The Supreme Clarity Dao Realm.
Clear qi rose, and mysterious radiance shone through everything. Daoist Mu Xu, the guise Dongfang Guangxu had assumed, stood beside the pool. He stared at the evil beast suppressed before him, momentarily stunned.
"A taotie?"
Mu Xu recovered his senses. He had previously been ordered by a lord of the Thunder Palace to dismantle an artifact here. Where had this evil beast come from?
As he pondered, silver thunder leaped overhead, and clouds drifted. An Ink Qilin stepped out of them, bearing a black-robed man who held Immortal Edge, sword qi sweeping freely around him.
"My lord."
Mu Xu bowed at once, his expression respectful. The sight of the Ink Qilin astonished him all the more. Anyone who could use such an immortal beast as a mount had to possess an even more exalted status than he had imagined.
Xu Xuan descended from the thundercloud and looked at Greed and Evil, suppressed beneath the clear qi. His thoughts stirred slightly, and he said calmly:
"This beast committed evil in the lower realm. The Tribulation Command Mansion oversaw its capture and return to heaven, where it will await execution."
As he spoke, Xu Xuan looked toward Greed and Evil. With a thought, he swept the beast up in clear qi and dragged it behind him, preparing to leave.
Seeing this, Mu Xu hurried forward, bowed, and called out urgently:
"My lord, I have dismantled most of the spirit artifact. The remaining components will be finished within a few months. Most importantly, I have already refined the [azure Shang cloud-gold]."
As he spoke, Mu Xu fetched a piece of pale azure spirit metal. Moist to the touch and wreathed in clouds, it was indeed [azure Shang cloud-gold].
Xu Xuan accepted it and nodded. Expectation filled Mu Xu's