Chapter 989: Chapter 748: Is the Era About to Pass?
The doors to the study closed, and the ministers around looked at each other in dismay.
"Your Majesty, are we truly to become enemies with the ancient powerhouses?" a minister whispered.
The Emperor surveyed his surroundings and lowered his voice as well, "Gentlemen, you are all people I trust the most. So now I might as well tell you, I believe that the era of the ancient powerhouses has passed."
At the Emperor’s words, all the ministers could not help but utter sounds of surprise. The status of the ancient powerhouses had been proven with strength over the past several hundreds of years throughout the entire plane. And now, just because of the emergence of Long Yi and Ai Lin, the Emperor was asserting that the era of ancient powerhouses was over?
"Although it is just a guess of mine, everything that Long Yi and Ai Lin have done seems to prove my guess is correct," said Saint Jialin.
"Your Majesty! We can’t just declare the end of the era of ancient powerhouses because Long Yi and Ai Lin killed two of them, right?" a minister urgently said.
"Have you not noticed something? Since the appearance of Long Yi and Ai Lin, it’s not just the ancient powerhouses that have been slain. More importantly, the military strength of our Divine Auffa Empire and the Sanctuary Empire has seen a meteoric rise!" said Saint Jialin.
The ministers immediately realized, indeed whether it was the new magical knowledge taught by Ai Lin or the Divine Armor made by Long Yi, they had greatly enhanced the strength of both nations from various aspects. At the beginning of gaining such powerful strength, people merely thought the soldiers had become stronger and had no sense of the implications of this change. But as time went on, both the Emperor and the military ministers began to sense the transformation in the entire army.
Once the soldiers adapted to the new power, new tactics and battle methods were continuously developed, further enhancing the combat strength of the soldiers. And with the improvement in strength, their understanding of magic would deepen further, leading to an enhancement in magical prowess. This cycle was almost astoundingly beneficial!
The ancient powerhouses were respected not because they inherited the Giant’s legacy, but simply because they were too strong.
But what if they were no longer the strongest?
"Emperor Saint Danze has been in close contact with me lately, telling me that, thanks to Long Yi’s knowledge of magical equipment and research on the golems left by the Giants, their Divine Armor has been further upgraded. He also believes that the era of those ancient powerhouses should be over," Saint Jialin said.
"Saint Danze? Your Majesty! That is the emperor of an enemy state!" said a minister.
"The emperor of a past enemy state, but now Ai Lin and Long Yi are joining forces. Ai Lin once said that there are no eternal enemies between nations, only eternal interests. Interest comes first, and if we can end the era of ancient powerhouses by our own hands, what harm is there in temporarily allying with the enemy?"
This statement by Saint Jialin truly frightened the ministers. If his initial meaning was simply that the era of ancient powerhouses was over, his current intention was very clear—he was actively pushing for this process!
"Your Majesty..."
Several ministers wanted to say something but didn’t know how to start, as it was clearly not easy for them to accept this notion all at once.
"I’m just speaking hypothetically, since we don’t yet have the power to do this. So, ministers, there’s no need to be so nervous; I’m not yet deluded by my own fantasies. Perhaps what I said will come true in one or two years, maybe in ten or eight years?"
Hearing this, the ministers were somewhat relieved. However, after such discussions, the ministers had lost the mood to continue the meeting and left in haste as soon as the Emperor declared the meeting concluded.
Then, Long Yi, Ai Lin, and Little Zi emerged from the secret chamber behind the study.
"Good news, Your Majesty, you have a good eye for people. None of these ministers seem inclined to betray us," Little Zi said with a chuckle.
"Phew! That’s a relief! These ministers are the people I trust the most. If any of them were to betray me, I’d be heartbroken to death," Saint Jialin sighed.
"The ministers can’t believe this, and we don’t blame them. After all, they have been oppressed by the ancient powerhouses for too long. But if they think about it carefully, they will realize that the so-called ancient powerhouses are just people with slightly greater strength. It’s just because you haven’t interacted with them for so long that you’ve let your imagination scare you," Long Yi said.
Saint Jialin nodded, agreeing with Long Yi’s reasoning.
"So, who are you planning to find next?" asked Saint Jialin.
"Actually, one person’s appearance here surprised me, and that is Lou Aran," Ai Lin said.
"Indeed..." Saint Jialin nodded, "He seemed to have always been trying to get on your good side before, but why is he standing on the opposing side to you now?"
"Therefore, we must go and have a discussion with him next."
Ever since being driven away in anger by Nielan, Lou Aran had been furious, unable to believe that someone would doubt him! Of course, he would never betray anyone!
In front of his hut on this mysterious planet, holding a golden disc, Lou Aran tried hard to calm himself down.
"No! I’ve been isolated!" Lou Aran suddenly opened his eyes wide. "I’ve been isolated! And Long Yi and Ai Lin already know I am one of them. Next, they are very likely to come looking for me!"
"What to do! What to do!"
Right!
Lou Aran’s eyes lit up.
Then, a declaration once again shook the entire plane.
Lou Aran, who had originally joined the Alliance of Ancient Powerhouses, suddenly announced his withdrawal from the alliance and joined Long Yi’s side!
But this declaration took Long Yi by surprise because it was so sudden, with no warning at all. Could it be that Lou Aran was the one who had always been secretly providing him with information?
However, a new piece of information followed soon after.
"I am not Lou Aran."
Long Yi and Ai Lin, looking at the message, became even more puzzled. It seemed the discord among these fellows was even more severe than thought.
Lou Aran soon found Long Yi and told him that he had only been hiding inside to provide support for them, but he had to leave because he was recently suspected. He chose to join Long Yi’s side precisely because he saw the potential in Long Yi; he believed Long Yi would definitely defeat the Anti-Ancient Powerhouses Alliance.
At the same time, Lou Aran also provided Long Yi with a lot of very useful information. Unlike the piecemeal information or that obtained under interrogation of the soul, what Lou Aran provided was a highly detailed description of each Ancient Powerhouse he knew, their preferred combat styles, personalities, and even the locations of hidden planets of two Ancient Powerhouses!
Meanwhile, within the Alliance of Ancient Powerhouses, a strange atmosphere was spreading.
"You’ve driven Lou Aran to Long Yi’s side, are you satisfied now?" Borca said coldly, staring at Nielan.
"Hmph, isn’t this proof that Lou Aran was the one revealing information to Long Yi? I merely criticized him a few times, and he could have refuted me, but instead, he ran off to seek refuge with Long Yi! Doesn’t that show guilty conscience?" Nielan sneered.
"Are you farting out of your mouth? Your groundless suspicions drove Lou Aran away, and naturally he fears Long Yi and Ai Lin would come after him! That old fox has always been a coward and suspicious by nature. Since you led the charge in doubting him, if he hadn’t gone to Long Yi’s side, that would have been truly bizarre!" Borca roared.
"So he’s gone to Long Yi’s side, so what? His Giant legacy is but a gold disc recording Giant magic, and aside from a teleportation ability, he has no other powers. Even if he joins Long Yi, how much of a threat can he really pose to us?" Nielan yelled back.
"Nielan, the level of shamelessness you’ve reached is really astounding! Have you gathered us here to make fools of us? When the hell did you become the boss around here? Your word is final?" Borca got up from his seat, slapping the table.
"I am the boss! You got a problem with that?" Nielan also stood up, the two men glaring at each other from a distance. If it weren’t for being in the mental world, it’s likely they would have resorted to blows.
At this moment, the surrounding Ancient Powerhouses stood up one after another to persuade the two to sit back down.
"I only wish to kill Long Yi to avenge my deceased student. So remember this, you idiot, when all this is over, we will settle our score slowly," Borca said coldly.
"As if you would dare!" Nielan said disdainfully.
"Shall we continue discussing how to deal with Long Yi?" another Ancient Powerhouse tried to mediate.
The two men snorted coldly and said no more.
But at this time, Long Yi and Ai Lin were not idle. Based on the information obtained from Lou Aran, they quietly arrived at a planet. This planet was home to two reclusive Ancient Powerhouses, named Yilan and Yite. The two brothers had both acquired the Giant’s legacy and had become Ancient Powerhouses. However, their relationship wasn’t so good; though they always acted together, they were constantly bickering.
But when Long Yi saw their appearance, he immediately recognized them. These were the two individuals who had been fighting over a huge Cosmic Stone in space. They were constantly battling, occasionally snatching some fragments of the Cosmic Stone, only to have Long Yi appear suddenly and snatch away the entire massive Cosmic Stone.
Every time he thought of this, Long Yi would immediately give himself a mental thumbs-up. Clearly, those two must have been driven mad by rage.
At this moment, two stars above were shining brightly on the earth, as Yilan and Yite continued their intense magic combat. Unlike most Ancient Powerhouses who prefer to study the Giant’s legacy, the two brothers put more emphasis on real combat, always treating each other as enemies and attacking with full force.
As Long Yi and Ai Lin, along with Little Zi, made their appearance, the two brothers were simultaneously falling from the sky.
From afar, Yilan and Yite recognized Long Yi.
"Long Yi! It’s really you!" Yilan shouted loudly. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with a recommendation ticket, a monthly ticket at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)
