Three months later.
Tengchong, Western Yunnan.
Tengchong meant a place abundant in vines and trees. This remote region lay west of the Nu River, near Wildman Mountain. Vines and grasses flourished, ancient trees stood thick, and vicious miasmas spread unchecked-a wilderness on the southwestern frontier of the Divine Land, seldom visited by people.
Few knew that an active volcanic range lay concealed within the dense forests north of Tengchong. When lava erupted, fire consumed the forests, the earth shook and the mountains trembled, and smoke and dust blotted out the sun. Yet within six months to a year after an eruption, tenacious vines and grasses would climb the slopes again, turning the crimson volcanoes green once more.
That day, a streak of sword light arrived from the east and stopped there.
The sword light drew in its radiance and coalesced into a human figure. It was Cheng Xinzhan.
After returning to the sect from the Yellow Sea, he had first spent a month there, studying the Great Void Art under the sect leader. A month later, he had visited the Yellow Sea again to bring Xinshu back to the sect, accompanied by Gu Yi and Ni Wenyu, the Yellow Sea Dragon Palace's Palace Front Commander-in-Chief.
After their return, Gu Yi and Ni Wenyu had visited Bright Governance Mountain, Sword-Casting Mountain, and Flat-Top Mountain in turn to offer their thanks, with Cheng Xinzhan and Gu Xinshu accompanying them throughout.
The sect had also invited Gu Yi to remain in the mountains as an Attendant, but he had politely declined. He now held a post with the Yellow Sea Dragon Palace and had become both the Yellow Sea's royal brother-in-law and Prince of Leping Commandery. His future home was firmly settled in the Yellow Sea.
However, these titles had yet to be