"Everyone, I'm sure you already know what happened before. Those cultivators from the Misty Wave Kingdom have gone far too far! They used the assassination attempt on Yao Lingxian as a pretext to falsely implicate people everywhere, taking away Fellow Daoist Huang, Fellow Daoist Lin, Fellow Daoist Lu, and others one after another..."
"And they even colluded with pirates to break through Ruoshan Ward's grand array! Although they didn't come ashore to plunder afterward, how was that conduct any different from the bandits who run rampant across the seas? If others follow their example, what safety or peace will Ruoshan Ward have left?"
"Exactly! What does the assassination attempt on Yao Lingxian have to do with our merchant association? I suspect they invented the whole excuse themselves, just to give their military action a veneer of legitimacy!"
"Things have come to this-why worry about finding a pretext? It looks like it's time to teach them a proper lesson and show that lot what we're made of!"
"Yes! We absolutely cannot keep giving ground, or the entire West Sea will make a laughingstock of us!"
Inside the Council Hall on Jade Lang Mountain, everyone had gathered for a heated discussion.
As their words grew impassioned, many were visibly moved, their faces brimming with righteous indignation.
Ever since Li Ling had come to the West Sea and established the foundation of the incense market, certain conflicts had been destined to become irreconcilable.
At its core, the rise of the incense market meant forcibly carving a share of the profits out of the existing order and handing it to the Incense Accumulation Sect.
Although some of that involved value created by the Incense Path, which could continue to grow, not everyone could keep pace with Li Ling and adapt to changing circumstances.
Whenever