The Azure Lotus Sword Sect's Sword Boat hovered steadily in the void, thirty miles east of the cloudship.
The next instant, more than a dozen figures sharp as swords appeared aboard the Sword Boat. The two at their head carried themselves with exceptional poise.
The girl on the left wore coarse hemp robes and went barefoot, an ancient sword strapped to her back. Her eyes were clear enough to see to their depths, and the purple-gold ranking mark on her forehead seemed almost capable of piercing the heavens. She was an Immortal List prodigy!
The young man on the right wore an elegant blue robe and held a seemingly ordinary longsword of blue steel. Red light gleamed on his forehead, marking him unmistakably as a Heaven List talent.
Yet judging by the purity of his sword intent and the stability of his sword domain, he had probably settled for the Heaven List only because of the Heavenly Dao's limit on available places.
"The Azure Lotus Sword Sect's Dao scion, Li Qingming, and its eldest senior brother, Liu Qingwu," the old cultivator murmured. "These two could be called the backbone of their generation's sword path within the Azure Lotus Sword Sect!"
High in the sky, cloud-patterned battle banners snapped on the left! On the right, Azure Lotus sword intent pierced the heavens!
Invisible fields of force seemed to collide in the void!
Yun Qing stood at the bow, his black robe utterly still amid the mighty winds high above. He raised his gaze, his double pupils meeting the eyes of the hemp-robed girl opposite him, Li Qingming!
That glance crossed thirty miles of void!
Humm-!
An invisible sword's ringing and the whispers of chaos seemed to sound through the void at the same time!
This was the first formal meeting between