Clop! Clop! Clop! Clop!

The sound of horse hooves reverberated in the plains. Two men each riding a horse were speeding through the plains wearing serious, solemn expressions on their faces.

They maintained their pace and soon, there in the distance, a stronghold surrounded with high stone walls appeared. They quickly arrived in front of the gate where there were two outpost towers to oversee the only passage in the stronghold.

"Halt! State your business!" A man in a prim guard's clothing hollered with a commanding voice.

They pulled the reins of their horses as the horse neighed. One of them unrolled a parchment that revealed a paint of a red fiery bird with a crown atop its head and spoke curtly. "We are messengers from the capital, we are here to bring the emperor's orders."

The watchman without further ado opened the gate and sent some of his colleagues to escort the messengers to the biggest building in the center of the stronghold, the commander's residence.

They were led into the building, easily gaining passage without any questioning and inspection, the merit of carrying the seal of the emperor. After a while, they arrived at the commander's office. Two guards were standing beside the door donning heavy plated armor, even just by standing there, they radiated an oppressive aura.

Without saying anything, the messengers simply unfolded the parchment with the emperor's seal. Seeing that, the two guards nodded and one of them knocked on the door thrice.

"Let them in." A soft yet domineering voice came from inside the room.

The guards quickly opened the door and let them inside. There in the room, they saw something that made them stunned. A young man sat behind a table casually drinking a glass of tea.

He had long black hair which cascaded freely to his back. He wore a pure white long-wide sleeved robe and combined with his gentle features and his black eyes, his appearance could only be described as gorgeous.

However what shocked them was not his appearance, rather it was his demeanor and aura. Even though he was simply sitting while sipping a glass of tea without a care, he somehow exuded a majestic and irresistible aura, similar to the legendary, sublime immortals.

"So, what brings the emperor's messengers to this remote, dangerous, and barren region?" The man asked coolly with a smile.

Hearing this, one of the messengers stepped forward and pulled out a different parchment as he offered it with his head bowing down.

"Master Liu, please accept this." The messenger spoke respectfully.

He took the parchment, unfolded it, and began to read it. At first, his face was impassive but when he read the end of the parchment his mouth curved into a smile.

"Tell his highness to be at ease as long as he delivers his promise. You can go!" Said the man.

The messengers respectfully left as he continued to savor his tea and sighed softly.

"Finally, the time has come… hopefully I can find the answer this time."

. . . . . . .

On the top of a mountain, an old man was standing on the edge of a cliff.

He wore gray clothes that were originally white but turned like that because they were covered with dirt. He had gray hair, wrinkled skin, and atrophied muscles.

His figure was so skinny that even a little gust of wind most likely would push him away, however, when the strong mountain wind blew in his direction, he somehow managed to stand his ground and not be blown off by the wind.

As his eyes gazed down on the vast lands below, enjoying the magnificent scenery for the last time, he let out a long and deep sigh filled with frustration, sadness, and… hopelessness.

"Has my time truly come? Maybe what I sought... never truly existed…" Mumbled the old man.

"Humans, beasts, kingdoms, empires… no matter how great they are… they are nothing compared to the endless river of time… even me." The old man spoke with such strong emotion in his voice that his brittle body trembled.

He reminisced everything he experienced from his childhood, his adolescence, his adulthood, and his old time. He remembered when he had conquered the most perilous lands.

When even the most powerful and ferocious beasts would recourse their path to avoid him. When even emperors would tremble in his presence and bow down with a single of his command.

Yet, everything had passed and lost from him… his power, authority, and even his lifespan, reminding him of the weakness and powerlessness that he had before stepping into the Martial Way.

One of the most important reasons that drove him to traverse this treacherous yet wonderful way.

He let out a sigh again as his body was suddenly rapidly heating up. It was so intense that fire was also coming out of his skin pores as it rapidly spread and engulfed him from his skin to his whole body, hair, and clothes.

Even though his body was on fire, his face didn't express any pain. His jet-black eyes appeared still like a calm lake without any ripples as he gazed up to the sky. His body blackened and started to fall and become ash a bit by bit.

Akin to a burning candle that burned brightly for the last moment, his body burned strongly under the snow before he was finally gone, and his remains dispersed in the air, carried by the wind, returning himself back into the cradle of the heaven and earth.