At some point, the thousands of miles of clear skies had been replaced with gloom. From far, it looked as if the horizon was blanketed by layer upon layer of roiling black clouds; so abundant were they that they seemed to fill up the entire sky.
Terrified by this disturbance, the spirit birds in White Cloud Templeâs Stargazing Forest took to the air, sending the disciples that were charged with taking care of the spirit birds into a flurry as they rushed to look for Song Yuqing.
"Sect Leader, things arenât looking good over at Stargazing Forest..." The disciple had just stepped into the courtyard when he spotted Song Yuqing standing there with an otherworldly air of an immortal about him. With his hands crossed behind his back, he was looking up at the turbulent clouds looming over the horizon.
Song Yuqing turned back and glanced at the disciple before he unhurriedly said, "These strange changes in the Heaven and Earth would naturally cause spirit birds, who can sense these changes, to feel uneasy. You need not fret over this," With a swish of his sleeve, a pure white porcelain bottle appeared by the discipleâs bosom. "This is a bottle of Spiritual Tranquility Incense. All you need to do is place its contents in a censer and light it in Stargazing Forest. Now go."
"Yes- yes, Sect Leader," The disciple stood there dumbfounded, clutching the porcelain bottle for a few moments before he spun around and dashed off.
Song Yuqing then returned his gaze to the sky. He stretched his hand out and swept it across the empty space in front of him. A graceful red-crowned crane cried out and materialised in that empty space before it slowly descended in front of him.
He reached out to rub the red-crowned crane on the head, acting as if heâd seen an old friend and said, "Iâll be troubling you once more."
Almost as if it was replying to what heâd said, the red-crowned crane raised its slender neck and cried out.
Several minutes later, all of White Cloud Templeâs disciples received an important letter from their Sect Leader.
The weather system within > was one of its highlights. It boasted such an extreme level of realism that it was nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. Shen Jingbinâs group was currently standing within the depths of Eight Trigrams Field, and was observing the clouds that had suddenly began to churn with a trace of appreciation in their hearts.
Eight Trigrams Field was part of the Celestialâs domain, and it was shrouded by one of their arrays, which meant that the weather patterns within this region were separated from the rest of the outside world. As a result of this, the sky here took on a dark purple hue, similar to that of the array.
This was why, upon their arrival, their group was a little startled when they spotted the gloomy purple sky.
"Could the system be doing this to celebrate our meeting?" The Winds Of Ximen asked in jest.
"Is this the meeting of the century? Even the heavens and the earth are changing colours to mark this occasion," Black Kite softly joked.
At this moment, several white pigeons came flying towards them, with each of them landing on a personâs shoulder. Shen Jingbin retrieved a letter from the pigeon that was perched on her shoulder.
"My disciple Nutjob, I assume that youâve probably met with some of the Lead Disciples when you read this letter. The Shinra Sect has already discovered what youâve been doing. Iâve just studied the sun, and found that a strange change is occuring in the world, which likely has something to do with all of you. After all, your group is closely tied to the fate of this world. My purpose in writing this letter to you is to remind you to take the utmost of care going forward. Iâve instructed all of the sectâs disciples to join up with you and face the coming crisis alongside you."
Everyone finished reading their letters at the same time. The contents of the letters belonging to Shen Jingbin and the rest of the Lead Disciples were virtually the same. On the other hand, regular disciples, like Delicate Flower, received commands from their Sect Leaders to rush to the sides of their respective Lead Disciples with all haste. The end of the letter even including coordinates detailing where their Lead Disciples were currently located.
"Doesnât this mean that our identities as Lead Disciples are going to be exposed?" Shen Jingbin came to a sudden realisation and said, "Doesnât that also mean that the identity of the Dragonkinâs Lead Disciple is also going to be revealed?"
Pure Crane took Delicate Flower and Black Kiteâs letters from the two of them and studied their contents for a little while before he said, "We canât say for sure. Thereâs too many ways for events to play out in this game. Since the identity of the Dragonkinâs Lead Disciple hasnât been revealed yet, their disciples might not have received any letters."
"And here I thought weâd be able to find the Dragonkinâs Lead Disciple," Shen Jingbin muttered to herself.
Quiet And Steadfast patted her on the head. "Youâre putting the game company in too kind of a light. Their shrewdness runs deep."
Shen Jingbin sighed. Thatâs true.
Sure enough, Pure Crane was right on the mark. A short while later, all colours of the rainbow began to slowly shine across the sky as flying mounts of all shapes and sizes came rushing over. Thankfully, Eight Trigrams Field was huge. Otherwise, the vast number of players present would have squished themselves to death. Once they landed, all of the newcomers stood slightly away from them, not daring to come any closer.
Shen Jingbin glanced around, and found that there really werenât any players from the Dragonkin Tower.
Several seconds later, the members of Jade Sea Pavilion came hurrying over as well and landed right beside Shen Jinbin and Quiet And Steadfastâs side.
When Next Week Is Unlikely saw the number of players gathered at Eight Trigrams Field, he asked, "Ah Ning, whatâs going on?"
Quiet And Steadfast shrugged, indicating that he didnât really know what was going on either. "Iâve only just received a letter from the Sect Leader as well, so Iâm too sure of whatâs going on."
The Four Monsters had long since started causing a ruckus.
"Oh my god, doesnât this mean that all of you are the Lead Disciples of your sects? What should we do? Theyâre so dazzling!"
"Ah, each and every one of them is someone important! My pleb eyes canât take it anymore, Iâm about to go blind!"
"Tsk tsk tsk, so even you know that youâre a pleb."
"Iâve always had this feeling that I was going to accomplish something big in the future."
Shen Jingchen was the last person to rush over. He walked to Shen Jingbin, then grabbed her shoulders and asked, "What the hell happened this time?!"
"... I donât know either."
"Are you a pig? What do you mean you donât know?!"
"Hehe, youâre my brother. If Iâm a pig, what does that make you?"
"..."