A month later, in a hidden mountain range within the gray mist of the northwest Zhongtian continent, there sat a group of buildings engulfed in dark, heavy energy, spanning nearly dozens of acres. The complex included tall towers, pavilions, and palaces, all shrouded within a faint, oval-shaped magical barrier.
The gray and black energy gently wafted above the buildings, isolating everything inside from the outside world.
Within the barrier, one could occasionally see figures in gray garments flitting back and forth, creating a somewhat lively scene.
At the very top of a black tower more than ten stories high, in a secret chamber, a dove-faced old man in a purple brocade robe sat cross-legged.
His face was gaunt as a ghost's, with deeply sunken eye sockets that made him look as gaunt as a skeleton.
The dove-faced elder was meditating and cultivating, with a black crystal in each hand. Wisps of faint gray energy flew out of the crystals, sucked into his mouth.
