It was another bright morning for Beltran City. Jiu Shen was now inside his store waiting for the emperor's arrival. As for the beast fighting arena, he left Can Ye there to monitor the kids' training. He had already taught the young men what to do for the entire day, and he wasn't worried since Can Ye was there to oversee everything.

Almost half of the first floor was already occupied by the customers, making Xiao Hua and her three friends busy, but there was not even a look of dissatisfaction in the girls' eyes.

Not long later, Emperor Elyk arrived inside the store with the four guardians following behind him. The former's dignified expression was evident, but Jiu Shen can see a trace of solemnity within his gaze.

'It seems like Elyk has encountered a problem.' Jiu Shen muttered in his heart as he remained seated on his chair.

Emperor Elyk was in a bad mood since the men that they sent to punish the Xue Family didn't return. Although those soldiers were only at the 3rd-rank Crusader and below, they still represented the Silveria Imperial Family's face, but the Xue Family actually killed them without hesitation. This made Emperor Elyk furious, but he could only swallow this rage since he didn't want the conflict between the Silveria Imperial Family and the Xue Family to escalate.

As the emperor was deep in his thoughts, he suddenly saw a familiar figure sitting nonchalantly in a random corner of the store. He was stroking the fur of a chubby white cat with an indifferent look on his face. Emperor Elyk's eyes brightened when he saw the man and he involuntarily let out a smile. The emperor then strode towards him with an eager look on his face.

"Wine Master Jiu, it's nice to see you here today. How are the young servants that I brought here? Hehehe." Emperor Elyk smiled widely after he said those words. The four guardians behind the emperor remained silent but they still cupped their fists at Jiu Shen.

Jiu Shen turned his gaze to the smiling emperor and replied in a mild tone. "Hm, I'm satisfied with the kids you brought, Elyk."

Hearing his answer, Emperor Elyk laughed. "Hahaha! I know you would be, Wine Master Jiu! It appears that you had some matters to take care of during the past few days, I wonder if it is related to those kids?" Elyk probed with a smile.

Jiu Shen remained silent, but he still nodded his head in reply since the emperor would still know about it. Furthermore, he planned to construct his sect's temporary headquarters within the territory of Beltran City, so even if he remained silent about it, Emperor Elyk would still discover it in the future.

The emperor's smile broadened when he saw Jiu Shen's reaction.

"Elyk, from the look of your face earlier, you seemed to have encountered something terrible. If I'm not wrong, it should be related to the Xue Family." Jiu Shen stood up from his seat and gestured for the emperor to follow him as he spoke in a calm voice.

The emperor trailed behind Jiu Shen and furrowed his eyebrows at the latter's words. "Wine Master Jiu, you're not wrong. From what happened yesterday, it appears that the Xue Family isn't just a normal merchant family."

Jiu Shen led the emperor and the four guardians to the second floor.

The atmosphere between them became slightly solemn after Jiu Shen started talking about the Xue Family.

After everyone took a seat, Jiu Shen stared at the emperor. "Elyk, I want to be honest with you. The Xue Family isn't as simple as you think."

Emperor Elyk and the four guardians frowned when they heard him, and the former couldn't help but ask in a curious tone. "Wine Master Jiu, did you discover something about them?"

Jiu Shen was silent for a moment before he replied. "Elyk, do you know about the Undying Corpse Sect?"

Emperor Elyk felt his heart tightening from that question, but he still nodded his head gravely. "I know a bit about the Undying Corpse Sect. They are a bunch of demented people who refines the corpses of strong experts to become their corpse puppets. Why do you ask this, Wine Master Jiu? Do you mean the Xue Family is related to them?"

The four guardians' eyes flashed with surprise but they remained silent.

Jiu Shen shook his head calmly. "They are not just related. If my assumption is right, the Xue Family is part of the Undying Corpse Sect. I've already sent one of my people to monitor them and he should be here now."

Jiu Shen decided to tell the emperor what he knew about the Xue Family since the Silver Wing Empire was truly in a precarious situation, and with the empire's current strength, Jiu Shen was certain that it will be destroyed or taken over by either the Undying Corpse Sect or the Demon Race. However, Jiu Shen decided to remain silent about the Demon Race as it might negatively affect the emperor's state of mind.

The emperor and the four guardians were stunned at this sudden revelation.

'So that's why they are not afraid of provoking my Silveria Imperial Family! To think that I've been rearing a poisonous snake in my own turf!' Emperor Elyk mocked himself inwardly.

Swoosh.

A man dressed in black armor suddenly appeared beside Jiu Shen which greatly surprised Emperor Elyk and the four guardians that they even stood up from their seats. The four guardians even held the hilts of their swords while looking at the man in alarm. His arrival was so abrupt that they thought it was an assassination attempt.

After looking carefully at the man's face, Emperor Elyk furrowed his eyebrows. 'isn't this the guy that...'

"Calm down! This man is Wine Master Jiu's subordinate." Emperor Elyk gestured for the four guardians to not move as he apologetically smiled at Ren Shuang and Jiu Shen.

The four guardians bowed their heads in embarrassment and they promptly sat down on their seats while looking at Ren Shuang with curiosity and respect. The man was able to arrive beside Jiu Shen without them detecting his presence. That means that the man was much stronger than them!

Jiu Shen smiled in amusement. "Everyone, this is Ren Shuang. The guardian of my store's second floor."

"Oh, so it's Lord Ren! Nice to meet you!" Emperor Elyk smiled amiably as he looked at Ren Shuang, but he was inwardly stunned since he could still not sense the latter's strength. No matter how he stared at Ren Shuang, it was as if he was looking at an ordinary person, but how was that possible?

Ren Shuang remained silent and just nodded his head at them. He wouldn't even bother to glance at them if not for Jiu Shen's sake. "Master, I've made you wait for long..." Ren Shuang muttered while bowing to Jiu Shen.

Jiu Shen waved his right hand and shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Just tell me what you discovered about the Xue Family."

Ren Shuang glanced at the emperor and the four guardians in bewilderment, but since his master has already spoken, he nodded his head. "Master, there are three 9th-rank Saint experts in the Xue Family, and there were also eight 8th-rank Divine realm experts present there, but I think that this isn't their full force. I've heard them speak that the members of the Undying Corpse Sect are hiding in one of their territories. I assume that there are still some top experts hidden there."

Jiu Shen was unperturbed and he only remained silent, but Emperor Elyk and the four guardians had looks of disbelief spreading on their faces.

"What?!" The emperor exclaimed.