The Six Kingdoms Signal Smoke blazed brilliantly in the night sky, but no one paid it any attention now.
Across the stream, the people of the Legalism School Territory realized that the person who had just spoken was the Nangong Family Head of Qingyang. A chill crept down their backs, and their nerves tightened. The Song Clan, faced with Han Ziyang's overwhelming killing intent, came to an abrupt halt, their bravado fading.
The Han Clan's reaction, by contrast, was rather more intriguing.
Some of the Han Clan disciples were drenched in cold sweat, warily on guard and afraid. Others wore expressions of respect.
As the Nangong Family's Technicians blocking Han Ziyang's path turned aside one by one, the view beyond the stream came into sight, revealing the brocade-clad man standing on the opposite bank.
The Nangong Family Head of Qingyang stood beneath the night sky, his black hair bound beneath a feathered crown. His robes bore mostly mountain, bird, and beast patterns, their black and gold colors lending him an air of boundless nobility and authority.
He raised his right hand slightly. A small black bird, formed from qi and imbued with the School of Names' Words, stood upon his long index finger—a Character Spirit Bird brought into being.
Granting a word and transforming it into a spirit was a technique only a School of Names Sage could perform.
Though Nangong Ming wore a gentle smile and seemed utterly composed, his presence carried an intangible pressure.
Time seemed to have taken only the childishness and frailty of his youth.
As the years settled upon him, this man had grown ever stronger and more unfathomable.
Nangong Ming's arrival was entirely unexpected. No one had seen it coming.
The standoff was awkward, yet dangerous.
In the night, a graceful figure slowly emerged