At noon, the blazing sun hung high in the sky.
Yet the stench rising from the swamp below grew ever stronger, shrouding heaven and earth in boundless filth.
Su Dian followed beside an elderly man whose hair and beard were both white, yet whose complexion was radiant, as they stepped out of Azure Purity City's great ship together.
Though Song Wen could not discern the old man's exact cultivation, the aura emanating from him was far more profound than Su Dian's. It was not difficult to guess that this old man was the "Brother Daoist Jing Xun" Su Dian had mentioned.
Earlier, when Shi Qi and the others had requested an audience, Jing Xun had refused to receive them on the grounds that he was in closed-door cultivation.
Yet less than an hour had passed, and Jing Xun had already emerged from seclusion.
Perhaps Jing Xun simply had not wished to see them.
The moment Jing Xun and Su Dian appeared, cultivators began flying out one after another from the surrounding ships. Several of them had even reached the Immortal Realm.
"Fellow Daoist Jing Xun, Fellow Daoist Su Dian, it has been many years. Have you both been well?" the crowd called out in greeting.
Jing Xun and Su Dian responded one by one to greetings from those also in the Spirit Void Dao Immortal Realm. As for tribulation-transcending cultivators seeking conversation, they merely nodded at most.
"Everyone, the time has come. Once the secret realm is opened, this Immortal will reminisce with you all."
Jing Xun interrupted the crowd, then took out a small azure flag.
The flag swelled in the wind, transforming in the blink of an eye into a colossal banner a hundred zhang tall.
Jing Xun formed hand seals with both hands and sent them into