Immediately after.
Xuanming Half-Venerable raised his sleeve and wiped away the clammy cold sweat that had seeped onto his forehead at some unknown moment.
His face still bore the pallor and relief of one who had survived a calamity.
However, the instant he lowered his sleeve, an almost imperceptible strange glint flashed through the depths of his eyes!
Then he resumed the composure befitting the Deputy Hall Master of the Supervision Hall.
He did not dare linger. With a step, his figure had already appeared dozens of zhang away.
After only a few strides, he vanished amid the layered halls and corridor pillars.
Within the main hall, silence returned.
Cheng Buzheng sat alone upon the jeweled throne atop the dais, his fingers lightly tapping the armrest as he gazed toward the hall doors, deep in thought.
"I only hope you... know how to conduct yourself."
He murmured softly, his voice nearly inaudible.
Not long after!
Outside this grand and solemn council hall...
The Spirit Energy between heaven and earth seemed to stagnate slightly.
The moment before!
Several figures had still been hundreds of paces away. They appeared to be moving slowly, yet in truth they were shrinking the earth to an inch; the instant their figures solidified in view, they had already crossed the vast distance.
The next moment, the fierce wind abruptly subsided, and seven figures with vast, surging auras stood firmly before the hall's white jade steps.
The pressure of Half-Venerables radiating from them spread outward, bending the surrounding grass and trees ever so slightly. Even the air seemed condensed into substance, carrying a heart-palpitating might.
Only then...
did the light and shadows outside the hall become fully clear, revealing the lineup of these seven powerful figures—
Each possessed either the bearing of an immortal with Dao bones