The assembly's congratulatory voices persisted nine times before Han Li, seated on the azure lotus dais, lightly flicked his sleeve and said:
"Please rise, fellow Daoists! All of you have traveled from afar to attend Han's Mahayana Ascension celebration, enduring much toil along the way. I haven't prepared anything grand, only some spirit tea to show my hospitality. I hope you won't find it lacking!"
As soon as Han Li's words fell, Qiling Zi beneath the stone pagoda clapped his hands together twice briskly.
Figures flickered outside the plaza as a procession of tall, white-robed women entered from different directions, each carrying a tray and offering each cultivator a cup of amber-colored tea.
The spirit tea was considered of the highest quality, yet relative to Han Li's Mahayana status, it wasn't exceedingly rare.
