Liyang Heaven.
Immortal mist surged in waves, and mysterious radiance shone deep and clear.
Li fire blazed, rising and roiling across the heavens. Beneath it stood many mysterious palaces and jeweled pavilions, immortal terraces and spirit mountains. This was unmistakably the grotto-heaven built by that True Lord of li fire.
Yet at the heart of this grotto-heaven stood a crimson-black stump that towered into the clouds. Its tangled roots formed something like a palace, something like a forest, dry and desolate beyond measure. Above it burned a vast mass of li fire, half vermilion and half apricot yellow.
This mass of li fire seemed to embody all the light of heart and mind, all the flames of Southern Heaven. Like the Vermilion Bird, like an emperor, it expounded the rightful nature and transformations of li fire.
Within this mingled vermilion and yellow fire lay another object, resembling a long feather, yet also an axe. Layers of dark tree resin encased it, while the surrounding li fire wove a net to bind it.
"Calamity and fortune have no gate; only people themselves know."
Many Dao Platforms stood beneath these roots, with human figures seated upon them. The figure at the center possessed the most magnificent presence. Vast apricot-yellow li fire poured out behind him, burning the wood qi and spreading to his body, burning others and himself alike.
"Ancestor, Heaven has many schemes. I fear he will not obey us in the future."
Before these brilliantly shining Dao Platforms stood only one figure, dressed in an apricot-yellow royal robe. Tall, with a broad forehead and prominent nose, he had already reached the late stage in his cultivation of li fire.
This was Song Zongxiang, the True Person [Bright Auspice], and also Great Li's [King Zhaoshan].
As the intermediary between the grotto-heaven