After discussing matters with Celestial Xia, Councilor Lan saw that Celestial Xia's attitude was incomparably firm and knew there would likely be no result this time. Fortunately, he had not held much hope to begin with; he had merely come to try his luck.
Yet he still did his utmost to maneuver and probe, attempting to discover Celestial Xia's true aims and where their bottom line lay.
Elder You and Daoist Feng answered without a drop of water leaking through, while appropriately revealing certain information they had deliberately intended Origin Xia to learn.
In the end, seeing that he could no longer pry out anything useful, Councilor Lan returned to the Two Halls on the pretext of going back to seek instructions from the Upper Layer.
He reported to the several councilors above, "Celestial Xia is determined this time, yet they have not shut the door on negotiations. But unless we have something sufficient to move these people, it seems they will not retreat easily."
Councilor Xiang asked, "What do they need?"
Councilor Lan selected the important parts of their previous conversation and recounted them. "Celestial Xia presently holds the upper hand. They absolutely will not stop at such a time. Even if we agreed to their demands, they would not truly carry them out."
Councilor Quan said sternly, "Then we continue fighting!"
Councilor Xiang pondered for a while. "Judging from Celestial Xia's attitude, they indeed intend to seek negotiations with us. But much like last time, they may be trying to drag matters out until before the one-year cycle is complete, then impose even harsher conditions upon us. At that time, we will have no choice but to accept."
The councilors here all wore grave expressions. This was indeed a problem, and they had all anticipated such a possibility.