On Watching Wind Island in the Eastern Sea, a crowd had already gathered.
Yet none of these people were ordinary. Some sat upon clouds, some rode the backs of strange beasts, and some stood atop Magic Treasure flying swords. Light and shadow shifted around each of them, their auras all distinct—immortal air, demonic air, and other bearing constantly changing. For a moment, it seemed like the Heavenly Court had descended upon the mortal world, with immortals and demons alike all gathered here.
At the center of the island, however, stood a pavilion, with more than a dozen people inside. Compared to the others, who resembled immortals and demons, these dozen appeared utterly ordinary, no different from common folk. Yet the thoughts of everyone on the island were focused here, for they knew this was the true focal point of the Pill-Appraisal Assembly.
"Flying Hound, not even your master would have dared speak to this old man in such a manner back then. Now, not only do you intend to use the launching of the Pill-Appraisal Assembly to command the gathered heroes, you have even brought in an outsider. What is the background of this so-called Court Wanderer?"
The speaker was impassioned. He wore a Daoist robe and was rather advanced in years. He was known as the Nine Springs Ancestor, said to be a figure at the Nascent Soul Manifestation level. Yet no one had ever truly seen him wield his Nascent Soul. There were even rumors that he walked the path of Nature Cultivation, his methods all the more exquisite and unfathomable—those who saw them died.
This ancestor had made his name long ago. Even Flying Hound and the others from the Spirit-Sealing Dao could only count as juniors before him.
"This man had previously remained in secluded death