"Your Majesty, another group of experts came inside our Beltran City. They are already the fifth group that entered in our territory. Furthermore, each of them has a 7th-rank Emperor realm cultivator leading their groups." Defender Duanmu reported.

Emperor Elyk sighed weakly. ' I'm almost at the age of abdicating the throne, but why are all these troublesome matters happening right now? Sigh!'

"Are there any 8th-rank Divine realm cultivator spotted within our borders?" Emperor Elyk asked with a weary voice. It was only in front of Defender Duanmu that he could display this kind of weakness. Emperor Elyk trusted him so much and he even treated Defender Duanmu like a real brother.

Defender Duanmu felt sorry for the emperor, but he didn't show it on his face. "Your Majesty, our people haven't reported any sightings of experts at that level, but there is a possibility of someone with that strength appearing in these troubled times. The Earth Origin Dragon Tree is just too precious for them to pass up, even I am feeling a bit tempted..." The old defender said truthfully.

He couldn't be blamed for this. The Earth Origin Dragon Tree was, after all, a 9th-rank spiritual plant. Just its fruit alone was capable of helping an 8th-rank Divine realm expert to break through to the 9th-rank Saint realm. Such an astonishing treasure would surely be highly sought by many high-ranking experts!

Emperor Elyk narrowed his eyes but still sighed in the end. "Even this emperor wants to take a single fruit from Wine Master Jiu. Just that after learning everything about his strength, I don't even have the courage to ask him for one. Just let those people be for now. Let them suffer a little bit for going inside our empire without notifying us." The emperor said.

Defender Duanmu broke into a grin but he frowned soon after since his injuries weren't fully healed yet. Although Hestia already provided him with a high-level healing pill, he still needed more than ten days to recover his peak condition.

"Those fools actually dared to harbor thoughts of snatching something from Wine Master Jiu. I just hope that Wine Master Jiu will be magnanimous enough to let them off. If not, then our Silver Wing Empire might have to face the full brunt of their factions' retaliation." Defender Duanmu said with a serious look.

Emperor Elyk nodded in agreement. "Indeed. But no matter what Wine Master Jiu's choice will be, if his actions will implicate our empire, then even if I have to beg him, I will make sure that he will have to ride along with us." A trace of brilliance flickered in the emperor's eyes and the buried majestic air within him resurfaced in that instant. He might be nearing his twilight years, but the awe-inspiring regality and charisma of an emperor were already deeply rooted in his bones.

Both men who were inside the throne room didn't even think that begging Jiu Shen was contemptible. They both know that an expert at Jiu Shen's level was far from their reach, so what is there to worry about begging someone like him?

* * *

The Immortal's Wine Store.

A towering single-armed man with long wavy red hair and dark skin entered the store who then instantly garnered the attention of the customers due to his wild and untamed presence. It was as if they were facing an alpha lion that had escaped from the forest.

Each of his steps created a loud thumping sound that caused the customers' hearts to beat wildly in nervousness.

Behind this man were four individuals with the same ferocious air. Two of them were youths at the 4th-rank Knight Crusader realm and the other two were middle-aged men at the 6th-rank King realm.

Aside from their feral aura, all these men had something else in common. They were all tall and had hulk-like bodies that it almost looked as if they could crush their chairs into smithereens.

"Can this little thing really be sat on?" The single-armed man muttered as he glanced at the ordinary-looking chair in front of him. He touched the fragile-looking chair and used a bit of his strength to try crushing it. He was a high-level body strengthening expert and anyone with such strength could surely crush anything with their grip power alone!

Just as he thought that the chair would crumble into dust, he felt a strong rebound force that made him release it instinctively.

"Huh?!" He frowned while glancing at his hand in bewilderment. His hand was now feeling numbed and is slightly red in color as if it had experienced some kind of minor physical damage.

He then glanced at the chair and was about to smack it when he heard a cold and indifferent voice behind him.

"If you still value your remaining arm, then I advise you not to do anything funny. Of course, you're free to disregard my words."

The single-armed man paused his actions and narrowed his eyes as he turned around to face the person who had spoken such bold words.

His narrowed eyes widened when his gaze locked onto the person in front of him. It was actually a valiant young lady with short blonde hair! Everything about her was perfect and even her cold expression accentuated her overall bearing.

"This little lady, are you speaking to me, Hu Xiandao?" The man asked while looking at Theia in amusement.

In their Mythos Wildlands, nobody dared to talk to him like that. Whoever dared to do so were heavily thrashed by him to the point that even their parents could no longer recognize their faces.

Physical conflicts were pretty common in their place since it was the land of the barbarians. Almost all of their people were uncultured individuals who think using their fists. And in order to gain the respect of such rough people, one had to have sufficient strength. This Hu Xiandao was someone heavily respected in the Mythos Wildlands not just because of his strength, but also because of his ferocity!

Mythos Wildlands was a kingdom of barbarians in the northern part of the Silver Wing Empire. All of their people practiced body strengthening and they even battle with ferocious savage beasts almost on a daily basis.

Their ferociousness and undaunting courage made them famous in the entire Profound Dragon Continent. Even a huge empire like the Silver Wing Empire was wary of their presence! Just this alone was enough to tell their strength.

Facing such a man like Hu Xiandao, Theia remained calm.

The face-off between them looked like a rabbit facing against a lion, but the customers inside the store had strange expressions on their faces.

"If this person isn't sensible enough, then we might see someone getting kicked out like ragdoll once again..." Someone among the customers muttered.