The Gilded Metal Sect moved quickly. No fewer than twenty-one Foundation Establishment cultivators set out for Hanzhang Commandery together.
The commandery had originally held eight great immortal clans. Huang Tian had previously destroyed the Bingqi Fang Clan, killing its three Foundation Establishment cultivators. The surviving clansmen had scattered in all directions, and neighboring lineages had swallowed their territory. Now only seven great Foundation Establishment immortal clans remained.
The Gilded Metal Sect cultivators therefore split into seven groups. Some numbered five or six, others only one or two, and each headed for one of the seven clans.
Only one Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator went to the Wangjiang Huang Clan. His name was Bao Sheng. Delicate-featured and dressed in splendid multicolored robes, he wore a sachet and a wish-fulfilling pendant at his waist and a flower in his hair. A faint scent of incense followed him as he walked.
"Greetings, honored envoy!"
In Wangjiang City's inner city, Huang Jutao led all the clan elders out to receive him. "I've prepared a banquet in the courtyard," he said courteously. "Please honor us with your presence."
Seeing how respectful Huang Jutao and the others were, Bao Sheng smiled and gave a slight nod. "You're too kind, Fellow Daoist Huang."
He followed Huang Jutao toward a magnificent palace in the inner city. As they walked, he surveyed the many Huang clansmen gathered around him and asked Huang Jutao, who walked on his right, "Do you know why I've come today?"
"Truthfully, I don't," Huang Jutao said.
Bao Sheng sighed softly. "You saw the omen of a Violet Palace cultivator's fall yesterday, didn't you?"
Huang Jutao's heart stirred. Yesterday, a violent thunderstorm laced with metal qi had swept across Hanzhang Commandery. He had naturally known that a Violet Palace True Person of the Metal Virtue