Three days later, in an elegant, tranquil courtyard within Heavenly Works City, Zhang Tie sat across from an elderly man in white robes, his beard and brows both white, sipping tea and discussing runes and the Dao...
"What are runes?" Zhang Tie asked.
"Runes are the pivot of creation, the bridge between two realms, and the divine marrow of the six senses!" the old man answered.
"What is a pivot, what is a bridge, and what is divine marrow?" Zhang Tie pressed.
"A pivot is the way of change. The universe was born from primordial Chaos. Within that primordial Chaos, there were originally no runes. Once Chaos opened and Heaven and Earth divided, the transformations of the pivot came into being, and runes were thus born..." The old man leisurely drank his tea as he answered Zhang Tie's questions. "The two realms are the Element Realm and the material world. The laws of runes connect the two realms, mysterious beyond mystery, secret beyond secret. They manifest the power of the Element Realm within the material world; that is the bridge. The six senses are sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and thought. Runes are formed by nature; deft hands may chance upon them. If a person's six senses can perceive the creation of the Heavenly Dao, obtaining runes will be like plucking fruit from a tree..."
"How does one perceive it?"
"Your body itself is creation, is the two realms, is the six senses. If you ask me, then I ask you!"
Holding the steaming teacup in his hand, Zhang Tie closed his eyes in thought. After a long while, he drained the tea in a single gulp, then bowed to the old man. "Thank you!"
"Can these few words of this old man resolve the general's doubts?" the old man