Morning mist wreathed the Heaven Mending Pavilion.
Nine gray flood dragons, each a hundred feet long, hauled a huge Black Pot roughly ten feet across, trailing nine white sonic-boom clouds as they charged straight toward the Heaven Mending Pavilion's Main Peak.
The wind pressure cleaved the sea of mist. Several red-crowned cranes cultivating atop the pines on the summit were knocked off their perches by the blast, flapping their wings as they scattered in disarray.
Shi Hou stood at the front edge of the Black Pot, his hands on his hips.
The pitch-black Kang crouched on his shoulder. Man and pig faced the wind, striking a pose of utter contempt for the world beneath them.
Since he had come to one of the Great Wilderness's foremost cultivation sects, he had to show these disciples what a grand entrance looked like.
In the summit plaza below, several disciples practicing their horse stances looked up.
"Gray-Scaled Flood Dragons? Cave Heaven Realm, nine of them."
"The lead one's a little darker. Barely late-stage Cave Heaven Realm, but that bloodline purity is awful."
"They're hauling a big black pot. What kind of look is that? Pretty distinctive!"
"Probably the Spirit Cuisine Pavilion's procurement crew, delivering beast meat."
"All that racket just to pull a cart?"
"Quiet! That's Elder Shi, the Spirit Cuisine Pavilion's new elder!"
"No wonder I couldn't make him out. He's so black he blends right into the pot."
The whispers rode the wind into the pot.
Shi Hou's smile froze on his face.
Shi Hao tilted his head and glanced at Shi Hou's darkening expression.
"Skinny Monkey, did you think everyone would be awestruck?" Shi Hao blinked his large eyes, driving the knife straight into the wound.
"Shut up." Shi Hou squeezed the two words through his teeth.
He slapped Jiao