The morning light outside the stone doors cast short shadows of the figures kneeling across the ground.
Tea in hand, Zhou Xuan stepped over the threshold at an unhurried pace.
Old Ancestor Xuanming, the Alliance Leader, and Old Ancestor Cangwu followed at his sides, while Emperor Jiang Wu's phantom hovered high in the air.
No one dared stand.
The people who had shouted the loudest in this square ten days ago now pressed their foreheads against the white jade tiles. Their arms trembled as they held up their treasures, and their breathing was loud enough for those beside them to hear every rasp.
Zhou Xuan swept his gaze around, but did not tell them to rise.
He walked straight toward Chen Changgeng, who knelt at the very front.
Setting his teacup on Zhao Tu's outstretched palm, Zhou Xuan stopped one step in front of Chen Changgeng.
From this angle, he could see the white hair on the man's crown and the black, turbid fluid seeping from his shoulders.
"The Celestial River Sect's guardian Immortal Artifact."
Zhou Xuan's voice was quiet, yet the square fell so silent that even the wind could be heard.
He extended a foot and lightly nudged the newer of the two sealed Jade Caskets on the ground.
"And a copy of... the Primordial Simplicity True Scripture that reeks of blood?"
Chen Changgeng's arms, raised above his head, suddenly stiffened.
The entire square went so quiet that the humming of the Immortal Boats' formations in the docking area could be heard.
Chen Changgeng's Adam's apple bobbed. His voice sounded as dry as though it had been scraped with sandpaper. "In... in answer to Senior Zhou, our sect acquired this item by chance several hundred years ago. It has remained sealed in our treasury ever since..."
"Acquired by