Chapter 1445 - Torchdragon Emperor
There were dragon beastmasters everywhere the eye could see. In a place as large as Orderia, lifebound beasts usually roamed outside their lifebound spaces. Tianming had seen all kinds of beasts before, but the sight of tens of millions of dragons in the sky was still breathtaking to him.
The two armies were facing one another. Apart from the fighters of the Veildragon Palace, Tianming also spotted many celestial orderians in formation behind them. There were around a million of them in total, all proud of the might of their race. Their expressions clearly held derision and superiority. Even after seeing the tens of millions of troops of the Ninedragon Army assemble, they didn't seem the least bit fazed.
"Has the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect finally gone mad?"
"Don't they know that we're waiting for them to attack?"
"If they harm any one of us, we'll have a pretext to pay them back ten times."
"That's right. Even though there’s only ten million troops of the Veildragon Guard here, we celestial orderians can send thirty or forty million once we have a pretext!"
They didn't even need to compare the whole might of their kin. The Flamefiend Army alone had ten legions, each of them containing five million troops. They just lacked a pretext for deployment. That was why the celestial orderians seemed so eager for the upcoming fight.
"Three Dragon Imperials and the Flamefiend Lord, Li Xiaoyan, have arrived!" The three Dragon Imperials were the leaders of Veildragon Palace, the Torchdragon Emperor, Blooddragon Emperor, and Voiddragon Emperor respectively. Li Xiaoyan, on the other hand, was the commander of the Flamefiend Army and the right-hand man of the sun emperor. Countless people watched as the four top elites appeared before the Saintdragon Emperor and the rest.
Li Xiaoyan was a blonde man of tall stature. His white and gold robe bore a huge insignia depicting the sun, marking him as a man of authority among the celestial orderians. The three Veildragon Imperials were also no simple folk. The Torchdragon Emperor looked the youngest, seemingly around the age of Li Xiaoyan and Li Wushuang. Right now, he was at his peak.
The Torchdragon Emperor seemed bathed in flames and had a similar aura to Li Xiaoyan. However, Li Xiaoyan's aura was the flame of a sun that brightly burned, whereas the Torchdragon Emperor's was an insidious flame. His pale face starkly contrasted against his black robe. As a member of the Trioptic True Dragon Branch, he also had three eyes, but the third eye between his brows was closed. His other two eyes burned with black-crimson flames that seemed to be able to set souls on fire.
The Voiddragon Emperor and Blooddragon Emperor beside him wore a green robe and red armor respectively. Both of them had heads of graying hair, as they were about the same age as the Greendragon Emperor and Violetdragon Empress, with comparably domineering auras. Even though they were aged beyond their peak and had begun declining, they still had a lot of power.
These four were the thorns in the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect's eyes. Even though the Ninedragon Army was far superior in number, it would still be difficult for them to remove the invaders from their sect. The Torchdragon Emperor especially was definitely not one bit weaker than the Saintdragon Emperor, with the caveat that he was much younger. The age difference was also within the sun emperor's calculations. Even if the Torchdragon Emperor didn't fight, time would wear out the Saintdragon Emperor's side first, eventually replacing them with the younger invaders.
The atmosphere now was incredibly tense. The Saintdragon Emperor was holding the unconscious Li Wushuang in his arms; she looked completely pale, weak, and feeble. The four on the opposite side immediately spotted her, Li Xiaoyan especially. There was no way he wouldn't recognize her.
Even so, Tianming noticed that their expressions didn't change at all. They seemed alert, but unafraid.
"They captured Lady Wushuang!" That news spread like wildfire across the ranks.
"What?!"
Most of the Veildragon troops and celestial orderians only just realized what the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect was counting on.
"How daring of them. Don't they know how much the sun emperor spoils his sister?"
"It's over for the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect...."
Many of them were building their rage, their weapons already unsheathed. It took the Torchdragon Emperor raising his arm to signal them to fall silent for the chatters to subside. "Saintdragon Emperor, what’re you doing? Lady Wushuang is a guest of the Xuanyuan Dragon Sect. How could you treat her so rudely?" Though he said that with a smile, his forceful gaze was revealing.
"Let's stop wasting our breath. Our goal today is simple: return the three Dragon Imperials you hold hostage in exchange for her safety. If they’re safe and sound, she will be too. If not, don't blame me for not showing mercy," said the Saintdragon Emperor.
"How dare you take someone like this hostage?! Think twice before you attempt to seduce the sun emperor's wrath! Can you take it?" Li Xiaoyan said.
"So you can take our people hostage but we can't do the same to yours? You were the ones who made the rules. We simply followed them," Long Wanying said, rolling her eyes.
"Nonsense. The three Dragon Imperials are with the Veildragon Palace as guests. It has nothing to do with the celestial orderians. Yet your lot actually went to harm and capture the sun emperor's sister. Are you trying to spur the celestial orderians to send troops out to rescue her? Saintdragon Emperor, properly think through this. Once their army comes, the Veildragon Palace won’t pay for your mistakes. The Xuanyuan Dragon Sect has just reunited after much hardship! If we fall again as a result of your actions, history won’t hear the end of your crimes!" the Torchdragon Emperor threatened. Calling themselves part of the sect was merely semantics, as was the claim that the celestial orderians were only there as guests.
By those definitions, the capture of Li Wushuang could be seen as an affront, which would serve as a pretext for the celestial orderians to properly send troops to deal with the sect. Long Wanying and the rest were naturally aware of the implications.
The Saintdragon Emperor merely smirked. "What’re you talking about? If the three Dragon Imperials are staying with you as guests, Lady Wushuang is our guest too. We're just being good hosts to our guests, aren't we? What's this talk of holding hostages? Stop messing around. The Veildragon Palace is nothing but a defector on the celestial orderians' side, using an excuse to invade our sect to claim the rightful legacy of our ancestors for your masters. You’ve thoroughly turned against everything our forebears had stood for! You let down the blood that flows through your veins!
"If you want to betray us, be direct about it and stop coming up with weak excuses. Since ancient times, the Myriad Solar Sects have been enemies of the celestial orderians. Yet, you invited five million of them to Myriaddragon Mountains just like that. Forget returning to us, you're still traitors at the end of the day. Torchdragon Emperor, if you really want to speak on our behalf, you should stand on our side and draw a line with the celestial orderians. That's what a proper return looks like, got it?" Long Wanying said. Everyone knew that their return was just an excuse, as was shown by how strongly those of the sect reacted to what they heard.
The Saintdragon Emperor yelled, "Enough nonsense! Let them go!"
"Release them!" echoed the troops. Regardless of the reason, having the sister of the sun emperor paraded around like that was embarrassing, to say the least. Li Xiaoyan and the five million celestial orderians couldn't bear to look anymore.
"Saintdragon Emperor, I’ll give you one last chance! If you don't release Lady Wushuang, we celestial orderians will lay waste to Myriaddragon Mountains!" Li Xiaoyan growled.
"If your seven branches die out, it'll all be your fault!" the Torchdragon Emperor added.