At those words, the entire hall abruptly fell silent.
Every faction in the Tianli Sword Domain bore a grudge against the Tianli Sect for destroying their nations, so there was no foundation for cooperation at all. Their previous covert cooperation had amounted only to exchanging information and coordinating through unspoken understandings.
Whether it was the Jihuang Sword Palace, Nine Mandarin Duck Mountain, or the Sword Soul Sect, they all understood that their hostility toward the Mechanical Empire was irreconcilable.
The Mechanical Empire used martial artists as raw materials to extract life factors, which were essential to sustaining all its nobles and liquid metal warriors. Unless the Mechanical Empire abandoned that dependence, their relationship could not change.
Thus, no one dared openly propose such a thing.
True Lord Ziji looked at Wuyan and said solemnly, "Brother Wuyan, you had better refrain from saying such things. Back then, three Void-Piercing Great Powers of our sect fell at the Mechanical Empire's hands, and tens of millions of disciples were killed or wounded. Our Jihuang Sword Palace will never cooperate with the Mechanical Empire!"
Wuyan was neither angry nor ashamed. He simply smiled faintly and said:
"Brother Ziji, you misunderstand. By cooperation, I do not mean forming an alliance with them!"
"Then what do you mean, Brother Wuyan?"
True Lord Ziji frowned slightly, looking at True Lord Wuyan in puzzlement.
Wuyan said:
"Brother Ziji, I imagine your losses in this Beast Tide have been considerable as well!"
Ziji nodded and said:
"Indeed. The Beast Tide has surged in relentless waves. Over the past several days, we have lost many disciples in battle, and several safe cities have been destroyed. If this continues, our losses will only grow!"
Wuyan said:
"Exactly. It is the same for our Sword Soul Sect. The losses are too great,