“Yes, exalted one,” the old man replied. “His name is Xu Qing. He was working with someone named Chen Erniu, who, upon investigation, turns out to be his Elder Brother. The third person involved in the incident is a holy daughter from the Church of Departure in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. Her name is Qing Qiu. She’s on her way and should arrive soon.” [1]17

An odd expression appeared on the old man’s face as he continued, “Their actions really drove Nethersprite crazy. Based on that, I get the feeling Nethersprite hates them more than anyone else in existence.”9

The middle-aged man nodded. “There’s no rush. Let’s do the testing as normal. If we can’t destabilize Nethersprite’s mind on our own and perform the soulsearch, then we can consider using the three of them to rile her up. This Xu Qing isn’t bad at all. He has a good temperament. He’ll have good potential if he becomes a swordsage. Our county superiors are getting ready to open the ancient Forbidden by the Immortal, presumably because of the awakenings that are occurring in all the prefectures. This time, our recruitment test needs to be a bit bloodier. We’re in a different era now. We need wolf pups, not pet dogs.” [2]17

When the old man heard the words Forbidden by the Immortal, his expression flickered. “They’re opening Forbidden by the Immortal? Isn’t there supposed to be some unknown god sleeping in there?”1

“Exactly. Most people think that the catastrophe which befell the Revered Ancient mainland was solely due to the broken face of the god that we see in the sky. What they don’t know is that… historical records indicate the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns...10