Western Sea, Green-Sinking Reef.
Many cultivators stood along the sea cliffs, setting up altars to pray for thunder. Within the grand hall on the central island, azure radiance spilled out, and lightning shifted and flickered.
An elderly cultivator in green robes stood before the hall, accompanied by a young child dressed in green. The child was remarkably bright and delicate-featured, looking no more than four or five, with a pair of brilliant golden eyes.
"True Person, I have brought him here."
Fear and worry tinged Lin Yu's voice. He kept a slight distance from the child beside him, glancing over from time to time.
"Ruan Qing-how is she now?"
A calm male voice came from within the hall, accompanied by flickering sky-blue lightning. It was Zhou You.
"She has already been sent back to the sect and given some soul-calming pills. She should be fine for now. Earlier, she nearly strangled her own child to death, for reasons unknown."
"Bring him in."
A ripple stirred in Zhou You's voice. Wind and thunder howled for a moment. Lin Yu looked at the child beside him, stepped closer, and took his hand, leading him into the hall.
At the center of the grand hall stood a branch of azure spirit wood, as tall as a person. Light flowed over it, and azure qi drifted around it, invigorating one's vitality and quickening the circulation of qi and blood.
Beneath the spirit branch lay a pool of jade-green water, where the inky azure light of Gui Water manifested, slowly nourishing the branch within.
The sight startled Lin Yu. This spirit branch had been taken from [Primordial Azure Wood], one of the most precious varieties of spirit wood, comparable to such spirit treasures as the [Greater Yang Crystal Seed] and [Greater Yin Source Soul].
This