The wind howling through the jagged peaks of the Viper's Throat Pass carried a biting, freezing chill.
High above the canyon floor, hidden within the deep fissures of the jagged obsidian cliffs, a lethal array of silent figures stood frozen like statues.
Three hundred elite martial enforcers from the Golden Cauldron Union, completely stripped of their official gold-trimmed uniforms, crouched in the shadows.
They wore rugged, blood-stained leather hides and heavy iron face-masks, the classic attire of the ruthless Black Mountain bandit guilds.
Hidden directly among them were three elder enforcers, their late-stage Golden Core auras tightly restrained beneath advanced, breath-concealing spiritual talismans.
At the very front of the ridge, wrapped in a thick, wind-resistant fur mantle that did little to hide the fierce determination burning in her eyes, stood Bai Ruolan.
Her delicate face was pale from the biting mountain air, but her posture was unyielding.
