The endless ruins of the Origin Dao Sect stood beneath an ancient sky.
Broken palaces stretched toward the horizon.
Countless years of glory had become dust.
Countless legends had faded into memory.
At the center of the ruins sat Situ.
Motionless.
The Nine Colored Deer remained nearby, quietly guarding him.
Neither spoke.
Neither moved.
The departure of the mysterious skeleton had left behind more than the Origin Stone.
It had left behind a truth.
A truth Situ had been unwilling to face.
Goro was dead.
Truly dead.
Not sealed.
Not trapped.
Not sleeping.
Dead.
The giant ape who had accompanied him through countless dangers.
The friend who had laughed beside him.
The companion who had stood before impossible enemies without hesitation.
Gone.
Days passed.
Then months.
The Origin Stone floated before Situ.
Its gray surface appeared ordinary.
Yet within it flowed the origin of countless Great Daos.
The source of all laws.
The beginning of all existence.
