At Cloud Summit Peak, in the Council Hall, the elders gathered to discuss the latest urgent report from the Zhilin World: the complete annihilation of Falcon Hall's elite force.
Since the Heavenly Realms Alliance's founding, all parties had established rules requiring the Grand Elders of the great sects to attend deliberations at the beginning of each month and jointly decide Alliance affairs. These mostly concerned the Alliance's major policies and matters involving Heaven-Tier Powerhouses, rather than other specific business.
Urgent matters were generally discussed by the Political Affairs Hall itself according to established principles. It would draw up a plan of action, then submit it to the Six Founding Elders behind the scenes.
Naturally, a matter such as Falcon Hall's annihilation also fell to the Political Affairs Hall to handle first.
The Political Affairs Hall's members were envoys personally appointed by the various powerhouses. They were generally Earth Rank Spirit Tamer elders selected from the great sects-and not ordinary Earth Rank elders, but Probationary Grand Elders or members of an Elders' Council. Those with the greatest authority could directly represent a Founding Alliance Elder, such as Bai Aoxue, appointed by Fang Qianyuan, and Bei Yetang, appointed by Tian Heng.
Each faction held three to five seats. All members attended only the assembly at the beginning of the month; at other times, they rotated duties. So long as the duty elders from the Ten Great Sects and Five Great Aristocratic Clans were present, the hall could function normally.
The duty elders differed in temperament, preferences, and beliefs, but all had to follow the Alliance's rules and protect their own sects' interests. In practice, the decisions they could make were much the same.
Around the hall, seven trapezoidal flights of steps rose tier by tier. At the top of each stood an