News that the South City squad had captured an Illusion Sect disciple was reported up through the ranks and soon reached Li Qiulan's ears.
The instant she heard it, Li Qiulan—usually cool, composed, and unreadable in joy or anger—rarely felt a flicker of interest stir within her.
Outsiders knew only that she had been born into a top noble house, possessed outstanding talent, and held great authority. Within Nine Void Mountain, her word was law, and her glory seemed boundless.
Yet no one knew that Nine Void Mountain was now rocking in the wind and rain, with undercurrents surging beneath the surface. The seemingly stable situation had long since filled with cracks, and the pressure upon her shoulders was unimaginably heavy.
The conflict between Nine Void Mountain's two major factions had already reached a white-hot pitch.
The Sect Faction and Bloodline Faction had played against and checked one another for years. Now that the great chaos had only just subsided and a reshuffling of power was imminent, their competition had grown ever more vicious and brutal. Every resource, every talented individual, every scrap of influence had to be fought for with their lives.
And she, as the Sect Faction's most dazzling young genius, had naturally become the finest bargaining chip for consolidating factional alliances and exchanging interests.
The overwhelming pressure to marry had nearly left her unable to breathe these past days.
In the past, her state of mind had been free and detached, far above worldly concerns. She could not be bothered with so-called Dao Companion marriages, focusing wholeheartedly on cultivation and living unfettered.
But times had changed.
With troubled times approaching and factions standing everywhere, everyone was banding together for self-preservation, joining strength to strength.
Her value in a political marriage had been raised without limit.
Within the