At the base of the Azure Sword Sect, the noise was deafening.
Patriarch Iron-Bone stood atop a massive, armored siege-beast. He was a mountain of a man, covered in thick bronze armor, holding a massive spiked club. Behind him, three thousand disciples cheered and banged their weapons against their shields.
"Cowards!" Patriarch Iron-Bone roared, his voice amplified by Qi to echo up the mountain. "Zhao! You spineless rat! You hide behind your ancestor's array while the real sects bleed! Open the gates and hand over the loot, or I will level this peak to the ground!"
The semi-transparent blue barrier of the grand array rippled slightly under the blows of the siege-beasts.
Suddenly, a small gap appeared in the rolling mist behind the barrier.
Patriarch Iron-Bone grinned, hefting his club. "Ah! They finally surrender! Look closely, men! Let us see what pathetic elder they sent to beg for mercy!"
The mist parted, but no elder stepped forward.
