On the summit of a great mountain three hundred li from Berely, amid ancient trees, seven or eight men in gray cloaks stood upon the branches, silently gazing toward the distant city of Berely. Blue ghostly light flickered in their eyes, like the most beautiful sapphires. Even the air around them carried the distinctive sheen of crystal. Whenever the light flashed, several palm-sized transparent runes could occasionally be seen flickering through the air.
"Lan Mei, Lan Ling, they were near that city!" a hoarse voice rang out. "They should have returned long ago, but contact with them has now been completely severed. Could my guess be right? Have they been captured?"
"Can't we trust our own children?" another aged voice said slowly. "I would rather believe they are striving to complete the task we assigned them last time. I would rather believe they came here following the trail of the Penglai Five Islands."
"The Penglai Five Islands would appear on the Western Continent?"
"Why not? Anything is possible! Just as humanity survived so steadfastly under those circumstances, didn't they?"
"That is only because those so-called gods were too incompetent. If they had used more power under those circumstances, humanity would have been wiped out long ago."
"The gods are incompetent? Perhaps! But now is not the time to pursue that question. We have our own task to complete! The bloodline altar in Berely has been destroyed. We must set it up again, so those foolish natives steeped in the glory of the gods remember why they came here—remember that they are humanity's enemies, not humanity's masters!"
The group discussed matters in low voices for a while. Then their figures suddenly flickered. Several crystalline balls of light slipped into the air and vanished without a trace in the blink of an