"Ah... you've grown so much, little Qianyao!" A loud, powerful shout echoed through the arena, ringing from the lips of a woman with a rugged, warrior-like appearance.
In her hands, a massive two-handed sword glinted beneath the light of the arrays, her feet firmly planted on the vast marble platform.
Powerful arrays swirled around the two of them, sealing off the battlefield in a shimmering dome of runes.
That woman was one of the most powerful Celestial Empresses of the Celestial Heavens, the current master of the Sword Pavilion, and Qianyao's childhood friend—a girl Qianyao herself had rescued from the streets many millennia ago.
And, of course, a great deal of time had passed since then.
The once-dirty little girl was now over one hundred thousand years old, having become an ancient expert, while Qianyao herself was still in her twenties.
Even so, the friendship between them remained intact.
