Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Li Yao received Jialou Feng in Emperor Li’s City.
Naturally he was aware of the identity of Jialou Feng, descendent of the Jialou royal clan, the future king of the Roc family, whose status was extremely esteemed and honorable. Kong Xuan sent him to make the visit in person, demonstrated the importance attached to this visit.
“Jialou Feng greets His Royal Highness of Dali.”
At this time, Jialou Feng stood in front of the great cultivators of the Dali Dynasty, facing Li Yao. Although he said he was here to greet Li Yao, he did not actually move to pay his respect. His eyes were sharp and sly, as if he felt that as a demonic noble, there was no need for him to salute.
Li Yao was not upset. The King of Jialou was said to be unparalleled in speed in the Demon Peacock Realm. According to some anecdotes of the demon world, the strength of the King of Jialou was not weaker than the Peacock Emperor. The two demonic beasts were both top figures in the demonic world until the later enlightenment of the Peacock Emperor, who then became the Demon Emperor, thus determined the current landscape of the Demon Peacock Realm.
“What was the matter for the Demon Peacock City to name you as an ambassador?” asked Li Yao with a smile. He did not mind whether the other saluted him or not; it was all in line with the character of the Jialou royal clan.
“Demon Peacock City wishes to join forces with Emperor Li’s City to annihilate Emperor Xia’s Realm. After that, the Demon Peacock City will fight with Emperor Li’s City for the right to control the Empty Realm in the next ten years.” Jialou Feng replied curtly, getting straight to the heart of the matter.
A flash of a bright light passed through his eyes. Demonic beasts were demonic beasts after all, straight forward, but he rather like this straightforwardness.
“Yes.” Li Yao nodded in agreement. This was exactly what he had been planning: Get rid of an opponent first, and after taking over Emperor Xia’s City, they could then deal with the Demon Peacock City.
They had taken the initiative to fight with Emperor Xia’s City to signal to Emperor Li’s City, suggesting that both of them had a shared enemy in Emperor Xia’s Realm. Thus, there could be reason for a real alliance.
“But I have two conditions,” Jialou Feng said.
“Oh?” Li Yao looked at the Jialou Feng, somewhat surprised. Jialou Feng was the messenger, came to request an alliance, and he has demands?
“Tell me,” Li Yao responded with some interest.
“First, I don’t have much confidence in Emperor Li’s Realm based on past experiences. For the alliance, when our two armies attacked Emperor Xia’s City, the army from Emperor Li’s City and the Demon Peacock City were to be mixed together, so that if either side has any dishonesty, the other party can renege on the alliance so that both sides are accountable, and would not betray the other,” Jialou Feng said.
Li Yao furled his brows and frowned; to mix the army together?
In the past, in terms of strategy, Emperor Li’s Realm was indeed more superior, and it was an area that the Demon Peacock Realm had always been the most challenged. In the last battle, it was how Emperor Li’s Realm was able to won the control of the Empty Realm.
It was no wonder that the Demon Peacock Realm did not trust them.
“Emperor Li’s City had already declared war against Emperor Xia’s City, and both sides had suffered numerous deaths and injuries. On the contrary, Demon Peacock City only engaged in just a few small-scale battles, and let’s not forget we have not yet launched any accusations about that,” Yuan Jin piped up on the side, ” alliance has not yet been formed, and you already doubted us; is this why you have come here?”
“The last battle for the Empty Realm was a good indicator,” Jialou Feng responded easily, “not to mention, for the two armies to mix together served as a bind not only to Emperor Li’s Realm, but also to us, to ensure that neither side will turn on the other. This is just for bringing the destruction of Emperor Xia’s City, Emperor Li’s Realm should have no reason to refuse such an alliance?”
Li Yao and the Yuan Jin gazed at Jialou Feng, and Li Yao continued, “what else?”
“To be allied in the battle meant that slaying of the imperial flag was not a priority, but to destroy everyone of Emperor Xia’s City, especially Ye Futian and that damned beast; if they are not dead, we would not slay the flag.” Jialou Feng said coldly.
Li Yao and Yuan Jin exchanged a look, a faint smile in their eyes; they were very satisfied with this grievance.
Not long ago, they had heard that the messenger of Emperor Xia’s City had just conveyed the words of Xia Qingyuan when Jialou Feng wanted to kill him violently within the city limit of Demon Peacock City, revealing the depth of their resentment.
“I have heard some of the words spoken by Ye Futian and that beast, and it was indeed a great insult to Princess Kong Xuan. Xia Qingyuan even dared to send messenger to express the appreciation that Ye Futian had for Princess Kong Xuan, perhaps Xia Qingyuan thought that as her deputy, Ye Futian is now qualified to be on the same level as Princess Kong Xuan. However, the aim of the battle for the Empty Realm is the slaying of the imperial flag; is this the suggestion of the princess or your own?” Yuan Jin’s eyes stayed on Jialou Feng.
“Her Royal Highness is the most noble lady in our demonic realm, and we would not tolerate anyone to insult her. This is the common wish of all the major clans of our demonic realm.” Jialou Feng was extremely sharp, but avoided giving a direct answer, and Yuan Jin suddenly revealed a touch of smile.
Kong Xuan, as the daughter of the Demon Peacock Emperor, and with a beauty not seen often in her generation, certainly played no second fiddle to Xia Qingyuan. With such a demonic woman, how could the descendants of these great demonic clans not have some ideas of their own about her?
Ye Futian and his mount not only humiliated Kong Xuan, but also humiliated all the great demons of the demonic clans.
“Return and tell Her Royal Highness to wait for my news,” Li Yao said with a smile; Jialou Feng nodded and left.
After he left, Li Yao looked at Yuan Jin and said, “Senior Brother, what are your thoughts?”
“In the past, of all the battles for the Empty Realm, the Demon Peacock Realm had won the least number of times, because strategy is not their forte. Although demonic beasts obtained wisdom through enlightenment, but their nature was still that of the demon. We had fought many wars with Emperor Xia’s City and suffered considerable casualties. The Demon Peacock City has also made enemy with Emperor Xia’s City, but they dared not attack easily, and because they worried that we will take advantage of them, hence their request to form an alliance with us. It was indeed the best solution they could think of. Their request to mingle the armies together was probably indicative of trauma caused by previous battles for the Empty Realm.”
Yuan Jin said with smiles.
“So, this matter can be done?” Li Yao said with a smile, there was no flaw in it that he could find; the Demon Peacock Realm seemed to really want to form an alliance.
“Hmm.” Yuan Jin nodded, “The demonic beasts of the demonic realm will not use the reputation of Kong Xuan as a pretext to set up a trap. What’s more, Ye Futian had killed many demonic beasts, including beasts of the royal clans such as the Roc. Demonic beasts are straightforward in nature and would not do such things. Otherwise, of all the battles for the Empty Realm, the Demon Peacock Realm would probably win more than half of them.”
“The only flaw was that although we could say that this alliance was possible because of the situation, it was still far too smooth. In my previous calculations, it should have taken longer, perhaps at the end of the three-month period would the alliance be reached,” Yuan Jin said.
In fact, his suspicion was not without reason. Kong Xuan and Kong Zhan did not think of forming an alliance so quickly. However, the great demons of all the great royal clans hated Ye Futian, and so they had banded together and pled. Kong Xuan also hated Ye Futian and that Black Wind Condor, so it was natural that she would go along with it, hence the trip made by Jialou Feng at this time.
“Sire, how is Ye Futian as a person?” Yuan Jin asked Li Yao. He had heard that Li Yao had some contact with Ye Futian, although not much.
“I only know that this person came from the land of Nine States in the Lower Worlds of Emperor Xia’s Realm, and master of one state there. He is very talented, but extremely arrogant and unbridled, causing all the holy lands of Nine States to besiege the holy land where he was, and it was almost destroyed. Even though I was not personally in attendance of the battle, but I did hear later that his wife was killed and it explained why Ye Futian hated me.”
Li Yao said, “But once he was the master of a state, known as Unparalleled in the Lower Worlds. He must have been extremely proud of himself to go to the Demon Peacock City with one man and one beast to inflame the situation; his conceit was demonstrated in his desire to use his own power to vanquish the Demon Peacock City, killing many demons. From this perspective, he was indeed very outstanding. He probably wanted to kill me after he had flattened Demon Peacock City.”
“Someone who had gained the trust of Emperor Xia and Xia Qingyuan, and could also fight with Kong Xuan, was naturally gifted, and his arrogance was not unexpected,” Yuan Jin nodded. “However, this time Emperor Li’s Realm is the strongest, there was no need to use tricks; we just need to go with the flow of the situation, but make sure to guard against surprise attacks from the other side. There is no problem with the alliance, but it needs to be laid out carefully so that if there are any surprise, we could easily deal with it.”
“I’m afraid we have to trouble you, then,” said Li Yao.
“Let me go and calculate,” Yuan Jin stood up to leave, and Li Yao also stood up to see him off. To Yuan Jin, this prince demonstrated extreme respect, even in front of his subordinates, he had always addressed him as Senior Brother.
The status of Yuan Jin and the treatment he received was Xiao Sheng’s dream, though he was by the side of Xia Qingyuan, he still could not receive such recognition.
The news that Jialou Feng went to seek alliance with Emperor Li’s City quickly spread to Emperor Xia’s City. Xia Qingyuan once again sent Gongsun Zhong to deliver a message to Emperor Li’s City. However, this time, he had only delivered the message half way before he was chased out and running for his life again with injury.
Gongsun Zhong did not complete the task that was given by Xia Qingyuan, so all he could do was to press on, but every time he left with injury, it was a very miserable business.
The Demon Peacock City seemed to be in no mood for talks except in its determination to deal with Emperor Xia’s City.
Gong Sunzhong returned to Emperor Xia’s City to see Xia Qingyuan, and there was blood on him. He had once again returned with injury. Though he was slightly embarrassed, he still maintained his grace. He said to Xia Qingyuan, “Gongsun Zhong had disappointed the princess.”
“It seemed that Kong Xuan’s resentment was very deep. This is not your fault, no need to blame yourself,” Xiao Sheng said. Many people looked at Ye Futian who was not far away, and their looks were not friendly.
For the Demon Peacock Realm and Emperor Li’s Realm to reach an alliance so quickly was undoubtedly disastrous news for them.
All of this was caused by Ye Futian.
Gong Sunzhong looked at Xia Qingyuan and said, “It’s not just Kong Xuan. All the demons in Demon Peacock City held deep grudges, as soon as they saw me, they started to give chase. It was obviously a situation that had been repeated many times before.”
Everyone naturally understood what Gongsun Zhong was referring to; Ye Futian had repeatedly provoked the other, therefore the people of the Demon Peacock Realm must have treated him like Ye Futian.
Xia Qingyuan looked calmly at the people, without the slightest sense of disturbance. Ye Futian had already told her the whole plan. Under the circumstances that the setup had already been completed by Ye Futian, the victory of the battle for the Empty Realm was without a doubt.
But Ye Futian wanted revenge, not just mere victory.
However, she could not reveal this detail, even to her most trusted subordinates she must concealed this fact, otherwise, it would cause great suspicion once it was known.
“Gongsun Zhong would venture a word,” at this time, Gongsun Zhong said while bowed his head to Xia Qingyuan.
“Speak,” Xia Qingyuan looked at him.
“The bell must be untied by the one who tied it, for the battle of the Empty Realm, some sacrifices are inevitable.” Gongsun Zhong said, and suddenly all eyes were fastened upon Gongsun Zhong, who had his head down.
This matter was caused by Ye Futian, so how could they not understand the sacrifices implied by Gongsun Zhong!
