“Hoh? So it’s this bad already? Shouldn’t you have some defenses built up in some of those cities, wouldn’t that one mountain range have been a good place for a fortress… or that place filled with stormy winds…”

“That was an oversight by our elders, we never expected something like this to have happened… but it’s all that Long Clan’s fault, they clearly knew about this disaster coming, why they never went past the central region, why they decided to focus all of their forces in one area! It was all to sacrifice us as pawns!”

“Now, now, Elder Sun Shi, calm yourself, it's not like I’m blaming you or anything…”

He was putting the blame on them but not for the lack of information. They had enough years to push some of their resources to different regions and create defensive measures that would last them more than a week or two. As it was now, the Emerald Phoenix Empire just steamrolled through their lands as if they were nothing.

This of course was due to the culture of this place. The large sects would see the smaller ones as tax zones and nothing more. They wouldn’t invest any of their own resources in the middle-sized sects, instead they would weaken them. This was expected but if the Long Clan informed everyone this could have been prevented. They clearly knew about the bridges and where they existed.

‘I can’t tell them but this is probably because of that Overseer Empress… she must have made it so that the Long Clan never cooperates with the others. It would have been an easy task to use the millennia they had to prepare.’

His sect was able to create barricades at the locations of the two bridges from the demi-human side. After their emperor had died there were some small skirmishes but nothing that could get past the stronghold. Now they would probably remain there without anything being able to slip past them. This could have easily been fashioned with the help of the Long Clan resources. They didn’t even need to hurry as this happened every hundred thousand years or so.

‘They were the only ones that survived the previous attack and probably also the ones that withheld the information. They want everyone else to be a shield and use their flying city to escape if things get too spicy…’

At first, he didn’t think much of it, he attributed it to the setting of the world and how the cultivators were. Most of them just stuck to their own faction and didn’t care about the other but now he wasn’t that sure anymore. The people around him began changing and there became a lot more magnanimous. But that wasn’t even the biggest reason, it didn’t actually go in line with how these cultivator nuts operated.

First of all, if the Long Clan knew of the four invading forces that came from all sides, wouldn’t they have at least tried to prepare? They had almost a hundred thousand years to make some changes, and create special sects to act as bodyguards or vanguards. Normally they would have been scared into acting, the only reason they wouldn’t care would be that they were convinced that they weren’t in any danger at all.

‘Can you be that sure of your victory though? Wouldn’t it be better to tell everyone and let them prepare something? or did they think that the other sects would just continue to bother them about resources and aid?’

Zhang Dong didn’t really get it, he would have at least tried to reinforce the areas where the bridges were. It was clearly possible to halt the advances of those empires which he proved by taking out the forward forces by himself. If it was possible for him to achieve this by himself then the Azure Emperor should have been able too.

Even the other large sects would only require a few more nascent soul elders and some other troops for the same effect. It was possible to hold the invaders at the borders if all the three grand sects worked together with each other and prepared for it.

‘Chicken and the egg scenario… were they affected by the overseer to act this way or is this just how they are, selfish and fearful…’

“I must apologize for my behavior, I also insulted the Golden Dragon’s brother in his presence.”

While he was thinking about what to do the old man along with his entourage started bowing all over the place. It might have seemed that he was being remorseful about his words but in reality, he was prodding for information. Through the conversation, the other side clearly realized that Zhang Dong didn’t fear the Azure Emperor and didn’t care if someone talked badly of him.

“It’s fine, he’s not here but you better stop while you're ahead, I do know what you are doing and trying to pit me against my brother won’t work.”

“I didn’t… I mean I wouldn’t…”

Zhang Dong’s aura rose in the room and started causing the core formation experts to faint while their mouths filled with foam. It was clear to him that the other side wanted to push him against the Azure Emperor that looked like the villain here. He was withholding his help from everyone and the Heavenly Crane Sect elder wanted a target that they could team up against.

The intention was clear, they wanted his help against the Emerald Phoenix Emperor. The man here probably thought that Zhang Dong wanted to prove himself. If he was able to defeat the Emerald Phoenix Emperor when his brother couldn’t then the validity of his power could not be disputed. As it stood at this time people still weren’t sure where to place him on the power scale. It was possible that the demi-human strength had been over-exaggerated and the United Element Sect was just lucky.

If he defeated the Emerald Phoenix Emperor whom the Heavenly Crane Sect was suffering greatly against, then it would be another thing. This sect had lasted through tens of thousands of years and had a long history of victories. It would cement his place as a potential new Emperor and also in-depth this sect to him which normally wouldn’t be a bad idea.

“I do not wish to swipe the throne away from my brother, this would only weaken this Empire and the blood of my sect members is not something I want to have on my hands, at least not for something this meaningless.”

“M-meaningless?”

Sun Shi was stunned at the reply as for a person like him there was no greater honor than being the Emperor of these lands. It was not an empty title as the Azure Emperor title was always in the hands of the strongest cultivator. This had been true for millennia and Zhang Dong actually had the right to challenge the man for that title. With the help of the Heavenly Crane Sect, it would be possible to force a confrontation, perhaps even a one-on-one battle.

“But I digress, in short, you wish me to lend you a few of my people to clear out some of the critical locations and push back the invaders, right?”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

Sun Shi gave out a sigh of relief as Zhang Dong’s aura returned to normal. Everyone else that was in the room had passed out so only the two elders were left. While they were talking the silent guards that weren’t part of the conversation moved in to carry the people out and to let the two seniors discuss things between them.

“Don’t worry, they will be taken care of. Now for your request… Do you actually think that I would accept something like this? That I wouldn’t realize that you are going behind the back of your leader to do this?”

“Aye… the Golden Dragon is truly wise, you have figured out everything, this old man might not be suited for politics…”

Sun Shi gave out a sigh while dropping his head. Zhang Dong had figured out long ago that something was fishy here. No one from that sect sent any words and instead, this one elder appeared.

“Now tell me the truth.”

“As you wish… The truth is, we really need help but the council of elders wasn’t able to decide yet.”

“So, you were of the mind of asking me for help and decided to go behind your elder council’s back?”

The man just nodded while looking dejected.

“I truly am regretful, please Golden Dragon show mercy, this was a lapse in my judgment, please don’t punish the juniors.”

“Punish?”

“This old man will pay with his life for this misdeed!”

“Now hold up…”

Zhang Dong’s eyes almost popped out of his head as he saw the old man trying to sink his whole palm into his own dantian. The man was trying to cripple himself and regress into a mortal out of fear. In Sun Shi’s eyes, he came under false pretenses and tried to swindle a powerful entity into a battle with enemies that he didn’t know. Besides the talk about becoming the new Emperor, he was also offering some treasures and spoils of battle.

“There is no need for that, I’m not going to kill you or your juniors so calm down.”

He wanted to give out a sigh after seeing the man going for self-mutilation. It was something that he had forgotten existed after spending his days together with his people. They knew that he wouldn’t really punish anyone. However, to other people outside the sect, he could be considered a person that they couldn’t antagonize. It wouldn’t be hard for him to kill all of them and not even report it to the Heavenly Crane Sect, at this point they wouldn’t really be able to complain as the man visited them of his own volition.

“You won’t? But I tried to …”

“Well, you’re probably not used to handling things like this. I also have this stuff taken care of by some of my people, I know the feeling.”

Sun Shi was stunned to see Zhang Dong just shaking his head and shrugging as if it wasn’t a big deal. Any other big wig cultivator would have told the old man to slap himself at least fifty times before allowing them to speak.

“To be honest I was interested in what was happening in the eastern front, if you continue to inform me about what happens there I might even help you out…”

“You would?”

“Yes, but you’ll have to follow some of my directions first so let me explain…”

Zhang Dong smiled while taking out a special item from his spatial ring. It looked like a regular paperweight but in actuality, it was a savepoint he could teleport to. While he wouldn’t be willing to take the trip himself this man could take this to a place he could pop out from and investigate that war-torn region.

‘This way Liena won’t even know that I left…’

With the teleport in place, he could safely travel to where the action was without worrying anyone from his inner circle and mainly his wife. He would of course tell people like Zhang Jin so that in case of distress the golden dong palace could be activated to come to his rescue.