Inside the main hall of the West Sea Incense Market Branch Headquarters on Lai'er Island.
The morning sun had only just risen, but the city's trading streets were already bustling. Along the waterfront docks, mundane vessels and magical treasure ships came and went, carrying goods from both immortals and mortals across the lands.
Many traveling merchants laid out their wares at their stalls and shouted their pitches with all their might, their voices mingling into the clamor of the marketplace.
Suddenly, booming laughter rang through the sky.
"Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha!"
Everyone looked up toward the sound, only to see a figure soaring high overhead, radiating the formidable aura of the Nascent Soul Realm.
The entire market abruptly fell silent, as though someone had cast an immobilization spell over it. Everyone tried to determine just who this suddenly appearing Nascent Soul expert was.
The city guards reacted swiftly. In the blink of an eye, several Foundation Establishment cultivators approached to investigate, then relaxed.
"It's Senior Xiao!"
"So it was Senior Xiao!"
"He gave me a fright. I thought... ahem..."
As a cultivator dispatched here by the Heaven-Illuminating Sect, Xiao Changchen had already registered his presence, so there was no need to guard against him as they would an unfamiliar rogue cultivator.
But soon, others realized something.
"Wasn't Senior Xiao at Core Formation? How has he advanced already?"
"Huh? Did he say something just now about this having to do with the True Lord?"
"What happened?"
Amid everyone's speculation, Xiao Changchen flew straight inward and soon reached the place where Li Ling had secluded himself for quiet cultivation.
By then, Li Ling had already emerged and was waiting for him in the courtyard. He showed no surprise at the sight, merely smiling faintly. "Congratulations, fellow Daoist."
Xiao