Prosperous Capital.
This circuit lay in the northernmost reaches of the Liao Lands and should have been a place of bitter cold. Yet under the shelter of the coastal Wood-Leaf Divine Mountain, its winds and rains came in season, and its temperature seldom changed. It could well be called a blessed land.
Iron-gray radiance and clouds churned and rolled, gathering in the air like the breath of a beast. They formed a curtain that blocked the surging winds, thunder, and cold from the Northern Sea.
On Woodleaf Mountain.
The Black Temple stood here. The road before its entrance was paved entirely with white bones, exuding an indescribable sinister aura. Along either side stood stone statues of all manner of wondrous birds and beasts: wolves, rabbits, falcons, and more.
Inside the temple.
A head had been placed upon the Offering Altar, its face covered by a strange bronze Ghost Mask. All manner of calamitous energies spilled from the severed neck. Yuan Kui!
This former Purple Mansion cultivator of Heavenly Poison Mountain's Calamity Blessing lineage had been beheaded and left carelessly on display, utterly at another's mercy.
Two men stood silently before the Offering Altar, each with a wondrous Azure Falcon perched upon his shoulder. Iron-gray divine light surged and transformed around them.
One wore a deep-black robe. His features were handsome, his face like white porcelain, but his eyes held a vicious edge as he scrutinized the head before him.
Yelü Tan.
The other wore a cold-silver ritual robe. His features were indistinct, and all the flesh of his body seemed to have been formed from gathered evil spirits. The hem of his robe concealed his feet, and he appeared to float above the ground. Xiao Huaimi.
These two Great Spirits stood almost at the pinnacle of power throughout Wood-Leaf Divine