A full day and night passed inside the Cosmic Ark.
The interior, which had been thick with the smell of blood, medicine, and scorched lightning after the life-and-death battle, had grown much quieter. Soft light flowed slowly through the ancient patterns along the walls, casting a pale glow across the floor, while Wood spiritual qi silently spread through the cabin like an invisible stream, gradually nourishing bodies that had been pushed far beyond their limits.
Hao Nhien, Lanh Hoa, and Luu Tan all sat cross-legged in meditation. Around them were bottles of healing pills, medicinal powders, ointments, and bandages Hao Nhien had carried with him. Most had nearly been used up. Only a few Qi Recovery Pills remained, the medicines for stopping bleeding and stabilizing meridians had been reduced by more than half, and the herbal ointments Tieu Lan had personally prepared were almost empty. Several bottle caps lay scattered in one corner, leaving behind a faint medicinal fragrance Hao Nhien knew all too well.
Whenever that scent drifted past, he would lose focus for the briefest moment.
After a full day and night, the injuries of all three had finally stabilized. Most of their external wounds had closed, broken bones had been splinted and wrapped in medicated cloth, while the meridians damaged by repeated impacts were gradually recovering with the support of pills and the Wood spiritual qi within the Cosmic Ark.
Luu Tan sat on the left. His broken arm was still wrapped in thick bandages and could not yet bear force, but some color had returned to his face. He tried moving his fingers, then looked toward Lanh Hoa and finally Hao Nhien, a tired smile slowly appearing on his face.
"Clan Head, I truly never thought I would live to sit here like this again."
His voice was still slightly hoarse from his injuries, but some vitality had returned to it.
Lanh Hoa sat with his back against the wall, the ancient sword resting across his lap. His shoulder and ribs were still wrapped in bandages, and one leg remained firmly splinted, but his aura was far steadier than it had been after escaping the explosion. Hearing Luu Tan's words, he laughed, though the pain in his ribs forced him to stop after only a few sounds.
"If Heavenly Eye wants to erase the Fire Qilin Tribe from the Western Wastes, they will first have to prove they have the ability."
Luu Tan laughed as well. This time, the way he looked at Lanh Hoa was very different from before.
Hao Nhien remained seated in the center, both hands resting on his knees. Spiritual power circulated slowly through his meridians in steady cycles, no longer carrying the chaos left behind by Berserk and the explosion. The most dangerous internal injuries had been suppressed, while the right arm that had undergone partial beast transformation still showed faint cracks beneath the skin, though they no longer interfered with the circulation of spiritual power.
His cultivation remained at Foundation Establishment layer two.
However, after the recent battle between life and death, the spiritual power within his dantian had clearly become more condensed. The liquid mist that had still been somewhat scattered when he first entered the second layer was now far more stable, moving more slowly but carrying greater weight and purity than before. The distance to Foundation Establishment layer three had shortened again, though he had not yet truly reached the threshold of breakthrough.
Hao Nhien opened his eyes.
"Your injuries have stabilized, and most of your spiritual power has recovered. But I need to remain here for another two days."
Lanh Hoa immediately looked over.
Hao Nhien continued,
"During that time, the two of you should return to the tribe first. Your first task is to find the clansmen still hiding around this region, whether they are in caves, Dragonmist Thorn Forest, or any of the old shelters. The explosion was too large. Many of those still in hiding must have realized that something major happened at the old homeland."
Lanh Hoa nodded slightly.
Hao Nhien looked at him.
"Bring them back and arrange for people to care for the elderly, the children, and the wounded. At the same time, assign people to watch the entrances, especially the direction of Dragonmist Thorn Forest. If Heavenly Eye or any unfamiliar cultivators appear, do not engage them on your own. Report back to me immediately."
"This subordinate understands."
Hao Nhien shifted his gaze toward Luu Tan.
"You go with Lanh Hoa."
Luu Tan lowered his head. The bandaged arm made the movement slightly stiff, but this time his gaze did not avoid Hao Nhien's.
"Clan Head, you can rest without worry. I will follow Senior Lanh Hoa and bring everyone back."
Hao Nhien watched him for a moment, then nodded.
"Good."
There were no long vows.
Luu Tan no longer needed to make them.
From the moment he turned his blade against his former companions, used his own injuries to help Hao Nhien divide the enemy forces, and then survived Thunder Burst alongside the two of them, many things had already been proven through action.
Lanh Hoa used the ancient sword for support and rose first. Luu Tan slowly followed, careful not to place too much strain on his injured arm. Before leaving the cabin, he turned back to look at Hao Nhien one more time, then followed Lanh Hoa out.
The door closed.
Only Hao Nhien and the faint scent of medicinal herbs remained inside the cabin.
He did not immediately resume meditation.
His gaze settled on the nearly empty bottles beside him. Tieu Lan had attached a small paper label to every one, the handwriting neat yet soft, each clearly marking its purpose.
Qi recovery.
Stop bleeding.
Stabilize meridians.
Treat burns.
Severe injury recovery.
A few bottles even carried one additional line in smaller writing:
"Young Master, do not take too much."
Hao Nhien stared at those words for a long time.
He could almost picture Tieu Lan sitting beneath the lamplight, carefully sorting each medicine before writing a label for every bottle. She had never been someone who spoke much. Much of her worry was hidden in small things like these.
An extra bottle of medicine.
A clean roll of bandages.
A quiet reminder before he left.
"Young Master... you have to come back."
Hao Nhien closed his eyes for a breath.
This time, he had made her wait far too long.
The thought brought Quan Nha to mind as well.
With her personality, she probably would not let anyone see her worry. Hao Nhien could even imagine her forcing herself to cultivate harder than before, just as she had said at the oasis that the next time they met, she wanted to be strong enough to choose for herself whether she could go with him.
It was precisely because he understood her that Hao Nhien knew her silence did not mean she was not waiting.
Tieu Lan was the first warmth he had found in this world, the person who had remained beside him through his loneliest days. Quan Nha, meanwhile, was someone who had walked with him through danger, inheritance, life and death, and even parts of himself that outsiders could never see.
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Then there were Lanh Hoa, Luu Thanh, the members of the Fire Qilin Tribe who were gradually returning, and the others who had, whether by chance or choice, stepped onto his path.
Those connections had continued to multiply.
They were not shackles.
They merely made him understand that, for a long time now, he no longer had the right to fall carelessly.
Hao Nhien slowly exhaled.
"I will return soon."
Then he closed his eyes and let the spiritual power within his body continue circulating.
Time passed quietly.
By the morning of the fourth day after the battle, a rare light rain fell over the Western Wastes.
It was so faint that without holding out a hand, one could barely distinguish the individual drops. Yet in this land of year-round heat and dryness, even a thin layer of water across the sand was enough to fill the air with an unfamiliar scent of damp earth.
At the place where the rear route behind the Fire Qilin Tribe had once been, rain fell into the black basin left behind by Thunder Burst. Droplets rolled across scorched stone, carrying fine ash into the cracks, while the remaining heat beneath the surface continuously released thin wisps of steam.
The basin stretched hundreds of zhang across and had sunk many zhang below the old terrain. Most of the bottom had been burned into glossy black stone, and in several places there were even signs that the rock had once melted before solidifying again.
Seen from above, the entire area looked like an enormous scar carved into the Western Wastes.
No one knew how long it would take for the yellow sand to bury it.
Near the center of the depression, Hao Nhien stood silently beneath the rain.
He wore a simple white robe, his long hair tied neatly behind him. Rainwater fell across his shoulders, ran through his hair and along his cheeks, but he made no attempt to shield himself with spiritual power.
After three days inside the Cosmic Ark, his aura had changed.
There had been no sudden breakthrough, much less an increase in realm. His spiritual power had simply become more stable and condensed, removing some of the sharpness left behind by repeated brushes with death and replacing it with a calm depth that would be difficult to notice at a glance.
Hao Nhien looked across the basin for a long time.
He did not regret using Thunder Burst.
Without it, he, Lanh Hoa, and Luu Tan might all have died here, and the Fire Qilin Tribe, which had only just begun to see a trace of hope, would immediately have lost its support.
But he still felt regret.
Not over the battle he had won.
He regretted spending something whose level still lay far beyond what he currently understood.
Of the three Thunder Bursts he had obtained from the secret chamber of the Heavenly Spirit Merchant Association, only two remained.
After personally witnessing the power of the first, Hao Nhien understood even more clearly that the value of the remaining two could not be measured by Foundation Establishment combat alone.
Heavenly Eye would not ignore what had happened here either.
Han Minh was dead.
Ly Vinh was dead.
The group of cultivators accompanying them had vanished in the explosion.
No matter how much the rain and sand gradually covered the traces, Heavenly Eye would eventually realize that the force sent here had lost contact.
They would investigate.
They might continue the pursuit.
Hao Nhien looked toward the horizon, his gaze steady.
He could not control what Heavenly Eye would choose to do.
But he could prepare for the next time.
With a slight movement of thought, the Cosmic Ark behind him turned into an ancient streak of light and was withdrawn.
The drizzle was still falling when Hao Nhien left the basin.
He was in no hurry.
The old homeland of the Fire Qilin Tribe was not far from here. Hao Nhien crossed the devastated terrain on foot, using Spirit Wings only in brief bursts when he needed to cross collapsed fissures or stretches where the sand had become too unstable.
By the time he approached the settlement, the rain had just stopped.
The air after the rare rainfall was unusually clear. Thin moisture still hovered above the sand, while weak sunlight passed through gray clouds and fell across old rooftops, dark stone walls, and Dragonmist Thorn still glistening with water.
The moment Hao Nhien passed through the entrance of the settlement, he realized how different it had become from only a few days earlier.
There were far more people.
Not only those who had remained at the old homeland.
The Thunder Burst explosion had created a disturbance felt across a wide region around the Fire Qilin Tribe. After Lanh Hoa and Luu Tan returned, word began spreading through nearby hiding places that the Fire Qilin Jade had found a successor, that Lanh Hoa had returned to the homeland, and that the Heavenly Eye group had been destroyed. Families who had fled but never gone far, people hiding in caves, small groups scattered along the edge of Dragonmist Thorn Forest, and even a few clansmen who had retreated into more distant valleys began finding their way back one after another.
The courtyard in front of the council hall was far more crowded than when Hao Nhien had first arrived.
There were white-haired elders leaning on staffs, women holding young children, men bearing old injuries, and children standing close beside their parents, curious and nervous as they stared toward the young man in white approaching from the end of the path.
At first, only a few recognized him.
Then the entire courtyard gradually fell silent.
A trembling voice rose from within the crowd.
"Clan Head..."
Countless eyes immediately turned toward him.
"The Clan Head has returned."
"He really came back."
The sound did not erupt into cheers at once. Instead, it spread through the crowd like a breath that had been held for far too long. Some choked on their words, some could only stare, while several elders slowly sank to their knees on the still-damp sand.
On the night Thunder Burst detonated, nearly everyone in the surrounding region had heard it.
The earth had shaken, dark purple-black light had illuminated a corner of the sky, and smoke and dust had risen so high above Dragonmist Thorn Forest that many had believed part of the mountain range had collapsed.
Even after Lanh Hoa and Luu Tan returned, even after they told everyone that Hao Nhien was still alive and recovering from his injuries, many members of the tribe had not truly relaxed until they saw him with their own eyes.
Now he stood before them.
A few traces of black dust from the basin still marked his white robe. His face was young but calm, while his aura was deeper and steadier than before.
Only then did the elders finally allow themselves to believe.
Some women began to cry. Others wiped their tears while smiling. The children who had been wary of Hao Nhien when he first arrived no longer kept their distance.
A boy with messy hair ran out first, grabbed the hem of Hao Nhien's robe with both hands, and raised his head to shout,
"The Clan Head is back!"
Several other children immediately rushed after him.
A little girl stood behind her mother, holding several pale-purple wildflowers still covered in raindrops. She stared at Hao Nhien for a long moment, her face reddening with embarrassment before she finally stepped forward and timidly held the small bouquet out to him.
"For... the Clan Head."
Hao Nhien bent down and accepted them.
The petals were tiny, so delicate that a strong gust of wind might have carried them away. Yet in his hand, they somehow felt heavier than many far more precious things he had received before.
He rested a hand lightly on the girl's head.
"Thank you."
She immediately beamed, then ran back to her mother.
Hao Nhien slowly looked around.
Every gaze around him was fixed on him. There was affection, respect, worry, and hope, but what he felt most clearly was neither fear nor submission.
These people were not looking at him simply because of how many enemies he had killed.
They looked at him as though he were someone who had returned just as the flame within their home was about to go out.
Since coming to Spirit Cloud Continent, Hao Nhien had been feared, doubted, admired, and hunted. He had passed through many gates of life and death alone, yet this was the first time he had truly felt such a pure welcome that demanded nothing in return.
Those trembling eyes seemed to be saying only one thing: it was enough that he was alive, enough that he had returned, because as long as he was here, the Fire Qilin Tribe still had hope.
Hao Nhien took a deep breath.
"I have returned."
That single sentence was enough to change the atmosphere across the courtyard.
The cries that had been suppressed for so long finally broke free, mixed with the voices of children cheering and elders murmuring thanks to their ancestors. Hao Nhien waited until the emotions in the crowd settled slightly before continuing.
"From today onward, no member of the Fire Qilin Tribe needs to hide alone again. We will rebuild our homes, find those we have lost, and reclaim what belongs to us. Heavenly Eye will learn that this flame has not gone out."
No one knew who shouted first.
"Fire Qilin Tribe!"
A second voice immediately joined.
Then many more followed.
"Fire Qilin Tribe!"
The voices were uneven. There were no war drums and no orderly ranks, yet every shout was real enough to lift something from the heavy atmosphere hanging over the old homeland.
Hao Nhien said nothing more.
His gaze shifted toward the center of the settlement.
The ancient Fire Qilin Altar still stood there.
After the rain, the glossy black stone steps reflected the faint light from the sky, while the ancient flame patterns that had long been buried beneath dust and sand appeared slightly clearer.
The moment Hao Nhien's gaze settled on the altar, the Fire Qilin Jade within his Sea of Consciousness trembled faintly.
A very subtle vibration spread outward.
There was no voice.
No thought.
Only the same resonance Hao Nhien had felt on the night he had approached the altar alone.
This time, it was clearer.
A thin trace of heat spread from the Fire Qilin Jade, and at the lowest step of the altar, several patterns half-hidden beneath the remaining rainwater seemed to flash with the faintest red glow before fading again.
Hao Nhien watched them.
The last time, he had stopped because the moment was not right.
Now, the situation was different.
He turned toward the oldest man standing near the front. The elder still leaned on his staff, his eyes red from the emotions of the moment.
Hao Nhien extended a hand.
"Senior, please stand. Let us go together."
The old man stared at the offered hand for a long time before finally placing his own thin hand into it.
His skin was cold and dry, the joints beneath it so prominent that the hand seemed almost skeletal. Yet when he closed his fingers around Hao Nhien's, the grip was unexpectedly strong.
Hao Nhien helped him to his feet.
The two walked ahead.
Behind them, the crowd gradually quieted and followed.
The elderly leaned on their staffs, women led their children by the hand, injured men walked more slowly, and the children occasionally looked up toward Hao Nhien's back at the front of the group.
Lanh Hoa and Luu Tan walked near the rear.
Lanh Hoa still moved slowly because his leg had not fully healed, the ancient sword hanging at his side. Luu Tan walked beside him, one arm still wrapped in bandages, remaining silent from beginning to end.
The entire group moved quietly toward the ancient altar at the heart of the old homeland.
Like a river that had been divided for far too long, finally beginning to flow back toward its source.