Atop a snow-capped mountain, a white-clad girl with a frosty face stood before a group of little children, having them open the scriptures before them and begin the morning lesson.
"At the dawn of antiquity, the primordial Supreme One descended into the world, bestowing spirituality upon all things... The gods rebelled, dividing and devouring the primordial Supreme One, transforming spirituality into Buddha-nature, Dao-nature, divine nature... Thus Grand Dao True Lord descended, slew the gods, gathered all natures, and restored them to spirituality... The True Lord was compassionate and took pity on all living beings, cleaving himself with a single sword and once more transforming spirituality into myriad natures..."
As the white-clad girl chanted, spirituality stirred unseen. Waves of Highest Purity qi, carrying the chill of ice and snow, rolled through the surroundings, protecting everyone present and preventing them from accidentally absorbing too many secrets they should not know.
"This is the scripture of Grand Dao True Lord's descent to deliver the people. Grand Dao True Lord is also the true form of this sect's patriarchs, True Lord Yu Chen Who Guides the Dead and True Lord Yankang the Dao-Hermit. If you can comprehend even a little from it, a day will come when you attain the Dao. You must memorize it well."
"Yes!"
The little children answered earnestly. The white-clad girl nodded, gave a brief signal to the attendants nearby, and returned to a cave in the rear mountain.
Outside the cave lay a world of ice and snow. At its entrance stood enormous, crystalline ice pillars, their ancient, deathly chill gathering in every direction.
The girl's expression changed slightly, and she hurried inside. Strangely, the farther inward she went, the warmer it became. By the time she reached the depths of the cave, it was already a place of