As time passed, undercurrents had long been churning without rest.
Across the many cultivation kingdoms of the inland, forces of every side harbored ulterior motives. Petty moves came one after another as they tested, plotted against, and arranged schemes for one another. A silent storm was brewing.
An imperceptible yet all-pervasive undercurrent had quietly swept through the entire inland cultivation world, as though an invisible giant net were slowly drawing tight.
Yet—
On the surface, the major powers still maintained their last scraps of dignity and restraint.
After all, any Mortal Cultivator capable of becoming the master of a faction had weathered countless bloody battles and possessed deep, calculating minds. No one wished to tear off the mask so easily and become the bird that stuck its head out first.
Thus, whether they were supreme powers standing high above, with Nascent Soul Ancestors holding down their ranks—
Or the pillars of the realm, entrenched in their respective territories and guarded by Golden Core True Persons—
Even small clans with shallow foundations, supported only by Foundation Establishment Mortal Cultivators, still observed the rules in public and preserved a false peace.
But the most numerous small clans of the Qi Refining Realm could no longer hold themselves back.
The friction and conflicts between them became ever more apparent and frequent. What had begun as covert contests and struggles over spirit lands gradually escalated into bloody fights in marketplaces and the plundering of resources.
Moreover, as time went on, these struggles had completely shifted from secret contests into the open.
More unsettling still, these disputes spread like a wildfire, gradually reaching Foundation Establishment forces and even drawing them into the fray in person.
The situation grew increasingly tense; before the mountain rain came, the wind had already filled the tower.
In the blink