"Great floods drowned the plains, and heavenly fire shattered the peaks."
"All living things had nowhere left to turn."
The world before their eyes had descended into utter chaos.
A mountain collapsed down the middle.
Water surged over the broken cliffs, sweeping up boulders and bearing down on the distant plains.
The flood rose past the mountainsides.
The plains became a vast marshland.
Farther away, herds of beasts fled toward higher slopes.
The soil on those slopes had been softened by the water.
The moment their forelegs touched down, the entire hillside slid away beneath them.
Birds soared into the sky.
Heavenly fire bore down from the clouds.
One after another, they fell into the flood.
Bajie opened his mouth.
This time, he said nothing.
Little White Dragon stared at the torrents filling the world, his fingers clamped tightly around his knees.
Xuanzang's voice came through the water and fire once more.
"But Heaven never seals off every road!"
"Some ancestors of humankind found a towering tree amid the flood."
"This ancient tree endured the calamity of water and fire without dying. Instead, its branches spread ever farther."
A speck of green suddenly emerged above the murky yellow water.
Then, little by little, it came into view.
It was an ancient tree that towered into the heavens.
Its trunk was so broad that its far side could not be seen.
Its branches reached in every direction, piercing the billowing black smoke.
Its crown rose straight into the clouds.
Each time the flood struck, a dull boom sounded from its trunk.
Heavenly fire fell upon its crown.
Its branches and leaves were scorched black on the spot, yet fresh green shoots immediately pushed their way out.
Below the tree lay the earthly waters.
Above the tree burned heavenly fire.
Its branches