A sound drew everyone's attention.
The spectators, who had thought the excitement was over, immediately perked up. The Qi Refining cultivators present looked taken aback, and Hai Fengming turned to look as well.
Under everyone's gaze, Xuanxu rose.
After bowing to the three officials seated at the head in a Daoist salute, he took a scroll case from his Wish-Fulfilling Pouch and explained:
"I have long heard that those of the Legalist School are upright and unbending, holding the law as Heaven itself. Lord Hai, in particular, is impartial as iron and fears neither power nor privilege. You have even performed the great deeds of punishing wrongdoing without sparing high ministers and rewarding virtue without overlooking common men.
"My senior brother Xuanming and I deeply admire your character. Before I came down the mountain, he specifically asked me to present four phrases to you as a small token of his respect."
Everyone was curious and puzzled.
Could a mere sixteen characters turn Heaven and Earth around?
The Wang Lineage elder's expression darkened.
Looking at the scroll case his subordinate presented, Hai Fengming opened it and spread out the rice paper. Sixteen large characters met his eyes:
[Let there be laws to follow; let existing laws be followed; let enforcement be strict; let violations be pursued.]
The strength of the strokes seemed to pierce through the paper, the brushwork vigorous and powerful. An upright heart made an upright brush. A sense of duty to beat the drum for the weak and plead for all living souls swept forth like a howling gale. As the Legalist Intent flowed, the sixteen characters suddenly rose into the air, clearly visible to everyone. Spinning, they merged into a single magnificent character: Law!
After lingering for three breaths, the character for law separated into the sixteen