Chapter 60: Sect of the Ruins, A Distant Bow to the Mentor

Inside the ancestral hall, the atmosphere was solemn and dignified.

Right in the center stood the spirit tablets of the past generations of Patriarchs of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion. From the founding master down to his grandfather, who had exhausted his mind and died in sorrow, a total of thirty-seven tablets were arranged in neat rows.

Before each tablet, wisps of incense curled upward, the blue smoke unending.

This was the "root" of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion.

Chen Mo stepped forward and respectfully offered a stick of incense to every single ancestor. Without their generation-after-generation perseverance and heritage, even with the supreme serendipity he had obtained, he could never have established the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion of today.

When he finished, he did not leave. Instead, he bypassed the tablets and walked to the deepest and highest part of the ancestral hall.

Here, there was a separate altar, half a foot higher than all the ancestors' tablets.

On the altar stood a single, lonely spirit tablet.

It was a nameless spirit tablet carved from ten-thousand-year-old soul-nurturing wood.

On the tablet, there were no names, no dates of birth or death; only six powerful and vigorous large characters carved using the most ancient Dao scripts:

*Progenitor of the Return-to-Void Array Dao.*

In Chen Mo's view, only this term could describe the boundless, all-encompassing array system contained within that ancient book. It was like an endless abyss, and even if he spent his whole life, he would probably only catch a glimpse of a corner of it.

He revered the origin of that ancient book as the "Sect of Return-to-Void."

And that unknown entity who had bestowed all this upon him was the progenitor of this "Return-to-Void Array Dao."

He did not know the other's name, nor did he know the other's origin.

Yet this did not prevent him from regarding this entity as his true and only master of grace.

This grace of rebirth was higher than the heavens and deeper than the seas.

Unable to repay it, he could only use this method to express his utmost respect.

He placed this spirit tablet above all the ancestors of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion. For he knew that without this "Progenitor of Return-to-Void," there would be no Heavenly Mystery Pavilion today, let alone a Chen Mo today.

He established a sect rule: the very first thing every disciple of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion must do upon entering the sect was to pay homage to the past ancestors. And all direct disciples and elders, after paying their respects to the ancestors, were required to come here and kowtow to this "Progenitor of Return-to-Void."

They might not know who this progenitor was, but they must know that all the current glory of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion stemmed from this very source.

Chen Mo straightened his robes, wore a solemn expression, and performed the great ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows before the nameless spirit tablet.

"Master is above."

His voice echoed within the empty ancestral hall, laden with peerless devotion.

"This disciple Chen Mo, fortunate to be favored by Master and bestowed with the supreme Great Dao, has attained what I am today. The Heavenly Mystery Pavilion has re-established its mountain gate, and this disciple has already passed down the Return-to-Void Array Dao to the disciples of the sect. Though this disciple is foolish and has yet to comprehend even a ten-thousandth of Master's teachings, I shall exhaust my entire life to study the array Dao, never daring to slacken in the slightest."

"This disciple knows not where Master resides, nor whether we shall have the affinity to meet again in this lifetime. I can only offer my prostrations day and night, praying from afar that Master's immortal path remains eternal and withstands all calamities."

"The incense of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion shall never cease; the orthodoxy of the Return-to-Void Sect shall never perish. Disciple Chen Mo shall engrave this deeply in his heart."

Having spoken, he kowtowed heavily once more, his forehead touching the ground, remaining there for a long time without rising.

Sunlight filtered through the lattice windows of the ancestral hall, spilling over the nameless spirit tablet and illuminating his devoted, bowed figure.

...

Meanwhile.

Tens of thousands of miles away, on the coastline of the easternmost edge of the Eastern Domain.

Beside a rarely visited golden beach, Jiang Xiuyuan was lying leisurely on a reef, a nameless blade of sea grass dangling from his mouth, watching Jiang Xiaobai and Jiang Yiyi frolicking in the shallow sea.

Jiang Xiuyuan still maintained his carefree look in green robes, Jiang Yiyi was as serene and elegant as ever, and Jiang Xiaobai had grown increasingly graceful, though her lively nature remained unchanged.

"Dad, look what I caught!" Jiang Xiaobai ran over, cradling a colorful, large conch like presenting a rare treasure.

Jiang Xiuyuan smiled, just about to speak, when his heart suddenly stirred slightly.

He sensed that from the distant direction of the Central Divine Land, a wisp of extremely pure thoughts mixed with gratitude and reverence had crossed mountains and rivers, subtler than mist, establishing a faint connection with him in the dark.

The source of this thought-power was precisely the Dao charm of the "nameless ancient book" he had created back then.

He closed his eyes, and his divine sense traced this connection, instantly rewinding time and space. He "saw" the majesty of Heavenly Mystery Peak, the solemnity of the ancestral hall, and middle-aged Chen Mo kneeling before the spirit tablet of the *Progenitor of the Return-to-Void Array Dao*.

"Sect of Return-to-Void... Progenitor of the Return-to-Void Array Dao..."

Jiang Xiuyuan opened his eyes, a somewhat ironic and quirky expression of amusement on his face.

"Dad, what is it?" Jiang Yiyi walked over, noticing the change in his expression.

"Nothing," Jiang Xiuyuan waved his hand and said with a chuckle, "It's just that our little friend from the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion has set up a spirit tablet for me and even gave me a rather imposing title."

Hearing this, Jiang Yiyi was also startled, then realized the truth, unable to help a trace of a smile bubbling up: "He really put his heart into it."

"Indeed, he has a heart," Jiang Xiuyuan sighed with emotion. "Looking at his achievements today, he hasn't failed the arrangements I made back then. This karmic tie can be considered to have a good beginning and a good end."

He stood up, patted the sand off his clothes, and gazed out at the boundless, surging blue sea before him.

He did not respond to Chen Mo's kowtows, nor did he ever think of acknowledging this "master-disciple relationship."

He hid his accomplishments and fame deep within.

For him, seeing a seed he casually sowed grow into a towering tree that could shelter others from the wind and rain was, in itself, the greatest reward.

As for the spirit tablet of the "Progenitor of Return-to-Void," let it stand quietly there.

Perhaps a thousand years, or perhaps ten thousand years later, when Chen Mo had also turned into a handful of dust, and when Jiang Xiuyuan's name had long been forgotten by the world, that spirit tablet, and the unknown past it represented, would become the most mysterious and ancient legend of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion.

And the creator of the legend had already set foot on a new journey.

Ahead of them lay the endless sea.