In the early morning, the air was cold and biting, and even the insects' chirping seemed frozen solid.
The sky slowly tore open the curtain of night. A few stars that were on the verge of going out still hung in the pale-blue heavens, like shards of broken glass scattered across gray cloth.
A layer of silver-gray mist veiled the earth. The distant mountains and trees were reduced to hazy outlines, like ink that had not yet dried in a wash painting.
Su Fan and Zhao Shuo arrived before the teleportation hall of the "Archaic Immortal City" and found the plaza packed with cultivators. All kinds of ritual robes flapped in the morning wind, while the dim glows of magical artifacts flickered amid a buzzing din of discussion that made one's head ache.
Among the densely packed crowd were both Demonic Sect disciples preparing to enter the secret realm for trials and relatives and fellow disciples there to see them off. Layer upon layer of people had blocked the steps so tightly that not even water could trickle through.
Su Fan and Zhao Shuo pushed through the crowd. The Demonic Sect disciples he was escorting immediately brightened at the sight of him and hurriedly shoved others aside before stepping forward to salute respectfully.
The elders of several disciples also gathered around with smiles plastered across their faces, their mouths full of ingratiating pleasantries. Su Fan casually exchanged a few words with them, then called the disciples over and introduced Zhao Shuo.
However, these elite disciples from super Demonic Sects merely nodded carelessly at Zhao Shuo, their eyes filled with contempt.
In their eyes, a lineage without an Integration Stage cultivator guarding it was as lowly as wild grass by the roadside, not worth mentioning.
Zhao Shuo had long since grown