"Rumble, rumble..." Just then, peals of drumbeats rang out, more deafening than thunder. After the drums sounded nine times, crimson clouds began to churn, and streaks of golden radiance shot straight down from between the clouds. Then the crimson clouds gathered in every direction. In but a moment, they condensed into twenty-eight enormous clouds. Upon those clouds stood twenty-eight brilliantly armored Immortal Generals. Their appearances varied greatly—some were brawny, some short and thin, each different from the next. Even their mounts differed: some rode tigers, some wolves, and there were even strange rabbits and roosters!
"Twenty-Eight Mansions?" Xiao Hua stopped in midair. Sweeping his gaze over them, he seemed to gain some insight and could not help pondering inwardly.
Behind those twenty-eight Immortal Generals stood several dozen neatly clad Immortal Soldiers. Although the Immortal Soldiers behind each general wielded identical Weapons, the Weapons carried by the twenty-eight generals differed from one another.
At this moment, the Immortal Soldiers and Generals all wore solemn expressions. As the clouds beneath their feet rolled, huge drumbeats resounded again. Beside every Immortal General stood a giant several zhang tall, holding an enormous drumstick, while massive heavenly drums emerged from the clouds. All the giants were bare-chested, their bodies wreathed in faint layers of mist. Beneath the mist, their skin gleamed with an oily luster that flickered with strange radiance as their muscles flexed.
"Ding ding, dong dong..." Amid the earthshaking drums, waves of silk-and-bamboo music rose as well. Though not as deafening as the drums, the music was still flamboyant and imposing. When Xiao Hua and the others looked up, they saw women in palace attire amid the clouds behind the twenty-eight Immortal Generals, some holding flutes, some pipa. Even sets of glittering golden chime bells emerged from within the clouds and mist.
After