Water murmured as the great river flowed east.
Xuanming spent several more days drifting along the river in his boat.
Only a month later, when he reached the junction between the middle and lower reaches of the Azure Waves River, did the little boat stop of its own accord beside a whirlpool, like an island in the river. Beside it, a purple lotus grew from the water, bearing a slightly plump Daoist with a warm, beaming smile. He was True Person Dongfeng, sect master of the Purple Dawn Sect and its only Dao cultivator to have condensed a Sacred Embryo.
The two Daoists had met once during a discussion of the Dao in years past. Seeing him again today, True Person Dongfeng was filled with emotion and offered the first salute. "It has been several years, fellow Daoist, and your bearing surpasses even that of old. You have even condensed a Sacred Embryo. Truly, this is cause for celebration. I admire you and can only acknowledge my own inferiority."
Xuanming was not at all surprised to find True Person Dongfeng waiting here. Having decided to slay the Flood Dragon, he naturally had to notify the Purple Dawn Sect. He did not put on airs, but bowed in return.
"You flatter me, fellow Daoist. My breakthrough was merely a stroke of luck. It cannot compare with your years of painstaking refinement and profound reserves."
True Person Dongfeng smiled without speaking, and Xuanming nodded with a smile. By tacit agreement, the two True Persons let the subject drop. True Person Dongfeng swept his sleeve and brought forth a compass. Wisps of purple qi rose from it and condensed into a Divine ability, drawing down streams of dawn purple qi that surged together into the whirlpool.
The whirlpool shone and actually stopped turning