Something hazy filled the dome of heaven over Revered Ancient. It was haze from the human world. The human world of humankind. It was the will of Grand Emperor Swordsage’s sword, which had been added to the world. All living beings in Revered Ancient now had half of a sixty-year-cycle of time added to them.6

Of course, it only applied to the mortal living beings and cultivators. As far as the gods were concerned, this was a conflict between cultivators, and it had nothing to do with thēm.2

The only reason some would consider interfering was that it could theoretically reduce the joss flame they had access to. The three gods of the Firemoons fell into that camp. There were no other gods similar to the empress. Shē was the only one.6

And taking in Revered Ancient as a whole, the gods who accepted the joss flame of local species were actually in the minority. Most of the gods there were just sleeping. None of them made a single move. In the final analysis, this war between cultivators was like a game to the gods. Ultimately, it didn’t really matter to thēm how it played out.0

As for Grand Emperor Swordsage, he didn’t care what the gods thought. His entire will was focused on that one sword. At the moment, a rain of blood was falling from heaven. It was the rain that fell when a Summer Immortal perished.0

Within that rain, hovered Grand Emperor Swordsage. Looking over his shoulder at the human world... he smiled.0

“It’s hard to let go of the obsession to live. The willingness to let go leads to true rebirth.” [1...1