The small group of cultivators was stunned as the expert made his way through the large entrance. No one could take their eyes off the man that was slowly venturing through the room threshold. He radiated a brilliance that they weren’t expecting, much more than any other elder or grandmaster they had come across. It was at the level of an old ancestor that was at the cusp of breaking through into the immortal realm.

‘Huh, some of them actually went slack-jawed, did I overdo it with the shiny aura?’

Zhang Dong asked himself while slowly walking to the main chair in the royal meeting room. He was against it but Zhang Jin insisted on giving these places a royal prefix after his true roots were discovered. He was part of the empire's royal family but if he followed the succession laws then he would have no right to the throne.

The next in line would be the current Emperor’s children and only after them, it was his turn. Though in a world ruled by might, if the strongest cultivator that was the Azure Emperor vanished then he could probably circumvent the laws if he so desired. Of course, the Long Clan would not allow that without a bloody battle.

Then even if he didn’t get involved, probably some of the elders residing there would try to get the crown for themselves. This was what usually happened when the head of a sect or clan died and there was no proper successor present. Even the kids of the current Emperor would need to be backed by the other elders, the three grand elders in particular.

If for some reason two of them didn’t agree with the succession then a civil war could break out. Everything depended on the goals of the individuals, some elders craved positions of power while others just wanted to be part of the most powerful sect. The more subfactions in a faction existed the weaker it became, this was the same for his United Element Sect which when he was gone went through some turmoil . Luckily his presence was so large that they managed to hold out for five years for his return.

‘This couldn’t be about some succession war right? Could they want to ally themselves with me to overthrow the Azure Emperor?’

This was a wild idea but it wasn’t as outlandish as it might seem. The Heavenly Crane Sect was in a bad position, from the outside it looked like it was the weakest of the big three of the empire. After the collapse of the Soaring Dragon Sect, it was supposed to be the second in command but the Emerald Phoenix Emperor destroyed that notion. They had been constantly losing their land and getting backed into a corner.

On the other side of the Empire, this wasn’t the case for the upstart Sect that Zhang Dong established. They had pushed back all of their enemies and even cleared out the island populated by the demonic cultivators. News of a spirit vein being there had reached the inner circles of the other sects. They were clearly on the upswing while the Heavenly Crane Sect was on a quick decline.

‘Can’t discount that, perhaps that will be one of their talking points…’

While he wasn’t sure about teaming up with this sect to take care of his brother he couldn’t discount the idea. After the Emerald Phoenix Empire and the Cerulean Empire were gone they would go back to the usual power struggle between sects and clans. He did not wish to go to war with his brother but this didn’t mean that he wouldn’t be asked to make concessions.

Having such a large army that was growing each day wouldn’t fly well with the other large factions. It wouldn’t be strange for a new conflict to arise and it finishing with another confrontation. When this happened it would probably be better to have a deal made with the only people capable, which were the Heavenly Crane Sect cultivators.

‘But going by what they were constantly whispering about, they are here for help against those Emerald cultivators…’

Zhang Dong made sure to place them in this room where he could listen in on the conversation without the other party knowing. Thanks to his system he could see everything written down before him. It was always good to know what you are debating about and these people were here to ask for a favor. This service that they wanted to ask of him wasn’t something that he needed to follow through. There were no previous arrangements or deals made between these two sects so he wasn’t sure why they were here with this small group.

‘Do they expect me to jump in just because of their old name or something? Their sect name carries millennia of prestige but they should know that such things don’t matter when talking to someone on the same level… do they perhaps think less of my sect?’

Finally, it was time to stop with the speculations and hear them out. Thus after sitting down and lessening his cultivation he spoke out. The others were still a bit stunned by his appearance and were probably fearful of beginning the conversation first. This shifted the situation in his favor and put his side as the one in control, at least for now.

“Greeting friends from the Heavenly Crane Sect, If you send some word my people would have given you a better reception but I am glad that it was resolved without it affecting anyone's dignity.”

“Ah yes… haha… This Sun Shi greets Long Dong the Golden Dragon of the west.”

Try he did but it seemed that he wouldn’t be able to escape from that title. His older brother and his whole clan were still the more famous ones. Even the people in his sect weren’t sure what to call him as having the title of Golden Dragon was in their mind an honor. Most of them liked the idea of their leader being part of the royal family as it gave validity to their sect.

They did not see anything wrong with it, the only ones against it were mostly from the Zhang side of the clan that wanted their leader to retain his old clan name. When historians uncovered the records they wanted the name Zhang Dong and not Long Dong to be remembered as it immortalized their clan.

“So you do know that title but you will have to explain to me why you have appeared before me, as you might have heard the war rages in the north, I don’t have much time to spare for trivial conversations so I would have you give me the reason for your coming.”

“Uh…”

The elder that previously was looking at animosity at his gate guards was acting like a meek kitten. He probably didn’t expect Zhang Dong to be so much stronger than himself. The power difference was above what this man probably was used to as regular nascent soul cultivators at the great circle level weren’t this imposing. This display of might was of course one of the oldest tactics in this world.

The other side would think twice before withholding information or acting rashly in front of someone that could tear them apart with one finger. However, he couldn’t keep it up for too long as most of the people before him were only core formation experts. The moment he increased the intensity they would probably pass out almost instantly. Thus for the time being he leaned back in his seat while smiling and letting the man speak.

“Of course, I must seek the Golden Dragon’s forgiveness for this unannounced visit. We are truly grateful that you have accepted our coming at such short notice, your magnanimity knows no bounds the legends of your generosity…”

‘Man this guy knows how to crawl up someone’s ass, look at him go.’

It was a bit funny to see a late stage nascent soul elder throw around this number of praises. The people around him were even surprised as they probably only saw someone of this status only act as a grumpy senior. Now on the other hand he needed to prostrate himself before someone stronger and remember all the way he kissed ass before he became a nascent soul grandmaster.

“That’s enough, Sun Shi was it? Just get to the point before you make the people that came here with you blush.”

The old man looked around and could see that everyone including his granddaughter had their heads down. They knew that the old man was trying to get on the good side of this Patriarch but seeing him lower himself to this extent was a bit traumatizing. Seeing a pillar of support for their sect acting like a fangirl wasn’t something that they expected to see when they came here.

“Very well… we have come to ask you the Golden Dragon… for aid.”

“You want my help? Is the situation in the east this bad? What about my brother, shouldn’t you ask him first?”

“”The Azure Emperor is…”

The old man wasn’t sure what to say which was only natural. He had no idea of knowledge of the relationship between the two dragons. There were only unconfirmed rumors of them either being at each other's throats or acting like the closest brothers. If he insulted Zhang Dong’s brother in any way that could be it, the talks could be ended abruptly and they could even lose their life.

Normally the Heavenly Crane Sect wouldn’t need to worry about such things but at the moment they were apparently backed against a corner. It wouldn’t be strange if their competition saw this injured giant as prey. It was quite a risky tactic to even send people into the bowels of the golden beast. No one really knew Long Dong’s true character, just that his armies were conquering all the lands. To some, he would seem like a warmonger that could turn his sights on anyone after the invaders were gone.

“Did he decline the offer or did you not even bother because you knew the answer he would give you?”

The old man didn’t answer while Zhang Dong started rubbing his chin and speaking his thoughts out loud.

“That does sound like my brother, he probably won’t make a move until the enemies are right at his doorstep.”

To ease the tension he waved his hand around nonchalantly in dismissal of the Azure Emperor. He wanted to give the old man the idea that he didn’t think that much of the Emperor and was not afraid to speak ill of him.

“I’m sure the great Azure Emperor has his own things to worry about…”

“Better things than the survival of his empire? Well, in his case he probably sees the Long Clan as the only worthwhile part of the empire that is worth saving.”

It seemed that he hit the bullseye as the old man only replied with silence. It wasn’t strange for the clan or sect leaders to only look out for their own faction members. However this was a whole empire and not just the long clan, in the people's eyes the Emperor had a duty of coming to their aid which he wasn’t.

“Well, I’ll stop prattling on about my dear brother, how about you tell me what you really want but first tell me of how things look in the east…”

“I… Of course, great Golden Dragon…”