For three decades, the sprawling, gold-gilded pavilions of the Peng Estate had stood as an untouchable monument to wealth and influence in the northern district of Thousand Waves City. Within its highly fortified walls, the air usually carried the scent of expensive spirit-tea and the quiet, unshakeable confidence of absolute authority.
But by the time the sun reached its zenith today, that pristine atmosphere had been violently, irreversibly shattered. The news of the Jin Clan's grand assembly hadn't just arrived at their gates; it had detonated like a high-tier spiritual bomb.
Because the Peng Clan and the Jin Clan had stood as equal titans for so long—both boasting bottomless treasuries and formidable arrays of Golden Core experts—the reaction sweeping through the Peng Estate was not one of existential terror. They did not fear being suddenly wiped off the map by a rival army.
