The losses were catastrophic. Simply maintaining the existence of these informants required an astronomical amount of funding every year.
The key was that these losses could not be measured in money. Every operative had been carefully selected and cultivated with time and effort; they had not been recruited blindly. If they casually picked people who could easily be exposed, everyone would have to guard against them—how could they still serve as spies?
The Nine Saints had built this up bit by bit over several centuries. It was not something that could be replaced whenever they pleased.
Most fatal of all, losing their surveillance over the various powers of the world meant losing their ability to restrain them—especially at a time like this, when those with treacherous ambitions were plotting rebellion.
Du Wuxu said, "What the hell is Yuan Se up to?"
What Great Yuan Sacred Land had done was simply unbelievable. There was no telling how it could possibly benefit Yuan Se.
Misty Pavilion had adopted a system in which each side took turns holding power precisely because they believed that none of them would ever do anything to harm their own fundamental interests.
Granny Snow chuckled darkly. "Yuan Se suddenly becoming unreachable was suspicious enough. Now it seems he has become a second Lü Wushuang. Something must have happened to him, or he would never have destroyed his own foundation."
Everyone's gazes gradually turned toward Luo Qiu.
Lan Daolin said heavily, "Luo Qiu, tell us honestly. What exactly did you do to Yuan Se?"
Luo Qiu fixed him with an icy stare. "I already said it. I did nothing to him. I did not even harm a single hair on his head."
The others only half believed him. Logically speaking, it truly seemed unlikely that he could have done