In full view of both armies, the two domain lords began accusing each other without a shred of dignity.
Their argument was growing fiercer when—
An elder from the Divine Luo Domain hurried over, a strange look on his face.
"Domain Lord, First Elder."
"We've just received the latest news..."
"Our spies in the Northern Cold Immortal Court and the Heavenly Demon Domain report..."
"They've... they've had trouble too."
"Their subordinate domains have also suffered widespread raids by an unknown force."
"The methods are identical to what we've seen here."
The elder's words struck like a boulder dropped into a still lake.
Xuanji and the Nether Emperor stopped arguing at once.
Both fell silent.
Xuanji glanced at the Nether Emperor in the distance. Even through the Demonic Qi shrouding his face, he could see the other man's astonishment.
It wasn't him?
And it wasn't me?
The same absurd yet unmistakable thought arose in both domain lords' minds.
Xuanji waved the elder away.
He turned from the Nether Emperor to Ming Luo and asked gravely, "Is the report reliable?"
"Beyond doubt." Ming Luo had never looked so grave.
"And the Ten Thousand Buddhas Realm, the Nine Nether Underworld, and the Chaotic Ancient Demon Sect... Those domains seem to be having trouble as well."
Xuanji's eyelid twitched.
At first, he had thought this was a plot by the Nether Demon Domain.
Now he discarded that notion entirely.
The Nether Demon Domain had no power to cause upheaval on this scale across all seven domains at once.
This was no mere harassment or sabotage.
It was an indiscriminate attack on every dominant power in their star region.
"The Flowing Light Domain..." Xuanji turned the three words over in his mouth.
He had thought it was merely a foothold planted deep in their territory