"What—what is that?!"
"Mount Zhongnan? How could Great Sui's Mount Zhongnan appear above Bianjing?"
Xie Yuan stood atop the Immortal-Inviting Tower, his eyes fixed on the towering mountain silhouette in the night sky.
Snow lay unmelted on its summit, and Taoist temples flickered in and out of view along its slopes. It was unmistakably Mount Zhongnan, ten thousand miles away, yet it hung inverted over Bianjing like a mirage.
"Xie Yuan! Where are you going?" Xie Qiyue called from behind him.
Xie Yuan rushed down the stairs without looking back. "I'm going to find Guan! Stay out of it!"
"Do you know where they are?" Xie Qiyue chased him a few steps, her skirts fluttering.
Xie Yuan's voice came from the stairwell. "Did you see that flash over the Zhi River just now?"
"Guan should be there!"
Xie Qiyue froze, watching Xie Yuan's retreating back. Hurt welled in her eyes. "Fourth Cousin, look at Xie Yuan..."
Zhang Yunzhi gently stroked Xie Qiyue's shoulder. "Let him go."
She gazed at the strange sight in the night sky, lost in thought. "But he said he was going to find Young Master Guan..."
Beside them, Xue Hong watched Xie Qiyue's concern for Xie Yuan with a conflicted look.
He raised his head toward the glazed dome covering Bianjing and the inverted phantom of Mount Zhongnan, then murmured:
"Tonight, the heavens over Bianjing may be about to change."
Li Shuwan stood by the railing, her gaze moving between the third and fourth floors.
The powerful figures who normally called the wind and summoned the rain were unmoved, as though they could not see the strange sight above Bianjing.
Unless...
She looked toward the fourth floor, where the Academy's Third Master and Chancellor Su held court.
With those two present, who would dare make a