Song Prefecture City.

Yang Qianxiang worked through every last detail with careful thoroughness, instructing each of the Demon Suppression Generals on how to settle the people's hearts.

As a province's General, his strength amounted to less than nothing beside the Inspector — but when it came to these thorny, finicky particulars, he had no small amount of experience to draw on.

Once he was satisfied nothing had been overlooked.

Yang Qianxiang mounted a demon-horse and rode out of Song Prefecture alongside Commander Shen.

By rights, having made such grave errors, he ought to have been escorted back under guard.

Fortunately, Commander Shen was magnanimous, and hadn't offered so much as a sharp word of reproach... naturally, he hadn't said much of anything else, either.

With the black-scaled flood dragon horses' formidable pace, the journey from Song Prefecture to the imperial capital took under ten days.

And while the two of them were making that journey.

The War Temple in the imperial capital received a rare and unusual visitor.

The refinement sessions were suspended for the time being, and all four blue-robed Temple Custodians gathered together in one place.

Men of their standing — and yet they could only stand to either side.

In the seat of honor sat a man in a wide-sleeved robe of black and white, a long goatee hanging from his chin.

"We wonder what brings the Perfected Master Changqing of Xuanguang Cave to Great Qian." Wu Dao'an rose to his feet, his manner neither servile nor overbearing.

"Just passing through." Perfected Master Changqing sipped unhurriedly at his tea, set the cup down lightly, and said in a flat voice, "Also to let you know that one of your Grandmasters has unfortunately fallen."

At the first half of that sentence, the four Custodians' faces hadn't changed. But at the second half, all four of them instinctively clenched their jaws.

The hand Wu Dao'an had tucked within his sleeve tightened into a fist.

A long silence.

He said coldly, "Noted."

Great Qian's remaining Grandmasters had already dwindled to seven. Now one more was lost without explanation — and…