After some time away, Huo Hai returned to find that the plaza before him had changed completely. This place had originally been well hidden, with nothing more than a cave entrance. It had been hard to tell there was anything special about it.
Now, however, the plaza had been cleared and leveled. The Snow Lions that had guarded it had been driven off to the side. Looking straight ahead, one would barely even notice their presence. The original cave entrance had become a magnificent gate carved with all sorts of patterns, with flights of steps extending down from it.
On reflection, it made sense. When they first came here, quite a few people had lacked the strength to climb up on their own. With steps in place, getting up was much easier. Perhaps they felt that the steps already made this place easy to discover.
They had simply decided to make it even more conspicuous and renovate the entrance as well. Looking at it from outside now, one could no longer tell that it had originally been a cave. "Who goes there? Identify yourself." Huo Hai had barely approached when someone stopped him.
Seeing that the surrounding Spirit Beasts did not bother Huo Hai, they knew he was probably a member of their own Lineage. Otherwise, the beasts would not have been so accommodating. Even so, members of the Lineage still had to identify themselves. They did not want their negligence to cause an incident. Huo Hai was not angry at being stopped and slowly lifted his hood.
Before Huo Hai could speak, the disciples guarding the gate widened their eyes. "Lord Insect King! You're back!" Huo Hai nodded at their words. It seemed they all recognized him. That would make things easier.
"Erzi, hurry and inform the others. Lord