Amidst this strange, composite voice quality, Flower Lady heard the Great Black Heavenly Buddha Mother Bodhisattva say:
"You have been back from the Northern Wilderness for twelve years now."
"Yes."
"You have dealt with many people in the Northern Wilderness, and quite a part of them were where the sect's grand designs rested. Yet now, the survivors are few. Difficult times are hard to endure; from this, we can tell."
Flower Lady bowed her head and remained silent. She could never bring herself to reply to such remarks.
The Great Black Heavenly Buddha Mother Bodhisattva did not intend to make her answer, calmly continuing, "Come here."
Flower Lady gracefully rose to her feet, moving as instructed to a spot five paces behind the Great Black Heavenly Buddha Mother Bodhisattva. After a slight pause, seeing no reaction from ahead, she stepped forward again to the edge of the lotus pond. She merely described a small arc, maintaining a distance of three paces from the divine master.
She still did not raise her head to presumptuously gaze upon her divine master's face. Yet under such close proximity, she sensed no spiritual pressure, no terrifying baleful intent, nor even any of the outward reactions that those of longevity ought to possess. She seemed like an utterly ordinary person, save for that eerie vocal range:
"Look."
Flower Lady steadied her mind, lowering her gaze to look upon the shimmering ripples of water on the lotus pond.
Under the cover of stems and leaves, layers of crimson cloud vapor were roiling within the water. It was exceptionally transparent, as though a distinct and different realm had been cracked open within the pool, rendering the bottom completely invisible.
If one were to view the situation within the pool as a "world," it was certainly vastly different