With newfound understanding, Yun Lintian dragged himself upright.
His body protested violently.
He ignored it.
"Again."
This time, Yun Lintian didn't force permanent connections.
Instead, he visualized the golden threads as living things—stretching, contracting, breathing with the elements' natural rhythms.
The Sun blazed brighter? The thread thinned, allowing more space.
The Moon waxed? The connection strengthened momentarily before easing again.
Like a master musician adjusting to his orchestra's tempo, Yun Lintian listened rather than commanded.
And slowly...
It worked.
The elements didn't just connect—they danced.
Fire flared and water cooled in counterpoint. Wind scattered earth's seeds only for lightning to energize them. Space expanded as darkness condensed, light piercing through at perfect intervals.
And through it all—
The Seed of Time pulsed not as a controller, but as the heartbeat of this living system.
