In the Divine Capital.
Inside a residence, the thin envoy stared at the brocade box before him, his brow tightly furrowed.
He had paid two successive visits to the Prince of Chu.
On his first visit, he had concealed his identity and explained that the Grim-Faced Spider King and Ye Han could be used to kill Li Qingxian. Yet the Prince of Chu had solemnly declared that he would not use crooked, underhanded means to harm an imperial official, then politely shown him out.
On his second visit, he had revealed his affiliation with the Heaven's Mandate Sect and presented a token from the Directorate of Celestial Observations.
This time, the Prince of Chu had received him with great ceremony, but everything he said was a polite pleasantry. He never mentioned anything else.
Left with no choice, the envoy had departed.
"That Ye Han is quite something. It seems he's about to transform into a dragon, so he'll avoid every possible risk, even with a Heaven's Mandate Token protecting him. Beyond his fortune, he's changed as a person, too. He's become more brooding, but also more shrewd."
"The Prince of Chu is no ordinary man, either. Even after losing the Prince's Golden Seal, his fortune remains at its zenith. More remarkable still, he hides his depths well and never acts rashly."
"I underestimated the heroes of the world. But I must use the Grim-Faced Spider King!"
The thin envoy narrowed his eyes, took out his Fate Disk, and slowly began his divinations.
At the foot of Crouching Ox Mountain.
Colorful banners fluttered across an enormous clearing. Buildings conjured by spells and structures fashioned from magical artifacts stood scattered along its eastern and western sides, leaving an open strip down the middle.
On the western side, Southern Star Sect cultivators in