"Until that moment, Ash fully realized that he was no longer an ordinary life form."
"Ordinary life could never swim in the Flowing Gold River, let alone taste its golden liquid— which had no flavor, resembling the icy coolness of well water. Ash could only wonder what flavor the steamed durian-flavored milk custard of the Flowing Gold River might have."
"His previous 'sensory anticipation' was actually his body sensing the flow of the river, for the Flowing Gold River originated from the flow of all things in the world. Reality itself was the source of the river, and the reason everything ages and decays was due to the invisible erosion of the river—at least, that was how aging was defined in the world of mages."
