Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

"It's Du Fuyun and Lu Dingtian, these two old fellows!"

Yu Shu, as the Sect Master of Jade Pot Sect, is well-experienced and knowledgeable. He has visited the Thunderwind Empire and the Jingshan Empire before and known something about the contemporary Kings of these two empires.

The King of Thunderwind Empire, Du Fuyun, is a formidable figure who has reached the Half-step Earth Rank. Du Ruofeng, who was defeated by Yun Xiao at the top of Demon Suppressing Mountain in the Demon Realm, is his second son.

As for the King of Jingshan Empire, that would naturally be Lu Dingtian, who excels in physical strength. His son, Lu Jinghong, participated in the Countries Hidden Dragon Conference and was defeated by Yun Xiao at the top of Demon Suppressing Mountain, stopping in the second round.

The reason these two empires agreed to Lingtian Emperor Nie Wencang's proposal for an alliance was not only to share a piece of the pie but also because of their precious sons who whispered in their ears.

Jade Pot Sect is the main force guarding the South Gate, but only Yu Shu has reached Half-step Earth Rank, so after recognizing those two, his eyebrows couldn't help but furrow tightly.

"Sect Master Yu Shu, your Jade Pot Sect has really been in a good light recently, dare you come down and challenge me, the King?"

King Du Fuyun of the Thunderwind Empire spoke first, it seems that during this period, he has heard quite a lot about Jade Pot Sect or Yun Xiao and has always been unconvinced, thus directly initiating a challenge.

As a powerful figure of Half-step Earth Rank and a King of a country, Du Fuyun has never regarded the leaders of these imperial sects highly. In his view, even if the Jade Pot Sect is well-known, it's just minor troubles across the whole Hidden Dragon Continent.

"Keep an eye on Lu Dingtian, I'm going down!"

Knowing that there was no way to shirk, Yu Shu could only instruct briefly before leaping down from the city wall. Although it was a reluctant solution, it was still better than letting the forces of the two empires storm the city, right?

It seems that neither Du Fuyun nor Lu Dingtian wanted too many imperial soldiers to die from the hardships of assaulting the city. This time, they just wanted to vent their frustration and take some advantage. The primary influencers were still the three empires with Earth Rank powerhouses.

Since Du Fuyun had already taken the initiative, Lu Dingtian, the King of Jingshan Empire, had no complaints but rather made way. He really wanted to see what techniques these two well-known figures, who were at the same level as himself, had.

Just like outside the North Gate, a grand battle erupted fiercely. However, since the strengths of both sides were almost equal, it was impossible to determine the victor without hundreds of intense exchanges.

......

Meanwhile, at both the East and West Gates of the Xuanyue Imperial City, top-level fights broke out as well, but Xie Jiupeng, the Sect Master of Yufeng Sect from Yufeng Empire, and Ye Luochen, the Empress of Flying Flower Empire, chose not to participate, apparently due to their status.

Outside the West Gate, Sect Leader Jia Yi of Luoyi Sect fought evenly with a middle-aged man in a green robe who turned out to be Wei Wuji, the contemporary King of Youlong Empire. He was the father of Wei You, who was displaced by Yun Xiao in the third round at Demon Suppressing Mountain.

Watching Wei Wuji, who was slightly gaining the upper hand, Empress Ye Luochen of the Flying Flower Empire couldn't help but nod slightly. Beside her stood a young man with a gloomy face.

This person was Young Master Flying Flower, Ye Shimei. Although he didn't have any direct interactions with Yun Xiao initially, the one who defeated him, Xu Hongzhuang, was quite close to Yun Xiao.

However, Empress Ye Luochen didn't invest much attention in the squabbles of the younger generation. With the entire Flying Flower Empire under her control, why would she bother about a young man?

While the formidable Earth Rank Empress Ye Luochen chose not to act outside the West Gate, Jia Yi was still holding on. However, at the East Gate, the King of Yulan Empire, Xiao Yuanzhen, was proving too strong for his opponent.

In fact, there were two empires outside the East Gate, but like Xie Jiupeng and Empress Ye Luochen from Flying Flower Empire, they held their status high and did not wish to fight personally. After all, even if they did not intervene, they would still get the largest share of benefits when it came time to divide the spoils.

Thus, although the alliance seemed to be under Yufeng Empire, in reality, it was led by Xie Jiupeng, the Sect Master of Yufeng Sect. In contrast, the Emperor of Yufeng Empire stayed hidden in his tent, seemingly indifferent to the affairs.

"Yun Xiao, the humiliation you gave me back then, I, Shen Wannian, will definitely demand it back from you!"

Beside Xie Jiupeng was Shen Wannian, the eldest senior brother from Yufeng Sect's younger generation and the previously recognized most formidable contender for the championship at the beginning of the Hidden Dragon Conference. However, he was defeated by Yun Xiao in the quarterfinals.

This hatred towards Yun Xiao was something Shen Wannian could never erase. In his heart, it was Yun Xiao who had blocked his path, stopping the once most dazzling him at the quarterfinals, which was detestable indeed.

Xiao Yuanzhen of Yulan Empire, although a super-strong figure who had reached Half-step Earth Rank, was quite a match. But among the families guarding the East Gate of Xuanyue Empire, there was no cultivator of such high level.

Currently, the imperial families in the capital are those that were newly supported by the new Emperor Xuan Jing after the three traditional families were annihilated by Yun Xiao. These new families were much weaker in overall strength compared to the old prominent families.

At this moment, fighting against Xiao Yuanzhen was the head of Li Family, the leading family among the new top three families. Unfortunately, he had only recently broken through to the Peak of Spirit Vein Realm, how could he possibly be a match for the Half-step Earth Rank Xiao Yuanzhen?

Bang!

After dozens of moves, Xiao Yuanzhen seized an opportunity and landed a punch on the chest of the Li Family Head, breaking several of his ribs directly and even piercing his heart with the broken bones, clearly a fatal blow.

"Let me have a go at you!"

Aside from the cultivators of the Li Family, the death of the Li Family Head only elicited a feeling of shared sorrow from other family cultivators; but now was not the time for grief. With a shout, another figure leapt down from the city wall.

"It's the Lu Family Head!"

The strong cultivators guarding the East Gate saw clearly. It was the Lu Family Head, one of the newly risen three great families of the Imperial City, whose strength was not much less than that of the Li Family Head. However, a common cultivator at the Peak of the Spirit Vein Realm could hardly withstand Xiao Yuanzhen, the King of Yulan Empire.

"Another one coming to die!"

Indeed, upon seeing the Lu Family Head jump down, a ruthless glint flashed in Xiao Yuanzhen's eyes. He showed no mercy, especially with the Earth Rank powerhouse Xie Jiupeng watching from behind.

What angered Xiao Yuanzhen was that the Lu Family Head did not engage him in direct combat but continuously dodged, and when he couldn't dodge, he simply defended without a single offensive move.

As a result, the Lu Family Head, much like a turtle in its shell, actually held Xiao Yuanzhen up for a considerably long time, preventing him from killing Lu Family Head immediately despite having the upper hand.

Each of the four gates of Baiyue City in Xuanyue Imperial City was the scene of intense battles, and many low-level cultivators couldn't even get involved.

It seems that the kings of the Great Empires did not want their soldiers to suffer too many casualties during the siege. If they could kill the top-tier fighters of Xuanyue Empire in one fell swoop, the morale of Xuanyue Empire's cultivators would completely collapse, unable to form an effective resistance.

This also shows that on this continent, top-tier fighters are not only formidable in strength, but they also significantly bolster the confidence of low-level cultivators and common people.

Once their faith collapses, perhaps the resolve of the low-level cultivators to resist will also disintegrate and cease to exist. Therefore, the key to this battle lies in the results of these top-tier battles.

If the Eight Great Empires win, Xuanyue Imperial City would hardly have any resisting force left and would inevitably suffer from a devastating massacre.

However, if Xuan Haoran, Yu Shu, and others achieve victory, even if there are still a few superb fighters on the opposing side, the morale of the cultivators from Xuanyue Empire would receive a significant boost.

In fact, no matter the outcomes of these battles, the fate of Xuanyue Empire might not change. The only thing that could alter this catastrophic war is perhaps some external forces.

...

Imperial City North Gate!

The battle between Xuan Haoran and Nie Wencang has intensified, and over time, Xuan Haoran gradually found himself at a disadvantage, which caused everyone on the city wall, including Xuan Jing and the generals, to look somewhat uneasy.

They couldn't understand why, with both being at the Early Stage of the Qi Seeking Realm, Xuan Haoran would gradually fall behind after such a prolonged battle?

This starts from the opportunity Xuan Haoran and Nie Wencang had when they broke through to the Earth Rank Third Realm. For Lingtian Emperor Nie Wencang, it was a power cultivated by himself steadily breaking through to Earth Rank Third Realm.

Xuan Haoran, however, was heavily injured back then and only managed a lucky breakthrough with the help of Yun Wei. The difference between the two, not noticeable under normal circumstances, became glaringly apparent in certain specific situations.

Now, the heated battle at the same level was one aspect; another was the potential fallacy when breaking through to higher ranks using elixirs to boost Meridian Qi, which might pose a significant disadvantage.

Thus, this is also why Yun Wei showed up back then, gave Qian Sanyuan an elixir, performed a special technique to help Meng Liyang and Xuan Haoran, even the Blood Winged Fire-Eyed Lion and Chi Yan to break through, but she didn't use any methods on Yun Xiao.

Yun Wei had high hopes for her younger brother. She knew that not even Tenglong Continent or Hidden Dragon Continent could bind Yun Xiao's steps.

Given this, if Yun Xiao were to forcibly enhance his Meridian Qi Cultivation using some elixirs and techniques, his internal Qi would inevitably be unstable, which could strongly hinder his breakthrough to Heavenly Rank Realm or even Holy Rank Third Realm in the future.

After such a long battle, Xuan Haoran's somewhat unstable Meridian Qi weaknesses gradually began to show, whereas Nie Wencang's self-cultivated Qi was intensely refined, making him increasingly confident as the battle progressed.

"Tsk tsk, Xuan Haoran, your cultivation at the Early Stage of the Qi Seeking Realm doesn't seem quite genuine!"