CHAPTER 2120  DELIBERATION OVER CONFLICT

While Lin Mu and his companions were waiting in the Inheritance grounds in these six months, other events were unfolding in various parts of the Rust Sky World.

Back in the Capital of the Dao Wind Empire, a secret meeting was currently taking place.

It happened in the temple of the Four Guardian beasts and was attended by several influential and powerful people.

Several seats were set in a circular hall, allowing all the people occupying it to have a clear view of the center where a large Formation Screen was floating.

Everyone focused on the Formation screen that depicted a rough doughnut shaped map with several borders drawn on it. The map was highly detailed, showing every twisting and winding river, edges of territory that zigzagged through the land in a nonuniform manner as well as the complex topography.

Several names also hovered on the map, labeling the territories as well as various locations within them. Ring Mist Kingdom, Rock Drop Kingdom, Great Wave kingdom, Purple Sparrow Kingdom, Cloud Fall Knight, Dragon Plane Kingdom, Dust Light Kingdom, and Steel Heart kingdom.

These were all the members of the Eight Kingdom Alliance, showing that this was a map of their continent.

"The conflict only seems to be getting worse." An old man spoke. He had a long beard that seemed to reach his waist and was bound at the bottom to his belt. One of his eyes seemed to be clouded, showing that it didn't work while the other eye had a sharp look to it.

"War Minister, we need to prepare some response to the war in the Eight Kingdom Continent." Another man dressed in the armor of a general spoke.

"General Po Jun, we need to tread carefully here, we cannot be the first ones to act." War Minister replied. "As of now, the conflict has nothing to do with us and as such we are not liable to participate in it. Isn't that correct, High Elder Juxue?" he asked looking at another old man.

This was none other than the High Elder of the temple of the four guardian beasts and was the overseer of the current meeting.

"It's correct." High Elder Juxue nodded. "As per the rules of the Immortal Court as well as the Temple of the Guardian beasts, this conflict is an internal matter of the Eight Kingdom Alliance. We do not recommend participating in it." He stated.

"But we cannot just sit around like this." General Po Jun protested. "If we don't do anything and the conflict spills over, the very balance of the entire Rust Sky World's powers can change. Their conflict can very well turn into a Transcontinental War!" he said out loud.

The people sitting in the circle were at unease after hearing this, and understandably so. No one wanted their prosperous empire to be pulled into a war, especially since all of them had vested interests in their empire and its wellbeing.

With Emperor Feng being the biggest party here.

The man in question hadn't spoken anything so far and was simply listening to the words of his counselors. 'Even here their conversation devolves into the same state…' Emperor Feng thought to himself. 'And here I thought they would be a bit better behaved under the observance of the Temple.' This was why he had requested the Temple to organize the meeting, as he wanted a better solution to be obtained while also keeping the temple aware about their actions. Emperor Feng did not want to antagonize them further after the fiasco at the Tournament.

They had already paid a heavy compensation to the temple earlier which was still hurting them. "Emperor Feng, please you have to decided!" War Minister and General Po Jun said in unison.

"Let me tell you all this… A war will not happen." Emperor Feng stated firmly. "Emperor Huiqing and the Holy Topaz Emperor have already agreed to it." He revealed.

"What!?" The two men were stunned while the other participants were left confused.

Even High Elder Juxue didn't expect something like that.

"How's that possible?" Someone questioned.

"When was this decided? There have been no diplomatic meetings in the last month!" They wondered.

~Sigh~

Emperor Feng let out a sigh, knowing that this 'unofficial' treaty would have to be revealed now.

"I've come to an agreement with the other Emperors informally that no one will start a war." Emperor Feng revealed. "We all have agreed to watch the condition of the Eight Kingdom alliance and have taken on a stance of firm observation without action." He stated. Têxt belongs to .

"That…" The people couldn't believe that the three emperors had actually managed to something like this.

As far as they knew, it was very hard for the three emperors to come to an agreement on a single thing. Even if two people agreed, there would always be a third person that would oppose it, thus leading to the plan never working out.

And yet, a resolution had been reached despite their being no long diplomatic talks. Something that had been obligatory in the past was now made obsolete by the sudden declaration.

"I give my word, that none of us will do anything. The Dao Wind Empire, the Holy Topaz Empire and the Huiqing Empire have all taken the stance of nonaggression." Emperor Feng clarified knowing that the people needed assurance.

"If you say so, Emperor Feng." Now that the ruler had given his word, there was no way they could debate it further as that would be taken as not giving face to him.

Such forceful declaration was not something Emperor Feng liked as it suppressed healthy discussion in his court. He let his counsel reach a proper agreement through conversation, but the current situation forced his hand in revealing the agreement.

Though all the people wondered the same thing… Just what had compelled the three Emperors into taking this step.

'We cannot afford a war with such a being watching us… even if he is not watching us, it would not be good to embroil those being backed by him into this conflict.' Emperor Feng thought to himself.

It was none other than the fear of Xukong that hovered over their heads. The fear that he had struck into their hearts was still fresh, and they were like moles wanting do dig a hole and hide themselves. They didn't even dare to make any noise for the fear of the fox coming to hunt them down.

Even if it might not be their fault, there was no saying when great beings like that might take offense. For someone with their power, it was as easy as blinking to get rid of all those that seemed displeasing to them. The three emperors were no fools and knew how powerhouses thought.

If something irked them, they would snap their fingers to get rid of them.

After all, they were powerhouses too and would act the same. "Emperor Feng, what about Crown Prince Feng Shun?" Someone asked. "He is currently away from the empire has gone on an expedition to the west after all." "It's fine. I've already warned him earlier of the issue and he knows how to handle things." Emperor Feng did not seem worried. 'Feng Shun also has Daoist Mu Lin with him… I doubt there could be any place safer than with him… especially with those beings watching their safety.' He thought.

He couldn't reveal this fact to the others, thus they only had to trust his judgment.

They discussed a few more topics after this that were all related to the empire and things they needed to do before an old topic arose.

It was one that had been concerning them for a long time and even involved the temple of the four guardian beasts.

~SHUA~

"Please take a look." An elder controlled the formation screen and changed the map as a red line appeared on it. "This is the route we hypothesize had been taken by the Criminal Yao Changying." He informed.

Everyone looked at the red line that ran through the map of the Dao Wind empire. It took a rather complex and winding route before finally ending up at the very south of the Empire.

"From the information we managed to collect, Yao Changying was spotted thrice. Or at the very least a person with a description matching her was spotted." The elder stated.

"Are we sure this information can be trusted?" The general asked. "You do know we cannot believe on mere rumors?" "Of course." The elder replied. "Our intelligence team has taken great efforts in tracing her Qi signatures as well as that strange Yin energy she was using. She managed to hide them well, but it was not enough.

Her injuries probably stopped her from being immaculate and that allowed her to trace her path." The Intelligence team elder clarified.

"What if she has done this intentionally to fool us?" the war minister asked. "After all, she should be well aware of the fact that we would be tracking her." He added.

"The Temple knows this and we employed some special help in verifying all this…" High Elder Juxue suddenly chimed in.

"You don't mean…" The members of the council seem to realize what the high elder meant.

"The Diviners… The Temple consulted its own diviners and has confirmed that Yao Changying took this path." High Elder Juxue clarified. ~gasp~

They were surprised by this as they all knew how good the Diviners of the temple could be. They were some of the best in the occupation and were also very expensive.

If they were working, it meant the temple was truly taking it seriously.