Several Soul Tool Lamps were lit in the Council Hall that evening, their warm yellow light falling on the map of the Sunset Forest spread across the long table.
Charcoal markings along the map's edges indicated the Ore Vein Mountains and several rocky cliff areas where Shadow Spirit Cats might live. Beside it lay a well-thumbed Soul Beast field guide with fraying corners.
Lan Tian leaned back in his chair, with Ah Yin seated beside him. Louise and Xiao Li had just been summoned and took their seats on the other side of the long table.
Xiao Li's tail hung behind her chair and swayed gently, while Louise casually set her ledger at the corner of the table, knowing they would be discussing serious business tonight.
"Has Han Yi gone to sleep?" Lan Tian asked first.
"I just got Han Yi to sleep." Ah Yin nodded. "Lan San is asleep in his cradle too. I left Xiao Mei on the terrace to watch over them."
Lan Tian opened the field guide to the dog-eared page and pushed it to the center of the table, pointing at the entry. "Louise's target for her fifth ring is a Golden-Eyed Lion King, around twenty-five thousand years old, with a metal attribute. Xiao Li's target for her fourth ring is a Shadow Spirit Cat, around nine thousand years old, with a shadow attribute and spatial abilities. We'll settle the details tonight and leave first thing tomorrow morning."
Louise leaned closer to examine the illustration in the field guide: an enormous lion with a golden mane and dark gold eyes.
She looked up at Ah Yin. "Sister Ah Yin, how exactly does this Golden-Eyed Lion King's pressure field work? The field guide is rather vague."
Ah Yin reached out and turned the field guide around,