By now, the Immortal Alliance's Seventeen Sects and a vast crowd of rogue cultivators, roughly seventy-five thousand people in all, blanketed the entire valley in a dark mass. They stood solemnly before an enormous curtain of light.
The curtain spanned the valley, dividing heaven and earth in two.
Outside it, the earth was cracked and not a blade of grass grew. Within it, trees flourished and grasses thrived, lush and verdant as early spring.
One side and the other were worlds apart. The sight sent a tremor through the hearts of Mo Chen and the others seeing the Half-Limit Secret Realm's Array Formation for the first time.
True Person Ling Feng of Haiyanhui slowly rose into the air atop his beast, standing on the Windwater Lion's head. Then he activated a secret art and declared, "Since all the sects have arrived, I shall invoke the Alliance Leader's token on his behalf. Silence, everyone!"
At that moment, Song Chuanggong also used a voice-transmission art to instruct the disciples of Emerging Cloud Peak. "Under Immortal Alliance law, seeing the token is the same as seeing its bearer. Everyone, prepare to bow and salute. These formalities cannot be skipped!"
True Person Ling Feng released a Dragon Scale into the air and was the first to bend forward in salute.
The seventy thousand cultivators present bowed in unison. Not one dared show disrespect.
"We respectfully welcome Alliance Leader Xu!"
Once the salute was over, True Person Ling Feng held the Alliance Leader's token in both hands and turned toward a cultivator beside him. With a solemn expression, he said, "Yang Chuanggong, receive the token! For entry into and exit from the Secret Realm, I hereby entrust this token to you. Should any mishap on this journey cause it to be lost, you will suffer