Azure Profound Sect.
Merit Hall.
Located on the Main Peak, this Merit Hall was a necessary stop for every disciple returning from training beyond the mountain, because only after handing the token they had obtained to an elder inside would their Trial Mission count as complete.
Xu Taiping was naturally no exception.
After returning from beyond the mountain, he had been brought straight here by Elder Yun Ye.
"I am Xu Taiping, a disciple of the Seventh Peak. I have completed this Sect Trial Mission. This is the token I retrieved. Please examine it, Elder."
After entering Merit Hall, he handed a small box containing a jade bracelet to the gray-robed elder.
This jade bracelet was, of course, the one he had obtained from Haitang.
"Xu Taiping of the Seventh Peak, let me take a look at your Trial Mission..."
The gray-robed elder nodded, then placed the jade bracelet on a bronze mirror in his hand. Lines of text began appearing on the mirror.
"You went to Wujiao Country this time?"
After reading the lines that appeared on the bronze mirror, the gray-robed old man suddenly looked at Xu Taiping with suspicion on his face.
"Yes."
Xu Taiping nodded.
The look in the elder's eyes stirred a faint sense of foreboding in him.
Still, he was not particularly worried. After all, he had prepared himself mentally before returning.
"Who gave you this half of the jade bracelet?"
The gray-robed elder picked up the half bracelet, then looked at Xu Taiping with a somewhat stern expression.
"The Sixth Princess of White Tree Kingdom."
Xu Taiping answered.
"What is it, Elder Sun?"
Just as Xu Taiping was wondering whether to explain things to the elder before him, an old man in white Daoist robes suddenly came downstairs.
"Elder Lu, what brings you