Lanting did not go inside. She was not qualified and could only wait outside.
Holding the rubbing of the roster records he had obtained from Chenglu Hall, Hou Niao strolled into Cornelian Hall. Here, however, he was a figure who drew every eye; there was no one who did not recognize him.
The Golden Core cultivators of Northern Anhe came over to exchange a few words, while the Daoists of Southern Anhe kept a respectful distance. They knew they could not afford to provoke him, but surely they could afford to avoid him?
The Daoist handling reception was rather apprehensive. Taking the rubbing Hou Niao handed him, he felt his head swell with the sheer headache of it. A hundred and seventy-eight years-that was quite a length of service.
"Senior Brother Hou, what exactly do you mean?"
Hou Niao declared shamelessly, "For special reasons, I was entrusted with a top-secret mission, so my identity was kept rather secret. Not many people knew, but the True Persons did. You can verify that with them.
"I came here for two things. First, to obtain the Daoist Register that rightfully belongs to me. Second, to settle my outstanding pay. Work it out for me-roughly how much would that be?"
Cold sweat streamed down the reception Daoist. This really was not a matter of Spirit Stones. Although it would certainly be a substantial sum, the Anhe Daoist Sect had ample reserves and could afford it. The problem was that Southern Anhe had long since reached an internal consensus: they would refuse to acknowledge this fellow's identity as an Anhe disciple. Thus, they could not give him a Daoist Register, and he could forget about receiving even a single Spirit Stone.
That was their fundamental stance!
The plan sounded fine, but only upon actually encountering