Jia Xing Tian glanced at the situation on his own side, feeling even more mentally exhausted.
So many years had already passed, yet apart from himself as a Dou Emperor powerhouse, there was not even a single Dou Wang powerhouse within the Imperial Clan...
He wondered if something had gone wrong with the Imperial Mausoleum or what, but these sons of the Imperial Clan simply refused to amount to anything!
Among the daughters, there had indeed appeared a little girl with the talent to become an Alchemist, and he could pay a certain price to ask Fa Ma, the president of the Alchemist Association, to teach her.
Yet this was still not enough!
On the Dou Qi Continent, might made right.
No one could appreciate the cruelty of this phrase more deeply than Jia Xing Tian at this moment.
Without the most formidable and direct violence to rely upon, you lacked confidence in doing anything.
Moreover, Fa Ma himself was only a fifth-grade alchemist, so the upper limit of his own family's little girl was almost visible to the naked eye.
At this very moment, the greater trouble did not stem from the outside.
Whether it was the Misty Cloud Sect or the Mittel Clan, they would both take into account the existence of himself—a Dou Emperor powerhouse who had not yet lost his combat capability—and at most exert a little more pressure.
The most troublesome part was within the Imperial Clan's own faction. Because he, the Dou Emperor powerhouse, had no successor, not a single son of the Imperial Clan had achieved anything in cultivation, nor was there a single Dou Wang powerhouse.
This resulted in the power at the Dou Wang realm within the imperial faction being primarily composed of the Mu Clan and the Nalan Clan.
Compared to the Imperial Clan's shortage of talent, these two families could be said to have orderly inheritances.
The middle generation of the Nalan Clan possessed decent talent, had already reached the Dou Ling realm, and held very high hopes of breaking through to the Dou Wang realm in the future.
As for the Mu Clan, while it appeared on the surface to be a staunch younger brother to the Imperial Clan, Jia Xing Tian actually felt that the Nalan Clan—whose younger generation had been accepted as a disciple by Yun Yun—was far more reliable.
On the surface, the Mu Clan looked like a staunch younger brother to the Imperial Clan, but in reality, it harbored plenty of ulterior motives!
That kid of the younger generation in the Mu Clan, who possessed good cultivation talent, had recently been pursuing a female member of the Mittel Clan like a madman.
It sounded like a youth's admiration, nothing problematic.
However, everyone was a thousand-year-old fox, so why put on such an act for him?
What nonsense about love; wasn't this simply the Mu Clan attempting to cooperate and form an alliance with the Mittel Clan?
Their purpose was precisely to take over the empire more quickly once he, a Dou Emperor powerhouse who had already entered his twilight years, grew old.
After all, the Imperial Clan had always lacked a successor, and the Mu Clan was a staunch younger brother to the Imperial Clan—this was common knowledge.
With this status, plus staging a routine of thrice declining and thrice yielding, the Mu Clan could logically take over a series of resources belonging to the Imperial Clan, such as the strength of the Nalan Clan.
Coupled with the strength of the Mittel Clan, the three families forming an alliance...
Internal trouble and external invasion. I wonder how much longer I can hold on?
Jia Xing Tian let out a deep sigh. As he pressed down one gourd only for another to pop up, he truly had no further tricks.
He could only rely on his Nine-Star Dou Emperor Peak cultivation to prop things up like this.
"Someone come, prepare a gift. This old man wants to see this new Ice Emperor in person."
"What new Ice Emperor? It sounds a bit weird."
When Wu Yan heard the title "new Ice Emperor" from Ya Fei's lips, he could not help but grumble inwardly.
New Ice Emperor? Then was there an old Ice Emperor?
Where was that old one now?
The old one was me...
"Everyone is saying it like that. Does Ah Yan brother not like it?" Ya Fei looked at Wu Yan with a smile, her eyes gleaming with bright radiance.
She deeply remembered that a few days ago, on the night this man returned carrying that formidable Dou Emperor aura, the entire city had boiled over.
Simply staying by his side allowed one to feel an incomparable sense of security, and the young Ya Fei felt that she could no longer leave this powerful man.
"Mm, I don't like it very much. Had I known it would be like this, I might as well have returned when I was at the Dou Wang realm..."
Now, Wu Yan no longer needed to meticulously disguise his emotions like before.
"New Ice Emperor"—what kind of title was that?
"In that case, Ah Yan brother might have had to settle for the title of Ice King instead."
"Ice King? Mm, that's not bad either."
Wu Yan thought about it. Although it was also somewhat weird, it still sounded much more comfortable than "new Ice Emperor."
"They're here."
"Mm? Ah Yan brother, who is here?"
Seeing Wu Yan's somewhat troubled expression, Ya Fei assumed that some woman from the academy had come to snatch her man, and hurriedly asked.
"An aura as heavy as the earth. It should be that old fellow from the Imperial Clan."
"Ah? So it's the Dou Emperor powerhouse from the Imperial Clan? Will it be very troublesome?"
"A little. Killing him would probably be quite troublesome..."
Wu Yan whispered softly, deducing the various scenarios that might arise after he killed Jia Xing Tian.
Then he concluded that killing Jia Xing Tian would plunge the empire into chaos and affect his own cultivation.
"In that case, I'll just teach him a lesson."
Having silently made his choice, Wu Yan stood up and noticed Ya Fei's astonished gaze. His eyes shifted slightly.
Then, Wu Yan embraced the young maiden's slender willow waist, unfurled his Dou Qi wings, and flew into the sky.
Thirty miles east of Mittel City, two distinct and formidable auras faced one another.
"Your Excellency possesses remarkably sharp perception."
"Old fellow of the Imperial Clan, I don't know your purpose in coming, but it doesn't matter anyway."
Holding Ya Fei, Wu Yan wore a detached expression.
He seemed completely unconcerned that this maiden, who possessed merely Dou Zhi Qi, would be caught in the crossfire of a battle between Dou Emperor powerhouses.
"It seems Your Excellency also wishes to exchange moves with this old man?"
The corners of Jia Xing Tian's mouth lifted slightly. A newly advanced One-Star Dou Emperor actually wanted to exchange blows with him, a Nine-Star Dou Emperor at the peak; how youthful and naive!
Still, this was fine. Taking advantage of this opportunity to leave a sufficiently profound impression on this brat would save trouble in the future.
Wu Yan did not continue chattering with Jia Xing Tian. With a wave of his hand, he instantly condensed a hundred-meter-long giant ice dragon.
Jia Xing Tian was slightly startled, not expecting this youth to be so direct, opening with the exact same lethal move as Hai Bodong.
Yet he had to admit, this youth had mastered this Dou Technique with remarkable proficiency, wielding it to such an extent in so short a time.
Jia Xing Tian's movements were not slow either. In only two seconds, he condensed an earth-yellow phoenix.
Wu Yan did not rush to make a move, instead allowing Jia Xing Tian to prepare himself. Only then could he crush the other party with the bearing of an absolute powerhouse!
He would let him wake up and recognize the vast gap in strength between them.
That way, the man would obediently behave and not dare come to disturb his quiet cultivation.
The instant the ice dragon and the earth phoenix collided, the earth phoenix was instantly frozen solid by the white chilling Qi radiating from the ice dragon's body.
Immediately afterward, the ice dragon's momentum remained unchecked as it surged straight toward Jia Xing Tian, who was attempting to control the earth phoenix and break free from its restraints.
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