A blinding white light flashed.
Su Ming shut his eyes. When he opened them, the volcanic cavern was gone. He stood in an endless white. He was still in his demonic form. Pale red skin, black lines wrapping his chest, two horns steady at his temples.
He raised one hand and looked at it.
A pressure arrived before the voice did. It drifted toward his soul sea like a slithering snake—subtle, patient, designed for erosion rather than assault. He activated the Tranquil Lotus Mantra, his Yin-Yang Core circulating once, quietly.
He did not fight the presence. He simply guarded against it.
***
"Behold the unthinkable future."
The white world shifted.
Lin Yao stood in a stone arena with her sword drawn.
Her chin was lifted. Her eyes moved across the crowd with a certain uneasiness.
The seat of the White Lotus Peak Master was empty.
Su Ming watched from nowhere. He had not come back.
