Let them offer their loyalty!-Chapter 1443 - 621: Ascension to the Seventh Rank!

But at that moment, Qiu Tu gently placed his hand over hers, then said calmly, "It's me."

Hearing that familiar voice, smelling that familiar scent, Guan Xiao's body stiffened for a moment, but then she forced herself to suppress her instinctive resistance.

She looked up and carefully tried to recognize where she was. Then, to her surprise, she realized that at some point, she had already entered Zhaoji's underground palace complex, with Qiu Tu right at her side!

'The Speaker's strength has improved again... way too fast.'

Thinking this, Guan Xiao couldn't help but relax a little.

Once she relaxed, Guan Xiao regained her usual seductive demeanor. She winked charmingly at Qiu Tu, then teased in a coquettish tone, "Speaker, if you wanted me to throw myself into your arms, you could have just said so~ Was it really necessary to do it yourself?"

Qiu Tu chuckled at her words.

With a wave of his hand and a thought, circles of lighting in the palace switched on, and then he spoke slowly,

"Cut it out. As soon as I reopened the area's access, you came to find me right away—something big must have happened, so you've been waiting outside, huh?"

"Go ahead, what happened to make you so anxious?"

When Qiu Tu got down to business, Guan Xiao's expression grew serious.

She climbed out of Qiu Tu's embrace, then said with all seriousness, "Speaker, you guessed right. Something did happen, and it's a major incident."

She paused, then commented, "Right now… everything outside is a mess."

"A mess?" Qiu Tu hadn't expected Guan Xiao to sum it up like that. He frowned slightly and asked, "What's going on? Tell me."

At Qiu Tu's words, Guan Xiao smoothed her soft hair, tucking stray strands behind her ear.

Only then did she answer solemnly, "While you were in seclusion these last few days, the entire Northwestern Region has turned into a cauldron of chaos."

"The situation in the entire Northwestern Region is a tangled mess."

She paused, then explained in detail, "At first, Lin Xi gained the support of the Fourth Sanctuary, and after offending the Third Sanctuary, she made a bold attack on the Sixth Sanctuary."

"Then, after taking Border State, You State, and Yun State, Lin Xi turned around and used Yanyan's identity as a traitor as pretext to detain and imprison her."

"Since Yanyan's from the Department of Internal Affairs, the Eighth Sanctuary and all four of our states collectively pressured for her release. But Lin Xi flat out refused."

"When negotiations broke down, Tang Town Guardian tried to put pressure on her, hoping to force her to release Yanyan, so he mobilized the troops, preparing for military coercion."

"But Princess Xi wasn't fazed. She wouldn't give an inch."

Qiu Tu's brow furrowed at this.

Guan Xiao continued, "Next, Lin Xi stationed troops in Fengqi State and the three states of You and Yun, to defend against attacks from the Sixth Sanctuary and our four-state alliance. While buying time, she secretly used the Mountain Root from the Fourth Sanctuary to break through to Sixth Rank right before the war."

"Because nobody expected someone like her—who'd witnessed King Kang's disastrous defeat firsthand—would dare try again, no one was on guard, and she really did manage to advance."

"Still, even though she became a Sixth Rank powerhouse, we have monsters like Jackal among the evil gods on our side, so we weren't intimidated and still wanted to keep negotiating."

"But then—who knew what possessed her—she left us behind and recklessly led the elite group to attack the Third Sanctuary's envoy group just as they were about to withdraw."

"There were many strong fighters in that delegation, not to mention Shen Yuzhou is an old-school Sixth Rank himself."

"But Shen Yuzhou is mainly a civil official, so his combat power isn't all that strong. He managed to handle Princess Xi's siege at first, but soon started to falter."

"Especially since Princess Xi's Cataclysmic ability is the 'Revenge Black Flame'—the more injured she gets, the stronger she becomes! So it wasn't long before the Third Sanctuary's envoy group took heavy losses; Shen Yuzhou was defeated and badly injured, and fled in panic."

"Princess Xi pursued relentlessly, intent on wiping out the threat. In the end, Shen Yuzhou barely escaped with his life—but only at the cost of severing his own arm."

"This whole affair created an uproar in the Human Camp—and left us dumbfounded."

"After all, all these years, each Sanctuary has kept things relatively restrained. Open fighting is rare, and attacks on senior officials even rarer. Princess Xi has just shattered all the unspoken rules between Sanctuaries."

"Now both we and the Third Sanctuary think Princess Xi has lost her mind."

"The Third Sanctuary especially can't let this go—they're preparing to send troops to reclaim their dignity."

At this point, Guan Xiao's gaze grew more severe as she said,

"In response to the Third Sanctuary's three Sixth Rank Cataclysmic Changers forming a special forces unit, Princess Xi was pushed back at every turn and then turned to the Fourth Sanctuary for help."

"Naturally, the Fourth Sanctuary ignored her. So… she went public. She exposed that her switch of Sanctuary numbers, tearing up the 'Overseas Enclave' act with the Third Sanctuary, and attacking their envoy group was all instigated by the Second and Fourth Sanctuaries."

"It was the Second and Fourth Sanctuaries who wanted to limit the Third Sanctuary, which is why they gave her so much support and issued those orders."

"And not just that—even the Sixth Sanctuary has now submitted to the Second and Fourth Sanctuaries."

"Her conquest of Border, You, and Yun states was just one giant staged show."

At this, Guan Xiao swallowed hard.

She'd worked intelligence for years, seen all kinds of big scenes—but nothing quite like this.

So she forced down her emotions and continued, "After that the Fourth Sanctuary denied and clarified. But the Third Sanctuary doesn't buy it…"

"Because… in this entire affair, it's true that the ones who benefit are the Second and Fourth Sanctuaries. And Princess Xi really did get significant support from the Fourth Sanctuary. The 'Mountain Root' is proof."

"And don't forget, Princess Xi didn't just drive out the Third Sanctuary's envoys, she also imprisoned Yanyan, and destroyed your influence over the Seventh Sanctuary."

"Add in her invasion of the Sixth Sanctuary, and really, in the whole Human Camp the only ones she hasn't provoked are the Second, Fourth, and Fifth Sanctuaries."

"Who wouldn't think it was the Second and Fourth Sanctuary pulling the strings?"

"It's not like Lin Xi and Kou Xuan are deliberately putting on an act to frame the Second Sanctuary, right?"

"What's the point? Is there any faction in the Human Camp stronger and more promising than the Second Sanctuary?"

"So… the Third Sanctuary has gone head-to-head with the Fourth Sanctuary…"

Qiu Tu: ???

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