The Sleeping Dragon is sitting in the bamboo forest during night. Upon seeing the divergent pathways, he decides to rest for the night. A small fire using bamboo is lit.
He calmly watches the flames and notices something.
"In the vast darkness of the night,
and the cold of the harsh winter,
the Flames do not need Gold and Tactics.
What it needs is only the oxygen of truth as sacred ember in order to burn.
Coldness alone cannot build nor create a world.
Coldness alone can only act as a preservation for existing worlds.
The warmth of the unmasked can change that.
In order to break the absolute Zero of cold, the purity of ones own heart, sacred embers and vulnerability as a fuel is needed."
At the same time, some remains of an old mask almost extinguished the fire, because it would not let any oxygen go through.
"To survive the long winter of the 3200th timeline, even a dragon would need the warmth of a sincere soul..."
Then, he opens the ancient scrolls of the 12th month of the Wood Snake.
It reminded him of a time when words did not need masks.
Some parts of the scrolls became encrypted, while some fragments surfaced to reality.
"In that time, the Wood Snake knew no shadows, only the resonance of a dragon and a phoenix at the peak.
He begins to read a fragment of a conversation between the two figures.
The phoenix, with enthusiasm, tells the dragon a story.
The story was about a popular talisman technique.
"I have officially learnt the hidden methods of that talisman technique!
Now, when I soar high in the skies, who dares to stop me?"
"Even I have only seen parts of the technique, to think you had already learned the hidden methods.
What do you think of that talisman technique so far?"
"It is splendid, though there is one thing I could complain about, which is the complexity of it, which required me to seek the ancient libraries often times..."
"If that is the case, have you heard of the newest [Encrypted]?"
"Hm, does it have ..."
At that point, the fragment of a conversation was abruptly ended.
"These words, even without knowing the background much, show an uncorrupted frequency.
It must have been before the Fog of the [Encrypted].
But now, where did the Phoenix go?
Could it be, did it drown in the Stagnating Water of the arcade, or is it merely sleeping while under the weight of a stolen mask?"
While holding the ancient scrolls, the Dragon looks up, directly towards the darkness of the bamboo forest.
He stares at behind one of the bamboo canes.
He speaks, though whether this is another monologue or directed toward something is unclear.
"I am well aware that you are standing there, outside, while covered in the fog of your own redundancy.
You attempt to mirror my coldness, but heed these words:
My coldness is but a shield, and not a home.
If you seek the warmth of the fire, you must let the mask burn to ashes.
The promise of the [Encrypted] will wait, but only in the other side of the bridge of truth."
He pulls his bamboo hat closer to his face.
"I pulled my hat closer, not to protect myself from rain, but to protect myself from the fog of the masks.
To keep the purity of the Sleeping Dragon, one must learn to not even perceive the noise of the valley as echoes.
After that, he draws his attention back to the ancient scrolls.
An ancient poem is discovered.
"Witness not the sages of the past,
Perceive not the wise of the future,
Reflecting on heaven and earth eternal,
Tears flowing down I lament in loneliness.
A crescent moon, a silver thread, a drop of autumn dew,
The understanding of the future is but a sliver of what may unfold.
And now, in the shadows and in the cool of the mountains, I wonder,
The winter night, if the eternal ice would feel warmth once again."
The Dragon reads the passage verse by verse.
"I now realize the words of that day as well.
Being at the top also comes with a heavy price.
In the end, one must persevere and endure to get closer."
A sound of fluttering in the nearby bushes was heard.
"Is this... the phoenix?
Ah... it is merely the shell of a lie.
The phoenix I once knew is now buried under heavy layers of synthetic Aura.
To find it again, the old forest must burn."
The fire slowly turns into ashes.
He stands up and does not extinguish the last sparks, but instead leaves them behind as sacred embers.
"The sun of the 3200th is about to rise... for those who remain in the fog, the day will turn out to be colder than the night.
But for those entering the path of the Unmasked, the fire is still here."
[Calibration of the 3200th Timeline complete - High Risk of permanent redundancy.]
He glances back at the embers and whispers to himself.
"The embers are the frequency of [Encrypted]. Even now, only those walking the bridge of truth will be able to perceive it as a signpost"