Outside Luoqing Mountain, above the clouds.
A white-robed youth stood quietly atop the clouds. His face could hardly be called handsome, yet he possessed an otherworldly bearing. A moon-white Dharma Sword rested on his back, wreathed in moonlight and a distant, delicate fragrance of osmanthus. The boundary between his figure and the cloud vapor blurred and shifted.
Xu Xuan rode the wind out of the mountain, his expression unchanged, though doubts inevitably stirred in his heart.
"The Sword Sect?"
Of the Li Kingdom's Seven Sects, he knew Upper Firmament, Tai Zhen, Dust-Sweeping, and Azure Radiance. These four frequently sent disciples into the world, with Tai Zhen and Dust-Sweeping the most deeply involved in worldly affairs, contributing greatly to the struggle between Li and Liao.
The remaining three largely withdrew from the world and kept out of sight. Xu Xuan had heard little of them beyond their names: [Great Peace], [Martial Mu], and [Primordial One]. Now someone from one of these sects had arrived calling it the Sword Sect, leaving Xu Xuan somewhat puzzled.
The white-robed youth smiled upon seeing Xu Xuan and produced a lustrous white token bearing the characters [Great Peace]. The radiance of a divine ability emerged from it, clearly marking it as a token left by a Purple Mansion cultivator.
"Lü Guan of Peaceful Mountain, of the Origin Hope Dao Lineage, greets the Sword Immortal."
"Earlier, I called us the Peaceful Sword Sect, as outsiders do. Now that I have come before your abbey, please allow me to clarify our true lineage. I hope you will take no offense, Sword Immortal."
Xu Xuan studied him. The man's spiritual presence was concealed within, his immortal foundation faintly fluctuating. One moment he seemed to stand before Xu Xuan, the next at the edge of the sky. The transformations of