Dawn broke in pale gray ribbons over the eastern mountain peaks.
Thirty-six Golden Rolls-Royce Phantoms sped along the winding cliffside highway, their headlights piercing the dense morning mist. High above them, Taichu’s flagship spirit-airship cruised through the low clouds, its heavy levitation turbines humming with steady power.
Inside the lead car, Lin Mo held a warm cup of coffee while reviewing the holographic map on his tablet.
“The Jade-Plough Sect claims to be a righteous agricultural lineage,” Su Wan reported from the passenger seat. “They control sixty percent of the grain terraces in the northern province. But our market audit reveals they have been jacking up water prices by three hundred percent during every dry spell.”
“Monopolizing food and water during a famine,” Lin Mo said deadpan. “That is not a cultivation sect. That is an unregulated grain cartel.”
“Boss, the gate is ahead,” Tie Niu said from behind the steering wheel, his heavy foot pressing down on the accelerator.
The heavy bamboo barrier of the Jade-Plough Sect rose twenty feet into the morning mist. Green defensive talismans hung from the crossbeams, humming with low warding magic to keep out wandering mortals and wild beasts.
Beyond the barrier lay five hundred acres of tiered mountain terraces.
