Meanwhile, as Li Qian and Sun Ruirui were engrossed in their chat, the owner of Hongqiao Manor, Sun Hongyi, stood on the coast not far away, his brow deeply furrowed.
He was discussing something with a group of people of various ages—a group that comprised some of the most formidable individuals in all of Zhonghai City.
At this moment, they were in a conference hall at the top of one of Central Beach’s nineteen high towers.
As it happened, this matter was directly related to an attack Li Qian had experienced not long ago.
That attack had given Li Qian a glimpse of true high-level combat in Zhonghai City, and it had also forced him to recognize his own weakness.
Yes, it was precisely the incident where the four beasts, led by the Two-Headed Evil Flood Dragon, brazenly assaulted the city. That event opened many people’s eyes and sounded an alarm in their minds.
It made them realize that the world was not the peaceful, stable place they had imagined. It was fraught with danger, even on the Ancestral Star.
It had been little more than half a month since the four beasts’ assault on the city. Half a month was enough time for many things to fade, but it was also enough for others to fester and escalate.
The city assault had not only shaken Li Qian, but it had also left the true upper echelon of Zhonghai City’s fighters deeply unsettled.
While Qiu Saint had deliberately allowed the Pet Beasts to approach the coastline for his own purposes, it didn’t mean Zhonghai City could simply rest easy.
Of course, only Qiu Saint himself knew his true intentions for letting those three beasts—the Sharp-beaked Howling Shark, the Azure Dragon Turtle, and the Cloud Whale Beast—approach Central Beach, and whether he was trying to bait a trap.
Judging by the results, however, he had indeed hooked a fish. The only problem was that the fish was a little too big and had snapped the line.
After the assault, Qiu Saint had taken the lead, immediately forming an Elite squad to launch a surprise attack on the Milo Trench.
Their plan was to strike like lightning, launching a sudden attack to seal the Dimensional Rift that had appeared out of nowhere.
More than half a month had passed, and the operation was long over. However, judging from their crestfallen expressions, the outcome was far from ideal.
In the very center of the conference hall, Qiu Saint sat on a chair. He scanned the room, cleared his throat, and then began to speak, "The reason I’ve called you all here again today is not to debrief the last operation."
"The result... there’s nothing worth debriefing," he continued without pausing. "At least a dozen Holy Spirit-level Pet Beasts came out of that Dimensional Rift near the Milo Trench. Our small squad was completely outmatched."
At this, Qiu Saint sighed in frustration.
The last operation had truly caught them off guard. They had thought there would be two or three Holy Spirit-level Pet Beasts near the Dimensional Rift at most. Who would have thought there would be seven or eight.
A Beast Master with a square jaw, one who hadn’t been present during the city assault, spoke up. "Qiu Saint, are we really just going to let things take their course?"
As soon as the square-jawed Beast Master finished, someone else chimed in, "He’s right, Qiu Saint. A dozen Holy Spirit-level Pet Beasts are certainly terrifying, but it’s not a problem we can’t solve if we muster all of Zhonghai City’s Beast Master teams."
Qiu Saint remained silent. Yue Saint, who stood beside him, picked up where the other left off. "We could certainly handle them, but at what cost in casualties? We must ask ourselves if it’s worth it."
Just then, someone thought of a name and called it out, "We could ask Yin Chuan Shuo for help..."
Flower Saint, a woman standing with Yue Saint, immediately objected, her tone stern. "Absolutely not. Yin Chuan Shuo is holding the line at Celestial Sea City. You all know that place is every bit as important as Zhonghai City. We are not to call upon him for aid unless there is absolutely no other choice."
"Then what are we supposed to do?" one of the Beast Masters asked in complete resignation.
Qiu Saint stepped in to smooth things over, easing the tense atmosphere. "It’s true that we shouldn’t trouble Yin Chuan Shuo with this."
Yue Saint understood Qiu Saint’s meaning and picked up the conversation again, "We’ve gathered you here today precisely to tell you what we’re going to do next."
"Everyone here has reached at least the Emperor Level. You are the pillars of Zhonghai City. In the coming upheaval, we will need to shoulder more responsibility."
He gathered his thoughts before explaining, "Old Mo wasn’t wrong about one thing just now. If we were to mobilize the majority of Zhonghai City’s high-level Beast Master forces, we could indeed suppress, and perhaps even seal, that Dimensional Rift."
"The casualties would be immense, but I have no doubt that everyone here has the courage to fight to the death for their home."
He took a deep breath, and his tone shifted abruptly. "However, what I want to say is that doing so... would be pointless."
"Some of you may already be aware of certain information, while others might still be in the dark. So, I will clarify the situation for everyone now."
Seeing their reactions, he delivered the bombshell slowly and deliberately. "In the past half-month, Dimensional Rifts have appeared one after another in the Extreme North Icefield, the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, the Guanxi Tomb Complex, and on Flaming Island in the South Sea."
"And the Level of some of these Dimensional Rifts is no lower than the one in the Milo Trench."
The moment Yue Saint’s words left his mouth, sharp intakes of breath could be heard throughout the conference hall as many of the Beast Masters gasped.
"That’s impossible!"
"What in the world is happening to the Ancestral Star?"
Some Beast Masters even cried out in disbelief. Keep in mind, everyone attending was an Emperor Level Beast Master at minimum. With their level of power, there was little they hadn’t seen or experienced. Yet, this news still sent shockwaves through their hearts.
"The question isn’t what’s happening to the Ancestral Star, but what in the world is happening inside the Dimensional Rifts!"
East Saint, who had been quiet until now, was wearing an unconventional Taoist robe. At this moment, he couldn’t help but speak up: "I’m sure you all understand that planar fusion is an irreversible trend. Why was no one worried about it before?"
"Because we all knew that people strive for better things, just as water flows downhill. Pet Beasts aren’t idiots. Compared to the Dimension Planes, the Ancestral Star is a barren wasteland."
After a sweeping gaze, he sighed. Then, with a deeply complex expression, he said something that sent a chill down everyone’s spine. "But for a remote, barren place like this, why are so many Pet Beasts pouring out through the Dimensional Rifts? Among them are a not-insignificant number of Holy Spirit-level Pet Beasts. When you really think about it... isn’t that horrifying?"