While Shun Long sat alone at the top floor of the White Tiger Chamber of Commerce, waiting for Lin Xu's return, the incense drifting quietly around him...
...hundreds of thousands of miles away from Iron Dawn, at the north-western city entrance of Blackstone Haven, a scene that would shake any mortal mind was unfolding beneath the dim sky.
A black-haired young woman wearing a veil stood atop the back of a hideous, faceless creature, whose four legs and open mouth brought terror to anyone who saw its image for the very first time. The creature's claws were half-buried into the cracked earth, its mouth almost smiling as it faced the city walls of Blackstone Haven.
The woman's veil fluttered gently in the cold wind, revealing only the outline of her flawless chin and a hint of crystalline light behind her abyssal black eyes. But despite being just a peak-stage Dao King, she faced down the entire defensive force of Blackstone Haven's northwestern city gate by herself.
