When they heard someone coming upstairs, the few Foundation Establishment cultivators merely raised their heads slightly and swept their gazes over him. Seeing that Xiao Hua was actually wearing Mihuan, they frowned faintly, then lowered their heads again to inspect magical artifacts.
"Please come this way, Fellow Daoist!" Xia Ming led Xiao Hua to the very back of the second floor. With a hand seal, he caused a small door the height of a person to appear on the wall, then entered first.
Xiao Hua paused slightly, then followed him inside.
Beyond the small door was an empty little room with no furnishings whatsoever.
"Please hand over your token plaque for verification, Fellow Daoist!" Xia Ming patted his hand and took a small box from his storage bag, its surface giving off a milky white glow. Xiao Hua handed over the triangular token plaque. Xia Ming examined it carefully, then casually dropped it into the box. As the plaque fell inside, the box gradually changed color, turning orange-red before long.
"Rise!" Xia Ming formed another hand seal with his left hand and struck the box. With a "whoosh," an orange-red pillar of light shot from the box and struck the ceiling above Xia Ming's head.
With a soft "swish," as Xiao Hua lifted his gaze, ripples of light spread across the ceiling, revealing a triangular little door.
"Mm, your token plaque has been verified without issue, Fellow Daoist. Please go up." Xia Ming nodded. He did not return the plaque, merely pointed upward with a smile.
"Many thanks, Fellow Daoist!" Seeing this, Xiao Hua drifted upward and flew into the triangular door above.
When Xiao Hua landed within the pavilion on the third floor, he looked around. It was a somewhat dim triangular space. Like the little room below, it