Just below the platform stood the five youngsters, all recently returned from their dangerous pilgrimage. Their faces still held traces of exhaustion, but their posture radiated pride and excitement.
Once everyone had gathered, the patriarch gestured for the youngsters to begin.
Shanhu Guimen stepped forward and bowed. "Honored Patriarch, Elders, we shall give our report."
What followed was a recounting that made the hall fall increasingly silent with each passing sentence.
They told the story of how Lin Mu's sword intent shielded them from the overpowering curse of the Ninth Sea.
They described how the ship would have been torn apart without him.
They spoke of Daoist Chu working in tandem with Lin Mu, controlling arrays they believed impossible for outsiders to touch.
They described Elyon's shadows tearing through cursed beasts with uncanny precision.
Then came the part that hit the elders the hardest.
