Burning Flowers, Swaying Moon, Asking About the Past - Light pierced the Dipper and Ox; all called it a windfall from heaven

Now, in the southwest of the heavens, there was a place veiled in clouds and mist called Kongya Mountain. High upon its towering heights lay a deep, ancient cave, hidden all day behind white clouds, beyond even the reach of flying birds. Legend held that an immortal lived within, known as Ancestor Kongya.

That day, the weather was clear and mild, and drifting clouds trailed like threads. Inside the cave on the sheer cliff, an old man in a crane-feather cloak sat cross-legged at its edge, his eyes closed as he refined his breath. His face was like flawless jade, his frame extraordinary. This man of immortal bearing sat overlooking a bottomless abyss, with wisps of white cloud and mist floating past his face from time to time. One glance at this scene beyond the mortal dust revealed an immortal practitioner of the wondrous Way, dwelling among remote mountains and secluded valleys.

As Ancestor Kongya concentrated on his meditation, a sudden intuition stirred within him. He opened eyes that had remained closed for months and looked out upon the boundless world before the cave. The sky, previously bright and clear for ten thousand miles, was now filled with unbroken rain. At this strange change in the heavens, even Ancestor Kongya, whose heart was still as ancient waters, could not help uttering a surprised "Oh?" Then, amid the piled masses of dark rain clouds, he saw a streak of yellow radiance hurtling through the air toward him.

"Oh, so my dear disciple has met his destined calamity."

At the sight of Kongya Mountain's magical treasure, the Golden Notched Bowl, flying through the clouds, Ancestor Kongya needed only a slight stir of thought to know that his third disciple, Jin Quezi, had fallen back into the cycle of rebirth.

Holding the dimly