The gate closed silently behind him, shutting out all the noise of the outside world.
The passage was not long. At its end was a quiet room so simply furnished it was almost bare.
There were no lavish decorations or tremendous energy fluctuations, only a desk carved from something resembling green jade and the figure seated behind it.
Dominator Qingyan.
He looked like a middle-aged scholar in his forties, dressed in a plain blue-green robe, his silver hair tied back casually. He held a white jade teacup, and the fragrant steam rising from it filled the air. Its scent seemed to bring a faint clarity to the soul.
There was none of the pressure Lin Yi had imagined, nor any radiance swirling around him. He simply sat there quietly, as if merged with the surrounding space-time, in perfect harmony with it.
"Lin Yi pays his respects to the Dominator." Lin Yi bowed respectfully.
"You're here." Dominator Qingyan looked up at Lin Yi and smiled warmly. "Sit."
His voice was gentle and calm, like a spring breeze.
Lin Yi inclined his head slightly, then sat as instructed on a green jade stool of the same material across from the desk.
Dominator Qingyan smiled without saying anything. He merely waved his hand.
An empty white jade teacup rose from the desk by itself. The clear, pale-green tea poured from the pot in a graceful arc, filling the cup to just below the brim before it settled steadily in front of Lin Yi.
"Try it," Dominator Qingyan said.
"Thank you, Dominator." Lin Yi lifted the cup in both hands and drank without hesitation.
The tea was warm and smooth as it entered his mouth, then transformed into a clear yet tremendous stream of warmth that surged into the depths of his soul.
Lin