The far south, Tomb Mountain.
Howling winds swept the high heavens. Waves hundreds of feet tall surged up and crashed down, surrounding the lone mountain at sea with white foam. A young man stood on its summit, his face like wood and stone, dressed in black robes and cloud-patterned shoes. A vast, all-encompassing aura stirred faintly around him, like a roaring gale that brought all things to subdual and collapse, scattered them, and divided their forms.
A woman stood a step behind him, her face radiant, her bearing mysterious and divine.
She was tall and slender, wearing a stone-blue dress, but her aura had already reached the Purple Mansion peak.
She was the Nine Firmaments Demon King, Fu Dong, also known as the Heavenly Demon Cang Fowl of Feng Dai.
The young man before her stared intently at the eastern sky. Finally, he said:
"Zhang Xuan Mystic Secrets has crawled into Long Abode's skin and rushed into battle. It seems he can no longer sit still."
"Dao Scion Jing Yi, should our Mystic Firmament... respond?"
Nine Firmaments addressed him respectfully.
"There's no hurry."
The Dao Scion of the Great Wind Mystic Firmament shook his head.
"Among the Wood Virtue True Lords, our lord and the one lying in Penglai's Living Coffin have nothing to fear from this Li Fire. There's no reason to expend great effort for another path.
"Besides, those involved with vast wood... have plenty of tricks and plans of their own. They're merely borrowing the momentum of Li Fire."
"Vast wood."
Nine Firmaments possessed considerable cultivation, but unease lingered in her heart. She said only:
"Whether this wood burns away or enters Buddha Land, I fear neither outcome will be good for Wood Virtue as a whole."
"Burn away? Enter Buddha Land? You underestimate this wood."
There