After roughly another two hours had passed, the sound of footsteps rang out from inside the palace, and Xiong Shan's short and stocky figure emerged.

A pleased look appeared on his face at the sight of the 40 or so elders gathered in the palace, and everyone rose to their feet in unison before extending respectful bows toward him.

"We pay our respects to Deputy Dao Lord Xiong!"

"No need for formalities. Come with me, everyone," Xiong Shan said with a dismissive wave of his hand, then made his way toward a door in the corner of the hall.

Everyone in the hall hurriedly followed along, while Xiong Shan made his way out of the hall and through a long corridor, then arrived in what appeared to have been a drill ground.

The area was over 10,000 feet in size, and it was completely empty aside from 10 huge stone swords laid flat against the ground.

Every single one of these stone swords was around 70 to 80 feet tall, and their blades were extremely thick with countless complex patterns engraved upon them, giving off a peculiar aura that resembled sword qi, but was also completely different.

Han Li swept his gaze over the stone swords, and a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes, followed by a look of realization.

"I'm sure all of you already know what this mission is about. I require...