Qiao Xuan's eyes reflected a dangerous light. If they didn't get to sign the contract and establish an alliance with the Demonic Shadow Royal Clan, then he would do everything he could to eliminate Seth, or else he could one day be the most dangerous enemy for them. He was younger than his son and stronger than him already. What would a monster like him develop to be in the future? It would certainly be something dangerous for his Higher Ground.
"There is no need to continue the match." Qiao Xuan said while he took out a spatial ring that contained purple Skystones. He threw ten of them towards Velgor and completely paid his debt. He was inwardly unwilling to do it, but his pride wouldn't allow him to go back on his words.
The people that watched him throwing those purple Skystones like they were cabbages, almost died of heart attack. Those Skystones were considered to be priceless treasures. A single one of them was enough to live an entire life as a king.
Velgor received the stones with a mild smile. Some of his plans were going to need a bunch of those stones in order for them to work. He felt like he was getting closer to reach his ambitions.
Qiao Bao had already gotten up from the ground and consumed some restoration pills. The medicine power was so strong that people could feel it from the other side of the hall. His body and Mana were slowly regenerating and it didn't seem that it would take that long for him to be as good as new. The Golden Lion bloodline gave him a rather good sturdiness.
"Well then. Since the younger generation finished their business, how about we discuss about our alliance?" Qiao Xuan changed the topic to the main one, because it was what they came here for.
"Very well. Since I already know about your terms and I can comply with them, how about we discuss about my demands?" Velgor bluntly said.
"What are your demands for the alliance to be established?" Qiao Xuan calmly asked. He was already expecting that their conversation would be directed towards that topic, since it was one of the main parts of their contract.
Seth was already standing beside his master, hearing their conversation like the others. However, something was tugging on his heartstrings. It started after he heard the Demon Emperor saying he could comply with Qiao Xuan demands. There was something off here and he felt it was something related to what was important for him.
"Since you are open for discussion, I won't be humble then. I want a foothold for my Higher Ground inside the Human Territory."
There was a silence inside the hall after he stated his demand. He was being crazy asking for something like that. Demons would never be able to have a foothold inside the Human Territory in a pacific way. There would be a massive resistance from the human's part, resulting in a conflict that would probably lead to a wide scale war.
The silence reigned until a laughter echoed through the entire hall.
Qiao Xuan startled the people with his uncontrollable laughter.
The Demon Emperor Velgor furrowed his brows but didn't say anything.
"Do not misunderstand me, I just did not think that your ambitions were so high." Qiao Xuan didn't expect that the Demon Emperor would be such a cunning character. He had that calm and tranquil aura around him, but only now, did he understand that he was a viper in disguise.
"What do you think, brother Qiao? Can you help me accomplish such a thing?"
After a few seconds thinking, Qiao Xuan replied: "It's definitely possible." He didn't bother on helping Velgor to put some of his forces inside the Human Territory, because he knew that it would be really easy to expel them from there if he ever turned against his Lion's Pride Golden Palace. Actually, if such a thing happened, the demonic forces that were stationed inside the Human Territory, would be as good as dead.
"Hm? So, brother Qiao thinks that there is actually a possibility. Good, tell me about it."
Qiao Xuan smiled and started to say: "Lately, the other two Higher Grounds aren't paying attention to the important things happening on the Human Territory.? The Glazed Lake is teaching their new batch of disciples, while the Illusive Ethereal Sanctuary has actually never bothered about such things at all. Although it may seem like we do not bother with the disputes between the empires, my Lion's Pride Golden Palace kept taking into consideration their power and standing within our territory."
Qiao Xuan started to walk left and right while explaining.
"Recently, there has been a rumor going on and I think brother Velgor will be very interested on it."
"What is it?"
"Hehe, it seems that the Wu Martial First Prince and his Imperial Teacher Wu Shuhui, have gone missing. If you don't know about them, they are two really important figures on the second most powerful kingdom residing on the human territory."
Seth narrowed his eyes, when he heard him mentioning those people. His heartbeat started to accelerate as his worries were proving to be right.
"The funny thing, is that they vanished inside an event called the Fire Labyrinth. An event that happens on a nation called the Blazing Phoenix Country."
"Hm?" Velgor looked towards Seth, but didn't say anything. He kept waiting for the rest of the explanation.
"The Wu Martial Kingdom sent a messenger demanding for an explanation from the Blazing Phoenix Sect, the ruler of the Blazing Phoenix Country. What do you think brother Velgor? Wouldn't it be a disaster if they found out that those two were dead?"
"!!!" Seth was starting to put the pieces together, and a possibility started to appear on his mind.
"How do you know they are dead?" Velgor asked.
"It's simple. Some of our "eyes", witnessed they entering the labyrinth, but none of them witnessed their return. The only possibility is that they died inside. Now let me ask you something. Wouldn't it be convenient for you, if a war were to break through, giving you the possibility to infiltrate on their territory?"
Seth closed his hands tightly. These bastards were planning to instigate a war between the Blazing Phoenix Country and the Wu Martial Kingdom.
"That could actually be viable. How do you plan to make the war happen?"
"Actually, the Wu Martial Kingdom has already shown some signals that they wanted to battle against the Blazing Phoenix Country. But, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't act reckless and send their troops to battle without a good reason, because there are always other powers watching their moves, waiting for the right time. However, what if we were to lend them some artifacts, weapons and powerful people?" Qiao Xuan said while grinning.
"I see. How much time do you think you will need, to put that plan into action?" Velgor asked calmly. He seemed unperturbed, even though they were planning to sacrifice millions of lives for their hidden interests.
"Give me three months and I can start the preliminaries. I can guarantee that in six months at most, there will be a large-scale battlefield between those two nations. At that time, you'll be able to infiltrate inside the Blazing Phoenix Sect and take it for you."
"Very well, I'll let the preparations with you. Notify me when it is going to be a good time to act and I'll send some of the Twelve Shadows to take care of everything."
Seth started to feel some rage after hearing their conversation. His problem was not that a war would break out and millions of people would end up suffering, but that it would directly affect Lilian, Yuyin, Meiyi and her mother. People he had to protect at all cost.
"Good. Good. How about we move to the final part already?"
"Hahaha, brother Qiao Xuan, you seem a bit impatient. Guess your son has been pestering you for a long time already. Alright, let's move to the final part."
Velgor clasped and parchment appeared in front of him. It contained everything both parties were willing to do in order to form the alliance and the things they would gain from one another. He signed it with his own blood and threw it towards Qiao Xuan.
Qiao Xuan did the same thing as him but on a different contract and threw it towards Velgor. Both of them inspected the parchments and nodded after seeing that everything was correct.
"Since we signed the contract and our alliance has been established, I shall comply with my end of the deal." The Demon Lord stood up and released his Mana Sovereign cultivation base.
The sudden pressure startled the entire Demonic Imprerial City, making people feel the urge to kneel down.
"I the Demon Emperor Velgor, hereby announce that the Lion Knight Qiao Bao will officially be engaged to the Princess of the Demonic Shadow Royal Clan, known as Silver Nights. The date of their marriage shall be on this same day of the next year." His voice reverberated through the whole city.
After his speech ended, the people that were witnessing, started to congratulate the Lion Knight Qiao Bao, making the hall noisy with their voices.
But for Seth, he felt like a bomb exploded inside his head. He seemed that he could not even hear the noises the people were making, because everything has gone silent after he heard the words his master has said.. For him the entire world seemed to be crumbling.
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