The afternoon sun beat down fiercely on Sea God Island.
On the beach, several girls sat together on the sheltered side of a huge reef.
The mood was oppressively heavy.
Even Ning Rongrong, usually the liveliest of them all,
was biting her lip and staring blankly at the sand.
Dugu Yan stood in the middle, clutching the intelligence they had recently obtained from Sea Soul Masters on the island.
"Did everyone hear that?" Her voice was quiet but unusually strained.
She looked around and repeated the report word by word.
"Spirit Hall has founded a nation."
"Bibi Dong formally announced the founding of the Spirit Hall Empire in Spirit City."
"Every duchy and kingdom under Spirit Hall has been absorbed into its territory."
"The world is no longer divided between two great empires. Now there are three powers vying for dominance!"
Xiao Wu had been playing with a pink seashell.
Plop.
The shell slipped from her fingers, landed on the soft sand, and rolled twice.
"A nation?" Xiao Wu's voice shot up, her clear tone unable to hide her shock.
"Hasn't Spirit Hall always claimed to be a religious power?"
"Didn't they say they existed solely to serve Soul Masters across the continent?"
"How could they suddenly found a country of their own?"
Beside her, Zhu Zhuqing frowned slightly, her cool eyes grave.
"There wasn't the slightest warning. It happened too suddenly." Zhu Zhuqing calmly assessed the situation.
"Both empires must have spies throughout Spirit City, yet Heaven Dou and the Star Luo Empire didn't receive definite word until Bibi Dong made the announcement."
"What does that tell us?"
She looked at the others. "Spirit Hall prepared everything in secret long ago. The army, provisions, appointments to office—all the arrangements were completed behind the scenes."
Ning Rongrong drew a sharp