"What? How could this be?"
Bai Yu'er's beautiful eyes showed a hint of surprise upon hearing the news.
This information was truly unexpected for her.
It's true that the Azure Dragon Ancient Kingdom was powerful and indeed the foremost of the Four Ancient Kingdoms.
But the White Tiger Ancient Kingdom and Black Tortoise Ancient Kingdom were also extremely strong, not much inferior to the Azure Dragon Ancient Kingdom.
Only the Vermilion Bird Ancient Kingdom had seen its national power decline year after year due to the Vermilion Bird Sovereign being seriously injured.
However, apart from the Vermilion Bird Ancient Kingdom, the other three Ancient Kingdoms should be roughly on the same level.
It was precisely because of this that Bai Yu'er was surprised - how could the Azure Dragon Ancient Kingdom have the courage to make a move against the other two kingdoms?
"What's the current situation?" Bai Yu'er inquired.
"In reply to Your Highness, it is said that the Azure Dragon Ancient Kingdom actively provoked the war. Their army is very strong, and it seems many mysterious experts of unknown origin have joined them."
"Could such a thing be true?" Bai Yu'er fell into deep thought.
Currently, the Vermilion Bird Sovereign was still in closed-door cultivation.
After obtaining the Qilin Immortality Herb and recovering from his injuries, the first thing he did was enter seclusion, hoping to break through to the Sage realm.
However, the Sage realm was not so easy to break through.
Although the Vermilion Bird Sovereign had accumulated experience for a long time and had the aid of the Immortality Herb, reaching the Sage realm was not something that could be achieved in a short time.
Until now, the Vermilion Bird Sovereign had not emerged from seclusion.
The entire affairs of the Vermilion Bird Ancient Kingdom rested on Bai Yu'er's shoulders.
After all, she had saved the Vermilion Bird Sovereign, so now in the entire Ancient Kingdom, apart from the Sovereign himself, Bai Yu'er had the greatest influence.
"Let's observe this matter for now. Our Vermilion Bird Ancient Kingdom should not interfere," Bai Yu'er waved her hand and said.
With the current national power of the Vermilion Bird Ancient Kingdom, they didn't have the ability to intervene anyway.
"Yes," the maid responded and retreated.
Bai Yu'er slightly furrowed her delicate brows.
"Why exactly is this happening, and where did those mysterious experts helping the Azure Dragon Ancient Kingdom come from?"
Bai Yu'er pondered.
If she were still Xiao Chen's fiancée now, there would naturally be no need to worry about such matters.
But now, Bai Yu'er had not only severed all ties with Xiao Chen but had also become his enemy.
In this situation, Bai Yu'er had to worry about the Azure Dragon Ancient Kingdom possibly attacking the Vermilion Bird Ancient Kingdom.
"I hope I'm overthinking this," Bai Yu'er rubbed her temples with her jade-like fingers.
But for some reason,
She felt an inexplicable sense of unease in her heart.
...
Time slowly passed.
In the Heavenly Emperor Palace of the Jun family, Jun Xiaoyao was still in closed-door cultivation.
He tried to use the method from the Body Scripture to refine the bones in his body with celestial essence.
It took a full half month before he managed to refine the first bone in his body into a Taiyi Immortal Bone.
Jun Xiaoyao felt this was somewhat slow, but if it were anyone else, they might not even be able to refine one Taiyi Immortal Bone in several years.
The moment the first Taiyi Immortal Bone appeared, Jun Xiaoyao felt that the bone was gleaming with a golden color, seemingly imprinted with mysterious runes.
Moreover, this Taiyi Immortal Bone was in his arm. When Jun Xiaoyao threw a punch, he felt the power was several times stronger than before.
"Not bad. Although the progress is a bit slow, at least there are results," Jun Xiaoyao said to himself.
If one Taiyi Immortal Bone had such a noticeable effect, what about several more?
In the end, if all 206 bones in his body transformed into Taiyi Immortal Bones, how powerful would that be?
Jun Xiaoyao became increasingly eager for the Taiyi Immortal Body.
While Jun Xiaoyao continued his closed-door cultivation,
Shocking news once again spread from the Four Symbols Ancient Kingdoms.
The Azure Dragon Ancient Kingdom, with an extremely dominant posture, had broken through the national gates of both the White Tiger Ancient Kingdom and the Black Tortoise Ancient Kingdom.
Even with the two great Ancient Kingdoms joining forces in resistance, they were unable to withstand the army of the Azure Dragon Ancient Kingdom.
This stirred up quite a commotion in the dozens of surrounding states.
However, since this wasn't a war between Immortal forces, its influence was limited and didn't cause the entire Immortal Realm to shake.
When Bai Yu'er learned of this news, her eyes trembled.
The sense of unease in her heart grew even stronger.
...
In the Golden State, within the palace of the White Tiger Ancient Kingdom.
The White Tiger Sovereign and the Black Tortoise Sovereign currently had slightly pale faces as they stood with their hands at their sides, obviously having just experienced a major battle and suffered not light injuries.
They were both at the Sage realm cultivation, but now both bore injuries, with shock still lingering in their pupils.
In front of them, the Azure Dragon Sovereign stood calmly.
His cultivation was also at the Sage realm, not much higher than the two Sovereigns.
But behind him were four figures shrouded in pitch-black robes.
It was because of the presence of these four people, in addition to the Azure Dragon Sovereign, that they had suffered heavy injuries in the previous battle, leading to the defeat of the armies of both countries.
"Azure Dragon Sovereign, where did you find these helpers?" the White Tiger Sovereign asked with a hint of reluctance in his voice.
If it weren't for these four figures, he alone could have contended with the Azure Dragon Sovereign.
"Hehe, why bother asking so much? You only need to know that I too am working for the Young Master," the Azure Dragon Sovereign said with a faint smile.
"What?"
Hearing this, both Sovereigns revealed looks of surprise.
The ruler of an entire country was actually working for someone else?
And judging by the form of address, it was a young master?
The two Sovereigns exchanged glances, both seeing the doubt in each other's eyes.
"No need to guess. These four are also the Young Master's people," the Azure Dragon Sovereign said flatly.
At this, the White Tiger Sovereign and Black Tortoise Sovereign's eyes showed even more shock.
These four Sage realm powerhouses were all people of that Young Master?
Who exactly was this Young Master?
How terrifyingly powerful must his background be?
"Now, you only need to agree to two conditions."
"First, hand over a quarter of your respective compasses."
"Second, submit your entire nations to the Young Master."
"These two conditions - agree, and you may live!"
"Disagree, and die!"
The Azure Dragon Sovereign spoke coldly and bluntly.
Hearing this, the two Sovereigns' faces showed even more humiliation.
Those compasses were inherited artifacts. Although their purpose was unknown, they were symbols of their nations.
The Four Ancient Kingdoms each possessed a quarter of the compass.
And submitting their entire nations to that Young Master was equally inglorious.
Just as the two Sovereigns were about to argue, the four black-robed figures suddenly stepped forward.
The oppressive aura made the words of the two Sovereigns catch in their throats, unable to be spoken.
After a long while, the two Sovereigns nodded dejectedly, agreeing to the conditions.
Seeing this, the Azure Dragon Sovereign nodded with satisfaction.
Afterwards, after some arrangements, both countries formally submitted.
The Azure Dragon Sovereign, however, went to a luxurious hall behind the palace.
Inside the hall, many graceful dancers were dancing.
At the far end was a large bed with gauze curtains hanging down. A figure could vaguely be seen reclining against several beautiful silhouettes.
The Azure Dragon Sovereign opened his palm, on which lay two ancient and mottled Azure Dragon compass pieces.
"Young Master, I have obtained what you wanted," the Azure Dragon Sovereign said with a respectful tone.
From behind the gauze curtains, a strong and powerful arm reached out. With a grabbing motion of the five fingers, the two Azure Dragon compass pieces were snatched into the hand.
"Very good, Azure Dragon Sovereign. You haven't disappointed this Marquis!"