Using a minor incident between low-level cultivators as the spark, the Black Ice Palace formally declared war on the Pill Cauldron Sect and the Soaring Cloud Sect.
The war swept through every aspect of the Ba Kingdom's cultivation world.
With the Great Cultivator Nangong Tian holding the fort, the Black Ice Palace wielded overwhelming power and held an absolute advantage.
And after maneuvering to give its campaign a "just cause," it had not lost ground in public opinion either.
Soon after the war began, the situation became clear. The Pill Cauldron Sect and the Soaring Cloud Sect teetered on the brink, retreating again and again as they lost vast stretches of territory.
Having planned everything in advance, the Black Ice Palace needed only two years to threaten the gates of both sects.
For a time, the Ba Kingdom, one of the seven great nations, jumped at every whisper of wind and cry of a crane. The Black Ice Palace seemed poised to swallow mountains and rivers and "unify the realm."
Two years later.
At the Pill Cauldron Sect's mountain gate.
In the Sect Main Hall.
Only a handful of figures sat casually within the solemn, imposing hall.
Yet even the traces of aura they casually released felt as vast as mountains and seas, pressing heavily upon the soul.
Without exception, they were all Nascent Soul True Lords!
As a sect backed by a Great Cultivator, the Black Ice Palace had more than one Nascent Soul True Lord, and its disciples at every cultivation realm far outstripped those of the other two sects.
Even though no Nascent Soul cultivators had yet taken direct action, its advancing forces were already close to the Black Ice Palace's mountain gate.
For a time, the entire Pill Cauldron Sect braced for a formidable enemy. Mo