When the man appeared, the Detection Mechanism Devices Li Chen had scattered throughout the surrounding area had already sensed his magic power signature. Through the images reflected in their Eye Crystals, they even faithfully projected his appearance back to Li Chen, as though he were standing nearby and watching the man with his own eyes.
He was a middle-aged cultivator who looked to be in his fifties or sixties, clad in a loose Daoist robe.
The Three-Excellence Heavenly Treasure Centipede beneath him was a hideous creature with a woman's head and torso at its front, her hair disheveled and her face deathly pale, like a female ghost.
Two other human bodies were joined tightly beneath the woman's torso. The heads of an old man and a youth hung beneath its abdomen on twisted necks, their eyes likewise closed and their faces pale.
In the model constructed by the sensors, a brilliant halo burned like a flame around each body, each possessing a distinct life signature. Yet someone had linked them together with a peculiar secret art, blending their signatures and allowing them to circulate between one another.
The man seemed to make no effort to conceal himself, appearing openly instead. Before long, he reached the western side of Broad Cloud Peak, then followed the contours of the mountains around the peaks and flew toward the Market District.
"Who goes there? Stop at once!"
With a slight stir of Li Chen's will, the Signal Towers erected on the surrounding peaks transmitted his message.
The man paused in surprise, then indeed stopped in midair, sending a message into his surroundings with his divine sense. "I am Yuan Keshan, an envoy of the Heavenly Dragon Gate. I have come to discuss matters with you, fellow Daoist."
"Oh, an envoy of the Heavenly Dragon