At the summit of Earth Lung Mountain's main peak, shaped like a jade tablet, stood Hua Yang Palace's Patriarch Hall.
Not far to one side of Hua Yang Palace's Patriarch Hall had once been where its founding Patriarch built a thatched hut and read. It had gradually expanded into a private residence, with buildings clustered together. By the time it passed into the hands of the previous palace master, Gao Gu, it had become a tradition: "The virtuous shall dwell here and inherit the Dao lineage." Whoever became palace master could move their entire household here. It was both a Daoist ground and a family home. When Gao Gu succeeded to the position, he moved out of his old Daoist ground and took up residence here. Yet because Gao Gu had neither family nor descendants and stood utterly alone, this place had always been exceptionally desolate.
Yet no matter how the residence expanded or how generations of owners changed, it had never usurped the host's place. The structure occupying the foremost position remained that ten-thousand-volume library, which stored countless spiritual texts and secret manuals. Its plaque, "A Magnificent Sight Under Heaven," was no boast.
When Gao Gu brought Mao Zhui up the mountain, Mao Zhui had guarded the gate here.
Sword light flashed, and a graceful figure drifted down to land there. The sound of her longsword returning to its sheath rang out, clear and bright as a fledgling phoenix's cry.
It was Nan Qiang, the female Sword Immortal who had just emerged from seclusion, leader of Hua Yang Palace's Sword Immortal Lineage.
Delight appeared on Yin Xian's face. He performed a Daoist bow and congratulated her. After all, this meant their own sect now had a Great Sword Immortal.
Nan Qiang smiled and returned the gesture, also with a