"We respectfully welcome the arrival of the Field Envoy. My lord's personal presence is truly Northern Mountain's good fortune."
Before the towering megacity of Northern Mountain Pass, a group of high-ranking officials from the Pacification Office stood in two lines on either side, respectfully awaiting him.
"Rise, all of you."
From within the Flowing Cloud Jade Palace, inside the Azure Beast Chariot, a soft voice sounded, pleasant as the wind, like the clear flow of a mountain spring.
"Yes." Everyone responded and rose one after another.
Yu Minglong, dressed in a long robe, stood before the assembled higher-ups, his sleeve robe snapping in the wind as he rose and went forward to greet him.
"Envoy Meng, you have come a long way on this trip. We have already prepared a luncheon to hold a welcome reception for my lord."
"Lord Yu, you have gone to trouble."
The chariot's jade palace shimmered with Mystic Feather Flowing Light, and within it, a figure of cloudlike ease and wind-clear elegance could faintly be seen.
The figure wore a white-jade and green sash at his waist, from which hung a Warm Sun Jade. His features were refined and elegant, his hair black as ink, fastened with a simple ancient jade hairpin that added a few traces of unworldly, drifting grace.
A titan of Azure Cang, the seat-holder of Mystic Jade, had descended upon Northern Mountain Pass.
"Field Envoy."
Chen Ping'an's expression was calm as he stood on one side with Ying Congyun, watching the Flowing Cloud Jade Chariot transform into a streak of light and fly into Northern Mountain Pass.
This was their first meeting, and not knowing the other party's depths, he did not sense him with full force, in case the other side noticed something amiss.
But from the other man, he