Upon hearing the female cultivator give her name and say that she was a disciple sent from a force under the Dongfang Clan to take part in the Yang Clan's selection, He Shuping and the other three eased their guard somewhat and returned her greeting.
The Dongfang Clan and the Yang Clan were bound by marriage, and the Dongfang Clan was one of the Yang Clan's staunchest supporters. Any disciple they selected and recommended would be strong, and there was unlikely to be much cause for concern about her character.
"The Scent-Seeking Pavilion? So you come from that school of the incense arts, Fellow Daoist Shi. I've long heard of your sect's unique skills, but I never expected to meet you here."
The He Family was a major grower of spirit plants in the Northwest. Thanks to its geography and other factors, the family also cultivated certain spirit plants native to the region in the Myriad Layer Forest.
The Scent-Seeking Pavilion was a sect whose craft was incense-making. Over the past decade or so, its ties to the Dongfang Clan had enabled it to establish a connection with the He Family, and it had purchased many spirit plants unique to the Northwest from the Myriad Layer Forest.
The sect now survived under the Dongfang Clan's protection, but its forebears had once known prosperity.
Back when the Five Directions Immortal Mansion held sway over the Canglan Righteous Path, the Scent-Seeking Pavilion had been at its zenith.
In those days, a Mystic Insight Venerable had presided over the sect, and its True Intent Cultivators had numbered more than a dozen.
Later, however, the venerable had failed to break through to the next realm and perished, body and Dao alike. That had directly led to a tragedy within the sect known as the