Chapter 020: Nine Stars in a Row

“Long Aotian, our Green Family has come here under the orders of Princess Fische to punish you. You’ve harbored remnants of the Purple Blossom faction. Princess Fische has ordered that all those who shelter such elements be eradicated completely—no leniency allowed!” Upon hearing this from the middle-aged man in the purple robe, who turned out to be the emperor of the Frozen Alliance, Du Fan quickly put on his hat and pressed it firmly onto the head of the Frozen Alliance representative.

“What a joke!” Long Aotian retorted loudly upon hearing Du Fan’s words. “Does the emperor of your Gavin Empire’s order really have to be obeyed across the entire continent? Hmph! That so-called Princess Fische of yours isn’t qualified enough to give orders to me!”

“Long Xiaotian, despising our Princess Fische like this is a capital offense!” Du Fan quickly interrupted Long Aotian as he continued speaking.

“Hahaha, how ridiculous!” Long Aotian laughed loudly again. “That wretch of Princess Fische, who killed her own brother and betrayed her father, dares to act like this? Du Fan, huh? Your Green Family made a deal with Fische—once you conquer our Frozen Alliance, half of its lands will become your territory. I must admit, Princess Fische is quite clever. She didn’t need to use any of the empire’s strength; instead, she relied on your Green Family’s power to expand her territory by such a large extent. What a great emperor she is!”

“Long Aotian, I think it’s better for your Frozen Alliance to surrender now!” Du Fan said.

“Du Fan, do you really think such words can come true?” With those words from Du Fan, Long Aotian looked at him as if he were an idiot. “If you had the strength, just conquer our entire Frozen Alliance outright. What’s the point of talking so much nonsense?”

“Very well, Long Aotian. Since you’ve said so much, what more can we say? I just hope you’ll take care of yourself in the upcoming war!” Du Fan said loudly.

After saying that, Du Fan also shouted, “Long Aotian, I’ll take your move—now try taking mine!”

Immediately, a series of massive attacks, like stars, struck Long Aotian one after another.

This time, the stars were no longer just mere specks of light like before; each one was as large as a washbasin. Nine washbasin-sized stars rushed continuously toward Long Aotian!
The “Nine Stars in a Row” technique was one passed down within the Green family by Duke Green for Du Fan’s training—only known to the clan leader or heir.
With this technique, the washbasin-sized orbs filled with star energy struck the enemy one after another, with each impact more powerful than the last!
Such a technique could unleash nine waves of energy, and even the first wave possessed the strength of a full-power attack from an ordinary realm expert.
Seeing those nine star-like objects charging toward him, Long Aotian roared loudly, instantly enveloped in deep purple light!
Streams of purple energy burst forth, attacking Du Fan’s “Nine Stars in a Row.” Under these attacks, the energy stars kept exploding in midair!
The explosions were terrifying, turning the area between Chihu City and the Icebound Alliance’s forces into a scene of chaos!
With Long Aotian’s formidable cultivation, he could only block eight stars; the ninth star struck directly at his body!
Just as that star was about to hit him, a giant purple dragon emerged from Long Aotian’s body!
Once the purple dragon appeared, it fiercely grabbed the last star that Long Aotian couldn’t defend against.
The star exploded violently in the dragon’s claws, causing them to release it instantly. Purple-gold blood dripped down from the claws.
“Hmph, nothing special!” Du Fan said dismissively after seeing his “Nine Stars in a Row” harm Long Aotian’s magical beast.
Seeing Du Fan’s actions, Long Aotian’s pride was severely wounded!
“You brat! How dare you!” With that, Long Aotian roared, and the purple dragon began to merge with him!
“Long Aotian, that’s enough for today. If you want to fight again, come back next time!” Du Fan shouted. While speaking, the wind-based speed of his domain carried him into Chihu City while Long Aotian was still merging with the dragon.

After being injured by Du Fan’s Nine-Star Chain Strike to his dragon claws, Long Aotian became extremely angry! Such an outcome made him eager to merge with the Purple Flying Dragon right away. Little did he know, Du Fan wasn’t willing to acknowledge Long Aotian at all. While Long Aotian continued to merge with the Purple Flying Dragon, Du Fan unilaterally declared the battle over. Long Aotian, still in a merged state, saw Du Fan dash back to Chihu City and immediately felt like vomiting blood! Could it be that he had misjudged Du Fan? He was nothing but a despicable scoundrel! But then again, how had such a scoundrel managed to reach the level of a domain powerhouse? Long Aotian kept thinking as he continued to merge.

……

“Amazing! Truly amazing!” Du Fan, who had flown into Chihu City, immediately exclaimed loudly.

“Du Fan, what happened?” Seeing Du Fan’s pale face, Nai Xiu said worriedly.

“That Long Aotian is really strong! My Nine-Star Chain Strike required me to gather most of my star energy to unleash it! Although it injured the magical beast belonging to Long Aotian, he, as the supreme ruler of the Icebound Alliance, wasn’t hurt at all,” Du Fan said to Nai Xiu.

As Du Fan and Nai Xiu were talking, a monster with a dragon head and human body rushed straight toward the city walls of Chihu City, where Du Fan was.

“Bad news! Long Aotian has merged and is coming toward us!” Seeing this monster, Du Fan immediately realized it was the result of Long Aotian merging with the Purple Flying Dragon.

“Du Fan, don’t worry. I’ll shoot it away,” Nai Xiu said with a smile.

“Hurry up! I’m not afraid of this guy, but once it gets close to the city walls, with its formidable strength, those walls will be as weak as mud in front of Long Aotian.”

As soon as Nai Xiu finished speaking, her elf bow appeared in her hands. She gathered arrow energy, drew back the bow, and sent streaks of blue arrow energy accurately at the dragon-headed monster!

The arrow energy from Nai Xiu’s elf bow kept preventing the merged Long Aotian from approaching the city walls. The arrow energy of a domain powerhouse was something even the merged Long Aotian didn’t dare to confront head-on.

Not far from the city walls, Long Aotian roared repeatedly, but no matter how much he roared, this merged version of Long Aotian simply couldn’t get any closer to the city walls. After hopping around aimlessly for a while, Long Aotian had no choice but to return to the army of the Frozen Alliance.
…
“Father, there are quite a few experts in the Frozen Alliance!” Du Fan exclaimed in Duke Green’s room.
“Hmm, judging from the constant challenges between the two sides lately, they have at least nineteen experts at the Saint level or above,” Duke Green replied directly when he heard Du Fan’s question.
“So many!?” Du Fan was surprised upon hearing this.
“That’s right. According to our counts, each of the eighteen kingdoms in the Frozen Alliance has had its royal family members among the Saint-level experts!” Duke Green said with a frown.
“It seems like it won’t be easy to fight them,” Du Fan said.
“Yes. We thought our own experts were already enough, but who would have thought there are so many Saint-level experts in the Frozen Alliance!” Duke Green emphasized.
“Father, do you think Prince Fischer knows about the existence of so many Saint-level experts in the various kingdoms of the Frozen Alliance?” Du Fan asked quietly.
“I’m not sure, but one thing is certain—Prince Fischer definitely knows more than we do!” Duke Green replied.
Hearing this, Du Fan nodded. As a member of the royal family, one who had helped establish the Gavin Empire—a dynasty that had existed on the continent for hundreds of years—the Austins must know far more than the Greens. After all, as the ruling family of one of the two major empires on the continent, the Austins had access to resources and influence that the Greens could never match. If Prince Fischer had known about such a powerful group of experts in the Frozen Alliance beforehand, then using half of the Frozen Alliance as bait was clearly meant to drag the Northern Army and the Green family into an irrecoverable situation!
“He probably doesn’t know,” Duke Green said after some thought. “If Prince Fischer did know, he would surely realize that facing so many Saint-level experts, our Northern Army couldn’t possibly hold out. Once our army is destroyed, the Frozen Alliance’s forces will surely turn their attention to the entire Gavin Empire.”

Suddenly, a even more dangerous idea crossed Du Fan’s mind.
“Father, what if Prince Fischer is confident enough to withstand those experts from the Icebound Alliance?” Du Fan said, staring at his father.
“That’s impossible, right?” Duke Green shuddered as he saw Du Fan staring at him.
“Doesn’t Fischer also know about our hidden strength? Similarly, we can’t possibly know about his hidden strength either.” Du Fan voiced what he had just thought.
“Well…” Hearing this, Duke Green furrowed his brows tightly.
“I hope not!” Seeing his father’s expression, Du Fan quickly added, “If the royal family had such strength, it would have shown up during the battle between the two princes for the throne.”
“Anyway, it’s better to be cautious.” Hearing this, Duke Green’s brows relaxed slightly.
“Father, it seems that in the Icebound Alliance’s army, each duchy has at least two Holy Rank experts. That means there are at least thirty-six Holy Rank experts in total! Add to that today’s Domain Master—there are truly an alarming number of experts in the Icebound Alliance,” Du Fan said.
As he spoke, he began comparing the experts from both sides.
Book 46: A New Dawn