1829 Terms of War

The group of cultivators descended. Princess Donghuang personally came out to welcome them. Spear Emperor Du You was also present. He gazed up at the leading figure.

This person was dressed in long golden robes. He appeared to be in his forties and a formless majesty emanated from his body. He seemed to have held a high position for a long time. This person was a super powerful existence under Donghuang the Great. His ability was above that of Spear Emperor Du You. He was an existence that ranked among the top three of the Nine Divine Generals.

“Princess,” the divine general who arrived bowed slightly when he saw Princess Donghuang. Even though he was a peak existence and ranked among the top of the divine generals, before the only daughter of Donghuang the Great, he still needed to bow. His attitude was also full of reverence. It seemed that he was not bowing merely for the sake of the Great Emperor.

Princess Donghuang herself was also worthy of acknowledgement. In the future, it was possible that she would inherit the demeanor of the Great Emperor.

“Cao Jun, you have worked hard,” Princess Donghuang nodded her head slightly. “Since Father has allowed Cao Jun to personally come over, he must have already made arrangements.”

“His Highness has given me instructions on the outline of the arrangements. Princess can make the decisions and His Highness will support all of them. I myself will also be supporting Princess,” Cao Jun said. He then transmitted his thoughts to Princess Donghuang. They were the instructions from Donghuang the Great, the decree of the Great Emperor that was only meant for the Princess. He naturally would not let other people hear them.

“I understand,” Princess Donghuang nodded. She continued saying, “Let us wait for their arrival and see what their behavior is like.”

“We will follow your arrangements, Princess,” Cao Jun nodded. The group of people immediately stood at attention along the great hall and quietly waited.

A gentle breeze blew past. It was dead quiet in the Empty Imperial Palace. Princess Donghuang stood there with peerless elegance. No one spoke if she did not speak. This solemn aura caused even the members of Empty Imperial Palace to be somewhat astonished. They had not imagined that Princess Donghuang would actually already have such an imposing manner at such a tender age.

She was also born so beautiful.

From afar, an overbearing pressure enveloped the space. Soon, a Dark Army descended; they were none other than cultivators from the Dark Court. This time, other than the Lord of the Underworld, there was another figure at the same level as him co-leading the team together. He was one of the Seven Kings of Darkness. The lineup of the Dark Court was formidable.

Empty Imperial Palace was the home turf of the Divine Prefecture. They had to prepare adequately before coming here for negotiations. At the very least, they could not allow the Empty Imperial Palace to eradicate them.

“Cao Jun,” the Lord of the Underworld and the other cultivators noticed the majestic figure beside Princess Donghuang. His eyes narrowed. He never imagined that the person who came down from the Divine Prefecture this time was Cao Jun. From the looks of it, Donghuang the Great truly attached great importance to this Original Realm.

Not long after, another powerful pressure enveloped the space. Spatial divine light descended from the sky. Dazzling golden divine halos shone down. Another large army came forth. They were the cultivators of the Evil Emperor Realm. The leader of the army was still the inheritor of the Evil Emperor, Shi Xie.

Shi Xie also saw Cao Jun. Together with Spear Emperor Du You, the lineup of the Divine Prefecture was truly unbeatable.

“Princess, I hope you have been well,” Shi Xie said as his eyes shifted towards Princess Donghuang. This time, being in the Empty Imperial Palace, he was actually more polite than before.

Cao Jun’s gaze swept across Shi Xie. His expression was domineering and his gaze was extremely authoritative. Even if the other party was the disciple of the Evil Emperor, he still was not concerned.

However, a few people beside Shi Xie also stepped forward. Faint yet powerful aura emanated from their bodies. They stood around Shi Xie. These cultivators were all from the Empty Mountain.

“All of you must certainly have guessed why we have gathered everyone here today,” Princess Donghuang said. “Three hundred years ago, in the dispute over the Original Realm, the Divine Prefecture had already claimed control over the Original Realm. This was known to all. Now, more than three hundred years later, the Dark Court and the Evil Emperor Realm have arrived in the Original Realm once again and have stirred up another dispute. Today, I wish to ask all of you here: are we setting up to go to war?”

Princess Donghuang’s voice was cold and proud. She was extremely overbearing. It was as though she would unhesitatingly go to war if the other party gave the affirmative.

“Princess, you yourself have already mentioned that this matter was from more than three hundred years ago,” Shi Xie replied. “Now that the passageway has been reopened, control of the Original Realm should be up for grabs again. If the Dark Court came over to stake a claim, it is only natural for the Evil Emperor Realm to be able to do so as well.”

“Does that mean that the Evil Emperor Realm wants control of the Original Realm? Is there no other option?” Princess Donghuang asked. She only needed an answer.

If she did not hear the answer that she wanted to hear, then, there was only one option.

“Princess, since you have made a request, I can make a compromise. There are Nine Supreme Realms in the Original Realm. Since our three large forces are fighting over the Original Realm, then, why don’t we each take three Supreme Realms? The Divine Prefecture can choose first. How about it?” Shi Xie said with a smile. There was a hint of evil in his gaze.

The three forces would divide the Nine Realms equally among them. Obviously, the Divine Prefecture would not agree to this.

Just as he anticipated, Princess Donghuang merely swept a cold stare at him. The Original Realm was originally territory controlled by the Divine Prefecture. Why would they divide the Nine Realms into three equal parts?

They did not know what would happen if they did so.

“My side is fine with this suggestion,” said the Lord of the Underworld. If they could divide the Nine Realms among the three forces, naturally the Dark Court would not have any objections to it.

“Alright. We will meet on the battlefield.” Princess Donghuang was ready to turn around and leave, ending the negotiations.

The Divine Prefecture controlled the Original Realm. The other parties wanted to get three Realms each. It meant cession for the Divine Prefecture.

This was, of course, unacceptable.

“Wait.” Shi Xie looked at Princess Donghuang and said, “I can further compromise. I only want two Realms.”

With her body turning sideways, Princess Donghuang insisted, “We will meet on the battlefield.”

“Princess, why are you in such a rush to leave?” Shi Xie smiled and negotiated, “The Divine Prefecture most likely suffered great losses too in the war which happened 300 years ago. If we insist on going to war now, it will certainly cause a huge commotion. All three sides will send their armies here to aid the battle. When that time comes, there will be no winner. All three sides will lose. Instead of that, I have a suggestion for Princess to consider.”

“Speak your mind,” Princess Donghuang said.

“In the past, the battle between Realms usually would not escalate into a life-or-death battle unless it was necessary. We just need to determine the winner within the rules set. We don’t have to go all out in a war. In that case, we can minimize our losses,” Shi Xie explained. “Why don’t we each send out an army and let them spar in a designated battlefield? The last standing team will be the winner.”

“If you win, what do you want? How about if you lose?” Princess Donghuang asked.

“If my side wins, I want two Realms out of the Nine Realms. The Evil Emperor Realm will have direct control over these two Realms. The Divine Prefecture cannot meddle in our ruling,” Shi Xie stated. “If my side loses, the Evil Emperor Realm will not meddle in affairs in the Original Realm. However, since the passageway has been opened, there is no reason for my force to completely retreat from the Original Realm. The cultivators from the Evil Emperor Realm will still stay in the Original Realm, but we will not stir up any trouble unless it is necessary.”

“I agree,” the Lord of the Underworld joined in the conversation. “If my side wins, the Dark Court will take another Realm on top of the Hidden Realm. If the Dark Court loses, we will retreat and stay in the Hidden Realm. We will not meddle in affairs of the other Realms.”

Asking them to leave and abandon the Original Realm entirely was impossible.

Even though the Original Realm was not indispensable, they still needed to keep an eye on things happening here.

Shi Xie continued saying, “If Princess disagrees with my proposal, then we can only do what Princess has suggested. Our three sides will go into war.”

Princess Donghuang stared at Shi Xie; she seemed to be contemplating his proposal.

“What are the rules of the battle?” asked Princess Donghuang.

Shi Xie said, “If three parties engage in an all-out battle, we will suffer huge losses. The goal of my suggestion is to reduce our losses. It is meaningless to send cultivators whose cultivation is lower than the Renhuang Plane into battle. It doesn’t demonstrate the true ability of the three parties either. Therefore, we should compete based on our core forces – the lower-level Renhuangs.”

Shi Xie continued, “Each of us will send an army consisting of lower-level Renhuangs. There is no limit to the number of participants each side can send out. We will send them into an independent battlefield. Killing is allowed. The last side standing in the end will be declared the winner. Of course, each side can also choose to surrender.”

Going to war directly would make the battle a contest among the top most figures. It might stir up a ruckus that could not be contained in the Shadow Realm. It might even cause a butterfly effect.

Following Shi Xie’s suggestion could indeed avoid a lot of trouble.

As long as all three sides could accept the price of victory or defeat in the end, this was feasible.

The Dark Court happily agreed to these terms and had no objections. This was also suggested by the Evil Emperor Realm. The crux now lay with the Divine Prefecture.

“If Princess still chooses to go to war, then, we will be forced to do the same. Our Evil Emperor Realm has few members. We are fine with either method,” Shi Xie said with a smile.

Princess Donghuang looked at the other party. She also knew that now that the passageway had reopened, it was impossible for them to force the other party to completely evacuate the Original Realm. Back in the day, many forces had already left behind pieces for this day.

Then, what was presented before her now was similarly a choice.

In the Original Realm, they held the advantage in terms of territory and numbers. However, the other two top forces would certainly join forces to go against them. That meant that if the Divine Prefecture wanted to win, they had to produce an even more powerful lineup.

“When and where?” Princess Donghuang asked.

When she said this, Shi Xie revealed a smile. Princess Donghuang had clearly agreed to his proposal.

He was very interested in this battle.

The negotiations between the three sides managed to reach a consensus. There would be a battle to determine how the Original Realm was divided up.

News of this soon reached the Heavenly Mandate Realm. The cultivators of the Empty Imperial Palace personally came to the Heavenly Mandate Academy using the teleportation grand matrix. They summoned Lord Taixuan, the College Chief of the Heavenly Mandate Academy, to receive the decree. The Princess had issued a decree. They would engage in a battle with the Evil Emperor Realm and the Dark Court after a month. Moreover, it was a battle that involved only the lower-level Renhuangs.

“Lord Taixuan, the Heavenly Mandate Academy will need to elect the strongest lower-level Renhuangs. The representatives will go to the Empty Imperial Palace after a month to join the battle,” the Divine Priest ordered. Lord Taixuan nodded, saying, “Lord, the Heavenly Mandate Academy will do our best.”

The Divine Priest nodded in acknowledgement, then he left. On the other hand, the Heavenly Mandate Academy dove into a heated discussion.

Ye Futian was around too. He pondered to himself. Since Princess Donghuang had taken a step back, it seemed like she was under a lot of stress too. Otherwise, the Original Realm was originally under the control of the Divine Prefecture. There was no need for a negotiation. However, Princess Donghuang did not have to pay the price for her decision. The cultivators of the Nine Realms would be the ones paying the price!

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