According to True Immortal Yongheng, the aura had flashed by in an instant, but it had been incomparably powerful and caused quite a stir.
Several Nascent Soul True Immortals had already gone to investigate the scene, and it had even drawn the attention of Star Palace.
Star Palace rarely concerned itself with local affairs in Central Province. Most of the time, such matters were left to the Thirty-Six First-Tier Cities.
Above the Thirty-Six Cities was the Central Province Council of Elders, which was responsible for administering all of Central Province.
The Council of Elders could establish all manner of rules and appoint or remove city lords. Its administrative authority seemed far greater than that of Dongsheng's Cultivator Alliance.
At the very least, the Cultivator Alliance could not appoint or remove the leaders of the Twelve Greats.
But that was not actually the case. Above the Council of Elders stood Star Palace, the true administrator of Central Province's affairs.
It was simply that Star Palace rarely involved itself in matters, delegating most of its authority to the Council of Elders while remaining aloof and mysterious.
But it would not be accurate to say that it did nothing at all. Every major decision of the Council of Elders had to receive Star Palace's approval.
That was why many city lords of the first-tier cities bypassed the Council of Elders and contacted Star Palace directly.
Huo Jiujian, for instance, was nominally the city lord of Great Leaf City, but he actually came from Star Palace.
A slightly more vivid analogy would be this: the Council of Elders was like a puppet emperor, a stamp-approval machine.
Star Palace, meanwhile, was the retired emperor who held real power—except this retired emperor truly rarely handled affairs.
Even more aloof than Star Palace was Four Sages Mountain,