The Xiaoming Sect disciple guarding the boundary marker dared not be negligent, but he could hardly let a visitor see the sect master simply because he asked. He turned his gaze toward Ding Songyan behind him to one side and raised his voice:
"Junior Brother Ding."
Ding Songyan had just felt a stirring of insight. Using his finger as a sword, he jabbed into the column of ants, thoroughly disrupting their march, when he heard someone call his name.
He raised his head in some bewilderment and looked toward the boundary marker.
"Junior Brother Ding, this young hero is Pan Yunzhou of the Pan Family in Eastern Plain Prefecture, Treasure Province. He has urgent business with the sect master. Sorry for the trouble, but could you go announce him?" The disciple repeated what had happened.
Ding Songyan collected his thoughts, stood up, and smiled.
"Sure!"
He shook his hands and headed toward the stone steps leading up into the mountain peaks.
The Xiaoming Sect disciple guarding the boundary marker then said to Pan Yunzhou:
"That was the sect master's newly accepted personal disciple. I'll take you to the Warm Lantern Pavilion to wait a little."
The Warm Lantern Pavilion was where the Xiaoming Sect received its guests, with several reception attendants on duty.
Pan Yunzhou nodded slightly and handed over the saber at his waist.
Ding Songyan followed the rain-washed stone steps, scattered with fallen leaves, all the way up to the Hall of the Stars near the summit. In the Purple Tenuity Pavilion, he found his master, Tao Wenshu.
A steward in his forties had just left.
"Steward Gao, who oversees the ironworks in the west of the city." Wearing an iron crown, Tao Wenshu rubbed her temples and said to Ding Songyan, "Although the External Affairs Elder handles