Flowers bloom in their time and fade in theirs; when new life breaks through the soil, the old must return to dust. This is the constant law of the world’s workings, as irreversible as the turning of the seasons. The rise and fall of all things is never accidental. Every inch of new growth inherits the warmth and nourishment left by what came before; every time the old comes to an end, it makes room for new possibilities. This law exists not only among the plants of the mortal world, but is even more evident in the cultivation world. Withered spiritual roots may give rise to new shoots, and new arts often emerge after ancient formations collapse. Even a cultivator’s breakthrough marks the shattering of old understanding and the reshaping of insight into something new.
