The candlelight danced, swayed by a breeze that mirrored the wind’s passage over mountain peaks. Trees and grasses bowed, creating the illusion of the mountains themselves moving, but in truth…” Wang Lin’s gaze was lost in contemplation.

“In truth, the mountains were still. So too, this candle. The wind alone moves!” With a sudden gesture, Wang Lin snapped his right hand, and the room’s windows slammed shut, barring the mountain wind from entry.

Shielded from the outside gusts, the candle flame gradually stilled from its frantic dance. Yet, even now, it continued to flicker, a subtle tremor fueled by the slow consumption of its oil.

A frown creased Wang Lin’s brow. He stared at the light, his face a shifting canvas of illumination and shadow, hinting at a somber mood. “No, this is not right! The wind is gone, yet the flame still stirs…”

Unbeknownst to Wang Lin, his current state mirrored the path to enlightenment, though he sought not his own truth, but that of Tian Yunzi!

Centuries had passed since their first meeting, yet Wang Lin’s previous cultivation had blinded him to the changes in Tian Yunzi. Now, however, he could glimpse the subtle shifts within his old acquaintance.

Tian Yunzi held countless secrets, but the one that filled Wang Lin with the greatest unease was his inability to decipher his true intentions.

“Tian Yunzi is like this candle flame, ever-shifting, ever-changing… to find his original form, even when the wind is gone, proves impossible.” Wang Lin’s gaze remained fixated on the flickering wick.

Time slipped by, and the hour of the tiger approached. Outside, the night remained a canvas of deepest black, save for the mournful howling of the mountain wind as it scratched against the papered windows.

In the stillness of the night, the sound was piercingly clear.

“Wind moves, mountain moves, fire moves…” Wang Lin raised his head, took a step forward, and vanished from the room. When he reappeared, it was amidst the inky blackness of the night sky.

Below him lay the Violet Peak of the Heavenly Cloud Sect.

The cold wind bit fiercely, and the sky above was choked with storm clouds. What little moonlight pierced the veil painted the land below in a somber, charcoal hue.

Lost in thought, Wang Lin raised his right hand and gently waved it across the sky. In that single gesture resided a trace of the elemental power he had commanded years ago when he summoned the rain.

The swirling clouds churned in response, transforming into a downpour of fine, needling droplets. Soon, the clouds dispersed, allowing the pale moonlight to fall unhindered upon the earth.

Bathed in silvery light, a darkened shape revealed itself behind the Violet Peak.

The mountain wind surged, rustling the foliage upon the peak. The swaying branches whispered and sighed as they danced in the wind.

Wang Lin gazed upon the mountain, his gaze lingering upon the darkened form behind the Violet Peak. The peak seemed to sway in time with the foliage, yet the shape behind remained strangely unchanged.

“The mountain does not move!” Wang Lin’s eyes blazed with sudden clarity, and his mind thundered with insight. The truth was almost within his grasp.

“The wind merely stirs the surface, and the mountain only seems to move! The movement lies within my own heart! My heart moves, and so the mountain moves!” Comprehension flooded Wang Lin’s eyes. He faltered, and returned to the room.

He stared at the candle, and his aura began to calm, disappearing as if he no longer existed.

Had another been present, they would have noticed nothing unusual about the flame. It danced gently, popping and crackling as the wax burned away.

But to Wang Lin’s eyes, the flame roiled and churned like a raging sea. It underwent countless transformations before gradually slowing to a halt. Finally, as if frozen by a binding spell, it stilled completely.

At that instant, Wang Lin’s heart jolted. Disbelief filled his eyes, he struggled to comprehend what he was seeing.

The vital energy within his body surged uncontrollably, coursing through every part of him. A series of thumping sounds echoed from within as if he was a mortal warrior unlocking the meridian lines within his body.

As the vital energy surged, his Third Eye opened between his brows. But instead of emitting red light, it drank in something. The vital energy whirled faster still!

It had reached unimaginable speeds. Yet Wang Lin felt no pain. He continued to stare at the candle. His disbelief reached a new level.

What he saw was not a candle but a weak, pitiful flame. It was the flame he had conjured with a finger years before.

That alone should not have affected him so much. But under his gaze, it had stilled and yet continued to move!

A force surrounded the flame and caused it to wane and fade.

To say the flame was fading might be inaccurate. It expanded, expanded, expanded. He saw its core under the magnification!

Minute points of vital energy crossed each other, each collision produced a weak echo.

They seemed chaotic. Wang Lin knew better. Crossing and collision were ruled by a Law.

“This is the Law. The Law of Fire.” Wang Lin stared without blinking, muttering to himself.

“Can I dig deeper?” As he thought this, the countless vital energy points zoomed in, and he saw what had happened to the flame.

As the vital energy points increased, they seemed to have been woven in and out. He felt pain in his forehead and felt clarity.

Cold sweat dripped down his head and his face was pale. Wang Lin, drawing in a breath, stared at the flame. “What was that? Could it be the Source?”

“I can fathom the Law but I can only bear to see the Source for a moment.” Wang Lin meditated for a long time.

Daylight gradually replaced night. Wang Lin, having breathed, opened his eyes. A knowing gaze landed on the door.

“Seventh, can I come in?”