Tang Xiao sat beside Yu Yuanzhen. His dark gray martial attire looked especially plain among the lavish robes, yet his presence was no weaker than anyone else's at the table.
Dai Tianfeng finally spoke.
His voice was not loud, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly, carrying a hard chill that had been pressed down time and again but could never be fully smoothed away:
"I received word from the Northern Frontier. Before we withdrew from Star Luo City, Eva had already sent people to take over several major towns north of Star Luo.
Her stated reason was to prevent Spirit Hall from expanding north amid the chaos, but in truth, her people reached those cities before our messengers did."
He paused, as if allowing the weight of those words to settle in everyone's hearts, before continuing:
"She had prepared for this long ago. While the Star Luo Empire was still resisting, she had already been waiting for this moment.
We thought she had come to help, but in reality, she was merely waiting for us to fall so she could carve out the piece she wanted from a corpse that had not yet fully gone cold."
The council hall fell silent for a moment. No one immediately responded. Several generals exchanged looks; some frowned slightly, while others lowered their heads to stare at the table.
Ning Fengzhi gently set the cup of tea, now slightly cool, back onto the table. The base of the cup made an extremely soft, crisp sound as it touched the surface.
"You're right."
His voice remained steady when he spoke, but his pace was slower than usual.
"Eva is indeed using this war to seek the greatest benefit for herself. I knew that from the start. She never joined the Anti-Spirit Hall Alliance for some