Flame-Offering Mountain.
Scarlet light encircled the heavens like layer upon layer of woven brocade ribbons. Featherfolk took flight from time to time, and occasionally a Fire Crow cried out clearly as it spiraled upward, trailing streaks of flame across the sky.
Atop Bright Yang Peak, heavenly light gathered at a single point. Greater Yang solar essence separated from it, becoming a brilliant stream of light, while dense, dark baleful energy seeped from the mountain's roots.
There were fewer than a dozen pureblood Fire Crows on Flame-Offering Mountain. Most of its inhabitants were subordinate mixed-bloods or other Featherfolk, including many newcomers from the Southern Sea. Few dared approach this spirit peak.
This was where Yang Yuanyi cultivated in seclusion. As patriarch of the [Bing-Day Flame-Offering Crows], he possessed profound cultivation and commanded immense prestige within the clan.
The Great Void opened above the peak, and a man and a woman descended slowly. An elderly cultivator in scarlet robes already stood beside them: Yang Yanxiang. This old Fire Crow, now in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, managed the clan's miscellaneous affairs. Having received his orders today, he had come expressly to welcome the two lords back to the mountain.
Lifted by the power of a Divine Ability, Yang Yanxiang felt equal parts alarm and reverence. Looking at the man before him in deep purple robes, he realized that this was a Purple Mansion cultivator and immediately called out solemnly:
"Greetings, Dragon King of Mistsea."
Since Xu Xuan had taken over the Great Wilderness Sea, it had been renamed, though most aquatic folk still used its former name. Yang Yanxiang, however, was meticulous enough to have taken care over the honorific.
Xu Xuan probed the peak with his spiritual sense, faintly touching its formation and glimpsing the scene within the cave abode.