Northern Region.
Ning Xueli stood at the center of a clearing where the very grass had been flash-frozen into brittle needles of mercury.
In front of her, dozens of cultivators—remnants of the once-proud Golden Cloud Immortal Sect—were frozen in various poses of agonizing terror.
Their bodies had been turned into solid silver by Ning Xueli's Bright Silver Qi, the qi she inherited from the Bright Silver Emperor, and as the wind whistled through the clearing, they began to crack and disintegrate into a fine, metallic dust that sparkled in the sunlight.
Behind her, a Shadow Guard clad in the signature obsidian-weave suit of the Shen Clan was kneeling on one knee, her head bowed in a posture of absolute deference as she delivered a message.
"Haoran has returned?" Ning Xueli asked softly.
She blinked, her cold, focused expression melting away as her eyes brightened with a sudden, overwhelming surge of joy.
