The morning sun illuminated the towering white jade facade of the Taichu Sanctuary Free Immortal Hospital.
Over one hundred thousand cultivators, merchants, beast-hunters, and mortal townspeople had swarmed into the eastern plaza. Word of the five-mile Five-Color Pill-Cloud had spread through the city like wildfire, drawing crowds from every corner of the three prefectures.
People packed the wide avenues, the tiled rooftops, and the surrounding stone balconies. Every pair of eyes was glued to the thirty-six steps of the grand hospital entrance.
Many in the crowd were shivering from cold and lingering wounds.
“I sold my spirit-sword three days ago just to buy food,” an injured beast-scout whispered, his arm wrapped in dirty linen. “If the Pill Tower demands ten million stones, my three children will starve in the street.”
“Have hope, brother,” an older cultivator beside him urged gently. “The chairman who raised this white jade tower in a single night is not an ordinary man. Look, the doors are opening!”
Clack.
The massive carved doors swung open with smooth, oiled precision.
