April 3rd was a clear day, with not a cloud in the sky for ten thousand miles outside Dragon Emperor City. Just after noon, Zhang Tie set out from the Forbidden City with the elders and court masters of the Dragon Emperor Temple. Aboard a flying boat, they arrived at Cloud River Valley outside the city in the blink of an eye.
The seven Dragon Emperor Temple elders who had come to Cloud River Valley with Zhang Tie were Luo Yunshang, Xia Yangming, Shi Zhongyu, Hou Moyuan, Wang Laisheng, Long Jiutian, and Ying Gucheng. There were also the masters of the Dragon Emperor Temple's four great courts: Guan Minjun, master of the Earth Treasure Court; Tang Shenghou, master of the Divine General Court; Xue Zhongkai, master of the Heavenly Craft Court; and Huo Xianlai, master of the Supervisory Court.
After several elders resigned from their positions as masters of the Dragon Emperor Temple's four great courts, the new court masters had all been nominated by the elders who stepped down and then appointed and promoted by Zhang Tie. Of the new masters of the four great courts, Zhang Tie had interacted with Guan Minjun several times and was somewhat familiar with her. As for the others, he had only met them a few times and exchanged a few words with them; he did not know them well. To Zhang Tie, strengthening himself after becoming the Dragon Emperor was the foremost priority. As long as his strength rose, every problem would be solved as easily as a knife through bamboo. He could scarcely be bothered with the Dragon Emperor Temple's ordinary affairs, much less with trying to win over a few court masters.
The elders' and protectors' partial retreat into seclusion, along with the smooth handover of power in the positions