Thousand Mountains Snow Dance, Plum Soul Transformed - Flowers Startled, Birds Depart: Giving Free Rein to an Old Heart of the Rivers and Lakes

When bright sunlight bathed the earth, the three resting atop Ten Thousand Peaks felt warmth wash over them.

Bathed in myriad rays of rosy light, Xing Yan looked around. Mountains and rivers near and far shone clear, and flecks of light glimmered among the woodland trees, as though countless friendly eyes were smiling gently at him across that vast landscape.

"Whew..."

Dimly sensing the kindly smiles of all things beneath heaven, Xing Yan let out a long breath. During that great cry in which he had poured out his heart, an exaltation had risen within him-the feeling of ruling all creation, looking down upon the ages, almost standing as an equal to the rising sun in the eastern sky. Yet once his cry died away, he felt little pleasure, only an inexplicable alarm and bewilderment.

Though the mountains and rivers remained unchanged, and the sun and sky were as before, this fledgling Four Seas Hall Master could clearly sense that he was profoundly different now from the person he had been a moment earlier. Realizing this, Xing Yan fell into a daze.

Was this... success in attaining the Great Dao? ...Was it really so simple? Back when I was in Raozhou, could I have succeeded just by getting up early one day, finding the highest peak near Horseshoe Mountain, and climbing up to watch the sunrise?

Amid the winds atop those countless mountains, this strange question actually left the clever young man lost in thought for a long while. Only after some time did Xing Yan come to his senses and realize how absurd the notion was. During the two or three years since he had left home to seek the Dao, he had learned far more than powerful spells.

As that realization dawned, heavenly winds brushed his face and