Vivienne frowned slightly as the hours dragged on.Perhaps she had overestimated these people.From the way they had been moving around in secret, gathering supporters, watching Emily’s residence and carefully protecting their identities, she had expected them to be far more decisive. Yet after everything Kai had done to force their hands, the rumours, the false report about Emily’s cultivation deviation, the deliberately weakened barrier, they were still hesitating.Then again, she had to admit Kai’s plan was working exactly as intended.The elders had already sent several reports back to Emily throughout the day. Their trusted disciples had noticed the same people moving strangely between different sections of the settlement, quietly asking questions, watching Emily’s residence and meeting in places where they had no obvious reason to gather. Allen had even personally confirmed that some of the cultivators belonged to the same group Kai had already identified.They could arrest them

Kai thinking about the news and, for a brief second, his expression did something strange. His brows drew together while the corner of his mouth lifted at the same time, leaving him caught somewhere between irritation and amusement. It looked almost like someone had reached across a board he had been arranging carefully and moved one of his pieces without permission. He had expected the conspirators to react once they believed Emily was dead, but spreading the news this quickly meant somebody behind them was either more impatient than he thought or had already prepared the next stage long before tonight.Emily noticed the look immediately. “What?”Kai did not answer at once. Outside, the settlement was getting louder by the minute, voices carrying between camps as cultivators repeated the same statement with increasing certainty. Emily was dead. Some claimed she had been assassinated in seclusion. Others insisted her cultivation deviation had killed her before anyone could help. Nobo

The voice belonged to a man standing not far from the front, close enough that the elders on the platform could see him clearly the moment the surrounding cultivators instinctively made space. He was an elder from one of the larger sects stationed in the wasteland, old enough to carry influence but still considerably younger than Harkan, and judging by the people who immediately shifted closer to him, his objection had not been made on impulse. He stepped forward with his chin raised and repeated himself more firmly. “No. We haven’t agreed to this.”The murmuring that had only just begun to settle returned at once. Elder Harkan remained where he stood, showing neither anger nor surprise, while the Grand Elder looked down at the man with narrowed eyes. “What exactly are you objecting to?”“The succession.” The elder did not hesitate. “Leader Emily may have trusted Elder Harkan, and nobody here is denying what he has contributed over the years, but being trusted by one person does not a

The pressure did not remain without a source for long. From the far side of the assembly, a group of cultivators began moving through the crowd, and wherever they passed, people instinctively forced themselves aside despite the weight pressing down on them. There were not many of them, perhaps a dozen at most, but every single one carried enough strength to stand apart from the ordinary elders gathered in the wasteland. At their centre walked a broad-shouldered man dressed in dark robes, his face hard and his steps unhurried, as though the thousands of people struggling beneath his aura were already beneath his authority.Kai’s eyes narrowed slightly.So this was where the loose thread led.The group climbed onto the makeshift stage without asking permission. Allen tried to move, but the pressure immediately concentrated around him, forcing his body stiff before he could take more than a step. Elder Sophia fared little better, while the Grand Elder’s expression turned ugly as he strug

The reaction did not come all at once. It moved through the wasteland in waves, beginning with those closest to the stage before rolling outward through the thousands gathered behind them. For a heartbeat there was only stunned silence, then someone recognized Kai, another recognized Abigail, and suddenly the people who had known them before their disappearance began reacting very differently from everyone else. Those who had remained loyal to Emily and the old command structure visibly relaxed, as if the weight that had been sitting on their shoulders since the rebellion began had finally been lifted. A few disciples even shouted Kai’s name, and once the first cheer broke through, several others followed, relief quickly becoming excitement.The reaction on the other side was nothing like that.Cultivators who had known Kai before but had chosen to support the rebellion went pale almost immediately. Some stopped breathing properly, while others instinctively took half a step backward