The flying palace measured six hundred paces in both length and width. Exotic flowers and green vines grew above, while multicolored vortices of mist swirled back and forth beneath it.
An enormous bone shaped like a dragon's horn was planted at its prow, hideous and strange, yet radiating formidable majesty.
Flocks of strange birds resembling Bifang swooped in to attack, but whenever they approached the flying palace, they inexplicably burst apart in midair, leaving not a scrap of flesh or bone.
The dragon horn, by contrast, grew ever more brilliant. Eventually, faint cries began to ring from within it, reverberating for miles!
Meanwhile.
Eight or nine people sat in the hall at the center of the flying palace.
The man in the principal seat was tall and slender, with delicate features and skin like jade and snow. He wore neither crown nor hairpins, his ink-black hair spilling freely down his back. He was dressed in a blue-violet Eight Trigrams ritual robe, with a three-foot sword hanging at his waist.
A Red-Patterned Little Snake with claws beneath its belly lay quietly coiled on his shoulder.
He was plainly a man, yet his face and bearing resembled those of a beautiful woman, giving him a feminine appearance.
He was Xiao Xiujing, a direct-line descendant of the Hongguang Xiao Clan and a Cavern Mystery Refiner of Changying Court.
At that moment, he looked over the people in the hall, his shining eyes cold, yet said nothing, leaving the atmosphere oppressively silent.
Several breaths passed.
At last, a youth in blue could no longer withstand the immense pressure. Drenched in sweat, he rose from his seat, bowed deeply, and cupped his hands toward Xiao Xiujing in apology.
"Senior Brother Xiao, I'm not saying this to shirk responsibility... Those Liu Clan brothers spoke sincerely, and