The two gray-robed inner disciples led Lin Tian away from the outer quarters, their steps silent on the polished ice-stone path.
The air changed with every step, growing thicker, richer, until each breath felt like drinking cold, clear water. Spiritual energy didn't just hang in the air here, it pressed against his skin, a constant, gentle weight that made his newly expanded dantian hum with hunger.
So this is the Inner Ring, he thought, his eyes tracing the soaring peaks that seemed closer now, their slopes carved with terraces and elegant pavilions that gleamed under the perpetual frost. The outer sector had felt like a military camp. This felt like a palace built inside a glacier.
