"Elders."
The great doors of the Worship Hall were slowly pushed open from outside.
The nine imprisoned elders raised their heads upon hearing the sound, looking toward the door one by one with Heavenly Sun Douluo at their lead. Sunlight spilled behind Xue Feng, setting him off as incomparably majestic.
"Your Majesty, what brings you here?"
Heavenly Sun Douluo had not approved of Xue Feng ascending the throne.
But once Xue Feng truly ascended, he could only accept it.
And given his loyalty to the Dou Ling Empire and the Dou Ling imperial family, even under house arrest, he still maintained respect for Xue Feng. For no other reason than that he was the emperor.
"Chief Elder."
Xue Feng was aware of Heavenly Sun Douluo's loyalty.
And precisely because of this, even though Heavenly Sun Douluo had made his move at the final moment, nearly causing his failure, he didn't mind.
"Chief Elder and all of you, I wish for you to assist me."
The other elders, hearing this, all fell silent.
They looked toward Heavenly Sun Douluo one by one.
Because among the elders, only Heavenly Sun Douluo had reached the level of Super Douluo. Besides him, most of the other elders were Heavenly Sun Douluo's disciples or juniors; his prestige was extraordinary.
Thus, throughout the Worship Hall, Heavenly Sun was largely respected as the leader.
And Xue Feng's gaze was also tightly locked on Heavenly Sun Douluo at this moment, waiting for his response, hoping to receive the answer he desired.
"Your Majesty."
After a long silence, Heavenly Sun Douluo finally spoke again.
"This old one knows your ambition is to restore the glory of the Tian Dou Empire Empire from ten thousand years ago. But the current situation..."
"No!"
Xue Feng spoke, extremely rudely interrupting Heavenly Sun Douluo's words. But in his view, this was necessary.
"Chief Elder, my ambition has changed."
Hearing this, Heavenly Sun Douluo couldn't help but feel joy.
However, one could only say Heavenly Sun Douluo rejoiced too early. When he heard the latter half of Xue Feng's words, his entire heart nearly collapsed.
"I intend to unify the continent."
At this moment, everyone's eyes widened!
Their hearts filled with horror!
Unify the continent?! Was this a joke?!
While everyone had the wish to unify the continent, no one truly had the power to do so.
No.
Perhaps the Sun Moon Empire had that power in the past.
But now...
The Sun Moon couldn't, Star Luo couldn't, Tian Hun couldn't, let alone the Dou Ling that ranked at the bottom in all aspects among the four great empires.
"Your Majesty! Absolutely not!"
If restoring the Tian Dou Empire was merely a concern and disapproval for Heavenly Sun Douluo, then this topic of "unifying the continent" made Heavenly Sun Douluo unable to remain calm any longer. He even wanted to jump up directly.
Because this was pushing the Dou Ling Empire into the fire!
"Why does Chief Elder think it cannot be done?"
"Your Majesty, the Sun Moon Empire is the great enemy at present!"
Heavenly Sun Douluo advised earnestly: "Although the three original Douluo empires have their own dirty dealings and grievances, absolutely no trouble can be stirred up in the current situation, giving the Sun Moon Empire an advantage! Otherwise, our Dou Ling will certainly be attacked by both Tian Hun and Star Luo, and even the Sun Moon Empire will take advantage of the fire."
"I know."
Seeing Heavenly Sun Douluo still wanted to speak, Xue Feng interrupted him.
"I am no fool. I will not do anything harmful to the Dou Ling Empire. Since the Sun Moon Empire is strong, then naturally our Dou Ling should cooperate with Tian Hun and Star Luo to severely wound the Sun Moon Empire. However..."
Speaking to this point, Xue Feng paused slightly.
"The Sun Moon cannot be destroyed, and our Dou Ling cannot commit its full strength."
If the Sun Moon were destroyed, the situation of Dou Ling's weakness could not be changed. And without a powerful external enemy present, let alone himself, he didn't believe the Tian Hun Emperor and Star Luo Emperor wouldn't want to unify the continent.
Moreover, in war, their Dou Ling Empire was the farthest from the Sun Moon Empire, making it difficult for the flames of war to reach their territory.
Thus, when launching war against the Sun Moon Empire, their Dou Ling Empire should make good use of this advantage—not commit full strength, preserve their power, and let Tian Hun and Star Luo suffer more devastation from the Sun Moon.
Only in this way could there be a chance to reverse Dou Ling's weakness and prevent Tian Hun, Star Luo, and the Sun Moon from maintaining their previous prosperity.
As for whether Tian Hun and Star Luo would blame them for this...
There was no way around it; distance was a "fatal flaw."
Xue Feng's eloquent speech left Heavenly Sun Douluo somewhat speechless, and caused the elders to exchange glances, even feeling slightly moved.
Did they not want to restore glory and unify the continent?
Nonsense!
Who wouldn't?!
The reason Heavenly Sun Douluo and the elders had maintained their previous views was simply that the Dou Ling Empire was weak and needed to tread carefully.
Nothing more.
But as elders of the Dou Ling Empire, essentially people who shared weal and woe with the Dou Ling Empire, if there truly was an opportunity...
Who wouldn't want it?! Who wouldn't desire it?!
"Your Majesty... is truly a formidable ruler."
Heavenly Sun Douluo's gaze was complex. After a long while, he spoke these words. He looked at Xue Feng and suddenly asked, "I presume Your Majesty has reached an agreement with Bright Phoenix Douluo?"
Xue Feng's plan was good, but this was the Douluo Continent. Without top-tier combat power, such as the existence of a Limit Douluo, even if the Dou Ling Empire seized opportunities and developed the empire's situation well, there was a high probability it would be reversed by an empire with top-tier combat power.
Coincidentally, besides the Star Luo Empire, neither Tian Hun nor the Sun Moon lacked such figures—for example, Du Busi and Kong Deming.
This point, Heavenly Sun Douluo believed Xue Feng certainly understood.
If it were simply restoring the glory of Tian Dou Empire, perhaps one Du Busi could still be blocked. But if it were unifying the continent... then apologies.
Therefore, Xue Feng had absolutely obtained the support of a Limit Douluo—that is, that Bright Phoenix Douluo from that time—Shui Xiye.
"Precisely."
"What conditions does that Lady have?"
Just like Xue Feng, as a shrewd old man, Heavenly Sun Douluo and the other elders would not believe Shui Xiye was helping without compensation. She absolutely wanted something, which was why she was "rushing to their door."
Regarding this, Xue Feng did not conceal anything.
The moment he spoke of Shui Xiye's demands, it immediately caused fierce opposition from Heavenly Sun Douluo and these elders.
"Your Majesty, absolutely not!"
"Your Majesty is muddled!"
"Where does this placec the Dou Ling Emperor and imperial family?!"
"..."
Among the nine people, not one approved.
The meaning inside and outside their words was just one: Where does this place the emperor and imperial family?! This is damaging the Dou Ling Empire's royal dignity!
"Please rest assured, elders."
With the nine elders "making a fuss," Xue Feng instantly felt a headache. Thus, after having the nine elders jointly seal the great hall, he revealed the truth, indicating he was merely using her.
Once the goal was achieved, he would move against Shui Xiye.
Although somewhat treacherous and burning bridges after crossing the river, but...
"I will be an emperor who stops at nothing."
One sentence thoroughly indicated Xue Feng's attitude.
Similarly, while the nine elders worried whether Xue Feng would lose control because of this, they also became increasingly satisfied with him.
Even Heavenly Sun Douluo was thinking: Perhaps after Xue Feng became emperor, he truly could lead Dou Ling to rise. At least in this regard... he was better than those princes of the late emperor who were like mud that couldn't support the wall.
------------------------------------------------------
40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)