Sky City, the central temple.
A long quartz table stood in the temple. Li Chen sat at its head, leaning against his chair and twirling a pen in his hand. Wine Fox stood to his right, her tail hanging down.
People sat along both sides of the table.
To Li Chen's left, in order, were Dugu Bo, Xu Yun, Shi Nian, Zhong Yiheng, Ye Shutong, Lou Gao, Yang Wudi, and Bai He.
To his right, in order, were Gu Yuena, the Evil Emperor, the Snow Empress, Bi Ji, the Myriad Demon King, the Ice Empress, Zi JI, and Demon Spirit.
Dugu Bo had recruited Yang Wudi later. As for Bai He, a gathering of the four clans had happened to be taking place, so he had been recruited along the way. Of the other two clans, one was fiercely loyal to Tang Hao, while the other said they needed to think it over and was simply dropped, since they had never been a target in the first place.
As for the ferocious beasts, Li Chen had personally sought out the Silver Dragon King, threatening her with the fate of the soul beasts and offering incentives to make her join.
For the Evil Emperor, he had only sent a symbiote. Still suffering from the lingering effects of his beating, the Evil Emperor had joined without another word.
Another symbiote had made the trip to see the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress. Only after beating them into submission with sheer strength, along with the matter of the soul rings, had the two agreed.
Li Chen set down his pen and swept his gaze over everyone seated around the table.
"The first meeting of Heaven Beyond Heaven will now begin," Li Chen said. "First, Lou Gao. You and the blacksmiths you brought