By autumn waters, the zither played to the bright moon; when guests came to the wondrous peak, white clouds were swept aside.
- Anonymous
While starlight carpeted Thousand Birds Cliff and song and dance filled the air, two brilliant points of sword-light suddenly appeared in the eastern sky, darting toward them.
The flute-playing youth immediately sensed uninvited visitors approaching and lowered the Flute from his lips. With a lightning-swift thought, he summoned the Yao Guang Divine Sword, which had been busily enjoying itself beside the waterfall zither. It flew backward into his waiting hand.
Before Lingyi and Xueyi, dancing through the moonlit sky, could return to the cliff, the two sword-lights had already arrived before Thousand Birds Cliff.
"What immortal guest has descended upon our Mount Luofu to admire the moon?"
At that familiar voice, Xing Yan immediately relaxed his grip on the sword. In the clear moonlight, he recognized the speaker as his own sect master, True Person Ling Xu. The other visitor was Master Qingming of the Dharma Propagation Hall.
Master Ling Xu stood serenely upon a flying sword as white as frost and snow, gently bobbing in the moonlit sky as though standing upon rippling water. His composed bearing made him look like an immortal. Master Qingming, famed for his magical prowess, now revealed the difference between their attainments. Unlike Ling Xu, he kept circling before Thousand Birds Cliff. Though his movement was unhurried, it could hardly compare with Ling Xu's ease, as if he stood upon level ground.
At the sect master's sudden arrival, Kou Xueyi, hovering in midair, startled like a frightened fawn. She dropped onto Thousand Birds Cliff like a falling bird and pressed close to Xing Yan. The Dragon Clan princess Ling Yier, however, remained perfectly unruffled. She drifted gracefully before Ling Xu