Huoyang stepped forward first.
"You are leaving sooner than we would like," he said, his voice steady.
Lin Mu gave a slight nod.
"There is still much to do," he replied.
Yinglei smiled faintly.
"You have already done more than we could have ever asked."
The others nodded in agreent.
The temple head then stepped forward, his gaze thoughtful as he observed Lin Mu.
"You have achieved sothing remarkable here," he said. "I look forward to the day you visit us again. By then, I imagine Grand Uncle Master's accomplishnts will have grown even further."
Lin Mu inclined his head slightly.
"I will return if the opportunity arises."
The temple head's eyes carried a hint of satisfaction at that answer.
The Huli siblings stepped forward next.
They bowed respectfully.
"We thank you," one of them said. "We did not expect that our clan would one day face the sa issue."
The other nodded.
"We were sent here as representatives. On behalf of our clan... and the king"
Lin Mu raised a brow slightly.
"I see."
He understood.
They had been the first to encounter him when he arrived. It was only natural that they would be chosen to represent their people now that the solution had been found.
"I am glad the information reached you in ti," Lin Mu said.
The siblings nodded, their expressions sincere.
Then Xueyan stepped forward.
He hesitated for a mont before speaking.
"You're really leaving..." he said, his voice quieter than usual.
Lin Mu looked at him.
"Yes,""
Xueyan's tail slowed.
He turned slightly toward his master.
"Master... can I go with him?"
The temple head glanced at him.
"Not yet," he said.
There was no harshness in his tone.
Only certainty.
"You still have much to learn."
Xueyan's ears drooped slightly, though he did not argue.
Lin Mu watched the exchange.
"He is right," Lin Mu said. "But that does not an this is the last ti we et."
Xueyan's eyes lit up instantly.
"Really?"
Lin Mu nodded.
"Work hard. When the ti cos, we will et again."
The change in Xueyan was imdiate.
His tail began wagging again, faster than before.
"I will!" he said eagerly. "I'll work hard so I can stand beside you again!"
"I look forward to it." Lin Mu gave a faint smile.
"And I look forward to learning from you!" Xueyan added.
The mont lingered for a short while longer.
Then Lin Mu stepped back.
"It is ti."
He looked at everyone one last ti.
"Take care."
With that, he turned and ascended the ramp, his companions following behind him. The barrier sealed shortly after, and the control arrays within the ship
activated fully.
Lin Mu took his place at the control center.
"Final checks," he said.
Daoist Chu confird the array stability. Cattaleya verified the energy reserves. ng Bai looked around excitedly, barely able to contain himself.
"All arrays ready," Daoist Chu said.
Lin Mu nodded.
"Then we depart."
The ship rose.
Tremble
Smoothly and effortlessly.
WHOOSH
The clearing below began to shrink as they ascended, the foxkin growing smaller, their figures soon blending into the surrounding forest. The vast expanse of the Mother Forest stretched outward, a sea of green that seed
endless.
They rose higher.
Ten kiloters.
The air thinned slightly, though the ship's arrays compensated instantly.
Fifty kiloters.
The curvature of the world began to reveal itself faintly.
Two hundred kiloters.
The sky darkened.
The blue faded into deeper shades, transitioning slowly toward black.
ng Bai pressed himself against the railings, his eyes wide.
"I've never seen this before..."
Lin Mu watched as well, his expression calm yet attentive.
The ascent continued.
Three hours passed before they reached the threshold.
The edge where the world's pull still held strong.
And then...
They crossed it.
Rumble
The transition was subtle yet profound. The pull of gravity lessened and the
sensation of weight shifted.
For a brief mont, everything felt light.
Weightless.
Then the ship's internal arrays activated fully, stabilizing the environnt
within, restoring a controlled gravity.
ng Bai blinked.
Then looked down.
Far below the Fox Scion World floated, no longer a vast land beneath their feet,
but a sphere.
A marble.
Blue, green, and white swirled together, forming a sight so beautiful that it left
him speechless.
"It's... so small..." he murmured.
Lin Mu observed it quietly.
From here, the world felt different.
Contained.
Fragile.
The beasts on the ship stirred as well, their attention drawn to the sight. Even
they seed captivated by the unfamiliar view.
But the world was not the only thing visible. For beyond it space stretched
endlessly and countless objects drifted in the distance.
They were none other than asteroids.
So appeared as tiny specks. Others were larger, their shapes irregular, their
surfaces rugged and scarred. From this distance, even the largest of them
seed small.
But Lin Mu knew better.
Up close, they would be massive... and dangerous.
ng Bai turned his gaze outward, unable to stay focused on a single point.
"This is incredible..."
Lin Mu narrowed his eyes slightly, focusing further.
In the distance a faint shape appeared.
It was large and rather vast.
A planet.
Its surface was obscured by swirling masses of green and red, shifting slowly,
like currents within an endless storm.
"A gas giant," Lin Mu muttered.
The scale of it was imnse, even from this distance.
And then...
There was the sun.
Dominating everything.
A massive sphere of blazing light, radiating energy that filled the void around it.
ng Bai looked at it.
Directly.
Which was a big mistake.
"Agh!"
11
He cried out, covering his eyes as tears stread down his face.
"It burns!"
Daoist Chu reacted imdiately, adjusting the arrays.
The light filtering formation activated, reducing the intensity of the incoming
light.
"Do not look at it directly," Daoist Chu said calmly.
ng Bai nodded rapidly, still blinking as his vision recovered.
"I won't... I definitely won't..."
Lin Mu glanced at the sun once more, this ti through the filtered arrays.
Even then its brilliance was overwhelming.
Space.
Silent.
Vast.
Endless.
And for the first ti...
They were truly within it.
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