From within the inner region of the Blood Sacrifice Palace, two Nascent Soul elders rose into the air. They hovered just above the remnants of the great hall, surrounded by collapsing structures and pavilions.
The elder on the left was a gaunt man in crimson robes, his skin pale as bone, with three long silver needles floating behind his back.
Beside him floated a woman dressed in mourning-white with a long black hair coiled around her waist like a serpent. She wore no shoes, and her bare feet rested lightly on a lotus of blood mist.
Both stared at the masked intruders with dark expressions.
Elder Gui's eyes narrowed. "I don't recognize their auras."
Madam Chan nodded slightly. "… not a single one feels familiar. Strange. I've met dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators over the past century. These five—"
"Are outsiders," Elder Gui finished grimly. "And not from any of the regional sects."
