The sect leaders turned grim except for the old patriarch who shook his head in denial. He couldn't believe that a young man whose cultivation level was at the same as the empress could be called emperor not because the latter inherited the title.
"It must have been a different person!"
The old patriarch strongly denied. He refused to believe such a thing but the middle-aged man gave him a glare instead,
"It's not about you, believe it or not, it's about preparation. Did you forget who came back here empty-handed? Because you were unprepared for the wild card! He suddenly came, your son didn't win the throne-like he supposed to, instead, he is dead, buried by nothing but the wind!"
"Ugh!"
The old patriarch gritted his teeth as the middle-aged man in the uniform told his shameful fruits of the labor. Not only they came back with their heads hung down, but they also came back with less than what they had come with.
