The sky stretched high and the land spread wide. A towering mountain rose from the wilderness, its slopes sparse with flowers and grass. It stood upon the earth like a mighty giant.
On the mountain's cliff sat an old man with white hair, meditating at the edge. He wore a red robe and no shoes, his hair hanging loose. He closed his eyes as the wind swept past. The world before him was so vast, and eagles circled overhead, crying out across the sky.
A figure approached from behind and stopped at his back, bowing respectfully.
He was a man dressed in black armor, with a tiger-bone crown in his hair. Two swords, one long and one short, were strapped to his back, their hilts wreathed in eerie black mist.
He looked up at the red-robed old man and said, "Sect Master, our plan to advance south has failed. The Sword Extreme Sect was wiped out by the Qingxiao Sect, and our people were also hunted down by them. We can no longer set foot in Cangzhou. The Northern Court Army is being driven back as well. The main reason for our defeat was Li Sifeng of the Qingxiao Sect. He has campaigned on the battlefield, clearly seeking to win the Nine Provinces for his sect."
The red-robed old man was none other than Gui Wuqiong, the Sect Master of the Xuanji Sect.
Gui Wuqiong showed no surprise at this. He asked slowly, "So, whether we mean to conquer the Nine Provinces on the battlefield or in the martial world, there's no way around the Qingxiao Sect?"
The sword-bearing man replied gravely, "Exactly. The Qingxiao Sect is unlike the Two Saints of the Martial World and the Three Dynastic Sects of the past. They're far too powerful. I don't think