In the Wind and Snow

It was the third year of Jia Chun when Bai Ye sent the old scholar out of the Fifth Continent with a single sword strike.

The old scholar visited Bai Ze and returned to the Central Plains Confucian Temple in the fourth year of Jia Chun. By the time he reached the Great Li Capital in the central part of Treasure Bottle Continent and reunited with his former first disciple on the bank of the newly transformed Qi Du, spring had arrived in the fifth year. Willows swayed, flowers bloomed among the trees, orioles flew and sparrows hopped. Children left school early, and paper kites rode the wind high into the sky.

The warm spring scene eased the old scholar's worried brow. He asked Cui Chan, beside him, whether he had any ideas for naming the Fifth Continent.

Cui Chan said he did not.

Cui Dongshan, following behind them, had a few ideas, but unfortunately the old scholar had not asked him. The old scholar merely said that the Temple of Literature had first considered naming it "Rules," but the Sage of Ritual had refused. Rules, he had said, should nourish all things like a spring breeze, not be set down for all to see. The Hundred Schools of Thought had offered their own suggestions. Several old patriarchs, including those of the Yin-Yang School and the Agricultural School, had jointly proposed "Peach Blossom Spring," and many had agreed. It evoked a Shangri-la, promised something beautiful, and would remind people of the tremendous merit the Confucian school had earned by opening a Brand New Heaven. Besides, in the southeast of the new world stood a peach tree with a remarkable peculiarity. For ages it had flowered without bearing fruit, yet the moment Bai Ye divided heaven and earth with his sword,