Everyone looked up at the sky, feeling something coming. High on the pillar, ripples spread through the air. The sky cracked, thousands of fissures opening in the middle of the air—growing or vanishing, widening or shrinking.
These phenomena lasted nearly ten minutes before everything gradually settled. Everyone converged near the base of the pillar, their attention fixed on it rather than the hidden realm.
From the pillar's surface, rectangles traced themselves into sections; from these, enormous steps extended outward and upward into the sky, open to anyone with the will to climb them and claim what lay above.
Xue Yanluo, General Huo, and the others had already taken their positions at the front and waited patiently for the moment to advance. The pillar gave one last shudder, announcing to every brave soul that its work was done and they were free to come and meet it.
Seven groups were the first to advance, and one of them was Xue Yanluo's. His eyes moved over the people around him—to his left, men and women in green robes bearing an emblem of a circle with a vortex spiraling from its center; to his right, soldiers in armor marked with the emblem of Qi, trimmed in yellow, very different from their red.
Even the Five Eternal Seals Sect has come… This place is quite far from their home. What are they doing here? Xue Yanluo wondered, glancing again at the people on his left.
Climbing the steps was dull work, and the only relief was the view that opened up from above. For Xue Yanluo and the others, it was the first time they had seen the world look so small. Xue Yanluo raised his thumb and held it up against a distant mountain, smiling when his thumb was bigger.
After a couple of hours, they reached the last step, which spread out like a platform with the hidden realm suspended at its center—so still, so elegant, it seemed impossible to imagine the danger within.
Behind them, the other groups that had attached themselves to the seven main ones were arriving and finding their places as best they could. Each main group sent a representative who stepped forward and gathered near the entrance to the hidden realm.
From Xue Yanluo's group, it was General Huo. From Qi came a general of some note—more for his seniority than his talent. Xue Yanluo studied him carefully; he had been hearing the man's name for years but never once heard of any feat or battle to his name.
There was nothing remarkable about his face, except for the large birthmark that wrapped around his neck and climbed to his right cheek, like a python or a mystical pattern, and his eyes, which held the feeling of a forest—their quality soft yet vivid.
From the Five Eternal Seals Sect came a woman with pure white hair and two long braids who seemed almost to be dancing—each step swayed her body, and she vanished, reappearing several meters ahead, reaching the gathering spot in just a few strides.
The meeting was meant to divide responsibilities for clearing the realm as efficiently as possible before turning to the matter of claiming its benefits. These meetings were the worst part of any hidden realm incursion, since they could last minutes or drag on for hours.
Xue Yanluo and his two companions drew plenty of looks, being the only ones shielding themselves from the sun with parasols. Hua Zhenfeng kept his eyes on the ground, avoiding the world and its stares, running his fingers along the handle of his parasol.
Xue Yanluo and Bao Qingcao, by contrast, were unmoved, their attention fixed entirely on the meeting.
After an hour, Xue Yanluo could see the meeting stretching further, and from his storage emblem, he produced a table, chairs, and a small open-sided pavilion with a roof where they could set the parasols down.
Xue Yanluo sat, ignoring the stares, and Bao Qingcao warmed some tea, served it, and sat as well. Within a few minutes the table had filled with Xue Yanluo, the Fifth Prince, Division General Pei, and several other high-ranking figures.
Bao Qingcao had to stand, since her status as a maidservant made it impossible for her to sit with them, and Hua Zhenfeng remained on his feet as well, keeping his distance from a spot that drew so many eyes.
Across the other groups, many people had produced tables and chairs, some reciting spells to shade themselves from the sun, others conjuring currents of air to cool down.
The meeting crept toward the three-hour mark and at last showed signs of ending. The voices drifting from it faded as the seven representatives said their goodbyes and each returned to their group.
General Huo frowned at finding them drinking tea so comfortably and walked over. Everyone at the table rose and greeted him, offering him the last empty seat to rest after such a long meeting.
A few minutes later, General Huo finished his cup and set it on the table. He let his gaze pass over the faces around him and nodded. "Our task will be to clear one of the cores and take thirty percent of the resources gathered from the clearing of all cores. What comes after will depend on your luck and talent."
"And what else?" asked Eunuch Mo.
"That depends on what the realm looks like inside. I'll tell you when we're in."
Xue Yanluo smiled coldly and bit into the red pastry in his hand. He wasn't satisfied with the explanation, nor with General Huo's manner, but that was all there was to it, and expressing his displeasure wouldn't change anything, so he let the feeling go and took another red pastry.
General Huo and Division General Pei stood and went to notify the talented soldiers they had brought among the thousands, telling them to get ready and follow shortly.
From each main group a long line formed toward the entrance of the hidden realm, each led by the representative who had attended the meeting, and they entered in an orderly manner. The fifth group to enter was General Huo's, followed by the Kingdom of Qi.
Inside the realm, they found themselves in a world with a greenish sky and great waves rolling across it. Though there was light, hundreds of stars and dozens of moons burned overhead—some racing through the sky at great speed, others content to take what seemed like decades to move at all.