The day Yun Hai had just entered the Immortal Capital, a Lingtai Immortal Messenger holding a long jade handle was waiting for him.

The moment the Immortal Messenger saw him, he beamed and said, "Noble Official."

The people of the Immortal Capital all had soft, slightly rising final syllables to their words, and these two words were unexpectedly spoken with a kind of intimacy. 'It's surprisingly pleasant to hear…'

Yun Hai thought.

He asked, "What kind of address is this?"

The Lingtai Immortal Messenger replied, "Immortal Lords who have not yet received a title are all addressed this way."

Yun Hai: "Everyone who sees me will call me that?"

The Lingtai Immortal Messenger nodded, "Everyone does."

Yun Hai: "Your Immortal Leader too?"

The Lingtai Immortal Messenger was taken aback for a moment, "?"

Yun Hai waved his hand, "I was just asking casually."

The Lingtai Immortal Messenger led him up a very long flight of steps, pointed into the distance, and said, "Noble Official, all who newly enter the Immortal Capital must go to Lingtai to worship Heaven, receive a Heavenly Edict, and meet the Twelve Immortals of Lingtai. After all, the immortals of the Immortal Capital almost all revere the Twelve Immortals of Lingtai, especially Immortal Leader Mingwu."

Yun Hai was naturally overjoyed; after all, Hua Xin rarely descended to the Mortal Realm, and he could only see him a few times a year.

"But you said 'almost'?" Yun Hai asked doubtfully.

"Correct." The Lingtai Immortal Messenger explained, "There are two exceptions."

He had probably explained this to many people before. Seeing Yun Hai's curiosity, he simply continued, "Those two did not ascend through cultivation, but were directly Summoned by the Lingtai Heavenly Dao."

He explained to Yun Hai what being Summoned meant, then continued, "Whatever edicts the Heavenly Dao has, they go directly into the hands of those two. They don't pass through Lingtai, so others have no way of knowing. Naturally, they are not under the jurisdiction of the Twelve Immortals of Lingtai."

"Directly hear the Heavenly Edicts?" Yun Hai was extremely surprised.

"Yes."

Given the influence of the Heaven-Querying Lodge, Yun Hai had always thought that the Twelve Immortals of Lingtai were the supreme authority in the Immortal Capital, and that Hua Xin was the most revered of all. Now, hearing that there were actually two others beyond them, he really didn't know what to make of it.

"Doesn't that make them even more... than the Immortal Leader?" Yun Hai asked.

The Lingtai Immortal Messenger couldn't answer that. He was a person of Lingtai, after all, so he could only pause for a moment and say vaguely, "Those two don't handle miscellaneous affairs, don't accept offerings, and don't heed Lingtai's summons. They and the Immortal Leader do not interfere with each other; they show each other mutual respect, mutual respect."

"What do those two look like, and what are their titles? Are they easy to recognize? If I run into them in the Immortal Capital in the future, should I avoid them?" Yun Hai thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "I like to joke around. It wouldn't be good if I offended someone out of ignorance. Could I trouble the Immortal Messenger to tell me a bit more?"

The Lingtai Immortal Messenger said, "One has the title Tianxiu. When he was Summoned, he received the Heaven-Bestowed Word 'Mian' and is in charge of punishments and pardons. He has three Mourning Nails on his ear bone, so he's quite easy to recognize."

Yun Hai: "Mourning Nails? What are Mourning Nails?"

The Lingtai Immortal Messenger said, "I don't know, that's just what everyone calls them. Tianxiu was Summoned very early on; he was already here when the Twelve Immortals of Lingtai were established. The immortals naturally have to show him some respect and deference. Besides, that High Immortal's temperament is difficult to get close to, so no one dares to ask."

'Then I'd better avoid him if I can,' Yun Hai thought.

"And the other one?"

"The other one... the other one was even earlier than this High Immortal Tianxiu," the Lingtai Immortal Messenger said. "His title is Spirit King, and when he was Summoned, he received the Heaven-Bestowed Word 'Zhao'."

Spirit King...

Yun Hai was waiting to hear the rest, when he saw the guiding Lingtai Immortal Messenger suddenly pause. He seemed to have seen someone, turned around, and, holding his jade handle, bowed deeply in a grand salute.

Just as Yun Hai was about to see who had made the Lingtai Immortal Messenger so respectful, he heard the Immortal Messenger say, "Lord Tianxiu, what brings you here to Lingtai?"

Yun Hai froze, then turned his head and saw that High Immortal Tianxiu coming up the steps.

He looked extremely young, with a sharp, cold handsomeness. He was indeed easy to recognize in the Immortal Capital, where immortals gathered, because even from several flights of steps away, one could feel the dense, baleful aura of the three Mourning Nails on his ear bone, like cold iron wedged into jade. That contradictory feeling of wild arrogance and cold indifference was truly unique.

However, Tianxiu was merely difficult to approach, not arrogant or rude. He nodded to the Lingtai Immortal Messenger and said faintly, "I have business."

The Lingtai Immortal Messenger said, "A Noble Official has ascended today. The Immortal Leader and the others may not have had time for other matters, and I fear there may be some neglect. Shall I go announce you first?"

Hearing "a Noble Official has ascended," Yun Hai smiled, bowed to him, and said, "My lord, if you have business, you may enter Lingtai first. I am just an idle person anyway, I can wait."

"No need."

Tianxiu's gaze swept over, and he nodded to him as well. Then, still in that low, cold voice, he said, "You do your greetings. I am not looking for Hua Xin."

As they spoke, the cold mist at the entrance of the Immortal Capital stirred again. The sound of the gate-keeping Immortal Messenger's salute came from afar, sounding extremely respectful.

It's really lively today.

Yun Hai thought, just as he was about to lift his foot to continue upwards. But he saw High Immortal Tianxiu pause for a moment, his gaze passing over the steps to look at the entrance.

Immediately after, the Lingtai Immortal Messenger hurriedly bowed, saluting towards that direction from a great distance.

Yun Hai turned around curiously and saw a figure pass through the cold mist.

That person was dressed in plain clothes the color of white jade. The cuffs and waist were bound and cinched very narrowly, edged with dark silver patterns, accentuating his tall stature and long legs and giving him a dashing, noble air.

After passing through the cold mist, he did not continue walking, but turned to the side as if waiting for something.

A moment later, two Immortal Attendants followed out of the cold mist. One of them was clutching a longsword, muttering and complaining, "My lord, it's really so heavy."

The sword was very beautiful, its scabbard intricately carved with silver thread. But seeing the way the Immortal Attendant could barely move, it seemed it was truly very heavy.

"Is it as heavy as you are? Give it to me," the person replied.

The Immortal Attendant heard this and immediately came to life, hastily tossing the sword forward—

The person caught it in one hand.

The sword twirled deftly between his long fingers for a few turns before being gripped firmly again. Just like that, carrying the sword, he turned with a dashing stride and ascended the steps.

Only then did Yun Hai realize the person was wearing a mask.

The mask, like his scabbard, was carved with a layer of beautiful and complex fine threads, and similarly exuded a bizarrely beautiful, noble air. Among the immortals, it was as easy to recognize as the Mourning Nails on Tianxiu's ear bone.

Yun Hai asked the Lingtai Immortal Messenger in a low voice, "That person is..."

The Lingtai Immortal Messenger said softly, "That is the other one I mentioned."

As he ascended the steps unhurriedly, the pale sun slanted down, piercing through the cold mist of the Immortal Capital and outlining his slender silhouette with a bright edge.

Yun Hai suddenly recalled the word he had received from Heaven's bestowal: Zhao.

"Why does this Spirit King wear a mask? Is there some taboo?" he asked again.

The Lingtai Immortal Messenger whispered, "It's not exactly a taboo. It's just that every time that lord receives a Heavenly Edict and goes to handle matters, he wears a mask."

"Handle what matters?"

"That is something only the Heavenly Dao knows." The Lingtai Immortal Messenger said no more.

Yun Hai had originally thought that the Spirit King would be as cold and unapproachable as Tianxiu, but he soon discovered he was wrong.

He saw the Spirit King walk up a few steps, then suddenly pause.

Though he was clearly wearing a mask, it was as if he could see perfectly clearly. He tilted his head slightly in Tianxiu's direction.

He didn't speak, but the two Immortal Attendants by his side did. They bowed to Tianxiu and called out across the long flight of steps, "My lord, our lord says, that prank last time was truly a misunderstanding. We ought to apologize."

Tianxiu showed no expression. Listening to their clamoring, after a moment he moved his lips and said, "No need."

"My lord, he said no need." The Immortal Attendant tilted his face up.

That Spirit King let out a soft "Oh," pinched the bottom edge of his mask and lifted it slightly, revealing a fair chin and the straight bridge of his nose.

He smiled, then released his fingers, and the mask fell back over his face.

He nudged his own Immortal Attendant with the hilt of his sword and, carrying the sword, walked off in another direction.

***

Perhaps it was because on his very first day in the Immortal Capital, Yun Hai had already met those two. He had already formed an impression long before getting to know the other immortals, so he wasn't too deeply influenced by all the strange rumors.

And so, in the nearly one hundred years that followed, he became one of the few in the Immortal Capital who was on friendly terms with both of them.

His friendship with High Immortal Tianxiu was a bit more distant. After all, the man's temperament was what it was, and he was also in charge of punishments and pardons, carrying almost no trace of personal feeling.

With the Spirit King, it was deeper, also because of his temperament.

Despite being on friendly terms with both, Yun Hai was once very curious—clearly, that Spirit King did not have a solitary, cold, and eccentric personality; in fact, it was quite the opposite, and he even enjoyed lively situations. Yet he lived in a very remote place.

In the vast Immortal Capital, with its ten thousand Yao Palaces, he insisted on living at the end furthest from all the other immortals. Not only was the area around him desolate and uninhabited, but it was also right next to the Immortal-Deposing Terrace, which everyone shunned.

He had asked the Spirit King, "You actually like this kind of place?"

The other had replied, "It's suitable."

He had also mentioned it to Hua Xin once. Hua Xin had replied, "I don't know. He has his own ideas."

Lingtai and those two had nothing to do with each other, and Hua Xin was the type to have no curiosity about others at all. They rarely talked about such things when they were together.

Most of the time, Yun Hai was trying hard to make his master happy.

...Or unhappy was fine too.

Perhaps it was because when Hua Xin had come to get him back then, his expression, devoid of sorrow or joy, had been branded into his heart for a long time, so much so that he later developed an obsession.

He wanted to make that face show some emotion—not the gentle smile seen on divine statues or in portraits, but real happiness, or real anger...

Anything was fine.

Sometimes, while he rejoiced at making his master laugh, he would despise himself in his heart—

He felt he was truly strange.

In the Mortal Realm, he had cultivated desperately just to one day enter the Immortal Capital. But once he actually got to the Immortal Capital, he used every trick in the book just to make that most immortal-like Immortal Leader a little more human.

He failed many times, but he also succeeded quite a few times.

Even those few Lingtai Immortal Messengers said that the Immortal Leader seemed a little different.

One time, he looked at Hua Xin's smiling face and thought, 'It wouldn't be so bad to live like this for a few hundred or a few thousand years. As for that orphan from the past with his broken leg and blind eye, just let him die on that barren mountain.'

But later, he discovered it still wasn't enough.

He was in charge of joy and sorrow in the Mortal Realm, and was the one among the immortals who dealt most with mortals. So he could not get around it; one day, he would inevitably come face to face with those people he had once sworn to kill.

He avoided them three times, but couldn't avoid the fourth.

Those people could have actually lived to a ripe old age, which was the thing he could understand the least. So he killed them all.

Thirty-one people in total. Compared to the number who died in his family back then, it was still less.

After he finished killing them, he received an edict and went to Lingtai to kneel and accept Heaven's punishment.

That was the first time he had ever seen Hua Xin so angry.