Chapter 5: GATHERING
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**Lan Shan Empire, Imperial City.**
The hall was resplendent with gold, and on the gilded throne sat an elderly man with white hair. Below him, a young man was speaking to him in a composed manner.
"Are you suspecting that this powerful individual might be a Dou Wang?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. If it were merely a Dou Ling, it would be impossible for just a fleeting aura to instill such fear in me."
The young man was Feng Jing, who was recounting the events of that day to the emperor on the throne.
And the person on the throne was none other than Lan Cangsheng, the peak Dou Wang expert and ruler of the Lan Shan Empire.
"A strong individual at least at the Dou Wang level... Your junior sisters didn't get into any conflict with this person, did they?" Lan Cangsheng asked Feng Jing.
Feng Jing responded, "No, although my second junior brother and third junior sister were somewhat disrespectful in their words, I managed to stop them."
"Hmm, you handled that well. Those two youngsters have grown arrogant living in the capital."
"They truly believe everyone fears their families. If they were to provoke a Dou Wang expert, it would be their families dealing with the headache."
Lan Cangsheng stood up, patted Feng Jing on the shoulder, and said, "Since you mentioned the Dou Zong secret cave to that strong individual, he will likely head there in the coming days. I'm sure you'll meet again."
"Alright, you can go rest now. And inform your master that I will summon the major families in the capital to go there together in the next couple of days."
Lan Cangsheng walked away with his hands behind his back as he spoke.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Feng Jing cupped his hands in a salute and then left.
As he watched Feng Jing leave, Lan Cangsheng turned and looked at the sky outside the imperial city, muttering to himself, "What a tumultuous time this is."
The Lan Shan Empire was located in a barren area in the northwest region, where Dou Huang were exceedingly rare, and Dou Wang were the strongest. Whenever a Dou Wang expert appeared, he had to take them seriously.
Seven days later.
In the days following the news of the Dou Zong secret cave spreading, many strong individuals from within and outside the Lan Shan Empire had already headed to the location.
The Lan Shan Empire happened to be on the only route to the Magic beast Mountain Range, making it a gathering point for many outsiders, including our protagonist, Xie Tianxiao.
Xie Tianxiao had gathered all the resources from his secluded cave before leaving the Magic beast Mountain Range and had arrived in the Lan Shan Empire a few days ago.
However, these past days, he had been leisurely exploring and had not yet gone to the secret cave.
Inside a restaurant in the city.
"Waiter, bring me all your best dishes."
Xie Tianxiao called out. He had never tried the cuisine of the Dou Qi Continent, and today he intended to indulge.
As for why he hadn't gone to the Dou Zong secret cave earlier to seize the resources, it was because he wanted to wait until all the nearby major powers arrived. Only when they had fought among themselves sufficiently would it be time for him to act.
Otherwise, as a half-Saint, he would have already taken everything in the Dou Zong secret cave, leaving nothing for these forces.
"Right away, sir! Please wait a moment!"
The waiter, seeing a big spender, smiled warmly and hurried to the kitchen to prepare the dishes.
As Xie Tianxiao ate and drank, he listened to the conversations around him.
"Hey, did you hear? A Dou Zong expert's secret cave has been discovered at the border of the Lan Shan Empire and the Magic beast Mountain Range!" a man said to the others nearby.
"That's right, our Lan Shan Empire hasn't seen anyone become a Dou Huang, let alone a legendary Dou Zong expert."
"Exactly, our lord summoned the Feng Yue Sect and the major families from the capital to personally go to the secret cave a few days ago."
"Really? When did that happen?"
"You don't even know? You must have been locked up by your new wife for several days!"
"Sigh..."
Hearing this, Xie Tianxiao thought to himself, "It seems it's time to move. Waiting these past few days hasn't been in vain."
"Waiter, bill." With that, Xie Tianxiao tossed a few gold coins onto the table, and in a flash, disappeared from the restaurant, leaving the bewildered waiter behind to collect the money.
At the border between the Magic beast Mountain Range and the northern part of the Lan Shan Empire, five hundred li away.
A large group of people had split into two factions and were gathered outside the Dou Zong secret cave, facing off against each other.
In the sky, nine figures hovered, their Dou Qi wings spread, making them particularly striking.
Since the Lan Shan Empire had five Dou Wang experts, the scattered cultivators and other forces from outside had allied together.
The alliance was led by four Dou Wang experts in the sky to confront the forces of the Lan Shan Empire.
Below the Dou Wang experts, Dou Ling, Da Dou Shi, Dou Shi, and some scattered Dou Zhe on the ground looked up tensely at the nine figures in the sky.
"Everyone, this Dou Zong secret cave is within the territory of the Lan Shan Empire, so we will take charge of what lies within," said a middle-aged man with fiery red Dou Qi wings to the four Dou Wang experts in front of him.
The middle-aged man was Wang Hui, the head of the Wang family, one of the two major families in the Lan Shan Empire, apart from the royal family and Feng Yue Sect.
The two major families and Feng Yue Sect were aligned with the royal family, and there was no internal power struggle.
Among them, each of the two major families had a Dou Wang, and the Feng Yue Sect had sent one Dou Wang expert.
In addition, there was the peak Dou Wang ruler and a four-star Dou Wang from the royal family.
Wang Hui believed that if everyone joined forces, they could definitely defeat these four Dou Wang experts.
"Your territory? Opportunities and treasures belong to those with the strength to claim them. Such might fool some ignorant youngsters, but not us," retorted the leading Dou Wang, a man with blue Dou Qi wings.
He was the strongest among the four Dou Wang, named Yan Mao, a nine-star Dou Wang and a dominant figure in a small neighboring country.
Upon hearing about the discovery of a Dou Zong secret cave in the mountains of the Lan Shan Empire, he traveled a great distance to investigate.
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