The Yan Mountains in the West District, deep within the forbidden grounds of the Xiao Family Ancestral Tombs.
This was the underground mausoleum where generations of ancestors of Swordforging City's Xiao family lay buried.
The entire underground palace had been carved into the mountain. Grand in scale, it had broad passageways and stone walls engraved with countless murals and inscriptions related to swordforging, recounting the lineage's glory and legacy.
At that moment, however, the atmosphere in a sacrificial secret chamber on the deepest level was as heavy as iron.
Flickering firelight illuminated several dark, twisted faces.
The figure at their head wore a loose black robe, her hood thrown back to reveal a face that still retained its mature beauty, yet brimmed with malice. She was Yan Qiya, the Golden Tent Shaman of the Göktürks.
She held a pitch-black Iron Staff topped with a Rat-Skull. Dark purple light flowed faintly along its shaft, exuding a heart-stopping aura of poison and evil.
Beside her stood a lean Göktürk man with eyes like a hawk's, carrying a strangely shaped Bone Bow on his back. He was Daxi, the "Ghost Wolf," one of the Eighteen Flying Horsemen of the Golden Tent.
His expression was utterly foul. That arrow of his had failed to silence its target and instead exposed the general direction of their hiding place. It was a disgrace beyond bearing.
On the other side stood a middle-aged monk in a scarlet kasaya and a Red Lotus Dharma Crown. An ancient longsword rested on his back, its blade inscribed with the words "The dragon roars in the depths; a crimson heart stands loyal and alone." It was the Dragon-Soaring Sword, one of the long-lost Shu Eight Swords.
This monk was Yang Kaitian, the Great Vehicle Sect's Welcoming Left Envoy, known as the