Slanting daylight fell through the temple, bright and clear, reflecting a faint red glow. The "Skull of the Ancient Sage" was enshrined upon the golden altar, giving off a slight, pure white glazed sheen, as if true immortality and divinity had condensed within it.
"A fulcrum, a breakthrough point... to lever all of Maya..."
Eastern Sea Marshal Bertad stood calmly before the "Skull of the Ancient Sage." He slowly reached out, touching the smooth, lustrous surface of the divine object, murmuring soundlessly. It was impossible to know whether the fulcrum he spoke of was the "Skull of the Ancient Sage," or this crucial negotiation that divided the tribes, sorting enemies from allies.
The meeting of the tribal envoys had begun at dawn and lasted nearly the whole day. Only when The Sun slanted west did the Main God Hall finally fall quiet again. At this moment, the setting sun shone in, leaving in the great hall only one "divine object," two silent Cocom god-descendants, and one pensive Mexica marshal.
As for the Huoyan Clan envoy, clan chief Red Bird Huoyan, he had already gone under the escort of Kingdom Warriors to the Kingdom's great camp outside Kapok City. Before carrying out more concrete troop-deployment plans and discussions, Bertad had decided to let the Huoyan chief personally see the "Highland Legion, powerful as demons." On one hand, this would give the other side confidence in conversion; on the other, it would also apply the shock of military force, making later actions easier.
At this very moment, eight thousand Coastal Legion warriors, three thousand Pudun tribal warriors, and two thousand Boa Clan militia forcibly levied into service—an army of a full thirteen thousand—were all stationed in the great camp outside the city. Of the grain and fodder supplying this army, sixty percent