The sun rose over the horizon, and the carriage set off. Lao Chen stood on top of the monumental wall of the Gold Stone City, overlooking the carriage. Lin-Lin floated next to him, smiling fondly as she reminisced.

Lao Chen pinched his beard gently, pulling it down as he closed his eyes.

Out of the carriage stepped Wu Shan. Lao Chen was there, a dozen meters away, looking melancholy, matching his son’s visage.

“Father, I-” Wu Shan began, but Lao Chen held out his palm.

“It is I that should apologize. I did not trust you enough to make your own decisions. You are your own man, and I should have trusted you to know which direction in life you wanted to go. It is not up to me, but you. And for that, I apologize.”

Wu Shan’s tears rolled down his cheeks freely. Lao Chen smiled as he appeared right before him to give him a tight hug. “Take care of yourself, son, and remember. Be true to your principles.”

Yi Ming stood next to Lao Chen, smiling as well. “At least he left on a good note.”

“Yes, at least…”

The crisp northern wind blew across them, ruffling their clothes. Autumn was in the air, the wind carrying a faint scent of fallen leaves.

“As well as you should know, I am heading out today. Care to adventure a little?”

Yi Ming laughed. “I’m bound to an invention of mine known as the Blood Dragon Sect, and, of course, my research. Gold Stone City will be my home for the foreseeable future.”

Lao Chen laughed. “As well as I should have known, my friend.”

“So… where to?”

Lao Chen sighed. “I know so much of so many fantasy worlds, but so little of the real one. I wish to leave the empire, but don’t know where to.”

“I figured you for someone who’d brave the End of the World,” Yi Ming replied. Lao Chen raised an eyebrow.

“The End of the World. It’s referenced in plenty of ancient manuscripts, but what is it?”

“Exactly what it sounds like: The End of the Mortal Lands. Plenty of Dao Seekers of old on perennial bottlenecks have met their end trying to look for enlightenment in this otherworldly place.”

“Where is it?” He asked.

“South,” Yi Ming replied without missing a beat. “Over a hundred thousand Li south, usually. It is a journey that takes mortals several years just to find the outskirts.”

“Hmm, and how far exactly would it be if I were to set out from here?” He asked.

“One hundred and seventy-two thousand Li. Once you cross the border of the Empire from the south, there is fire. After the fire, there is water. And from there,” Yi Ming raised a fist in front of his face before opening it. “Air.”

“The end of the world?” Lao Chen sucked in a breath.

“The void is dangerous, treacherous and mysterious. One must travel in large packs of Dao Seekers to properly cross it, and once that has happened, you can finally enter it. The place after the End of the World.”

“Which is?”

“Kunlun. A place of endless battle amongst Immortal Doyens of all clans and sects.”

“Huh,” Lao Chen wrinkled his brow. “I don’t think I want to go there…”

“Frightened?” Yi Ming chuckled. Lao Chen smiled.

“Rather, if all it contains is battle and endless strife, it doesn’t sound that interesting a place.”

Yi Ming nodded. “To each their own.”

“And West?”

“The Azure Empire, of course. A little further and you’ll see the Fusang, a wildlife territory consisting of an ecosystem of magical beasts and heavenly herbs. Of course, to enter, you’ll have to be granted the approval of the Nine Dao Seekers loyal to the Azure Emperor. And after that, you’ll have to worry about the Four Symbols.”

“North?”

“After the sea, on the far north-west, said to be at the last point where the sun's rays touch the Earth, there’s the Occident. It is a wide array of nations with a radically different kind of culture, where the people are pink-skinned from what I’ve heard, and the winters are deathly cold. There’s also a large continent unexplored and wildly perilous to be within, populated by mahogany-skinned people of great martial renown. The Kawa, directly northwards, thirty-two thousand li. These two peoples are locked in constant combat after an unfortunate slavery-related incident involving boats and cotton.”

“And East?”

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“The Yamato Isles is there. The mainland right next to that is an abandoned continent, now infested by demonic beasts and demon cultivators. The Yamato Isles have upheld their part in repelling these demons for millennia with their martial prowess, earning them immunity from any squabbles that the Jade or Azure Empire might impose on them.”

Lao Chen absorbed the information, and with a gleeful smile, he nodded.

“Three places, all worthy of visiting; the West, the North and the East. Oh, where shall I head?”

Closing his eyes, Lao Chen spun around while pointing his hand straight from himself.

Lin-Lin also closed her eyes. “When I say stop, you stop, alright?”

“Alright!”

After a few revolutions, Lin-Lin shouted “Stop!”

Lao Chen stopped, and the direction he pointed at was directly opposite the rising sun. West.

“I guess we’re headed to Fusang, Lin-Lin!”

“Sounds fun,” Lin-Lin beamed.

“Although,” admitted Lao Chen. “Those Dao Seekers would definitely become a problem in the future.”

“But that’s the future,” Lin-Lin reminded him. “We only have to worry about what’s right now.”

Lao Chen smiled mischievously. “I like that thinking, Lin-Lin.”

Yi Ming shook his head while smiling. “Try to stay alive out there. Dao Seekers aren’t quite as merciful when meeting others, especially not from warring Empires.”

“Cautionary tales won’t stop me, Yi Ming. You of all people should know that.”

“Trust me, I do.”

Lao Chen looked towards the West. Far past where the city walls ended were sprawling farmland and townships, but further past that was elevated land. A rough terrain to traverse. Past that lay the horizon, as far as the eye could see.

“Well then. I suppose we won’t be seeing each other for a long time. Take care, old man,” Lao Chen smiled.

“You too, junior brother.”

With a light hop, Lao Chen flew far into the air, Lin-Lin in tow. He flew higher than the peak of the Star Pagoda, past several layers of thick cloud. Finally, far into the air, Lao Chen stopped.

“You see all this, Lin-Lin?”

Lin-Lin looked around. “Yes?”

“These clouds… To think I wanted to eat them as a child. It’s all just water!”

Lin-Lin frowned. “Is there a deeper meaning to what you’re saying?”

“Clouds are just water.”

--

The path through the sky quickly became boring for Lao Chen and his daughter, prompting them to traverse the land. Ceaseless rice farms gave way to lush forests and mountainous regions hiding all manner of wildlife ranging from the graceful snow leopard to the serene giant panda.

Lao Chen took his time, breathing in the wild air, resonating with nature as he travelled. The predators would naturally shy away from him while the plant-eaters would pay him no mind, sensing his intent of non-action, his Wu-Wei (無爲).

The animals, Lao Chen thought, were much easier to interact with than human beings. Their world was in a black or white. Kill or be killed. The strong lived to rule the weak. They had no conscience, really, so it could be forgiven. After all, it was the Dao of Nature to be the way they were, a Dao that molded them, forged them into beings capable of braving the harsh conditions of the wild.

For seven days of serene exploration and seven nights of wondrous star-gazing, the forested mountain-range cleared out, and dozens of smaller paths joined together to form a path as thick as a door was long leading westwards. Thus, the only thing left to do was to continue their journey.

The path did not betray them, and eventually it led to a high-way like road with dozens of carriages in a caravan all travelling towards one destination. The travellers paid the duo no mind, their work being their priority. Lao Chen and Lin-Lin blended together in a crowd of pedestrians, keeping an effortless pace.

The sun sunk gradually, letting the darkness slowly take over. Once the sun was three-quarters beneath the horizon, a voice could be heard a few hundred meters ahead of the caravan, stopping it on its tracks.

The travellers began to prepare fire-wood, pots and other equipments for food, and the sat themselves by fires, talking animatedly.

The duo sat themselves within a random group, regaled by tall tales from old men and women alike. Laughter filled the air, complementing the warmth provided by the bonfire. Once the stew started cooking over a spit above the bonfire, a couple volunteers began handing out bowls of stew.

When Lao Chen’s turn came, the volunteer, a muscular woman with scars on her face, raised an eyebrow. “You two strangers ‘round these parts?”

Lao Chen nodded. “Yes. We are travelling west. You don’t need to feed us if resources are scarce,” Lao Chen smiled. The volunteer scoffed.

“Nonsense. Travellers are all one and the same at the end of the day. Have some stew!” Lao Chen accepted the bowl with both hands, bowing his head, and Lin-Lin did the same. The woman sat next to Lao Chen, drinking from her own bowl.

“So… where exactly are you headed?”

Lao Chen thought for a second before replying. “We’re out travelling westwards. We don’t have a particular destination in mind, however. Where are you all headed?”

The woman drank the last of her stew before burping. “Home. Ever heard of the Port of Dalian?”

Lao Chen shook his head.

“Hah! Didn’t expect you to, anyways. It’s a tiny port-town in a gods-forsaken corner of the Fortune Lake. We’ve been transporting goods to be shipped on ‘em boats. Least we can do to fend off poverty.” She seemed downtrodden at the last part. Lao Chen simply smiled cheerfully.

“Your community possesses the virtue of work ethic. Fortune will come your way, miss. I’m sure of it,” Lao Chen reassured her, causing her to regain a smile.

“You’re not that bad, old timer!”

Their conversation was then drowned out by a group of youths running in circles around the bonfire, chanting loudly. The young men and women stopped abruptly before turning around to throw a punch at the fire, causing it to expand vertically in a column of sheer heat which then began to curl around in the shape of a phoenix, leaving motes of orange in its wake.

“Incredible,” Lao Chen gaped.

“Heheh,” the woman chuckled. “Those are our late-stage Qi Condensation talents. All under thirty, yet at the brink of Foundation Establishment; truly heaven-sent talents!”

Lao Chen nodded. “This is quite the beautiful display, nonetheless!”

The woman smiled genially. “The name is Ying Yue. What’s yours?”

“Oh. My name is Lao Chen, and this is my, err, grand-daughter,” Lao Chen pointed at her as she stared, transfixed by the lightshow. “Lao Lin.”

“My, you have a beautiful grand-daughter, old timer!”

“Indeed.”

Two phoenixes danced with each other in the air, one orange and one blue. With a final collision, they burst in a colourful explosion that left orange and blue wisps in the air several seconds afterwards, dissipating slowly. 

With a final chant, the young warriors sat down, letting their performance receive standing ovations from nearly everyone presently watching.

"Well, you have a good one, old timer. We've got sentries prowling the area in case of any bandits with death wishes. I'd hate for you to get hurt, so make sure to stay in the center of our encampment, or as close as you can."

Eventually, after everyone had finished their meals, and the young warriors had finished with their light-show, people began to unwrap their bedrolls and call it a night. Thankfully, Lao Chen and Lin-Lin were both graciously offered bedrolls of their own to use.

Thus, they both fell asleep.