Five-Li Pavilion had dwindled out of sight, and Shallow Province City was growing ever more distant.
Mist gradually rose from the breeze they rode, then slowly spread into a cloud around Yi Shuyuan, carrying them eastward.
Yi Shuyuan sat atop the cloud, with Qi Zhongbin and Stoneborn sitting beside him.
Jiang Lang stood to one side, surveying the land below. His gaze lingered on the stretches of water they passed, and he could not help saying,
"I wonder how construction on my Water Palace in Longwind Lake is coming along?"
Yi Shuyuan glanced at Jiang Lang.
"How much could they have built in so little time? Just find a soft patch of sand underwater and make do with lying there. You don't seem all that particular to me."
Jiang Lang was not pleased to hear that.
"That won't do. The Water Palace is the face of my Longwind Lake. I have to have one, and it can't be shabby, either! How about it? Shall we stop by Longwind Lake?"
"No need. I have somewhere to go."
Having said that, Yi Shuyuan paid Jiang Lang no further attention. He already had a fairly workable idea for his ritual robe, and somewhere he could go to help bring it to fruition-somewhere far more reliable than this fellow Jiang Lang, at least.
As they spoke, Yi Shuyuan happened to spot a cloud in the distance and grew a little absorbed in it.
Daylight was just breaking. Illuminated by the morning sun, the cloud faintly revealed a range of colors dominated by red, while continually shifting into different shapes.
As though inspiration had blessed him, the cloud's appearance mirrored certain images in Yi Shuyuan's mind. With the crafting of his ritual robe occupying his thoughts, it was a sudden flash of insight.
Seeing Yi