188 Epilogue

Two weeks later, Cha Ming was seated at a red table near a newly wedded couple.

"Who would have thought that Feng Ming would get married so quickly," he said to Wang Jun, who was seated in front of him. Huxian, Lei Jiang, and Silverwing were in a secluded area where one roast beast after another was brought to sate their voracious appetites.

"I suppose that's one way of getting lucky," Wang Jun said. "Though I heard a funny story." He sipped on a glass of wine, the first one Cha Ming had ever seen him drink. "When the king awoke from his coma, he mildly remembered waking up for a brief moment and exchanging a conversation with Feng Ming and his daughter. In a fit of rage, he beat Feng Ming and told him, 'How dare you impersonate your father! You should be punished!' Then he turned to his daughter and said, 'Very good, very good. You wanted to help him out so much and lent him my spear? Fine. Only a family member may borrow my spear. If that's what you want, I'll act as your matchmaker. You're getting married in two weeks' time, grieving period be damned!'"

Cha Ming burst out laughing. "Is that really true? I heard the king and Marshal Feng were on very good terms."

"They were like brothers," Wang Jun said. "I figure that, in his grief over Feng Chuan's passing, he resolved to help out his nephew and arrange a marriage for him. He didn't even give them time to consider, he just forced it on them and told them to accept."

"Still, they look happy," Cha Ming said as he looked at the newly married couple. "Someday I'll find someone that's right for me." The image of Yu Wen, whom he'd met in Fuxi's Library, came to mind.

Wang Jun sighed. "I can't think of such matters until I get my revenge."

Cha Ming didn't press him. He was very aware of his heartache over Hong Xin.

"Give me a second," Cha Ming said as he saw some familiar figures in the distance. "I need to go say goodbye to some friends." He left Wang Jun to his brooding and greeted Luo Xuehua, Dongfang Hao, and the two core-formation elders at the edge of the celebration grounds. They had mostly recovered from their wounds.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay longer?" Cha Ming asked.

Luo Xuehua shook her head. "Brother Hao and I will be breaking through to core formation soon. After that, we need to rush to the southern frontier. You might not know this, but the Song Kingdom's civil war was nothing but a petty skirmish. Every day, thousands of cultivators die in the fight against the south's aggression."

"I'll be back in Quicksilver soon," Cha Ming said. "But before then, I'll be helping out Feng Huoshan for a while by teaching some juniors. Can you do me a favor and deliver this Shape Talisman to Jun Xiezi. I still owe him a favor, and I'm sure he'll be happy to see that his investment is bearing dividends."

"Sure," Luo Xuehua said. "It was nice fighting alongside you again, Brother Cha Ming. Don't be a stranger." The gentle blind woman then flew off with the aid of the two core-formation protectors. She reminded Cha Ming of a fragile snowflake being taken by the wind.

"We'll fight together again, Brother Cha Ming." Dongfang Hao laughed and flew off as well.

Cha Ming sighed and looked over to a nearby tree. "Where will you go now?" he asked Gong Lan, who walked out from behind it. Her bald head and orange kasaya remained unchanged, but her demeanor had improved drastically. She no longer seemed so subdued; a hint of wildness emanated from her relaxed eyes.

"There's only one place for the World Tree Master," Gong Lan said. "I will return to the World Tree Monastery and prepare for the upcoming battle. The Southern Alliance's ambition is far greater than you might realize. A great war will emerge in our lifetime, and it will threaten the very foundation of the plane."

"Then I'll work hard and improve as quickly as possible," Cha Ming said.

"Improvement is important, but remember to stay true to yourself," Gong Lan said. "You made a difficult choice in the labyrinth, and you gained far more than you know in the process. Don't be dispirited by a simple setback to your cultivation. Heaven never bars all exits."

"I've been through worse," Cha Ming said. Gong Lan smiled and bowed lightly. Then, motes of light left her body one by one until she disappeared along with them. He didn't know when he would see her again.

Cha Ming returned to the table where Wang Jun was seated. "How long will you be staying in Songjing?"

"Two years or so," Wang Jun said. "By then, I'll have completed my family's task. After that, I'll return to Gold Leaf City."

***

The frosty ground crunched beneath Hong Xin's feet as she approached a red building in the distance. It was surrounded by a forest of golden trees. According to Hong Yinyue, it would only allow those with an invitation to enter.

"The leaves are strange," Hong Xin whispered as she nabbed one off a nearby tree. Instead of the constant gold coloring that should have persisted across the seasons, it was covered in thin red lines. They increased in number until the trees near the Red Dust Pavilion had completely changed in color.

"Only two years," Hong Xin said. "After two years in this place, I'll finally be ready to help him. I won't be a burden, and I won't leave his side no matter what happens."

She strengthened her resolve and walked toward the red building in the woods. She passed by the golden trees before arriving at a small clearing surrounded by red ones. As she stood there, the red leaves fell around her. The wind blew and whipped up thousands of leaves until her figure was completely obscured by corrupted crimson.

--

Book 5—End.

Author's Note:

Thank you all for catching up to these first five books here on Webnovel. I'm honored that you've all chosen to read this book and stuck with it despite the bumpy star to the series. As I've mentioned at the end of every chapter, I post this series for free and hope that a percentage of you both enjoy my work enough and have the ability to buy the books on Amazon. Now that everything is caught up with the latest novel, I'll explain how I release chapters.

First things first - I don't write like most web serial authors. I write this series in books, and the pacing and plot is best appreciated when read as an entire book. That being said, I know many people enjoy reading the series as its released chapter by chapter - I read every comment that gets left behind. There are a few reasons behind writing things in books. The first one being quality. Before I release chapters, the book in question has been self-edited multiple times, beta read, as well as edited and proofread by paid professionals. The second reason is that it allows me the luxury of changing things in the book in hindsight if I spot anything glaring prior to publishing; it's not unusual for me to delete and rewrite up to 10-15% of any book.

Now these are all the benefits of my writing style - there are also downsides. I publish in spurts, meaning that I publish 5 chapters per week until a book is done and then I go on a temporary hiatus. When I finish publishing a book, there could easily be a month or two until I publish again. Don't worry though - my Hiatus ends soon. I'll be releasing Book 6 - Kindling starting on May 15th. I'll release it 5 chapters a week until completion. Since the book is already complete, it will be available for pre-release when I begin posting, and for purchase on Amazon two weeks after that. That means that anyone who supports my work stays about six weeks ahead of everyone else.

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this note. I can't wait to start posting chapters on my regular schedule, and I'll be talking to you all soon :)