Pines roared at Dragon Cave; a long rainbow spanned the clear autumn sky.
High cliffs pierced the heavens, ancient trees grew thick and lush-
After leaving the great hall where Cui Jingzhong lived.
Along the way, Chen Heng saw crimson cliffs and emerald pavilions, luxuriant woods and slender bamboo, a scene as elegant as a painting by a master.
It was precisely:
Yellow flowers and red trees shed their blossoms along fragrant paths; palaces rose unevenly west of indigo peaks.
The halls and pavilions interwove at varying heights, solemn and secluded. Looking up into the distance, he saw lofty stone terraces; misty light and tree-shaded groves alike were clear and luminous, tranquil and profound.
High overhead, ten thousand fathoms up in the sky.
A crystalline treasure pearl with twelve apertures shone brilliantly, dispelling gloomy shadows and turbid obstructions, illuminating half the sky with dazzling radiance.
According to Cui Jingzhong, the Earth Abyss had neither daylight nor sun, moon, or stars.
The True Lord had therefore specially placed this pearl in the sky, allowing the servants and maids of Golden Drum Cave to harmonize the yin within Li and the yang within Kan inside their bodies, keeping their minds tireless so they could continue orthodox cultivation undisturbed by turbid obstructions.
At the highest point in view stood an immense palace, simple and solid yet strangely designed.
Hundreds upon thousands of seventh-grade lotus images fashioned from fired glazed bricks adorned the palace. Its vast, towering grandeur eclipsed all the surrounding peaks, great and small, and the Jade Palace and jeweled halls, leaving them wholly unable to compete.
Before the palace stood a golden drum a hundred fathoms high, like a little sun embedded deep within, its presence magnificent, majestic, and fierce.
Chen Heng looked toward it.
On the golden drum's surface, he