After Lin Changsheng subdued Chang Ping'an, Chang Yao, and that Old Ghost...
Elsewhere, inside a secret chamber, Qing Chen was listening to Xin Bairen report on the affairs of the Heavenly Illumination Archipelago and Cold Mountain Temple.
Concentration Incense curled through the chamber, while cold air spilled from the Snow-Jade Bed, shrouding Qing Chen in an ever deeper chill and stillness.
Xin Bairen stood below the steps, dressed in a golden elder's robe that still carried a faint dampness from the sea mist, as though he had just returned from the shore.
He bowed with his hands clasped, his voice steady as a rock as he delivered his report, each word clear:
"Deputy Sect Master, as you instructed, the handover of those ten second-tier islands in Lesser Cold Temple's waters has been completed smoothly.
"Dharma Master Xingchi, whom Cold Mountain Temple sent, has moved in with four thousand men.
"Our cultivators stationed there strictly followed your wishes. Once they finished taking inventory of the supplies, they immediately withdrew to the Nine Guard Islands in full. They handled everything cleanly and efficiently, leaving nothing that could be used against us."
As Xin Bairen spoke, he sensed a powerful aura faintly emanating from Qing Chen-the very cultivation that only a Dharma cultivator at minor achievement in the middle Golden Core stage possessed.
Feeling that pressure, Xin Bairen could not help lowering his head a little further.
His gaze inadvertently swept over the Pojun Battle Halberd suspended nearby, and horror surged through his heart.
The aura radiating from the battle halberd actually made him tremble from the depths of his soul.
This... this is that battle halberd? How could its aura be so powerful? It must be a mid-grade magic treasure!
*And its might far surpasses Jade Pivot Second Elder's mid-grade Yuji Sword.