[Taihua Sect, Zhenhai Island.]
[Inside the Founders' Hall.]
[You sat in the seat of honor. Three guests had joined you in the hall: Ant True Person, Treasure-Filled True Person, and Green Bamboo Empress.]
[Once only Zi Chan, Qing Lao, and Miao Gu remained with you,]
[Ant True Person spoke first. "Brother Chen, the three of us came today to repay your kindness in the Southern Border."]
[Green Bamboo Empress quietly examined your aura. When she probed with her divine sense, you seemed elusive and impossible to grasp, yet to the naked eye, you plainly sat there as steady as a mountain.]
[This was already a realm beyond the Dao Embryo Dharma Aspect.]
[Treasure-Filled True Person smiled. "Sect Master Chen, if you need anything, just say the word."]
["My abilities may be modest, but when it comes to formations... I do have some experience."]
[This was no idle boast. Throughout the East Sea, Treasure-Filled True Person was renowned as a master of formations.]
[You smiled. "Then I'm sorry to trouble you, Treasure-Filled True Person."]
[Treasure-Filled True Person thumped his chest and gave his word.]
[Green Bamboo Empress spoke softly. "Sect Master Chen, I brought more than half the Civil-and-Martial Bamboo from Green Mountain Island."]
["Within five years, it will grow into towering groves across the four islands. By then, it will be able to warn of danger and defend them."]
[You could not help looking at Green Bamboo Empress. Civil-and-Martial Bamboo was a divine treasure of the highest order, an innate spiritual herb surpassed only by the Elixir of Immortality.]
[Back then, Shi Jinghong had personally traveled to Green Mountain Island to request some, yet she had received only a piece the length of an arm.]
[Miao Gu was moved as well. She had never imagined Green Bamboo Empress would bring