This incident was indeed caused by Ye Futian. Gongsun Zhong went to the Demon Peacock City several times, and was attacked by the demons each and every time. On behalf of Ye Futian, he had endured the brunt of the anger of the demonic clans, and there must be a lot of resentment in his heart.
Now that the alliance between the Emperor Li’s Realm and the Demon Peacock Realm was being negotiated, wanting to attack together, Gongsun Zhong thought of handing Ye Futian over to Kong Xuan to quell the anger of the Demon Peacock Realm, thus maintaining the confrontation evenly three-sided.
On the surface, it seemed feasible, but in fact, it was not so simple. Xia Qingyuan’s stance aside, even if she was willing to surrender Ye Futian, but what if after the Demon Peacock Realm had executed Ye Futian, they continued their alliance with Emperor Li’s Realm?
They would have lost a strong fighter in vain, and not to mention the many strong cultivators around Ye Futian such as Yu Sheng and the others. If they surrendered Ye Futian, then the support of these people would also evaporate; it was undoubtedly akin to breaking one of their own arms.
Even though many did not like Ye Futian, but they had to recognize his strength. Gongsun Zhong’s injuries were proof that Ye Futian was way more powerful, who could repeatedly provoke Kong Xuan but always emerged in one piece.
Furthermore, Xia Qingyuan was willing to promote Ye Futian as her deputy, and sent Gongsun Zhong to the Demon Peacock City for him to show friendly intentions to Kong Xuan. Her appreciation of Ye Futian and his importance to her were apparently; naturally she would not have sent him.
Gongsun Zhong ‘s proposal could only satisfy his own displeasure and the princess was unlikely to agree.
Ye Futian glanced at Gongsun Zhong, and he looked calm and without disturbance. Gongsun Zhong’s displeasure of him was apparent at old master Xiao’s birthday banquet. Now, with all that had happened in the Empty Realm, surely his displeasure toward him had increased, so he had made such suggestion even when he knew that there was no possibility, he still spoke of it showed how deep that resentment ran.
The future leader of Divine Cloud Valley really did not care about offending him.
However, it was expected. Even though he was talented and named as deputy of the princess, but this was the Divine Cloud Valley, which had its own status and power in its own right. The past leader of Divine Cloud valley was the personal armorer of Emperor Xia, and even the Xiao clan desired to form an alliance with the Divine Cloud Valley through marriage, and like Lihen Heaven, it stood at the epitome of power in Emperor Xia’s Realm. With its solid backing from Emperor Xia, Ye Futian’s feeling was the least of their concerns.
Xia Qingyuan looked at Gongsun Zhong and said, “Gongsun Zhong, what kind of sacrifice do you mean?”
Upon hearing Xia Qingyuan’s words, many people showed surprise. The princess was deliberately pretended not to understand the insinuation made by Gongsun Zhong.
With his head still bowed, Gongsun Zhong said, “if Emperor Li’s Realm and the Demon Peacock Realm formed an alliance, we will undoubtedly lose the battle of the Empty Realm, and ten years of preparation will be wasted in an instant. And the cause of the current situation was none other than Ye Futian’s arrogant behavior. If Ye Futian is sent to the Demon Peacock City to quench their anger, they would naturally stop their alliance with Emperor Li’s Realm.”
“In the battle for the Empty Realm, is the Demon Peacock Realm an enemy to Emperor Xia’s Realm?” asked Xia Qingyuan.
“Yes,” Gongsun Zhong bowed his head and replied.
“Ye Futian alone was able to contain the Demon Peacock City, killing many great demons, so what is the reason for sending him to the Demon Peacock City?” Xia Qingyuan continued her inquiry, her voice was calm, but this calmness gave Gongsun Zhong a sense of invisible pressure.
“The battlefield of the Empty Realm is not subjected to military discipline, fighting alone led to the current crisis,” Gongsun Zhong responded.
Xia Qingyuan nodded slightly and said, “You are right, Ye Futian did what he wanted, which led to the current difficulty we are in, and he should immediately relinquish his title as my deputy. But when Gongsun Zhong, on the verge of impending battle, confused the focus of our army by suggesting sending our deputy to the enemy, disregard ranking and showed fear in fighting; Gongsun Zhong, what do you think should be the punishment for that offense?”
When Gongsun Zhong heard what Xia Qingyuan had to say, his face paled. He lifted his head up slightly and looked at Xia Qingyuan in the eyes. His heart was cold and he was extremely disappointed.
There was nothing wrong with what Xia Qingyuan had said, but it showed Xia Qingyuan’s attitude toward the two of them.
The Divine Cloud Valley had followed the Emperor Xia for many years, his grandfather was the master royal armorer. He, too, had hoped to follow and serve Xia Qingyuan.
However, in the heart of Xia Qingyuan, the status of Gongsun Zhong of Divine Cloud Valley was not as high as that of Ye Futian from the Lower Worlds of the Nine States.
He proposed to sacrifice Ye Futian because he wanted to see how Xia Qingyuan would respond.
And today, he has his answer.
“The princess may decide what punishment Gongsun Zhong deserves,” Gongsun Zhong looked into Xia Qingyuan’s eyes, then bowed his head in respect, without any more illusions in his heart.
“Princess,” Xiao Sheng walked up and bowed to Xia Qingyuan, “It was in a moment of confusion and frustration that Gongsun Zhong acted like this, and also because of the concern regarding the battle for the Empty Realm; I hope the princess will consider these factors in meting out the punishment.”
“Princess, the brink of battle is really not a suitable time to shake the confidence of the army,” Tian Ji also whispered.
Xia Qingyuan still looked very calm, gazing at Gongsun Zhong, and Gongsun Zhong stood there with his head hung. It seemed a long time had passed before Xia Qingyuan said, “Go to the Demon Peacock City with this message: I, Xia Qingyuan, am willing to apologize on behalf of Ye Futian for his behavior. However, the confrontations between the armies were inevitable. But if the Demon Peacock City insisted on having its own way and joining with Emperor Li’s Realm to attack the Emperor Xia’s City, we are prepared to die fighting, and will focus all our power against the cultivators of the Demon Peacock City, and we would rather let Emperor Li’s Realm win without a fight.”
“Yes,” Gongsun Zhong replied.
“In addition, after the battle began, you will lead the cultivators of the Divine Cloud Valley to fight in the front, and use your action to prove your belief in our victory of the battle for the Empty Realm, and whether or not you are willing to make sacrifices.” Xia Qingyuan continued. Her plain voice sounded chilling to many.
The forward of the great battle had always suffered the greatest, and it had always been the responsibility of the Eight legions directly belonging to Emperor Xia. Now, Xia Qingyuan had asked Gongsun Zhong to lead the Divine Cloud Valley to fight in the front. Such punishment was rather malicious, and Gongsun Zhong had nothing to say.
Since he said that Ye Futian could be sacrificed, then Xia Qingyuan would let him make some sacrifices himself.
“Yes, princess.” Gongsun Zhong looked very calm and without anger, and his expression did not change much, as if his heart was like stilled water.
The more he cared, the easier it was for his emotion to be out of control. When true despair set in and he no longer had much to care, he was able to calmly look at everything.
At this moment, Gongsun Zhong had lost all hope for Xia Qingyuan, and no longer had any illusions.
“Go deliver the message,” Xia Qingyuan said. She did not care about what Gongsun Zhong thought, because this descendant of Divine Cloud Valley had also disappointed her greatly.
“Yes,” Gongsun Zhong nodded, then backed off and departed by levitation, went to the Demon Peacock City to pass on the message.
Looking at Gongsun Zhong departing, many felt sympathy. This extraordinary figure of the Divine Cloud Valley had wanted to win the heart of princess Xia Qingyuan, but in the end, it worked against him. The princess was obviously very dissatisfied with him, so much so that she disregarded his thoughts on the matter altogether.
“Prepare for war.” Xia Qingyuan casted a glance to the crowd, and suddenly every one of them stepped back and went on with war preparation.
If their opponents were to attack with a united front, it would be a brutal bloody battle.
Gongsun Zhong went to the Demon Peacock City to send the message, which enraged all the demonic royal clans who were furious and accused Xia Qingyuan for lack of sincerity and her threat to them. They declared their intention to capture Xia Qingyuan and proposed to immediately sent out troops and joined forces to attack.
Jialou Feng proposed to co-mingle of the Imperial armies and join forces to attack. This way, it would not only be difficult for Emperor Li’s Realm to use trickery agaisnt them, but it would also be difficult for Emperor Xia’s cultivators to target them alone.
Kong Xuan and Kong Zhan had seriously considered the proposal of Jialou Feng.
After learning about the content of Xia Qingyuan’s message, it naturally filled Li Yao’s heart with great joy, and he couldn’t wait for the other two parties to shred each other to pieces during the war, so that they could reserve their strength and wait until Emperor Xia’s City was vanquished before they turned on those demons.
However, after the Demon Peacock City once again mentioned the proposal of Jialou Feng, in order to show sincerity, Li Yao was forced to agree, and the two sides formally made an alliance and began to prepare for the war, planning to take Emperor Xia’s City in one fight without leaving any potential for future troubles.
At the same time, Emperor Li’s Realm and the Demon Peacock Realm began to prepare for war, reorganized their armies and its mixed formations and started to set up the camps of their mixed army.
An invisible pressure shrouded Emperor Xia’s City.
In the Empty Realm, many people have said that Emperor Xia’s City was finished. After this war, they may lose the qualification to fight for the control of the Empty Realm.
This great confrontation in the battle of the Empty Realm seemed to arrive a little faster than expected.
After some days of preparation, this day, starting from Emperor Li’s City, branches of army departed, same with the Demon Peacock City, all demons were mobilized from different directions, going toward one direction, the direction of Emperor Xia’s City.
The two imperial realms had officially formed an alliance, joined forces to invade Emperor Xia’s City, ready to destroy it.
On this day, the black clouds shrouded Emperor Xia’s City, and it was different from before. This time it was no longer a single attack from Emperor Li’s army, but two armed forces joined together against them. They had each left only some of their troops to guard the cities, and the rest of the cultivators were all involved in this battle.
At this time in Emperor Xia’s City, the great army gathered in the direction of the imperial flag, waiting.
The vast sky in the distance had been filled with extremely powerful pressure, and the two great armies were approaching.
Above the main hall, Xia Qingyuan looked into the distance, with Ye Futian stood next to her, also looking in the same direction.
The setup had taken many days, and today it was finally the time to welcome this battle. This was also the situation that Ye Futian had been working hard to create!