The standoff between Zhongda Academy and the Federation Comprehensive Academy lasted far longer than the fat man had expected. Luoyou City remained quiet, but battles kept erupting outside it. Finding themselves unable to enter Luoyou City, Zhongda Academy simply switched to striking the reinforcements. They began repeatedly intercepting the Federation Comprehensive Academy's reinforcements, sparing no expense in the ferocity of their attacks.
If the technology in Ren Wenzhou's hands fell to any one of the Six Great Academies, it would allow that academy to swiftly pull ahead of the other five. How could Zhongda Academy willingly let it fall into someone else's hands?
What was more, the man trapped inside was Mi Xiaqing, the beloved disciple of Zhongda Academy's Academy Head. Reportedly, to rescue their junior fellow disciple, his two senior fellow disciples had brazenly led teams out themselves to slaughter the Federation Comprehensive Academy's reinforcements.
Naturally, the Federation Comprehensive Academy did not want this technology to fall into Zhongda Academy's hands either. If they withdrew now, not only would their prestige suffer, but their earlier losses would have been for nothing. The Federation Comprehensive Academy likewise deployed all its experts, continually sending out teams of Card Adepts. To make Zhongda Academy's interceptions more difficult, they split into numerous small units and moved out simultaneously.
The war rapidly spread.
So far, however, all the fighting had taken place in the Common Districts. The Five Great Districts remained peaceful. Most disappointing of all was the Federation Government's attitude. It issued only a toothless statement expressing the hope that both sides would cease fire as soon as possible and preserve peace.
The Federation Government's weakness provoked widespread public dissatisfaction, and its prestige promptly sank to a historic low. Local powerbrokers in many places began gathering forces on a large scale to defend