After a moment of silence, William Foster suddenly let out a long sigh and said, "The Li family is actually one of the luckier ones. Take the thousand-year-old noble family The Harris Family in the east of the city—out of three hundred and fifty members, only thirty-seven survived. It's truly a tragedy beyond words. In this great war, our Tianque Sect lost seventeen Jindan-stage cultivators and one hundred and twenty-four Condensation-stage cultivators. From now on, our days will be much harder."

Yvonne Foster's body trembled violently, and she looked at her father in disbelief. The The Harris Family family in the east of the city also possessed the bloodline of gods and demons, and their bloodline was said to be even stronger than that of the The Foster Family, known as one of the "Top Ten Strongest Bloodlines in Shenzhou." Ever since the The Harris Family were recruited by the sixth-generation ancestor of Tianque, they had produced many experts and served as the right-hand men of the sect leaders throughout the generations. In this generation alone, there were nine Jindan-level experts in the clan. Who would have thought that today, they would almost be wiped out?

Even such a powerful family couldn't protect themselves? Yvonne Foster secretly clenched her fists. It seemed that tomorrow, she would have to increase the gravity talisman to ten times.

Chapter 6: Council

In the early hours before dawn, in the side hall of the Tianque Palace atop Mount Lang, six people were seated on the floor.

Seated at the center in the highest position was an old man with white hair and a youthful face, his long beard reaching his chest. There was a faint electric light in his eyes, giving the impression that he could see through people's hearts. His every glance exuded natural authority. He was none other than the ninth-generation sect leader of Tianque, Samuel Turner, who had dominated the cultivation world for over a century. The other five were also leading figures of Tianque, top experts in the cultivation world.

On the left were two people: the secular head of Tianque in charge of registered disciples, Matthew Harris, and the patriarch of the sect's largest clan, the Lieshan family, Eric Turner. On the right were the heads of the three main halls within Tianque: the head of the Patrol Hall, David Turner; the head of the Intelligence Hall, Andrew Turner; and the head of the Logistics Hall, who managed all internal affairs and finances, Benjamin Turner.

At this moment, all six wore expressions of deep sorrow and solemnity, and the entire council hall was shrouded in a gloomy, mournful atmosphere.

"The statistics from the Logistics Hall are in. This time, our Tianque Sect lost seventeen Jindan-stage cultivators, one hundred and twenty-four Condensation-stage cultivators, and two hundred and forty-three below Condensation stage. The The Harris Family family in the east of the city was nearly wiped out. In Fenglin Town, over 2,500 civilians died, and the number of wounded is countless—" The head of the Logistics Hall, Benjamin Turner, was the only woman among the six. As she read the report, this elegant, fairy-like woman’s voice was already choked with sobs.

"Hmph! Fenglin Town is surrounded by mountains, with seven peaks encircling it. Each mountain is guarded by two hundred patrol disciples, who keep watch day and night. While it may not be an impenetrable fortress, if a major enemy approached, they could at least send up a signal flare. Yet this time, the enemy managed to infiltrate the town without a sound. I believe the Patrol Hall cannot escape blame!" The speaker, with a broad face and large ears, was the Lieshan family patriarch, Eric Turner. As he spoke, his beard and hair bristled with anger. The The Harris Family in the east and the Lieshan family were both among the four great houses of Tianque. Although they sometimes clashed over power and profit, seeing the The Harris Family nearly exterminated, Eric Turner couldn't help but feel a sense of shared fate.

"This attack was indeed partly the responsibility of my Patrol Hall. My own mismanagement is to blame, and I will resign as head and report to the Discipline Hall for punishment tomorrow. However—" The Patrol Hall head, David Turner, first looked remorseful and ashamed, but when he said "however," his tone suddenly hardened, tinged with anger. "However, at Tianzhu Mountain, which the enemy passed through, out of the two hundred patrol disciples stationed there, seventeen turned out to be spies who had infiltrated our sect. That’s why they couldn’t even send out a distress signal. So the Discipline Hall, which is under the Elders’ Council, should also bear some responsibility. Moreover, with so many Jindan experts gathering in the State of Chu, the Intelligence Hall was completely unaware. I wonder how the head of the Intelligence Hall explains this?" With that, he glared angrily at Andrew Turner.

But Andrew Turner didn’t even lift his eyelids. In a calm, unruffled tone, he said, "Since fifteen years ago, the Intelligence Hall’s budget has been cut to sixty percent of what it was, and our staff reduced to less than eight hundred. To simultaneously monitor the seven external halls, the Patrol and Logistics Halls’ sixty-seven thousand inner disciples, and hundreds of thousands of registered disciples, as well as the movements of all the major sects on the Central Continent, is somewhat beyond our capacity. Therefore, in my humble opinion, the Intelligence Hall bears no responsibility for this incident."

"Andrew Turner! You old scoundrel! Three hundred lives lost in my Patrol Hall, and you want to close the case with 'beyond our capacity'?" David Turner was furious, stood up and pointed at Andrew Turner's nose, about to curse him out, when suddenly Samuel Turner shouted, "Enough!" David Turner had no choice but to sit back down, still fuming.

Samuel swept his gaze over the five present, sighed, and said slowly, "Now is not the time to assign blame. Benjamin Turner, is the rescue work in the town arranged?"

"Yes, Sect Leader. After the attack, I immediately organized four hundred disciples skilled in the Healing Arts to rescue the wounded. Housing has been arranged to temporarily shelter the affected people. Also, since it’s midsummer, if the bodies are left unattended for long, there may be an outbreak of plague. The day after tomorrow, I plan to hold a mass burial ceremony, and I would like to ask the Sect Leader to personally preside."