The door opened soundlessly. Li Ling emerged from the quiet chamber of the residence and found a steward from the Four Seas Commerce Guild North Sea Branch already waiting outside.
The man bowed respectfully. "Elder Li, two local rogue cultivators, Xu Wang and Mo Ling, heard that a senior true cultivator was visiting and have come to pay their respects."
Li Ling nodded and followed the guild steward to another part of the residence.
Meanwhile, in an inner hall elsewhere, two middle-aged men in brocade robes, with cultivation in the middle and late stages of Qi Refining, sat facing each other in conversation.
Li Ling had put out word here and asked the guild to make introductions on his behalf. Among low-level cultivators, there were always those eager to attach themselves to or befriend higher-level cultivators. Perhaps they could even establish ties with the guild and make a living overseas.
They had already learned from the guild that an important figure from the North Sea happened to be staying in town. Since he had old ties to the Mystic Continent, he wished to get acquainted with some of the younger cultivators here.
This was an exceedingly rare opportunity. Had they not normally been on good terms with the guild's people, their turn might never have come.
After a long wait, the two men suddenly sensed someone entering the courtyard. The guild steward they had met earlier led in a handsomely dressed cultivator with refined features and graceful bearing, looking every inch a noble young master.
He looked young, but his aura was unfathomable. Their spiritual consciousness could not see through him at all.
"Gentlemen, this is Elder Li of our Four Seas Commerce Guild.
"Elder Li formerly served as sect master of the Incense Accumulation Sect, Island Master of Nine-Wan