Chapter 433: The Storm Before the Trial
Hurricane City.
To call it a city was misleading—there were no walls, no streets, no bustling squares. It was a solitary mountain peak, rising like a spearhead into the clouds, right at the center of the Eye of the Hurricane.
The mountain was barren and forbidding, nothing but jagged stone and a gray, weather-beaten surface that swallowed every trace of green. A winding road spiraled around its face, leading up toward a gate carved directly into the rock.
The gate was massive, its heavy wooden beams reinforced with black iron. Above it, two large words had been carved into a stone plaque: Hurricane City. Just beneath them, two even larger words were etched—Windspirit Faction.
The path eventually reached the summit, where the peak flattened into a wide platform. The surface wasn’t paved, yet it was unnaturally smooth, like a polished mirror reflecting the bleak sky. On either side, sheer cliffs dropped into clouds, as narrow and precarious as the famed "One-Line Sky" in Rumination Gorge.
At this moment, the platform was occupied by four distinct groups.
To the south, the Windspirit Faction stood assembled—roughly a thousand strong. The front ranks were composed of about two hundred core disciples, their robes clean and uniform, while the rest, standing in loose formation behind them, were clearly the menial disciples—servants and outer ranks, their clothes plain and worn.
To the north gathered the delegation from Forgotten City. Their clothes were a patchwork of styles, many carrying the rough, utilitarian look of mercenaries. They had come to witness and participate in the Sacred Assembly trials, their presence sharp and hostile.
To the east stood the representatives of Clearspring City, clad in water-blue uniforms. Though fewer in number—just under a thousand—they carried themselves with the confidence of trained soldiers and merchants.
And to the west...
There was only a single table with three chairs.
Three old men sat there, leisurely pouring wine and laughing as though the tense atmosphere around them did not exist. They were Regis, Quinn Noalan, and Hank.