The hall was rather dim, its candle flames flickering faintly, its four corners shrouded in gloom.
Blackwood tables and chairs stood haphazardly around the hall. Made from dead timber from Lushwood, they felt cold and hard to sit on. Half-finished talismans lay on the tables, wisps of blue-yellow light flickering across them.
Xu Xuan sat in the seat of honor. A sweep of his spiritual sense told him that Xu Fayan's cultivation could already be considered complete. Further refinement within Foundation Establishment would yield little improvement.
He spoke calmly, recounting everything concerning Rang'an of the Green-Waste Dao, and bestowed several scrolls of scripture upon him.
Xu Fayan stood in attendance beside him and put away the scriptures one by one. His expression remained unchanged, save for a chill in his eyes.
"That wretch plotted against our sect. His death was well deserved. My only regret is that most of the Green-Waste Dao's people have fled to the Liao Lands. Otherwise, if I attained divine abilities one day, I would certainly demand an accounting from them."
The most perilous ordeal of his life had been falling into the Green-Waste Dao's trap. He had come within a hair's breadth of falling into the Demon Gate and being placed under another's control, likely ending up as fodder for their cultivation.
"The Wei Household of Heavenwater seems to belong to the Green-Waste Wei branch as well. Trace it further back, and it can be counted as part of the Azure Goat Dao Lineage. As for you..."
After some deliberation, Xu Xuan broached the matter anyway. Fa Yan's bloodline was a subject they could not avoid, and he had certain entanglements with the Azure Goat Dao Lineage as well. Whether that was chance or inevitability was unclear.
The name Grave Sheep had always been sensitive,