In the Western Wastes stood the Setting Sun Divine Palace.
It towered above the Western Wastes' countless domains. The Blazing Sun hung eternally overhead, golden clouds streamed down across the world, and endless, scorching Dao Resonance enveloped mountains and rivers for hundreds of millions of miles.
As the undisputed ruler of the Western Wastes, the Setting Sun Divine Palace possessed unfathomable foundations and experts as numerous as clouds. It had held the Western Wastes in awe for countless ages.
Every faction founded on the soil of the Western Wastes followed the Setting Sun Divine Palace's lead.
Deep within the palace, the grand and solemn Sunlit Sacred Hall stood at the center of power in the entire Western Wastes.
Ordinarily, the hall was quiet. The sages cultivated in seclusion, everyone else attended to their duties, and upheaval was rare even across the ages.
Today, however, a stifling gloom hung over the entire Sunlit Sacred Hall.
Several veteran Dao Sages sat throughout the hall, their expressions grave and brows tightly knit. Their gazes kept turning toward the Southern Border.
"Something's wrong."
"Several days have passed, yet there's been no word from Chiyan, Jin Hui, Qingyao, or Xuan Chen."
"Our messages have gone unanswered, too."
"Something must have happened..."
Dao Sage Luo Yang, seated at their head, spoke in a low voice, his eyes dark with concern.
They had chosen to send Chiyan, Jin Hui, Qingyao, and Xuan Chen to investigate the Southern Border precisely because the four tended to act cautiously rather than rashly.
They should have been able to handle any unexpected turn calmly.
They should not have drawn trouble from Bright Moon Spirit Tide Valley.
Yet news of the four had sunk like stones into the sea. The complete silence suggested they had run into trouble no one had anticipated.