After using cheats, I became the strongest Beast Tamer

His words resonated with the others present.

This was also the answer many people agreed with.

Indeed, if Fentian Giant City truly intended to attack, there was no need for them to expose their identities so brazenly.

"All right," interrupted the old crone sitting in the seat of honor, her aged face full of deep crevices, and her profound eyes flickered with gravity.

Bibo Giant City's Grand City Lord, Han Qiling, surveyed the attendees, "Now, is it still so important to dwell on who took action?"

"Many civilians from Blue Shadow City have already fled. They will spread everything they saw and experienced. Soon, the entire Bibo Territory will know that it was the Giant City Imperial Guards of Fentian Giant City who destroyed Blue Shadow City. Moreover, there's someone behind the scenes fanning the flames, and everyone will know it was Fentian Giant City," Han Qiling said.

"City Lord, we could take drastic measures, detain everyone to prevent the spread of the news," proposed Shui Wusheng from below.

However, Han Qiling sighed softly and shook her head, "Then news would emerge that we're jailing refugees from Blue Shadow City and blocking information to close the mouths of the populace to avoid war with Fentian Domain."

Sometimes, certain issues aren't simply black and white, and truth isn't the most important aspect. What many people care about isn't the real fact.

They only want to see what they choose to see; they only want to hear what they wish to hear.

When public opinion becomes a torrent, the truth is but a lonely boat in a giant wave.

The discord between Bibo Great City and Fentian Giant City was too deep.

Over the years, she had been restraining herself, continually making concessions on certain issues because she knew there had to be a fight between Great Xia and Fentian Giant City.

In a major era, the last one standing would be the winner, so she had been avoiding battle and waiting for an opportunity.

But excessive repression is a form of counteraction. Anything pushed to the extreme will react against it. Though many Beast Tamers from Bibo Giant City tamed Water Element Beasts, it did not mean their temperaments were as calm and uncontentious as water. Water can be as peaceful as a mirror's surface but can also turn into a ravaging flood or giant wave.

Han Qiling sighed inwardly, fearing that this civilian upheaval would be hard to suppress. She roughly guessed the identity of the true culprit behind the scenes but felt powerless to act upon it.

If she continued to repress, she would likely fail to secure reelection as City Lord a year from now.

Today, though in name Bibo Giant City was home to two Noble Families, the Shui Family and the Han Family,

the Shui Family had been flourishing with talents in recent years, while the Han Family was in steep decline, barely maintaining the name of twin Noble Families due to her consecutive three terms as City Lord.

If she stepped down from the City Lord position, the Han Family's situation would likely plummet in an instant.

Noble Families within a Giant City are not set in stone.

Four hundred years ago, Bibo Giant City also had three Noble Families, like Fentian Giant City, but now only two remained; the Bai Family had been divided between the Shui Family and the Han Family.

If she couldn't stay in the position of City Lord, the Han Family would follow in the Bai Family's footsteps.

Even for the sake of her family, she must continue to firmly hold this position.

A tremendously talented next-generation member had recently emerged within her family, but the growth of a prodigy takes time, and she needed to keep her seat as City Lord to shelter her family.

Thus, she must gain the support of the people this time!

After pondering for a moment, Han Qiling spoke up, "Since Fentian Giant City has done such a thing, don't blame us for retaliating. Commander Sai, I'll leave this matter to the Giant City Guard Army. We must display our authority."

"Leave it to me; those kids below have long been fed up with those red-haired brutes," agreed Sai Baiqi with a nod.

The next day, a city within Fentian Domain was transformed into a marshland.

All Beast Tamers within the city were captured alive and taken to Bibo Giant City to be publicly executed by water torture. For a while, the City Lord's praises within Bibo Giant City were unceasing.

The higher-ups of Fentian Giant City were stunned upon receiving the news; nobody expected that Bibo Giant City, which had been perceived as weak for so long, would suddenly take such a hard stance.

In fact, they had also heard about the events in Blue Shadow City but did not take them seriously.

After all, the image of Bibo Giant City being easy to bully had been entrenched for decades; never mind if it wasn't us, even if it was, what of it?

This time, however, Bibo Giant City had acted so unceremoniously and ruthlessly without back-and-forth.

This ignited a nameless flame of anger in Fentian Giant City, accustomed to bullying others through power.

It was like someone who had long been bullied by them suddenly had the audacity to slap them in the face.

Whether to maintain their long-held hegemonic dignity or to give an account to their restless citizens,

Fentian Giant City had to respond with an equivalent counteraction.

But Fentian Giant City also felt that something was amiss; the whole affair reeked of a thick conspiracy, and full mobilization would play right into the hands of the schemer behind the scenes.

Therefore, they did not directly intervene but sent a large number of Beast Tamers from Yan Xing City, a subordinate of Fentian Giant City, to launch an attack on Bibo Territory.

Yan Xing City also housed a Fentian Temple, and the two Fentian Temples had close ties.

Moreover, the Fentian Temple boasted many followers, which to some degree, could represent a part of Fentian Giant City's will.

Thus, it was most appropriate for Yan Xing City to act, keeping the scale of the war limited and avoiding a full-blown clash between the massive entities of Fentian Giant City and Bibo Giant City at this stage.

Han Qiling intended just that, wanting only the support of the people, not an actual head-on conflict with Fentian Giant City, which was not in Bibo Giant City's interest.

Keeping the war within a certain scope was the perfect balance for her mental scale.

And so a "limited war," attempting to control the scale to a certain extent, erupted...

Chen Xing heard about these events from old Qiu when he handed over the materials and mentioned them in passing, along with analyses of some of the forces involved, allowing Chen Xing to gain a clearer understanding of the relationships between Great Xia and various influential powers around it.

"Old Qiu, will this war escalate?" Chen Xing asked.

Qiu Shangqing did not answer yes or no but sighed, "When war serves the interests of more people, they will push it toward deeper depths of the Abyss. The Exotic Region has been peaceful for too long."