The woman leading them looked about twenty-five or twenty-six, with a cool expression and a pale blue mark between her brows. Her aura was steady and restrained; her cultivation was clearly considerable.
"From Songhe Gate? Why have you only just arrived? All the Hidden Dragon Tournament teams reached Sea Dragon Island long ago."
Li Bufan cupped his fists. "I was away gaining experience, and only learned that the Hidden Dragon Tournament had been moved forward after returning to the sect. I rushed here all the way from Songhe Gate. I hope you can make an exception, senior sister."
The woman looked him up and down. Seeing that he did not appear to be lying, she nodded slightly. "Did you bring your Songhe Gate credentials?" Li Bufan took his True Disciple token from his Storage Ring and tossed it across to her.
The woman caught it and carefully examined its markings and aura fluctuations. After confirming that everything was in order, she tossed it back. "Go on in. There's a Teleportation Formation at the end of the peninsula. It can send you directly to the outskirts of Sea Dragon Island."
Li Bufan caught the token and cupped his fists in thanks, then urged his flying boat through the passage in the water curtain and flew low over the peninsula.
The interior of Lingshui Pavilion resembled a panorama of an underwater world. Exquisitely carved shell palaces, pearl-studded pavilions and towers, coral gardens that changed shape with the ebb and flow of the tides—everything possessed an atmosphere and beauty utterly unlike those of inland sects.
But he had no heart to linger over such scenery and flew straight toward the end of the peninsula.
Soon, on a jutting reef platform at the peninsula's tip, he found a Teleportation Formation quietly shimmering with silvery-white