Chapter 963: Treatment P3: The Art of Planning Ten Steps Ahead

Humeyin and Selene eventually drank their share of the tea.

The moment the warm liquid touched their tongues, both of them felt a subtle difference.

It was refreshing.

The tea carried a delicate sweetness, followed by a faint floral fragrance that lingered in the mouth.

It seemed the blend was achieved by processing the tea leaves along with various other rare Spirit resources. Indeed, such a mixed blend couldn’t be replicated unless one knew the entire process from start to finish.

There was no overpowering bitterness or harsh aftertaste. Instead, the flavor slowly unfolded with every sip, leaving behind a comfortable warmth that spread through the body.

Humeyin lowered her cup slightly and looked at the tea leaves floating inside it.

"It is quite good," she said.

Selene nodded as well.

"It is."

Neither of them had been particularly interested in drinking tea at the start as they had major matters to attend to and discuss. They had simply accepted it because their host Aksai had insisted.

But now that they knew the circumstances surrounding it, the same tea tasted somewhat different.

This particular blend was produced in Orveth (previously known as Dadangar Subcontinent) natively.

And after Aksai left, there was a good chance that it would never appear.

The thought made the seemingly ordinary cup of tea feel strangely precious.

Selene took another small sip before placing her cup down.

After remaining silent for some time, she finally spoke.

"It is truly unfortunate that you will have to leave your home, Lord Aksai."

Aksai shook his head.

"What would be truly unfortunate is if I were forced to stay here against my wishes."

Selene paused before nodding in understanding.

"That is true."

She glanced toward Humeyin before looking back at Aksai.

"But it is still a pity for us as well. The Blackblood Sect was only beginning to warm up to you and your island. The Sect Master was going to—"

Selene suddenly stopped.

Her expression changed.

Her eyes became sharper as though she had just noticed something that required her immediate attention.

Selene reached into her storage ring and took out a palm-sized, flat crystal. The crystal was translucent and carried several faint lines of light across its surface.

She pressed two fingers against it and sent a strand of consciousness inside. Her attention immediately shifted toward the information contained within.

For several breaths, she remained completely still.

Aksai quietly drank his tea.

He did not ask what had happened.

Selene was an intelligence operator.

If she had stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence to check a freshly delivered report, then it was obviously something important.

After a short while, Selene’s eyebrows rose.

The information confirmed much of what Aksai had already told them.

The royal faction was no longer merely preparing for war.

It had entered open war against the regional sects.

And with the borrowed might of the imperial cultivators behind them, the royal faction had managed to establish an iron grip over a large portion of the mainland.

Sects had been wiped out.

Their territories had been seized.

Their Spirit resource sites had been occupied.

Their treasures and inheritances had been confiscated.

Places that had existed for centuries were disappearing one after another beneath the overwhelming pressure of the imperial forces.

Only the Big Five Sects were still putting up meaningful resistance.

But even that resistance appeared increasingly fragile.

There was no telling how long they could continue standing before the imperial forces eventually swept over them as well.

The situation in the Wild Devil Lands wasn’t any better.

In fact, it had become even more chaotic.

The movements of the Mroot Yaksha Sect had thrown another layer of uncertainty into an already unstable region.

Selene slowly withdrew her consciousness from the crystal.

She looked at Aksai.

There was a strange expression in her eyes.

Half surprise.

Half appreciation.

"Lord Aksai," she said, "you acted way too fast."

Aksai raised an eyebrow.

Selene turned the crystal once in her hand before continuing.

"It seems you have already disbanded the Emerald Cove Guild back on the mainland."

Aksai didn’t immediately respond.

"When one of the imperial factions currently active on the mainland came to raid the guild in Wuyum County, all they managed to get their hands on were a few trinkets you deliberately left behind."

A faint smile appeared on Selene’s face.

She looked at Aksai with newfound respect.

As someone who specialized in intelligence, Selene understood just how difficult such a decision was.

Predicting the future was one thing. Receiving an intelligence report was another aspect of it.

But... acting on that prediction was another.

And acting decisively enough to sacrifice one’s present interests for the sake of an uncertain future required an entirely different kind of courage.

Most cultivators would hesitate.

Especially cultivators who had spent decades or centuries building their influence.

If someone possessed a powerful organization, an established territory, countless followers, and enormous resources, abandoning all of it simply because the situation looked unfavorable was easier said than done.

Most would try to preserve what they had.

They would gather their forces.

Strengthen their defenses.

Call upon their allies.

They would tell themselves that perhaps the situation could still be changed.

A powerful Lord was no different.

In fact, the stronger a person becomes, the harder such decisions could become.

Power naturally came with pride.

And pride made people reluctant to abandon something they had built with their own hands.

Selene had seen plenty of such examples. From the reports, it seemed that the Purple River Lord was one of them.

He had decided to resist the imperial invasion with everything he had.

It wasn’t because he couldn’t understand the difference in strength.

He could.

He knew perfectly well that fighting the imperial forces with the strength currently available to the Purple River Sect was little different from trying to break a wall by throwing eggs at it.

Yet he still chose to remain.

A part of him simply refused to accept that he would be driven from his own home.

He was the Sect Master of one of the Big Five Sects.

His pride would not allow him to abandon his position without a fight.

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AN: From now onwards, we will refer to the Dadangar Subcontinent as Orveth.