Yizhou, Langzhong Commandery.
The mountains stretched like fortress walls. Dense earth qi spread at their roots, while brownish-yellow Wu Light rose from their peaks, riding the clear wind into the sky to become swathes of brilliant rosy cloud.
Within the Great Void, a young man in splendid apricot-yellow robes gazed at the strange manifestations among the mountains, an amused smile on his extraordinarily noble, elegant face.
Apricot-yellow Li Fire burned languidly beside him, one yin attaching in beauty, two yang shining in double radiance, like light adhering to the righteous path, incomparably sacred.
Although it was spring, scorching qi rose where he stood, making it feel like high summer. The plants drooped, their former verdant lushness gone.
The Flow of Clear and Turbid of Kan Water slowly revolved as a woman approached from behind him. She wore understated yellow robes, a long black-and-white sword at her waist and a Bronze Sword Casket on her back. Her face was lovely as peach and plum blossoms, beautiful without losing its edge.
Both had already attained divine abilities, so they could naturally walk through the Great Void and see the Wu Earth manifestations filling it, as well as the secret realm suspended above.
These manifestations in turn affected reality, steeping all of Langzhong Commandery in Wu Earth qi and making its mountains resonate together.
"You've already completed [Sacred Attachment] and begun cultivating your second divine ability, yet Song Shiming of the Thunder Department is still in seclusion. Isn't he being a little too slow?"
Kan Water currents circulated as the sword-bearing woman asked somewhat casually, her figure slightly illusory beneath the light of the sky, like thin paper.
"Altar Thunder is difficult to cultivate."
Song Shiyi's expression did not change, though a trace of schadenfreude entered his voice. The heat around him intensified,