Before the morning mist had fully dispersed, Ye Fan pushed open his bedroom door, and a droplet of water sliding off the eaves chanced to fall upon his shoulder. He reached out to catch the cool sensation, his fingertips brushing against the faintly warm Jiuxiao Huanpei beneath his clothes—as his Inner World had expanded the previous night, the pendant and his bloodline had grown even more tightly bound.
The Blue Stone Slab of the martial arts arena still retained the chill of the morning damp. Su Qingxue stood beneath the old locust tree holding a seven-stringed guqin, her moon-white skirt stained with morning dew, though the green jade hairpin in her hair remained completely dry. Lin Zhaoyue leaned against the edge of the martial arts platform, rubbing the bronze ring on her sword case until it gleamed; seeing him approach, she gave it a light flick, and a clear, resonant chime rang out from within. Chu Hongzong crouched beside a stone pier, scattering crimson Gu powder into the dirt, while the earthenware jar at her feet sat open, wisps of black fog drifting from its rim and swirling around the silver bells on her wrists. Qin Wanxuang stood on higher ground, a rolled-out sheepskin map fluttering at the corner in the breeze; she pressed her hand down upon it, her brow sharp as a blade when she looked up.
"You've all come." Ye Fan walked up the steps, the sound of his boot soles tapping against the Blue Stone Slab startling a few sparrows into flight. He swept his gaze ove…
Chapter 240