Chapter 594: Neutral Alliance Shakes the Empire
The rival factions of the Nie Clan within Cloudrane City had been quietly waiting all this time.
Waiting for disaster to descend upon them.
And then, they got their hands on a shocking piece of news.
Nie Fengzhuo had challenged Bai Zihan to a fight!
The moment they heard this, countless people became ecstatic.
"Hahaha! The Nie Clan is finished!"
"They truly don’t know the immensity of heaven and earth!"
"First the daughter offended Bai Zihan, and now even the son dares challenge him? Looks like they are hell-bent on offending Clan Leader Bai."
Many rival clans nearly celebrated on the spot.
In their eyes, this was simply courting death.
Who was Bai Zihan?
The current most terrifying genius within the entire empire.
He had also become the leader of the most powerful clan within the empire.
And yet the Nie Clan repeatedly provoked him again and again?
Naturally, everyone believed Bai Zihan would become enraged.
Some even began speculating that the Bai Clan might directly suppress the Nie Clan entirely and thoroughly make them suffer.
Others believed the Bai Clan would completely destroy them to establish their authority further.
After all, no one believed a monster like Bai Zihan would tolerate repeated "offenses."
The rival clans became increasingly excited the more they thought about it.
Some had even already begun preparing how to divide the Nie Clan’s resources once they collapsed.
But before they could celebrate for long, another piece of news arrived.
And the moment it spread, the entire Cloudrane City fell silent.
The Bai Clan had officially joined the Neutral Alliance.
"...What?"
The clans who had been eagerly waiting for the Nie Clan’s downfall were instantly dumbfounded.
Their minds blanked completely.
"How can this be?!"
"The Bai Clan joined the same alliance as the Nie Clan?!"
"Why would Bai Zihan help them?!"
...
No matter how they thought about it, they simply could not understand.
The Bai Clan should have been suppressing the Nie Clan, not supporting them!
Many people became so furious their faces twisted.
Some even wanted to directly question Bai Zihan about what exactly he was thinking.
Of course, that thought only remained inside their minds.
Actually going to question Bai Zihan regarding a decision he personally made?
They would not have that kind of courage even if they had 9 lives.
Everyone knew clearly that if they offended Bai Zihan recklessly, they might not even survive to see the next sunrise.
Very quickly, the shock spread far beyond Cloudrane City.
The entire empire was shaken by the news.
Because the Neutral Alliance itself was extremely special.
Its purpose directly conflicted with the current struggle for the throne.
In the midst of the increasingly chaotic battle between princes and princesses, the Neutral Alliance sought to prevent smaller clans and sects from being dragged into meaningless warfare.
Of course, the alliance originally was not taken seriously by most people.
No one believed that small clans banding together could deter princes and princesses backed by top clans and sects.
What they were doing was viewed as meaningless resistance that would likely only attract further disdain from the Imperial Family.
But now, the Bai Clan has openly joined it.
The implications were enormous.
Countless smaller clans immediately began investigating the authenticity of the news.
And after confirming it was true, many instantly became restless.
Because for smaller factions, the imperial succession struggle was simply too dangerous.
Once dragged into it, a single wrong choice could annihilate their entire clan.
But now the Neutral Alliance offered another path, especially with the Bai Clan backing it.
Everyone understood clearly that as long as the Bai Clan remained within the alliance, very few people would dare move against it openly.
Thus, many clans immediately began preparing gifts and delegations.
Their destination—
The Xue Clan!
The recognized leaders of the Neutral Alliance.
Naturally, everyone understood that directly meeting Bai Zihan himself would be even better.
But meeting someone like him was far too difficult.
Thus, most chose to visit Patriarch Xue instead and attempt to join the alliance through him.
Many commoners felt that the Bai Clan was doing this for the sake of the common people.
By joining the Neutral Alliance, they believed Bai Zihan wanted to reduce the scale of the conflicts and allow those who did not wish to participate in the struggle for the throne to avoid it entirely.
"It’s a good thing. Finally, someone is taking a stand against such a ridiculous fight. Why should we all suffer just because the Imperial Family wants to fight over power?"
"With the Bai Clan involved, let’s see how those princes and princesses react now."
"Hmph! What can they do? If they still have some common sense left, they’ll avoid forcing those who joined the alliance into the battle."
...
Meanwhile, compared to the excitement among smaller clans and commoners, the reactions from the princes and princesses were far more complicated.
Naturally, many were dissatisfied with the Bai Clan’s actions.
After all, numerous factions they had originally planned to recruit were now beginning to lean toward neutrality instead.
If this continued, their ability to expand their forces would become far slower than before.
However, not everyone viewed this as bad news.
Those who had already mostly completed their recruitment were actually quite pleased.
Because if the Neutral Alliance successfully prevented others from recruiting additional forces rapidly, then the balance would stabilize.
And the people who already held advantages would benefit the most.
Among them, the First Prince Yu Zidi was especially satisfied.
Unlike several other princes and princesses, his focus had always been the imperial court itself.
He had already gathered the majority of officials and political influence around him.
His interest in forcibly recruiting smaller clans had never been particularly strong.
Thus, the rise of the Neutral Alliance would mainly hinder his competitors instead.
Which naturally increased his chances of victory further.
Inside his palace, the First Prince slowly smiled after receiving the report.
"Interesting..."
His fingers lightly tapped the table.
"With Bai Zihan supporting neutrality, the others will have a much harder time expanding now."
To him, this was excellent news.
Not to mention, his forces did not only exist within the Desolate Heaven Empire.
By the Bai Clan preventing the other princes and princesses from rapidly expanding their forces within the empire, he felt that his victory had become even more assured.
"Hehe... I didn’t expect that I would benefit from the Bai Clan’s decision. Looks like even the heavens want me to ascend the throne!"
The First Prince could not help but mutter those words.
Of course, while he currently felt somewhat grateful toward the Bai Clan, that did not mean he intended to be friendly with them.
He had already made an agreement with the Vermillion Pill Empire.
And part of that agreement involved targeting the Mu Clan, which naturally meant eventually standing against the Bai Clan as well.
Not to mention, he obviously did not wish for any uncontrollable force to continue existing within the empire he would rule.
