“What are those bastards thinking? Let me go there and I’ll knock some sense into them, brother!”

“No, we must minimize the infighting, this is what got us in this situation in the first place…”

“Those blasted United Element Sect bastards are turning our people against us! Who do they think they are?”

Long Fengge shouted angrily while looking at his older brother Long Shen. To the side, Long Yanyu was looking at a holographic depiction of the central region that looked somewhat similar to what Zhang Dong was using. It was color-coded in the same way and showed which places had been damaged or taken over.

“I say we hang the traitors to make an example, how dare the branch families second guess our orders? Something like this had never happened before! They actually demanded that our father join the battle.”

“Preposterous, just because that fool took part in the battle they expect father to do the same, they need to be shown some manners!”

“Will you two quiet down, they will be punished with time but first we need to drive these invaders out of our lands. You have already seen their capabilities, that man is the real deal…”

“Do you actually think that we might lose?”

Long Fengge asked his older brother with a surprised expression on his face. After the last battle, the oldest started acting strange, it was as if he was afraid of their so-called uncle. During the siege, they had seen a glimpse of his power. He was able to deflect the destruction of the flying fortress that should have been enough to blast the whole region into nothingness.

That he was able to defend himself and his people against the soul attack was also not something they calculated in. What they were expecting was a victory while suffering a small number of casualties from their side. The branching families weren’t really considered part of the main clan so they didn’t care that much about them. Yet even after using their last trump card the damage they sustained was far greater than they anticipated. Their enemies were untouched and now quickly pushing in on the border region.

If this wasn’t bad already, there were more troubles brewing. The branch clans were now unwilling to cooperate with their forces. Some masters had already taken their disciples and vanished from the central region. Most of them hid away within the central region but some were escaping to the east as the western region was sealed off and unsafe.

People had become aware that this was not a one-sided conflict. Everything that transpired during the first confrontation confirmed the old rumors. The United Element Sect was not an easy opponent and they were not to be underestimated. Even if all the conflicts in the Western region were fabricated, it didn’t matter anymore. They were able to push back a direct attack from the Long Clan. It didn’t matter that the forces were mostly made up of branch families, no weak sect would be able to achieve a victory over their forces and do this without suffering many casualties themselves.

“We won’t lose but the real question isn’t that.”

“Then what is it, elder brother? If you are so sure of our victory, why did you order everyone to retreat? We lost a lot of people there, perhaps it would have been better to at least try?”

“Sister, are you questioning your eldest brother’s decision?”

“Me? Questioning his decision? I did no such thing, I’m just talking aloud as always you may ignore my ramblings~”

Long Yanyu posed the question while looking at the red marks on the map. Long Shen was supposed to inherit the mantle of Azure Emperor in the future so his words counted for a lot. During the confrontation, he decided to retreat instead of confronting their uncle. She considered this decision to be somewhat cowardly in nature. It was an opportunity to prove himself as the rightful owner of the title but now bad rumors were spreading that he was not suited for it anymore. The Golden Dragon’s name was on everyone's tongues and she hated it.

“We didn’t have enough information, the fake was a lot more powerful than what we were led to believe. This battle was nothing more than a test and we had gained precious information.”

“Precious information? I hope it was worth it.”

“I was, now we know what he is capable of, here take a look.”

While talking the oldest sibling pointed out with his finger at the holographic map. It flicked and started changing into the shape of a person. It was clearly the man known as Zhang Dong and the fake Emperor that he referred to. There were various words written to the side and pointing to his body and even the sword that he recently used in the confrontation.

“Dao of Heavenly Lightning, Soul Arts, gravitational techniques … is he capable of doing all of this?”

“Indeed, he has mastered various types of Dao and they seem to have increased since he entered our city. He was not in possession of all of this… either he learned them recently or was able to hide them when he was here…”

“How would he be able to learn all of this in a measly ten years? That’s impossible.”

“I agree, he must have found a way to hide his strength even in front of our father, we must consider his equal and stop playing around. If we continue like this, we will all die…”

The younger sister and brother went quiet as they finally understood what their eldest brother was getting at. Even if they remained on the battlefield and fought, their uncle would have defeated them all. He was far stronger than every one of the elders that were there to protect them. Just like their father who could defeat multiple nascent soul masters, they needed to consider him to be his equal. If not, their demise would come swiftly.

“Will Father need to move? Will it be impossible for us?”

The youngest sibling asked while looking at Zhang Dong’s holographic image. His appearance seemed more ferocious now than it was all those years ago. It was now clear that he had been hiding most of his power and still was able to easily trump their skills.

“I’m not sure, we will not be able to kill him with a brute force approach like last time. If we are able to lure him into a trap of spiritual weakening then we would stand a chance.”

“I didn’t think he would be so ferocious but I still can’t see him defeating Father.”

Long Fengge said out in anger while slamming his fist on the machine producing the holographic image of their enemy.

“Nevertheless, we must account for everything, just like before they will attempt to lure us in. With the current information, we can develop the proper countermeasures.”

Long Shen managed to remain calm, he was not as assured as his younger brother of their father's victory. He had seen the man close up and his presence was very similar to the Azure Emperor’s. It was impossible to come to a conclusion as neither of them had shown their true fighting prowess. Before it came to a confrontation they needed to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of this man. If they didn't, Long Shen felt that even his father could be in trouble.

“How did they manage to sneak up on us? If not for that gravitational trap we would have been able to safely retreat.”

“That’s a good question and our people have found the answer, take a look at this.”

Long Shen made the hologram shift to represent the previous battlefield. He then pointed to an area that was behind their flying fortress.

“Our experts discovered a strange fluctuation of energy in this area, they have come to the conclusion that it was some type of teleportation technique.”

“Teleportation technique? Did our formation fail?”

“It is so, the technique was strange but they have informed me that they will be able to discover it if they ever use it again.”

Long Shen smirked slightly as he was convinced that his enemies wouldn’t be aware of this fact. Similar techniques had already been used around their region and were being analyzed. The next time their enemy arrived they would become aware of their presence.

“Surprisingly it’s a strange unorthodox art, we won’t be able to block it with our formations but they won’t be able to use it for subterfuge.”

“He must have had a fortuitous encounter… maybe it’s an ancient art of a long gone immortal.”

“Perhaps, we must account for everything so that Father…”

“Oh, what are my cure children up to, and why is it so dark in here?”

“Father?”

Before Long Shen could finish the sentence he heard his father’s voice echo through the room. It took the three a moment to find their parent that was seemingly just sitting there in the corner. It looked like he had been there the whole time without them noticing. They all went pale as they had been insinuating that he might have been weaker than his younger sibling, Zhang Dong.

“What’s with those faces? Do you think I’d be mad? Nothing of the such, this is rather exciting don’t you all think?”

“Exciting?”

The three looked at each other without knowing how to reply. The fate of the Long Clan was at risk. Their people were at the apex of the empire for hundreds of thousands of years. If their line would to end when they were in charge, then they would be the biggest shame of the Long Dynasty.

“Ha ha, long have I waited for a worthy opponent, my little brother, the Golden Dragon! Our Clash will be legendary!”

Long Qing was all smiles while his children were sweating. They haven’t seen their father so excited in a long time. Usually, he just lazes around the whole day while resting his head on their mother’s lap. It was clear to them that he was itching for a fight and it was up to them to pave the way.

They knew that he was not much of a planner and had no inclination toward making strategies. Even the help from his soul beast was gotten by a request from Long Shen that had not trusted the other elders that were downplaying the danger that the United Element Sect posed. It would probably be up to them to set the stage for their dad but with him around, they felt that there was no wall they couldn’t get over.

“Now, I’ll leave the rest up to you, Long Shen! Call me over when you need me.”

“Of course, father.”

The Emperor was not one to partake in long strategic meetings. Leaving it all up to his oldest son was the best plan in his mind. Instead of wasting time here, he could train up for the clash with his brother. When the time came he would give it all and prove once and for all that he was the world's strongest expert.