Primordial Era: Starting by overwhelming the Sages, Hongjun was stunned!

The next morning, the Golden-Winged Roc went to the northwest.

He didn't say much, only told Kong Xuan, "I'll go take a look," and then spread his wings and flew away.

Kong Xuan did not stop him.

He knew that the Golden-Winged Roc would find the location of that fragment and take a look for him.

He didn't have to wait long.

When the Golden-Winged Roc returned, the sun had just passed noon.

He landed on the clouds, transformed into human form, and remained calm.

"Found it."

"Beneath a dried-up riverbed, three zhang deep. The fragments were embedded in the rock strata, as if washed in by water."

There were no other traces around, only this area.

He opened his palm, and there was a small piece of something in his palm.

It is grayish-white, smaller than a fingernail, with jagged edges and a fine texture on the surface.

Kong Xuan took it and held it in his palm.

The fragment was thinner than he had perceived, like a piece of pottery that had been pressed extremely flat.

The surface texture is not engraved, but rather appears to be naturally formed.

Like leaf veins, or like the marks left by flowing water.

But one of the lines was exceptionally deep, extending from one end of the fragment to the other, and then it broke off.

It looked like it had been cut in half by something.

Kong Xuan looked at it for a moment, then put the fragment into his sleeve.

The Golden-Winged Roc asked, "Do you know what that is?"

"I don't know. But it's been buried in the ground for too long."

"If you wait long enough, something will eventually come looking for you."

The Golden-Winged Roc did not ask any further questions.

He turned and walked to the edge of the nursery, squatted down, checked the seedlings to make sure they were all healthy, then sat down against a tree and looked northwest.

The fragments underground resembled a forgotten keepsake.

Kong Xuan arranged the fragments side by side, then stood up.

"Go and rest for a while."

The Golden-Winged Roc shook its head: "I'm not tired."

"Then you watch the tree, I'll go check the northwest."

The Golden-Winged Roc turned its head: "Are you alone?"

"one person."

"If there's anything, I'll come back immediately."

The Golden-Winged Roc remained silent for a moment, then nodded.

Kong Xuan stepped into the air and flew away.

He didn't fly fast; every step was steady and deliberate.

A dry, slightly warm wind blew in my face, like breath rising from the depths of the earth.

He flew over the mountain ridge, over the wasteland, and landed on the side of the dried-up riverbed.

The riverbed was wide, but the water had long since flowed away, leaving only a layer of mud cracked by the sun.

A thin layer of grayish-white dust had accumulated at the bottom of the riverbed, and when you stepped on it, your boots sank slightly.

Kong Xuan walked to the spot the Golden-Winged Roc had indicated, squatted down, and placed his palms on the ground.

Clouds spread beneath our feet, and roots weave a new network underground.

He felt the outlines of the fragments at the edge of the soil, figured out their order embedded in the strata, and withdrew his hand after confirming that no more fragments had fallen.

He stood up without lingering.

He had already memorized the location of that fragment.

If he needs to collect it someday, he knows where to start.

Today, we're just taking a look around and getting familiar with the place.

On the way back, the wind gradually died down.

The sky turned from afternoon to dusk, and the clouds were tinged with a warm orange hue.

Kong Xuan returned to the crack and saw the Golden-Winged Roc still sitting under the tree in the distance.

Holding a blade of grass in his hand, he was weaving a second cage.

Seeing Kong Xuan land, he asked without looking up, "You've seen it?"

"I've seen it."

"Is there anything else under the riverbed?"

"No. Only that area."

The Golden-Winged Roc nodded, its fingers continuing to turn the grass stems, weaving them steadily.

Kong Xuan walked over and sat down next to him. The two sat side by side, one gazing at the white light, the other weaving a straw basket.

After a long while, the Golden-Winged Roc suddenly spoke: "Brother."

"That piece of debris didn't seem to have fallen there out of nowhere."

Kong Xuan did not respond.

The Golden-Winged Roc continued, "It looks like someone placed it there. It looks like it was intentional."

Kong Xuan was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Perhaps."

"Perhaps a long time ago, someone walked there, put it down, and left."

The Golden-Winged Roc stopped what it was doing, raised its head, and asked, "Why release it?"

"Like a road sign. Like a marker."

"It's as if it's saying: I've walked this path before."

The Golden-Winged Roc did not ask any further questions.

He put down the half-woven straw cage on his lap and gazed at the white light.

The wind rushed out from the crack, blowing the hair on his forehead.

That night, the starlight was faint.

The pale purple flower was not closed; its petals were slightly open in the night, like a hand listening to something.

The tiny point of light in the center of the flower was a bit brighter than during the day.

Like a lamp that has been re-oiled.

Kong Xuan sat leaning against the tree trunk, not sleeping.

The wind blew from the northwest, dry and slightly warm, and made a soft rustling sound as it passed through the tree canopy.

He heard a tiny pebble carried on the wind, rolling past the clouds and landing near a mound of earth not far away.

He did not get up to look.

The pebbles remained there quietly, like a greeting carried by the wind.

Kong Xuan closed his eyes, and sleepiness washed over him like a tide.

He turned slightly to the side and adjusted the position of the fragment on his cuff.

The sound of stones rubbing together was fine and dry, like the night wind passing through a hollow tree trunk.

It's almost dawn.

The row of tender buds unfurled their leaves in the morning light, like a group of children just waking up, opening their arms to welcome the first rays of sunlight.

The pale purple flower swayed gently in the morning breeze, the silver lines along the edges of its petals shimmering with tiny lights.

A faint scent slowly seeped up from the depths of the soil.

Quietly, like a sigh that has been buried for a long time.

A few new shoots swayed gently in the wind, as if they were listening intently.

The roots were still entangled with the fragments, not loosened.

They will stay forever.

A breeze emerged from the white light, carrying the coolness of the early morning.

Kong Xuan stood up and dusted off the dust on his robe.

As every day, he stood in front of the small tree, facing the door that was not yet closed.

As that aura seeped up from the depths of the soil, Kong Xuan was looking at the pale purple flower.

The silver lines along the edge of the petal shimmered in the morning light, as if reminding him of something.

He crouched down and placed his palm on the clouds again.

The golden roots trembled slightly beneath his palm, like a plucked string.

The tactile sensation from the roots was very clear... In the northwest, beneath that dried-up riverbed, something was loosening.

It is not a living thing.

It was that fragment that was moving.

Kong Xuan did not rush to get up.

He closed his eyes and sensed for a moment. The edges of the fragment were slowly changing, as if it had swelled slightly after being soaked in water from underground.

The deepest line on the surface is also extending gently.

The Golden-Winged Roc peeked out from the edge of the nursery: "What's wrong?"

"That fragment. It's growing on its own."

The Golden-Winged Roc was taken aback: "Fragments can grow back?"

Kong Xuan withdrew his hand: "It's not that it grows. It's that it recovers."

"It was broken into pieces and left there for too long, so long that a crust formed on the surface. Now the crust is peeling off."

"Once the shell sheds, the patterns will reconnect."

The Golden-Winged Roc was silent for a moment: "And then what happens when you connect them?"