The sky was high and the clouds thin. The Hun River wound across the land.
A streak of Jia Wood light raced through the Great Void, forming an azure wood dragon effigy that carried the two men toward Shengle. This was a secret artifact of the Azure Radiance Lineage, called the [Verdant Image].
The Jia Wood Lineage could charge through formations and shatter barriers, blot out the sky and sun, and transform wood into thunder-shock. Of the Five Woods, it was the strongest lineage in head-on combat, surpassed only by the immortal wonders of Origin Wood.
Xu Xuan sat quietly, slowly regulating his breathing.
"Sword Immortal Xu, were you already acquainted with Xiyue of our sect?"
Guang Chan steered the Spirit Artifact and suddenly asked about this. The surrounding Great Void was shrouded in darkness, without a gleam of light; only their traveling figures remained.
"In years past, I received considerable help from an elder of her clan."
At the thought, Xu Xuan's gaze grew slightly subdued. When his school had been weak, only the protection afforded by Chen Weiyuan's formidable reputation had allowed it to gain a precarious foothold. Now the Chen Household had been destroyed, and he did not know whether Chen Xiyue was its sole surviving bloodline.
"May I ask... how is she faring in your lineage?"
"My master holds her in high regard, and she is preparing to enter seclusion to make her breakthrough. Our school has three Purple Mansion Seeds, and her prospects are the best. Guang Su also values her greatly, as you likely know, Calamity-Splitting Daoist Friend."
"My thanks to your lineage."
Xu Xuan's thanks were sincere. The Chen had shown him kindness, and Chen Xiyue was an old acquaintance. Both had enjoyed the Azure Radiance Lineage's protection over the years, so an