Currently, the voices within the Lan Family can essentially be divided into two types, representing the factions of the four elders—on one side is the war faction advocating continued fighting, and on the other is the peace faction advocating joining the Star Alliance.
The war faction’s thinking is simple: becoming the Great Elder of the Star Spirit Council has been the long-cherished wish of all Lan Family clan leaders and ancestors over the years, and it’s also the lifelong goal for which countless people in the Lan Family have strived.
The Lan Family has sacrificed too much for this war. Backing out now would undoubtedly waste the efforts of the ancestors, and it’s something they are truly reluctant to accept.
However, the peace faction’s reasoning is also quite persuasive; war is never a game, a single wrong step leads to continuous mistakes, and actions must not be impulsive.
Maybe the Lan Family previously had the strength to compete, but with the conclusion of the Space Barrier battle, the Lan Family was greatly debilitated, long having lost the ability to stabilize the Great Elder position. Continuing insistence could only lead the entire family to doom.
In such a case, the Lan Family might as well retreat bravely, leveraging Lan Yue’s ties with the Star Alliance, joining that organization sooner to establish their position within it.
If they wait until other families make the same choice, the influence they can wield upon joining the Star Alliance will undoubtedly be significantly reduced.
Currently, the war faction and the peace faction are equally matched; the number of supporters is similar, making this final, crucial vote fall on Clan Leader Lan Yue.
In reality, Lan Yue doesn’t have much personal ambition for power; if she were solely acting on personal emotions, she would choose the peace faction’s opinion, giving up the contention for the Great Elder position and joining the Star Alliance.
However, now as the Family Head of the Lan Family, her considerations cannot solely rely on personal emotions; her thoughts must stem from the overall interests of the family, which has kept her decision pending.
But now, the situation appears quite tense; as the saying goes, when the walls collapse, everyone pushes. In the past decade, more than ten thousand large and small rebellions have broken out within the Lan Family’s territory, and the emergence of various rising forces has made handling very troubling.
Additionally, other family forces seem inclined to join the Star Alliance. The Lan Family is at the moment where a decision must be made; continued delay will only leave them without options.
Lan Yue rubbed her brow in contemplation, this meeting has been ongoing for ten days now. Both sides have laid out numerous data to support their views, attempting to persuade the other side to join them.
Lan Yue understands this internal standing-off is meaningless; if she cannot conclude it quickly, continued development likely won’t require external interference, the Lan Family would split because of this—a scenario none wish to see.
By now, Lan Yue had already made up her mind internally: supporting the peace faction’s view, she aimed to urge the entire Lan Family to join the Star Alliance, thereby maximizing preservation and gaining adequate returns amid the dual backdrop of Great Fusion and a massive brawl.
It’s just that now she needs more viewpoints to convince the war faction, which is equally crucial. Specifically, with her critical vote that tilts the scales, a forceful vote could very likely break the balance.
However, just as she was considering the next strategic response, an unexpected piece of news instantaneously pulled her out from the whirlpool of power struggle, redirecting her attention to the present.
"What! The Demon Realm has erupted in chaos!?"
An elder looked at the family member delivering the message, his face full of shock and anger.
"Yes... Elder, according to the latest intelligence from the front line, chaos has erupted in the Demon Realm. Now all the Demon Clan is advancing toward the internal Star Domain, and not just us, but Insect Domain, Beller Star Domain, and Aigus Star Domain are all affected..."
The family disciple’s face was pale; as he delivered this news, his whole body couldn’t help but mildly tremble, indicative of how immense the message’s intimidation was for everyone.
"How could this happen... how could this happen..."
The group of elders no longer remained calm; the speaker slumped onto a chair, appearing somewhat dazed, murmuring something repeatedly.
"After a million years... after a million years... the Demon Realm has erupted in chaos once more, precisely at this moment... they... intend to wipe us all out!"
Lan Yue had already stood up from her seat, tightly fixing her gaze on the family disciple before her, inquiring:
"When was the message received?"
"Reporting to the Family Head... just... just now, about ten minutes ago... transmitted back from the edge of the lower Star Domain’s Rodol Star Zone, the sender is the August Star Region Chief responsible for guarding the convergence of Dark Spirit Star Domain and Demon Realm..."
"Can we still contact August now?"
"I’m afraid not... Family Head... we have been attempting to establish contact, but communication with August is completely cut off; even the teleport beacon device is damaged, suggesting the Star Zone garrison might already..."
Lan Yue crushed the communicator in her hand with a crack; amid the conversation, she had tried connecting with the channel there, but, just as the disciple said, there is no contact with Rodol Star Zone.
The room fell into an eerie silence; all that could be heard was the elders’ heavy breathing.
After a while, finally someone spoke.
"Clan Leader, what should we do now? Why don’t... we contact the Star Alliance to see if they have any strategies to deal with this? If that’s not feasible..."
The person’s face turned beet red, their speech stuck at this point without continuing, but everyone understood his meaning.
Lan Yue turned her gaze to him; the speaker was precisely an elder from the war faction, who, upon learning of the chaos in the Demon Realm, directly changed his stance, suggesting they turn to the Star Alliance.
She didn’t expect her troubling issue would unravel in this manner, leaving her unsure whether to cry or laugh.
Of course, if there were a choice, she would rather the chaos in the Demon Realm didn’t occur; compared to internal strife in the Lan Family, the latter was simple as child’s play.
Other attending elders could also understand why that war faction elder instantly switched stances, without intending to mock him, because the chaos in the Demon Realm was far too terrifying, and no one can remain calm after receiving such news.
Lan Yue, somewhat pale, sat back in her seat, her heart already an ocean of turmoil.
The chaos in the Demon Realm is an ancient event that has happened only once before; at that time, neither the Lan Family existed nor did the Dark Star Alliance emerge, and this information is recorded only in some unverifiable historical materials.
It was rumored that when chaos erupted in the Demon Realm, all outer domain demons would swarm toward the internal Star Domain, bringing harm to all Star Domains. The Demon Clan would indiscriminately engage in slaughter day and night, sweeping inland like an unstoppable ocean tide, hence the chaos in the Demon Realm has another name—Demon Tide.
The Demon Clan is immensely powerful, with numbers spread throughout the Outer Domain; nobody knows their exact quantity.
Their high-order combat strength far surpasses that of the Insect Race. The most terrifying are the Demon Lords, existing at the Dominator Level in this universe, whose appearance chills any faction with terror, and their renown for suppressing the entire universe with an individual’s might isn’t mere words, but forged through true strength!