Zhang Yu walked out of the manor and looked up, seeing that the pillar of light had landed several miles beyond the lake in front of the estate.
It was about the hour when people settled in for the night. Stars glittered across the sky, and the beam seemed as though it had shot down from the heavenly stars themselves.
Within the pillar of light stood an upright, oval-shaped flying vessel. Its hull rose more than a thousand zhang high, silver-gray throughout. It looked vast and imposing, exceptionally massive.
After waiting for a while, a seam split open along the vessel's hull, and a man and woman emerged from within.
The first was a middle-aged man of around forty. His gaze was calm and restrained, his figure straight as a spear, and he wore a broad-sleeved Divine Robe in the style of ancient Celestial Xia attire.
The young woman was quite beautiful. She wore a metallic inner suit of armor fitted to her slender frame, but her expression was cold and indifferent. She remained behind the man at all times, clearly serving as his guard.
Each stood atop a jade floating disc, which carried them out from the flying vessel. They sped across the lake, stopping before the manor's waterside pavilion, then stepped down.
The man studied Zhang Yu carefully, and a trace of astonishment surfaced in the depths of his eyes.
Patrol portraits were not permitted to be disclosed, so before coming here, he had only seen the line, "Jade-like features, clear countenance; the appearance of an arcane immortal," in Zhang Yu's record.
He had thought it merely a conventional embellishment, but now that he saw the man in person, he felt it was no exaggeration. This man truly possessed the bearing of one beyond mortals, the poise of