Clouds coiled like dragons among green pines and cypresses.

The foot of the Jade Dragon Sect's mountain.

Two outer-gate elders with the airs of immortals stood frowning, one of them holding a calling card. The card was stained dark red with blood. Only the immortal seal stamped on it still shone bright.

Only a truly great sect, one with connections running straight up to the Immortal Court or a lineage from the Three Immortals Teaching, was entitled to stamp a seal like that.

Then there were the three people in front of them.

The man wore a tattered white robe. His face was dark, his jaw clenched, his aura ragged and weak, and he was pressing hard on a wound. Beside him, a girl just as bedraggled, yet still unbearably pretty, was gently holding him up.

Faint tear tracks still marked the girl's face. She bit her red lip, her eyes staring vacantly at nothing, as if she had just been through some great calamity.

“So what you're saying is that your sect has just suffered a disaster, you've fled all the way here, and you want to borrow our Jade Dragon Sect to recover from your injuries?”

The thin little outer-gate elder raised an eyebrow at the young pair of prodigies.

“Rest assured.” Meng Xiuwen's voice was hoarse. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. “Three to five months at most. Once my junior sister and I have healed, we'll leave. We'll never forget the Jade Dragon Sect's great kindness…”

As he spoke, he broke into a fit of coughing, and the little things hanging on him shook along with him.

His storage implement, the jade pendant at his waist—every one of them was a rare treasure.

They drew the two outer-gate elders' eyes at once.

The two of them stared for a moment before they realized how that looked and forced their eyes away. They exchanged a glance. “……”

A moment later, they gave the slightest shake of their heads.

The immortal seal on the calling card was proof enough.

Prodigies from an upper sect…