Atop the snow-covered summit of Mount Kunlun, nine thousand feet above the clouds, stood the magnificent Golden-Wheel Palace.
Inside the cavernous grand hall, golden incense censers belched fragrant amber smoke.
Sitting atop an enormous golden throne carved from dragon-vein amber was an old man with long silver hair draped over a heavy robe of purple sable.
His face was lined with deep, cruel creases, and around his neck hung nine strings of ancient bone prayer beads.
This was Grand Elder Kunwu, supreme director of Mount Kunlun’s external finances and head of the Situ Clan’s ancestral council.
For sixty years, Kunwu had controlled the commercial tolls of the 36 Hidden Sects. He had extracted billions of spirit stones from wandering merchants, using the plunder to build heated jade palaces, private pleasure yachts, and luxury hot springs.
Above Kunwu’s silver topknot, Lin Mo’s Pure-Heart Eye would have registered a pitch-black score: -36 / 100.
At the base of the golden throne, Situ Hao knelt on the polished black jade floor, weeping hysterically.
