Qing Chen sat upright at the table, gently rolling a ceramic cup between his fingertips.
Along the rim, tiny flecks of tea foam gathered and scattered, much like the thoughts in his mind at that moment.
Outside the window, Vajra Mountain stood silently in the dusk.
Its crimson crags were like blood, rising and falling in an unbroken stretch with no end in sight.
Amid this faintly oppressive atmosphere, Buddha's Son Wuchen returned from the Vajra Zen Hall.
He wore moon-white monastic robes, their hems still faintly carrying the sandalwood incense from the hall's corners, while a trace of meditative serenity lingered between his brows.
Entering the room and finding Qing Chen gazing absently out the window, he quietly took a seat opposite him.
Qing Chen came back to himself and broke the silence first. "This time, the Shushan Sword Sect only had one Principal Sixth Rank Azure Robe Prefectural Assistant from the Minjiang Province Mysterious Prefecture come over."
Wuchen nodded slightly and replied softly, "On our Vajra Zen Sect's side, you could say two important figures came.
"One is Minjiang Province's Principal Fourth Rank Purple Robe Circuit-Inspecting Governor, who holds the authority to inspect the million or so li of an entire province;
"The other is the Principal Fifth Rank Purple Robe Mysterious Prefecture Magistrate of the Minjiang Province Mysterious Prefecture, who oversees the several hundred thousand li of a prefecture-another powerful, high-ranking official.
"One is a cultivator who has just entered the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, and the other is a dharma nascent soul cultivator. They came specifically to establish that Dao Army."
The Gouwu Sea had pitifully few islands and landmasses. In terms of high-level cultivators and mortal households, it amounted to no more than a single province of Great Jin.
Wuchen said softly, "The Gou Wu