The morning wind over the Floating Mountain grew uncomfortably hot as Envoy Bai Ming reached into his wide, gold-stitched sleeve.
With an exaggerated, dramatic flourish, he drew forth a scroll case carved from solid astral jade, inlaid with blazing solar garnet runes. Uncapping the metal tube with a sharp click, he withdrew a scroll woven from pure, shimmering sun-silk. The fabric radiated a fierce golden soft glow, as though a tiny dawn had been captured and spun into threads of light.
“Heed the decree of the Nine Heavens!” Bai Ming proclaimed, his voice echoing through the mountain valleys like the roll of bronze gongs. “Kneel, trembling mortals, before the sovereign will of the Heavenly Tribulation Court!”
He flicked his wrist. Channeling man-made sky qi into the fabric, he unrolled the scroll into the open sky.
The thirty-foot banner swelled instantly, floating unsupported between the two forward dragon chariots. Massive characters of searing golden calligraphy detached from the silk. It burned against the backdrop of the azure sky like fiery brands. The surrounding spiritual pressure intensified, pushing down upon the Floating Mountain with the weight of an iron roof.
“By the mandate of the Grand Chief Judge and the Supreme Council of Starry Arbitration,” Bai Ming read, his chin tilted high as his amber eyes swept over the silent crowd on the balcony. “The territory chosen as the Azure Cloud Realm stands formally indicted under the Sacred Diminishment Accord of the Fourth Epoch!”
