In years past, the Dou Family Inn in the Divine Capital had been a den of dragons and snakes, full of flying rumors and martial artists coming and going. Some drank tea, some drank wine, and the place buzzed with noise and excitement. But over the past six months, it had grown much quieter. Even today, with the new Earth Ranking and Human Ranking just released, many seats remained empty.
"No good, no good. It's nothing like it used to be." The innkeeper stood at the turn of the stairs, his hands tucked into his sleeves, white breath puffing from his mouth. He shook his head again and again, sighing deeply.
A newly hired waiter looked at the innkeeper in bewilderment. "How'd business get so bad?"
The innkeeper was weighed down with worries, and the question opened the floodgates. "You came from the countryside and haven't been working here long. You don't usually have dealings with the martial world, so naturally there are things you wouldn't know."
"What things, boss?" The waiter was full of curiosity.
"It's a long story. It starts two years ago, when Golden Ao Island rose from the East Sea and sent an envoy who was a Heavenly Immortal to deliver an invitation." The innkeeper gazed out the window, lost in recollection, as if he too had lived through that earthshaking event. "A Heavenly Immortal envoy! Golden Ao Island actually used a Heavenly Immortal as its envoy! Do you know what a Heavenly Immortal is? A cave-heaven forms within their body, and they can Open Heaven and Earth on a Leaf. Their power is as vast as the stars, utterly beyond what ordinary folk like us can imagine. And yet even such a celestial being could only serve as an envoy."
"What did the envoy come