After a period of silence, the Li family elder said, “I think the commanding post is fairly secondary, we can discuss this later. Rather, I’m hoping Seventh Young Noble will explain why we must attack in such a hurry.”

The imperial family elder nodded. Attacking Tidehark at this point involved risks that didn’t need further elaboration. Even if they could score a victory, it would still come at a hefty price.

Song Zining nodded. “Naturally.”

He got up and hung a large map on the wall, a panoramic diagram encompassing the twenty-seven continents of the Evernight world. The neutral lands was at the very edge of the map. “The fight for the Great Maelstrom passage is highly important, but it’s definitely not the most important thing. Hence, we are to act as the vanguard and confirm the situation first, whereafter the four major clans can form a primary force to serve as reinforcements. The imperial family will participate throughout the entire process.”

Everyone nodded. This was the overall arrangement of the empire. Although the seventh young noble was in the neutral lands, as a key...