Socially anxious people transmigrate to another world; living in seclusion is too difficult.

In the past few days, the threshold of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been worn out by a constant stream of envoys from various countries. Although there are only four countries, as soon as one country's envoy is finished explaining something and has left, another country's envoy is explaining something to her, and then the envoy from the country that just left returns to ask other questions. This has left Sigrid exhausted, and at the same time, she is afraid of saying the wrong thing, so she is physically and mentally exhausted.

Fortunately, she successfully completed her mission. The envoys from various countries, finding no linguistic loopholes, left the Duchy of Paison and returned home.

The envoys returned to their respective countries and explained the situation in detail. All the countries then held internal meetings to discuss their next course of action.

Inside the imperial palace of the Tianyun Empire, Chu Jingwu sat on the throne. Yang Chaoxiu, Wei Bin, and Nangong Xiangwen stood in the hall. These three could be considered the true pillars of the Tianyun Empire. Yang Chaoxiu and Nangong Xiangwen provided strategic advice, while Wei Bin focused on military force. Their combined efforts in both civil and military matters enabled the Tianyun Empire to achieve tremendous development over the past decade or so.

"Gentlemen, this is the current situation. What do you think we should do next?" Chu Jingwu asked.

"Your Majesty, if you ask me, I really don't know," Wei Bin said, scratching his head.

Chu Jingwu glanced at him, waved his hand, indicating that he did not need to speak, and then looked at Yang Chaoxiu and Nangong Xiangwen. One of them was the Minister of the Army, and the other was the Minister of the Foreign Affairs Department. Both of them were good at making suggestions.

Yang Chaoxiu spoke first, saying, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, it would be better to remain calm for the time being. We lost the island war last year and are at a disadvantage in terms of military and diplomacy. Moreover, the Principality of Paison has always claimed to be neutral, and their diplomatic public relations have been quite good this time. There is really no sufficient reason to continue to launch a diplomatic offensive. I think it would be better to refrain from taking any action for the time being."

"I second that opinion." Nangong Xiangwen continued Yang Chaoxiu's words, "Lord Yang is quite right. In my opinion, since all four of our kingdoms know about the Elemental Stones, the Western Demon Kingdom may have also received the information. Although we are separated from them by the Lingluo Great Forest, we still need to take precautions. Moreover, even if we do not take any action, other countries will inevitably take the lead. We only need to observe the situation and strengthen the training of our troops."

"Well, to be honest, after receiving the intelligence yesterday, I discussed this matter with the members of the Extreme Fire Academy that very evening. Since the two of you agree with the suggestion given by the Extreme Fire Academy, let's proceed accordingly."

On the same day in the Kingdom of Delin, Huangfu Yan also convened a meeting of several ministers. In addition to Prime Minister Shangguan Wang and Minister of War Nie Congwu, Minister of Rites Zhao Xian and Assistant Minister Wang Ming also participated in the discussion.

Huangfu Yan's first question was to Zhao Xian, the Minister of Rites: "Minister Zhao, what do you think of the response from the Duchy of Paisen?"

"Your Majesty, I believe that although the diplomatic response from the Duchy of Paisen was somewhat far-fetched and forced, the display of royal treasures and the training of the troops were indeed flawless. The troops' laxity was consistent with their neutral stance." Zhao Xian addressed the matter directly, combining and analyzing the intelligence returned by the envoys.

Huangfu Yan was clearly displeased after hearing this and continued to ask, "Have you misunderstood what I mean?"

If Su Yang were present, he would definitely have mentally complained that Huangfu Yan's way of speaking was just like some people in the original world. He would only say half of what he meant and would not express his meaning directly. He liked to make people think. Perhaps this was the thinking capacity of those in power. They could not say everything, but they had to give people some clues to guess.

Upon hearing Huangfu Yan's question, Zhao Xian immediately understood and changed his words, saying, "Your Majesty, I believe that we can still exert some pressure diplomatically. As long as we detain the troops in the Lingluo Great Forest and make the Duchy of Paisen use these troops as witnesses to testify that the royal treasure was found by the troops that went to the Lingluo Great Forest, if that is not possible, we can still unite with other countries to demand that the Duchy of Paisen pay an economic price to prove that the matter has nothing to do with them."

After hearing Zhao Xian's words, Huangfu Yan's mood visibly improved, and he said with satisfaction, "Hmm, what you say is quite right. Then, I'll leave the diplomatic matters to you." He then turned to Shangguan Wang and asked, "What do you think, Shangguan Wang? How can we mitigate the negative impact of the defeat in the island war?"

"Your Majesty," Shangguan Wang pondered for a moment and suggested, "I believe that regardless of whether the information about the elemental stones is true or false, it is necessary to investigate. However, the Lingluo Great Forest is vast and boundless. Even if we send people to search, we may not find anything. Moreover, the known information is that there are seven elemental stones in total. The whereabouts of the remaining six are still unknown. In my opinion, it is better to wait and see before making any further plans."

Shangguan Wang shared the same idea as Yang Chaoxiu, both suggesting to wait and see. Huangfu Yan then asked Nie Congwu for his opinion, and the latter also agreed with Shangguan Wang's suggestion. Looking at Wang Ming, the director of the Human Affairs Department, he was even more clueless. After talking at length, he didn't offer any constructive suggestions. This scene left Huangfu Yan feeling helpless, so he hastily ended the political discussion.

After leaving the palace, Wang Ming immediately returned to his residence and sent someone to inform the new headquarters of Ren Juexin in the capital city of Paisen. Huangfu Yan, on the other hand, went straight to a secluded spot in the palace garden, passed through various artificial hills, arrived at the foot of a pavilion, and pushed open the door to enter.

The Slivian Empire, the victor in the island war, did not seem particularly concerned about the incident. This was mainly because Emperor Eric was not particularly interested. He had always been mild-mannered and unhurried in everything. Even the deliberations on this matter were initiated by the Minister of the Interior, Jacob, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hunter, with Eric invited to participate.

During the council meeting, Jacob, Hunter, and the Minister of the Army, Hayden, were engaged in a heated discussion, while Eric leaned back on his throne, seemingly indifferent, occasionally yawning, drinking tea, or eating fruit. This demeanor quickly aroused the dissatisfaction of the three who were having a lively discussion.

Jacob immediately said, "Your Majesty, why are you completely unconcerned about such an important matter? You should at least offer your opinion!"

Eric paused for a moment, then popped another piece of fruit into his mouth, chewing as he said, "What's there to care about? It's just an elemental stone. Besides, we don't even know if it's real or not. What's there to discuss? Maybe it's some country's trap, waiting for us to fall into it."

“Your Majesty, you can’t say that,” Hunter immediately retorted. “These elemental stones are said to possess power capable of shaking the world. Regardless of whether the information is true or false, it’s better to be safe than sorry. What if it’s true? If we don’t have a countermeasure, we’ll be put on the defensive.”

After much persuasion from the three, Eric finally gave in and sat up straight, saying, "Since all three of you believe it is necessary to take countermeasures and act, then I suggest that we maintain peace in diplomacy, accelerate the development of the outlying islands in the economy, and maintain a consistent military stance with the Holy Beast Kingdom. What do you all think?"

Hayden immediately agreed: "Your Majesty is right, it's a good idea to do it this way." Jacob and Hunter sighed, though. Eric's words were as good as nothing. Which of these three things wasn't a national policy that the Slivia Empire had always adhered to? But Eric had already dismissed them, so there was no point in saying anything more.

On the other side, in the Holy Beast Kingdom, Emperor Darkrens, after hearing the envoy's report, immediately declared that he would send troops to the Spiritfall Great Forest, determined to find the so-called Elemental Stone before any other country. Regent King Lati, standing nearby, earnestly advised against it, saying, "Your Majesty! You must think this through!"

"What are you thinking about? If you keep thinking about it, that thing might be taken by someone else! We should immediately muster the army and set off. I'll lead the army." As he spoke, Daklens prepared to get up and leave again, but Lati stopped him firmly, saying, "Your Majesty! We don't even know if that thing is real or fake. The Spiritfall Forest is so vast, and it's the territory of the Elf tribe. If a conflict breaks out with the Elf race, wouldn't that just create another enemy for nothing? If other countries and the Western Demon Kingdom take the opportunity to attack our country, how can Your Majesty, far away in the great forest, arrive to provide assistance?"

After a passionate and impassioned speech, the notoriously reckless Dacrenne was finally persuaded to stop. He sat back on his animal-skin throne and asked, "Then what do you suggest?"

Lati wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "Right now, our priority is to strengthen our defenses. If the Western Demon Kingdom also receives the news and launches an attack to seize the Elemental Stone, we'll be prepared. Also, we need to send people to gather information and confirm whether the Elemental Stone is real or fake. If it is, we'll make further plans; if it's fake, then forget it and focus on developing our own capabilities."

"Fine, fine, whatever you say." Dacrens said impatiently, then picked up the wine glass on the table and drank it all in one gulp.