Negotiations End, a New Appointment

Yang Wenqing stepped out of the quiet room and suddenly sensed something different in the world around him. He stopped to feel it more carefully.

The feeling came without warning, like a drop of water falling onto a still surface. Ripples spread from the depths of his Spirit Sea, sweeping through every inch of his Spirit Veins, every organ, every gap between his bones.

Lan Ying crouched on his shoulder. Sensing the subtle change in his aura, her sapphire-blue eyes brightened, but she did not disturb him. She simply stayed there, quiet and still.

After a long while, Yang Wenqing held out his hand. In his perception, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth unfolded in a way he had never experienced before.

The Five Yang Five Qi each took on a distinct color and texture. The red fire-yang qi was lively and ardent; the green wood-yang qi was expansive and gentle; the yellow earth-yang qi was dense and substantial; the white metal-yang qi was sharp and clear; the dark water-yang qi was deep and tranquil.

The five colors moved separately in his perception, their boundaries unmistakable. This was the Five Yang Five Qi in its original form.

Then he tapped the empty air before him with his index finger. The instant his fingertip came to rest, a five-colored light seeped out of it, clearer than Five-Yang True Essence and purer than the radiance of the Five-Element Cycle, like a strand of dawn.

The colored light left his fingertip and gathered in the air three inches before him, giving off a soft glow whose edges shimmered gold.

Then a fragrance spread.

It was like the first breeze through a forest on a spring morning, carrying the scent of dew not yet evaporated from pine needles. It was also like the