The pulverized ceiling of the subterranean cavern continued to shower down in a blinding storm of crystalline dust and glowing jade embers.
High above, where the solid limestone crags of the mountain ridge had once stood, the sky was torn wide open, exposing the bruised twilight firmament.
At the center of that ruined cave, the colossal pavilion of the Sun Moon Refinement Tower's first floor glowed.
Its ancient solar and lunar runes spun across the air in grand, interlocking rings of molten gold and liquid silver, forcing the surrounding spatial fabric to buckle and bow.
Slowly, from the pagoda, a figure emerged.
The air around his stepping boots rippled and eventually smoothed out, as though the frantic turbulence of reality was eager to flatten itself into a pristine rug beneath his soles.
