Volume 5: The Ocean Calamity & The Rise of Fanxue Mountain
The heavy mahogany doors of the Feinian Chamber of Commerce’s grand private chamber were reinforced with sound-proofing rune arrays, sealing away the chaotic clamor of the coastal metropolis outside. Yet, inside the vaulted, incense-heavy hall, the atmosphere was thick enough to choke a seasoned mage. The air reeked of expensive aged spirits, cold sweat, and the unmistakable, metallic tang of unbridled desperation.
Around the circular obsidian conference table sat the true power-brokers of the Feinian coastal region—men whose mere whim could alter shipping lanes, manipulate magic material prices, or cause entire merchant guilds to vanish overnight. But tonight, their faces were carved from stone and twisted by a collective, gnawing terror.
At the head of the table sat Mu Tingfeng, an elder of the Mu Clan’s southern branch. His robes were woven from shimmering silver-silk, embroidered with frost-patterned cranes that seemed to shiver in an invisible wind. His fingers, adorned with sovereign jade rings, gripped the armrest so tightly that the wood groaned in protest. Veins throbbed at his temples, purple and swollen against parchment-pale skin.
“She was supposed to be a broken castaway,” Mu Tingfeng’s voice rasped, cutting through the heavy silence like a rusty blade drawn across bone. “A disgraced exile stripped of her Ice Crystal Bow, driven out into the bitter northern snows with nothing but the clothes on her back and the stain of her grandfather’s supposed treason!