Summer rain came quickly and went just as quickly. In the blink of an eye, the downpour vanished without a trace.
As soon as the river's floodwaters settled and the sandbar rose higher than Nanchang City's walls, the clouds dispersed and the rain ceased. The sun shone brightly once more, as though that apocalyptic scene had been nothing but an illusion.
The Yellow Dragon and azure tiger returned to Cheng Xinzhan's hand, condensing into a jade ruyi scepter. Cheng Xinzhan and the disciples also returned to the ceremonial procession, and the entire company set off again amid the cheers and praises rising from Nanchang City.
But ordinary people, with their mortal eyes and flesh, could not distinguish the cultivators of Three Pure Ones Mountain from those of the Longevity Palace. Seeing the ceremonial procession cross the river toward Sanyuan Mountain, they all shouted of the boundless merit of the lords of the Longevity Palace.
Just as the procession crossed the Gan River, Cheng Xinzhan and the others saw brilliant light erupt from Sanyuan Mountain:
Golden Rosy Clouds blanketed the air, dyeing it into a sea of light, where eighty-one fish dragons roamed and danced.
Vast purple qi rose, condensing into great banks of purple clouds within the golden sea of light, and thirty-six nine-colored luan phoenixes soared among them.
Then, within this purple-and-gold canopy, great clusters of divine palaces and halls suddenly materialized in midair.
The palaces' white jade foundations resembled snowy clouds, setting off the nearby purple clouds. Their double-eaved hip-and-gable roofs stretched in unbroken rows, their scarlet glazed tiles like flames, almost indistinguishable from the Golden Rosy-Clear Light Sea. The dragon-shaped roof ornaments looked like chiwen, so lifelike that it was impossible to tell whether they were real.
On the towering ceremonial gateway south of this cluster of