The Coastal Treaty! Dai Tianfeng Was Furious-Calm, Helpless, and in Pain: Ceding Territory!

The more the Star Luo Empire was battered by the Great Sun Prince Mansion, the more its strength was depleted.

The more land it lost and the more blood it spilled.

The better it was for the Heaven Dou Empire.

Or, more accurately, for the "new Heaven Dou Empire" she planned to usurp and rule in the future.

If the Great Sun Prince Mansion could wipe out the Star Luo Imperial Family's elite forces, then when Qian Renxue eventually unified the continent, wouldn't she be spared countless troops and provisions?

So what if they ceded territory or paid reparations? That was the Star Luo Empire's flesh. What did it have to do with her, Qian Renxue?

At that moment,

Qian Renxue looked at Xu Zhao.

"What a Xu Zhao..."

She murmured to herself, and her heart skipped a beat despite her best efforts to control it.

As a peerless genius with a Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul and Innate Soul Power of level twenty, Qian Renxue had been proud and haughty since childhood.

In her eyes, so-called geniuses her age were nothing but ants and ordinary people, unworthy of her attention.

Even Hu Liena and the others, hailed as the Golden Generation, seemed merely so-so to her.

But this Xu Zhao before her...

Her keen senses told her that Xu Zhao wasn't lying or using some kind of trick.

The faint aura around him, resonating with the laws of heaven and earth, was unmistakably the pressure possessed only by a Titled Douluo!

"From the looks of it... he seems two or three years younger than me."

Qian Renxue narrowed her eyes slightly, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the hilt of the sword at her waist as tumultuous waves crashed through her heart.

She was in her early twenties. Although her undercover mission had delayed her cultivation somewhat, she considered her talent and intelligence to be among the very best on the continent.

But judging by his bones, Xu Zhao was definitely no older than twenty.

He had already crossed the threshold that countless Soul Masters spent their entire lives striving for, becoming a Titled Douluo!

This wasn't just a blow to her pride. It was an excitement that made Qian Renxue tremble.

"So there really is someone in this world more monstrous than me..."

Qian Renxue looked at Xu Zhao's sharply defined, exceptionally handsome profile.

She watched his unruffled composure before Golden Crocodile Douluo.

She watched the domineering scorn with which he had sneered at Zhao Lai.

Qian Renxue's heart beat faster.

"Peerlessly handsome, incomparably domineering, and blessed with talent that surpasses all others, past and present..."

"Xu Zhao... the Great Sun Prince Mansion..."

"It seems this trip to Spirit City won't be boring."

Zhao Lai slumped helplessly in his chair.

Their Star Luo Empire...

What sin had they committed to deserve this?

They'd run into such a disaster of a man.

Xu Zhao glanced at Qian Renxue and chuckled inwardly.

He hadn't expected Qian Renxue to show up and join the fun, too.

Qian Renxue removed her helmet and looked straight at Xu Zhao, her voice clear and bright.

"Envoy Zhao, instead of begging for help here, you'd be better off thinking about what you can offer to appease the wrath of a Titled Douluo."

"After all, in this world, the weak... have no right to refuse."

Xu Zhao slowly rose from his seat and walked toward Zhao Lai, one step at a time.

Each step seemed to land on Zhao Lai's chest, making it harder and harder for him to breathe.

Xu Zhao looked down at Zhao Lai, who had slumped in his chair.

He sneered.

"Envoy Zhao, since you mentioned 'sincerity' earlier, I may as well make my position clear."

Xu Zhao spoke softly, yet every person present heard him clearly.

"The Great Sun Prince Mansion has only just arrived in your lands. We truly have no wish to resort to violence and leave devastation in our wake."

"So I'll give the Star Luo Imperial Family a chance."

At this, Xu Zhao leaned forward slightly and stared into Zhao Lai's trembling pupils, speaking each word distinctly.

"Go back and tell Dai Tianfeng."

"Cede half the Star Luo Empire's territory."

"Let Star Luo City be the boundary. All the southern provinces, sea territories, and resources will belong to the Great Sun Prince Mansion!"

"We will establish our own nation here!"

Boom!

At those words, even Golden Crocodile Douluo and Qian Renxue, who had been prepared for this, couldn't help narrowing their eyes.

What an outrageous demand!

He was practically ripping half the Star Luo Empire away from it!

"Y-You... what did you say?!"

Zhao Lai's eyes flew wide open. His face turned from deathly pale to ashen.

His lips trembled so badly that he couldn't form a complete sentence.

"H-Half the territory?!

"E-Establish a nation?!"

"That's impossible!

"Absolutely impossible!

"His Majesty will never agree to such an outrageous demand!"

Zhao Lai practically shrieked. This wasn't just taking a chunk out of the empire—it was a death sentence for the Star Luo Empire!

Faced with Zhao Lai's hysterics,

Xu Zhao only smiled.

"He won't agree?"

Xu Zhao straightened up and spoke in an even tone.

"Envoy Zhao, I think you may have misunderstood something."

"I'm not making a request, much less negotiating."

"I'm informing you."

Xu Zhao turned his back to Zhao Lai. His voice suddenly turned cold, brimming with an overbearing arrogance that brooked no opposition.

"If Dai Tianfeng can't bear to part with half his empire, so be it."

"The Great Sun Prince Mansion may not have many people, but we can still muster seven or eight Titled Douluos and dispatch several Steel Fleets with ease."

"When the time comes, I won't mind leading the troops myself and crushing everything in our path."

"With the Great Sun Prince Mansion's firepower, leveling Star Luo City, destroying the Dai Clan's imperial family, and taking their place..."

Xu Zhao turned his head, the corner of his eye sweeping across Zhao Lai like a blade.

"That shouldn't take much effort, should it?"

Hearing this blunt threat of war,

Zhao Lai felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. It was as if he'd fallen into an abyss.

Seven or eight Titled Douluos?!

And Steel Fleets capable of destroying a city in an instant?!

If anyone else had said this, Zhao Lai would have laughed in his face and called him a lunatic.

But this man...

He really did have that kind of power!

Zhao Lai was desperate.

This madman was serious!

And the Great Sun Prince Mansion truly had the strength to back it up!

If war broke out, with the Spirit Hall no longer holding the balance of power, the Star Luo Empire might even be stabbed in the back by the Heaven Dou Empire. It would never withstand the iron hooves of this band of monsters!

"Huff... huff..."

Zhao Lai gasped for breath, his clothes already soaked with cold sweat.

He wanted to retort defiantly, "Then let's fight!" But he didn't dare.

He knew that if he said those words, the Star Luo Empire might face annihilation the very next day.

That was far beyond what he could bear responsibility for.

After a long while,

Zhao Lai shakily rose to his feet.

With his head lowered, he spoke in a hoarse, feeble voice.

"Xu... Heir Prince Xu, I... I understand your words."

"This is a matter of great importance, one that concerns the survival of the state... I... I have no authority to decide."

"I'll set off for the capital at once and report your... 'demands' to His Majesty, without leaving out a single word."

After saying this, Zhao Lai seemed to have exhausted all his strength.

He made a haphazard bow toward Xu Yu and Golden Crocodile Douluo at the head of the hall, not even bothering with basic etiquette. Then he turned and stumbled toward the exit as if fleeing for his life.

Watching Zhao Lai's wretched retreat, Xu Zhao curled his lips into a mocking smile.

Xu Zhao hadn't truly planned to carve away half the Star Luo Empire's territory.

But he had to make an outrageous opening demand.

Even after they "haggled," he could still get two or three provinces at minimum and establish a nation.

Qian Renxue looked at Xu Zhao, murmuring inwardly.

"Cede half the empire..."

"Xu Zhao, your appetite really is big enough to be charming."