Inside the top-floor cultivation chamber of the Dry-Well Lord’s Mansion, the heavy Spirit-Iron doors were sealed shut.
Down in the courtyard below, Old Wei stood like an iron statue with his Rank 4 Spirit-Cleaver Broadsword resting across his single arm, while Old Yellow—the nine-foot-tall Golden Dragon-Camel—lay curled across the front steps chewing on a leftover stalk of roasted spirit-corn, ready to spit a fireball at any mosquito that buzzed too close to the Young Master’s window.
Upstairs, Pei Xuan sat cross-legged on a warm white jade mat in the center of the room.
Right now, his cultivation stood at Rank 4 Late-Peak (Qi Gathering Stage 8). Inside his dantian, eight spinning whirlpools of golden-red Furnace-Blood Spirit Qi churned like eight miniature volcanoes, while his bones, muscles, and meridians shone with the dark metallic luster of a body tempered to perfection.
“In a couple of days, we will march east to take Tiger-Jaw Pass and Golden-Crow Capital,” Pei Xuan murmured, opening his glowing blue RTS System panel. “The Yan King still has two Foundation Establishment Immortal Advisors left—Master Pill-Fire (Rank 5 Mid) at Tiger-Jaw Pass, and the head of the four advisors, Grand Preceptor Blood-Blade (Rank 5 Peak), guarding the palace. Even though I have Ye Guhan and my cannons, a true Sovereign never walks onto the battlefield with weak personal strength!”
