we win?
"I truly can't fathom it. By what did we win?" Miles Ning glanced at the smiling Andrew Han. As a master, he didn’t want to ask outright, lest he seem ignorant.
After all, a master must maintain his dignity.
Miles Ning let out a quiet, lingering sigh, realizing that his disciple Andrew Han had awakened him. Yet what puzzled him most was a faint sense of summoning from the void.
Teetering on the edge of death, neither alive nor dead, he had lingered in utter darkness and silence.
Yet within that absolute silence, Miles Ning kept feeling he heard something—an endless, vast celestial melody echoing in his mind, lingering for a long time.
"Interesting."
Not only was he not surprised, he actually found it amusing. Miles Ning gathered his thoughts, still a bit groggy from just waking up.
Hiss.
Miles Ning rubbed his brow and took a deep drag of his red cigarette, suppressing the chaotic thoughts swirling in his mind.
The freshly lit cigarette, as if swept away by a tsunami, burned out instantly. A neat section of ash glowed red as it fell, drifting gently down.
Sitting on the adjacent sofa, Andrew Han flicked his finger.
A streak of cyan light flashed silently, erasing all the ashes into nothingness.
"Hm?"
Miles Ning glanced at Andrew Han, inwardly startled.
He realized he could no longer comprehend his disciple's martial power—it had grown unfathomably deep. In just half a year, Andrew had ascended to the seat of Supreme Saint.
Fortunately, he'd once poured his heart and soul into Andrew's tempering.