Once the three leaders sat down, the mayor continued the meeting.
"As you might have guessed, I called for you three because Senior Inspector Han requested your input in order to complete his mission. Senior Inspector Han, please go ahead."
"Thank you, Mayor Argentwave. I'm not a fan of flowery speeches, so I'll head right to it. The sect has reason to believe that a traitor resides among you."
Once the inspector made that statement, three pairs of eyes glanced at the manor lord of Storm Sky Manor. The manor lord appeared unruffled on the outside, but mentally he was gnashing his teeth. He still wasn't certain if the Chun clan was really connected to the Black Dog Bandits, but he was aware that the clan held grand ambitions, so he wouldn't be surprised if they really held treacherous intent. If the sect found them to be suspicious and only punished the Chun clan, then that would be great, but he knew that such a possibility was a dream within a dream.
'Damn it! I should have taken action faster!'
After the inspector stated his purposes, everyone besides the manor lord felt much more comfortable. They even wondered if they could gain favour from the inspector by exposing the suspicious party. However, the inspector's next statement completely overturned their expectations.
"Usually this would be a matter of high priority, but the traitor's plans will come to naught once the city is destroyed."
"!"
Shock permeated the room as all eyes focused on the inspector.
"...Senior Inspector Han, what do you mean by that?"
"It has been divined that a disaster will consume this city and if left unchecked, the disaster will sweep across the entire kingdom. The sect has decided to allow you all to evacuate the citizens, but everyone at the Sky Realm and above must remain to investigate this disaster."
The leaders of Storm Sky Manor, Lava Stream Sect and Maiden Academy, were puzzled by why the sect placed so much importance on a divination, which in their eyes was no different from the tricks done by elderly women holding crystal balls. However, the mayor viewed this information as being of the utmost importance. As someone more familiar with the capital city, Lyrillis, and the sect, he knew that the divination studied there couldn't be compared to the cheap tricks of mortals. The diviners spoken of in the capital could gleam the secrets of the heavens. As a consequence, they had shorter lifespans and found it harder to cultivate, but even royalty would have to be respectful to them.
"How long, do we have?"
"There's no specific date, but we can assume the disaster will come as early as tomorrow or as late as winter. I recommend you begin preparations immediately."
With that, the inspector stood up, bowed to the table and then left the room. The leaders of the three average-level forces were still confused, but judging from the mayor's expression, the situation was as serious as it sounded. For a while, the room was silent as everyone tried to process what they heard, until the Storm Sky Manor lord spoke.
"Mayor, is what the inspector said...?"
"There's no time for doubt. For now, accept what the inspector said as fact and plan with that in mind."
The three leaders still weren't convinced, but they continued the discussion with the mayor's words in mind.
"Assuming that this disaster is really coming, is there really no other way than to abandon the city?" the Lava Stream Sect master asked.
"We don't have the strength to overturn fate. And even if we could do something, it would be best to evacuate the citizens as the inspector suggested, so they don't get involved."
"Don't tell me you don't know what that means. Telling the people to leave is the same as admitting that we're powerless. Even if we manage to fend off this so-called disaster, it will be difficult to call for them back."
"Do you think, I want to do this?! You three may not understand, but those orders were the same as a death sentence. Regardless of whether or not we survive, the sect has already abandoned this city. No matter what we do, all the contributions of my ancestors will be for nothing! But, if I can at least carry out this order well, there's hope that my clan can remain under the sect's protection."
The mayor also didn't want to believe the dire news brought by the inspector, but he thought as a clan head first and the mayor second. Although he loved this city and was ashamed that it would fall in his generation, he didn't want his clan to fall with it. He would surely be lambasted by his ancestors in the afterlife, but he didn't think he would regret this choice.
Seeing the resolve of the mayor, the other three leaders began to take the divination seriously. While their forces were also branches of the sect, the only time they were invited to the capital was when they became leaders of their respective forces, so they weren't nearly as connected to the sect as the mayor. If the city really fell, then they would have to either seek refuge in the sect or become independent, and in both cases, staying in the sect's good graces would be to their benefit.
"Very well. Let's start planning the evacuation."
A few weeks later, most mortal citizens had been evacuated and travelers stayed clear of Silver City. There were too many citizens to send into villages and nearby villages were also told to evacuate, so mayor Argentwave reached out to the other city mayors to accept them. Thankfully, the other cities agreed to this request, but the mayor had to offer about thirty percent of Silver City's total wealth in exchange. Still, given the amount of resources the other cities would need to devote to properly manage these refuges, the price was rather fair.
Minor disciples from all cultivation forces inside the city also left. One could call them ungrateful, but few organizations would have the funds to relocate the entirety of their members, so some directly announced what groups of members could stay. Storm Sky Manor, Lava Stream Sect and Maiden Academy were a part of these groups. Besides the disciples of elders or members of prominent clans, all outer section disciples and inner section disciples above the age of 20 were kindly told to leave. Some talented disciples, elders and clans also took the chance to leave, so only a small fraction of the top three cultivation forces remained, and those with cultivations below the Sky Realm would soon be evacuated next.
Among the disciples still in Silver City were Reinhart, Luke, and Cassandra. Lisa, Clyde, Fatty and Serina were already gone. The Chun clan was one of the first prominent clans to leave, and the Rai clan were considering the same, while the Xin clan was still loyal. Cassandra planned to leave with her master after getting a look at this supposed disaster and Luke also planned to leave with his clan. With everything that was happening, it was no wonder that the air around them was gloomy, but the main reason for that was Kate's absence.
As for Shui, though they were curious, no one familiar with him was worried that he was in critical danger.
A few weeks after they left the Spirit Nest, Kate had gotten in contact with her friends using her core disciple coat's communication feature. She told them about her battle with Mater as well as the plans of Mater and the Chun clan, which Shui had deduced by secretly reading Tark's memories while he was asleep. According to what Shui found, the Chun clan wanted to use the force backing the Black Dog Bandits to take over Silver City and become independent of the sect secretly behind the city. The Black Dog Bandits and the force behind them seemed to have some interest in the Five Cities region, so they struck a deal. Pon later confirmed this tale, but news of the city's destruction came while they were making moves to force the Chun clan to take responsibility.
With the Chun clan's plot turned pointless, the group started thinking about the future. Pon had planned on having Kate be the next manor lord to dilute their connection to the sect, but there was no reason to push for that anymore. Core Elder Ren would be staying with the manor along with Reinhart's clan, but he told Kate to leave the manor since her talents would draw more trouble if she went to the sect and he wouldn't be able to protect her. Kate was eventually convinced, but said that she would meet with them one last time. They hadn't decided on a date and couldn't reach her since then, so all that was left to do was wait.
Two months after the collapse of the Spirit Nest and nearly a month since the arrival of Senior Inspector Han, there was an earthquake that shook the city. At the same time as the earthquake, a small crack appeared at the former site of the Spirit Nest.