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August, the 4th

The day before the flood, the vast Xiling was already desolate, even the once bustling Golden Avenue was now quiet.

However, most clans still harbored the idea of returning to their lives in Xiling once the flood subsided, hence, they sent warriors to patrol near their territories, out of fear of malicious vagabonds starting fires.

It could be said that the chiefs of the smaller clans had an optimistic attitude towards the flood. They lacked a clear understanding of the fact that the Longjiang had changed its course to the Lingjiang.

The surrounding mountains of Xiling had all been occupied by the clans, but the earth mounds and rock mountains were not permanent settlement places. Landslides were the most common collapse phenomenon during a flood. A large flood could wash away many sharp places on huge mountains due to its massive impact, causing the outer rock layers to crack and separate. Even some small mountains could be completely washed away by the flood amidst relentless landslides.

Therefore, there were probably three places in the entirety of Xiling that could truly be regarded as safe mountain ranges. One of them was the Tang Clan’s mountains north of Xiling. A hundred miles of mountain range could easily hide millions of people, but the towering and magnificent North Mountain which had stood for thousands of years since ancient times was the territory of the Fox Demon clan.

The second was located ten kilometers south of Xiling, two mountains, Yelu and Changze, run continuously for dozens of miles. Their slopes were home to the Mi Clan’s core South Ridge Beast Valley. Even though it couldn’t accommodate all of Xiling’s population, it could still reasonably contain a million people if it was crowded.

The third was Red Cloud Mountain, directly to the east of Xiling. Although its area was the smallest, this natural mineral mountain formed by Red Cloud Crystal was probably the most solid among the three. In the face of the overwhelming flood, this should be the place least affected.

Besides these three peaks, there were numerous isolated peaks, dangerous ridges, and cliffs around Xiling. Although there were plenty, at most, they could only accommodate tens of thousands of people.

Therefore, the noble families with tens of thousands as their unit of count had to seek refuge in one of the three locations. But no one dared to make this decision first. Even with the leading example of the four major clans, the various chiefs of Xiling couldn’t bring themselves to make a decision until the very last moment.

Unlike the commoners who could tremble on top of Red Cloud Mountain, the nobility had to choose a side between Tang Mi. Even though neither clan had publicly announced anything, this unwritten rule was self-evident.

Maybe for noble clans like Tang, Mi, and Xiao, they could rely on their own clan strength to survive the once-in-a-thousand-years natural disaster, but for the other clans of Xiling, if the flood does not recede for years, they have to prepare for the worst.

Xiling has over two million acres of arable land and even more vast pasture. But one flood could wash everything away. It is now August, and if the flood doesn’t subside in three months, Xiling will be frozen solid; there could be no spring ploughing in the coming year. This means that after the flood, a large-scale famine affecting the whole of Xiling will ensue.

Also, because everybody in the noble family practices martial arts, their energy consumption is more than that of an average person, meaning martial artists eat more than normal people. If it is normal times, it does not matter. But during a famine, it’s a matter of life and death.

Once the small noble families can’t withstand the famine, it will be time for large clans to act. Both Tang and Mi have uncountable amounts of food to wait for the Xiling clans to fall into misery. At that time, a bag of rice can exchange for a peak mortal realm martial artist, and a few bags of salt would move a Transcending Mortal martial artist to action. When hunger hits, the clans can only sell their in-house martial artists at a bargain. If the flood does not recede, it will come to them next.

Instead of compromising when there are no other options, it is better to seek refuge step ahead, at least to ensure some independence. The four major clans, along with the four minor families of West City, saw this and hastily ran to seek refuge with the Mi Clan.

The reason is simple: the Mi Clan has the largest number of mythical beasts in Longzhou besides the Beast Taming Sect. The Myriad Phoenix Guard, coupled with thousands of giant mythical birds, can reach any city in Longzhou for resupply within a few days. No matter how long the flood lasts, the Mi Clan never has to worry about their food supply. This is the risk resistance the top aristocratic family is capable of.

Moreover, with Mi Shen holding the Blood-Shadow Jade, the four major clans already know they cannot win the wager with Master Xu. They have to swallow their pride and join the Mi Clan. After all, once this evidence reaches the Xu Clan of Yuanzhou, any of the three armies of the Saint Family could wipe out their respective clans.

They can only take the wrong path following an initial mistake. The four major clans eventually had to pay for their greed.

The heads of the four minor families of West City were killed by Tang Sen. If there were options, they wouldn’t choose to join the Tang Clan, hence, the Mi Clan became their only choice.

People tend to follow the crowd, and the heads of the clans were no exception. They didn’t dare to act rashly because the strongest person in Xiling, Xiao Jinlin of the Xiao Clan, had yet to make a decision.

After all, the party that could truly affect the balance of power between the Tang and Mi clans was the Xiao Clan, dubbed as the third major family of Xiling, especially with the existence of “Dragon God’s Envoy,” Xiao Jinlin.

Clan chiefs of Xiling fixated their eyes on the Xiao Clan, who was ready to move at any moment. They wanted to know what the strongest person in Xiling would choose.

Is it to go true south or true north? Join the Tang Clan or the Mi Clan?

“Red Cloud Mountain, let’s go.”

Ancient and determined orders came from the Dragon War Chariot. The large troops of the Xiao Clan headed east towards Red Cloud Mountain, marching at a moderate speed and in an orderly manner.

The clan chiefs who had been keeping an eye on the movements of the Xiao Clan were completely disappointed. Xiao Jinlin was still Xiao Jinlin after all. The powerful Xiao Clan didn’t care about the towering flood, nor did they show any intention to align with Tang or Mi.

However, this, in turn, threw the difficult decision back to the various noble family heads. The Xiao Clan’s stockpile was sufficient to survive the flood, but they didn’t have as much confidence. Hence, choosing a side had become an almost unavoidable decision.

With one day left before the flood, even if there were many hesitations, one could only grit their teeth and endure.

Among the nine prestigious clans, four, namely Pan, Bie, Bai, and Wan, had already announced. Following them, the three prestigious clans, the Cao, Pei, and Wang, announced they’re heading to South Ridge Beast Valley. Suddenly, the Mi Clan’s influence completely surpassed the Tang Clan. With the Xiao Clan choosing to stay neutral, and having secured seven of the nine prestigious clans, the Mi Clan undoubtedly occupied half of the power in Xiling.

The heads of various families, who were once hesitant, have chosen to join the Mi Clan in quick succession, and one could see a large number of clan convoys heading to the south of Xiling, unstoppable.

However, just when everyone in Xiling thought the Tang Family had lost its momentum, the Wei and Zhu Clans led their clans to the northern mountains, to the surprise of all family heads.

They found it hard to believe that a profit-driven, copper-smelling noble family like the Zhu Clan would give up the Mi Clan to join the Tang Clan. The Zhu Clan leader was once famously quoted saying, “Which side should righteousness side with? Obviously, the side with more people!”

For such a person to choose the Tang Clan instead of the Mi Clan, one cannot help but fear that they might be the mole sent by the Mi Clan!?