News of the Water Moon Sacred Land spread.
It had originally been meant to deter the Nine Li Dynasty, but unexpectedly, the Xuanwu Kingdom's royal family reacted the most strongly.
The Xuanwu Kingdom was merely a small nation. To preserve this modest foundation, its royal family had exhausted every effort and always possessed a strong sense of crisis.
Previously, the Water Mirror Sect and Phantom Moon Sect had been at odds, which had been good news for the royal family.
The royal family could draw upon the strength of both sects without needing to guard against them.
But now, the two sects had merged.
They had become the Water Moon Sacred Land and obtained the Water Moon Fairy's legacy. Their rise was now unstoppable.
This had practically become a mortal threat to the Xuanwu royal family.
"Will our Xuanwu royal family have to live at the mercy of the Water Moon Sacred Land from now on?"
"That might not necessarily be a bad thing. With the Water Moon Sacred Land around, if the Nine Li Dynasty becomes wary, perhaps it will no longer continue sending troops against our country."
"Strong enemies outside, troubles within—where is the way out for our royal family?"
An old man at the peak of the Spirit Transformation Realm swept his gaze over everyone present.
There were only eight Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators in total.
The remaining several dozen were all in the Nascent Soul Realm.
These people were all experts from the Huyan Clan branch of the Xuanwu royal family. Every one of them hung their heads in dejection, without a trace of fighting spirit.
"At this point, we have only two paths before us."
"The first is to simply have the entire nation submit to the Nine Li Imperial Family and become its vassal.