The people in the arena had pure thoughts—nothing but victory and defeat.
But the spectators outside had far more tangled thoughts. The battle between Mu Leizheng and Ao Donglai involved complex forces on every side. After Dongfang Da Qian's death, the Human Seed Cult behind Mu Leizheng had reconciled with the Sealed Lords and formed a cooperative relationship.
The Human Seed Cult had also contributed to the campaign to destroy the Golden Immortal Path, and the relationship between the two sides had grown increasingly harmonious.
This time, Mu Leizheng used avenging her former master as a pretext to threaten the Heavenly Pillar, but in truth, this was the Human Seed Cult testing the waters in the southeastern provinces.
After the Zhou Clan Western Sect split into two branches, one heading north and the other south, leaving aside the northern branch for now, the southern branch was led by the legitimate son Zhou Ding and the matriarch Zhu Qinghua, who attached themselves to Zhou Nanwang of Lihuo Prefecture.
As time passed, the Zhou Clan Western Sect swiftly filled the power vacuum left by the Great Prince's death, its influence spreading across several southeastern provinces.
Yet things were destined not to go smoothly. The Zhou Clan split apart.
The concubine-born son Zhou Ti, borne by Little Madam Qi, unexpectedly grew a rebellious streak. Proud of his maternal bloodline, he joined forces with a group of subordinates and split off to form the "Qi Family."
This was clearly the result of multiple forces fanning the flames from behind the scenes, following the example of Zhou Nanwang's old story of splitting the Zhou Clan into the eastern and western sects.
Zhou Ding had been unable to stop it. He was seriously wounded by a mysterious expert, leaving the group leaderless and allowing the Qi