At the base of the Grand Arbiter Tower, three thousand armored fighters from the Zhang, Luo. Jiang Sage Clans had formed a triple-ring outer edge.
They stood in polished silver plate armor. They held dragon-crested axe-spears and drawn thunder swords crackling with violet lightning. Behind the front ranks stood six heavy iron war-wagons, each drawn by a pair of two-headed flame rhinos and mounted with heavy siege giant crossbows.
At the front of this military assembly stood three ancient patriarchs: Patriarch Zhang Zhen, Grand Elder Luo Kui, and Duke Jiang Hong.
They had seen the golden pillar of Heavenly Dao light pierce the upper tower. They didn’t know the details of what had transpired in the council chamber, but they understood the implications. If Lu Zhen left this terrace with a checked 6-Star Master Teacher token, the feudal monopoly of the Sage Clans over the southern continent was finished.
“Form the outer edge!” Patriarch Zhang shouted. “Lock down the courtyard! Don’t let them leave this terrace!”
Three thousand warriors raised their axe-spears all at once. The combined spiritual pressure of Core Formation and Nascent Soul fighters settled heavily over the Northern Terrace.
Then, the ground-floor black glass double doors of the tower swung open.
