The following day, on the Floating Cloud Platform within the Incense Accumulation Sect, a beautiful middle-aged woman from the Spirit Treasure Sect ascended the tower with her accompanying stewards and met Li Ling in its main hall.
He wore a moon-white protective robe of ice silkworm silk patterned with rippling water, with a feathered crown on his head and a gold hairpin set crosswise through it. He sat upright and solemn in the seat of honor.
On either side stood bronze incense burners shaped like immortal cranes poised to take flight. Their fragrance spread silently, without smoke, filling the entire hall with a warmth like sunlight shining over all.
The beautiful middle-aged woman and her companions offered deep ceremonial bows. "Yin Lanqing, deputy head of the Spirit Treasure Sect's Court of Celestial Observations and executive elder, greets Sect Master Li."
Li Ling nodded slightly and swept out his sleeve. "Fellow Daoist Yin, please sit."
Once they were seated, shell maiden attendants served fragrant tea, and the scent of a hundred flowers drifted through the air.
"Elder Fu of your sect used to visit frequently. Why haven't we seen him lately?" Li Ling asked casually.
Yin Lanqing replied, "Elder Fu is advanced in years, so the sect sent me to take over his duties. Henceforth, whenever your sect or Sect Master Li needs anything, you may contact me or the stewards we have stationed on Northsky Island."
"I see..."
After exchanging pleasantries, the beautiful middle-aged woman asked about the incense burners, implements, and various other items the Incense Accumulation Sect had recently commissioned.
These were all routine affairs for a sect. Li Ling was now the master of one, and the sect's public accounts regularly carried funds from loans and operating revenue, easily amounting to hundreds of millions.
Some of these