Deep within the Heavenly Dragon Sect's palace.
Dim candlelight made the atmosphere in the great hall all the more oppressive. The leaders of several factions sat around a long table, their secret plot to determine the continent's future drawing to a close.
Xu Jiawei sat at the head of the table. He tapped the tabletop twice with his fingertips, drawing everyone's attention.
"Since none of you have any objections, we'll proceed according to this plan."
His imposing face betrayed no unnecessary emotion, and his tone carried an unquestionable resolve.
"Secrecy brings success; loose tongues bring ruin."
"Minghuang Academy and the Spirit Medicine Pavilion have foundations that run too deep. If we openly declare war, we'll inevitably drag countless tangled webs of interests into it. Once complications sprout, none of us will come out ahead."
Everyone present nodded in agreement.
Gongsun Shu, master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, gently waved his folding fan and picked up the thread.
"Your Majesty is absolutely right. We've all experienced that woman's methods. If she catches even a whisper of this, the entire board becomes a dead game."
"So we must be swift, and we must be ruthless."
Xu Jiawei settled the matter with finality.
"First, we concentrate all our high-level fighting forces and strike like thunder to eliminate that woman named Ju Zi."
"Once she dies, the three major factions will be dragons without a head. They'll inevitably descend into chaos."
"Once the raw rice has been cooked and the outcome is settled, we can sit down at our leisure and discuss how to divide this fat prize."
With that, the hunting alliance's core strategy was set.
To these lofty figures, destroying a dazzling young talent was fundamentally no different from crushing an ant.
The Heavenly Dragon Sect's grounds.
Grand Elder Long Tianxuan