Snap!
The long incense stick broke, and its flame went out.
Yuan Liuzi jolted awake. He calculated on his fingers, his face filling with alarm. Casting everything else aside, he rose and turned into a streak of light, flying straight into the depths of the Secret Realm. When he arrived, a man in Azure robes was already sitting in a nearby pavilion, reading.
Though the man had his back to him, Yuan Liuzi recognized him as Master Soaring's avatar from Great Hua Mountain.
Yuan Liuzi gathered his thoughts. Ignoring everything else, he walked up to the long-haired man and bowed, about to speak.
The long-haired man smiled. "I know why you've come. What happens at Eastern Peak has already been decided."
"..."
Yuan Liuzi fell silent for a moment, then could only nod and withdraw.
Once he was gone, Chen Cuo's Azure Lotus Incarnation set down his book and said, "Senior, the situation at Eastern Peak arose because of me. That was what brought down the Beyond-Mundane Finger. If we're to break this deadlock, we'll need to make plans. Do you have any advice for me?"
"You needn't let it weigh on you," the long-haired man said with a smile. "After plotting for a thousand years, that man was bound to step into the world. As things stand, we've confined him to one place and forced him to take form at Eastern Peak. It's a blessing hidden within disaster."
Chen Cuo was startled. He ventured, "Was this man part of your calculations too, Senior?"
The long-haired man only smiled.
Thoughts raced through Chen Cuo's mind. He recalled his several projections through the River of Time, and suddenly a flash of Spirit Light crossed his mind!
He seemed to have caught hold of a thread linking Great Hua Mountain, Mount Tai,