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Not long after the court's great camp along the river had been breached in one stroke, Clear Sea City in the Southern Ridges—the site of the White Lotus Sect's headquarters—received the news with astonishing speed.
Though it was called the headquarters, it was really a magpie occupying a dove's nest. This headquarters had once been the palace of a warlord who had carved out this region during the previous dynasty, a man who styled his residence Prince Xing's Residence. After Great Rui unified the realm, it had intended to raze the place, but the founding emperor thought it would exhaust the people and waste their wealth, so he preserved it as an imperial retreat.
This imperial retreat covered a vast area, its halls stretching one after another. It might not compare to the Imperial Palace, but in sheer scale it possessed at least a tenth or two of its grandeur. It was lavish and magnificent. The White Lotus Sect had infiltrated the Southern Ridges, and its leader had set his sights on Prince Xing's Residence long ago. When they raised their banner in revolt this time, that young leader seized the residence at once, made it the sect's palace, and briefly conferred titles upon his ministers.
At that moment, several people sat around a strange stone basin in the palace's main hall.
The great basin was oval, its rim carved with decorative patterns. Water shimmered within it, reflecting the palace lights, and the rippling glow cast itself over the faces of those nearby, making their features mottled and blurred, carrying an eerie air.
At the center of the group sat a young man in a white robe embroidered with several lotus blossoms. Two five-clawed dragons