When nine jiao dragons slid into the Huai River side by side, they looked like nine continuous mountain ridges drifting on the water.
Yet though these great bodies floated above the river, they made not a single sound and did not churn a single wave.
That stark contrast between motion and silence struck everyone with awe.
These nine jiao had been selected from the Yellow Sea for their particularly noble appearances.
If not for the favor of the Imperial Uncle of Gu that drew a host of Shu jiao to join the procession, gathering nine of a single pure color would have been difficult.
Even so, their presence inevitably frightened the people on both banks; even the cultivators on the hills, seeing nine jiao radiating the might of the Third Realm, turned pale with shock.
Luckily the beneficent rain and breeze from the heavens still whispered over the crowd, reminding them that the jiao on the river were not murderous demons.
The jiao drew an immense palace.
A cloister ran around the palace, and now palace maidens stood along that cloister holding flower baskets, scattering petals out across the river.
The petals were wondrous.