This day!
As dawn first broke, a fish-belly white spread across the line where sea met sky, soon stained gold and crimson.
Sea Suppressing City crouched like a colossal beast upon the shores of the East Sea. Countless array runes were inscribed upon its towering walls, flowing with a faint Spirit Light in the morning glow.
At the heart of the city stood the newly rebuilt headquarters of the Cultivator Association.
The main hall stood thirty-three zhang tall, its frame forged from Northern Sea Profound Iron and its tiles cut from Southern Li Fire Jade. Seventy-two coiling-dragon pillars held up its vaulted roof. The dragons winding around each pillar had been given eyes through secret arts, a faint Spirit Light seeming to circulate within their gaze as though they possessed life.
The hall floor was paved with "Tranquil Heart Jade," polished bright enough to mirror a person. When one walked upon it, footsteps vanished of their own accord, and the heart grew calm.
At this moment, more than a dozen Half Venerable cultivators were already seated within the hall.
They had hurried back from defenses in all directions, still unwashed of dust and travel.
The Killing Intent of the front lines even lingered around them.
Some had their eyes closed in concentration, some tapped their fingers against the table, while others whispered to their neighbors through sound-transmission secret arts.
Spirit Energy misted through the hall, yet an oppressive air of grim slaughter permeated it.
"The President has arrived—"
The clear voice of a steward cultivator pierced the hall.
In an instant, every private murmur ceased.
The Half Venerables all opened their eyes, their gazes sharp as lightning as they turned toward the nine-tiered White Marble platform at the far end of the hall.
There, a throne forged from a single