Emerald Lake

Emerald Lake.

In the predawn hours, the sky was still dim. A faint mist shrouded the lake's surface, while several small skiffs stirred ripples in their wake.

Amid the deathly silence of heaven and earth, however, a measure of clamor had already risen from the Spiritual Emerald Mine by the lakeshore.

Emerald Lake lay in the northwestern reaches of the Ten Thousand Mountains Kingdom. In the past, due to conflicts among the various powers of the Southwest Nations, this region had remained a chaotic land beyond anyone's control.

A land of chaos, lacking any strong and effective order, naturally became a gathering place for Heretical Cultivators from every side.

The chaos had persisted for several centuries, until the Longevity Sect launched its great offensive into the Southwest and the Langya Wang Family suffered repeated crushing defeats. Perhaps to preserve their family lineage and lay down a retreat, the Langya Wang Family had long ago transferred part of its strength to establish footholds throughout the Southwest Nations.

And this lawless territory had naturally become one of the Langya Wang Family's arrangements.

Yet since the Wang Family was acting for the continuation of its lineage, it naturally could not make any grand and conspicuous moves.

After all, in Great Chu, the Longevity Sect was watching them like a tiger eyeing its prey.

And in the Southwest, the Southwest Nations had long ceased to be an era in which the Langya Wang Family could cover the sky with one hand.

The Heaven Bamboo Alliance had risen abruptly, occupying most of the Southwest and already displaying the momentum of a whale swallowing the sea.

It was not that they could not tolerate the Wang Family, but once they detected them, the outcome would either be extermination—or the fate of becoming a puppet on strings.