Golden light swirled, and the Secret Realm lay steady.
A layer of dark metal covered the peaks. Victory gold was the most inert of metals, resistant to change, so this metallic shell over the mountains might well endure for a thousand years.
The Secret Realm lay half within the Great Void and half manifested in the world. A platinum-white gateway stood revealed, its light bright as the sun, golden radiance spilling outward. High above it hung a dark crimson plaque.
[Secret Metal Monastery]
"A Victory Gold Dao Lineage?"
Liu Xingfang recognized its origins and said thoughtfully:
"Besides Earth Virtue, Metal Virtue Dao Lineages are the most numerous in Shu. The ancients said metal arose from earth. Perhaps this is why."
Xu Xuan, meanwhile, recalled Prosperous Gold Valley beyond Great Ridge, another place of victory gold. Even the Metal Qi of the Qinling Mountains could travel through the earth veins to Qishan. In the Ancient Era, a grand Metal Virtue rite must have taken place across the region between Shu and the Qinling Mountains, involving secrets at the Golden Core level. Only that could have left so many Metal Virtue objects preserved in Shu.
"Let us go inside and look."
Xu Xuan's knowledge now far surpassed what it had once been, and he had little to fear. Leading Liu Xingfang, he offered a slight bow toward the Heavenly Gate as a modest show of respect for this Dao Lineage. Had he not bowed, all would have been well, but the moment he did, a rumbling sounded.
The gateway cast from dark metal collapsed with a crash, as though it could not bear his bow. Metal Qi shifted across the sky before finally opening a path. Objects made from victory gold were seldom pure; most were alloyed with other metals, since pure