The descent of the two Immortal Envoys was with the sound of rolling sky thunder and the scent of burning myrrh.
Sailing down from the eighteen-mile landing on twin clouds of silver starlight, the two twenty-foot guardians landed with a majestic, ground-shaking tremor on Step 12 of the Golden Stairs.
Their mirror-polished silver plate armor reflected the afternoon sun in blinding, prismatic sheets.
In their gauntlets, their eighty-foot axe-spears hummed with the pure, unbending law of the Immortal Realm, streaming an aura so terrifying that every eagle, sparrow, and hawk within three hundred miles fell from the sky, numbed with respectful dread.
The lead sentry lifted his axe-spear, pointing the diamond blade down at Frank.
His voice boomed through the troposphere like an erupting volcano:
“MORTAL ASCENDANT LU ZHEN!” the envoy bellowed, his silver visor flashing with immortal radiance. “CAST ASIDE YOUR EARTHLY DUST! SHED YOUR CRUDE MORTAL IMPLEMENTS AND SUBMIT TO THE Starry CLEANSING! PREPARE TO ENTER THE PURIFIED HALLS OF ETERNITY!”
On the spectator terrace, five hundred thousand fighters held their breath in awed silence.
