"Hmm?"
Seeing how close Xiao Ting and Zi Yan were, a sharp light flashed in Zhu Kun's eyes.
He had finally reunited with his child, only to find that his child was already involved with a man.
However, after sensing Xiao Ting's aura, a look of surprise appeared in his eyes.
"Why are you so fierce?" Zi Yan put her hands on her hips and stood in front of Xiao Ting, glaring at Zhu Kun.
"No, no, I'm not fierce. Your father — no, I mean me. I was wondering if something had happened to the Void Ancient Dragon Clan. Who tried to harm our clan?" Zhu Kun said in a flattering tone while glancing at Feng Qing Er, who was trying her best to keep a dark face under Xiao Ting.
"Those despicable Heavenly Demon Phoenix's mixed-breed birds must lack both power and courage."
Feng Qing Er: "…"
The Ancient Void Dragon Emperor said that the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan were mixed-breed birds, and that was exactly right.
"Senior, this is also because of your disappearance," Xiao Ting took the initiative to explain the internal situation of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan.
The powerful members of the clan either went into seclusion or ventured into the void to search for Zhu Kun.
The Northern Dragon King, who belonged to the royal family's collateral line, believed that the previous Dragon Emperor would not return and wanted to become the new Dragon Emperor himself. However, the people of Eastern Dragon Island opposed this. Eventually, the Southern Dragon King and Western Dragon King, instigated by the Northern Dragon King, also declared independence, and Dragon Island entered an era of division.
Zhu Kun listened patiently without showing any anger, which puzzled the women.
On the contrary, Xiao Ting asked as if confirming his own guess, "It seems you support what Dragon Island is doing."
"That's right," Zhu Kun answered affirmatively and continued asking, "Young man, you said there was internal conflict on Dragon Island. Were there many casualties? Did any powerful members die? Has the status of the Ancient Void Dragon in the Beast Region and the Dou Qi Continent changed? Have the major Ancient Clans of the Dou Qi Continent begun to look down on the Ancient Void Dragon and launch attacks?"
Several questions left the women somewhat stunned.
After careful consideration, Feng Qing Er, Huo Zhi, and Yao Ling discovered that none of the situations Zhu Kun described were true.
"This internal conflict is half real and half fake." Xiao Ting nodded without surprise.
He had also recorded his analysis and judgment in the Journal.
After the Old Dragon Emperor's disappearance, the Ancient Void Dragon Clan lost its strongest combat power.
At that time, the Heavenly Demon Phoenix and Nine Nether Earth Python were far inferior to the Ancient Void Dragon. However, after the Old Dragon Emperor disappeared, if the two joined forces, they could still exert influence.
Moreover, there were also some Ancient Clans that possessed nine-star Dou Saint level experts, who could also pose a threat to the Ancient Void Dragon.
At this point, what the Ancient Void Dragon should do was to restrain their own brilliance.
As a result, all the powerful members of the clan who had reached the level of five-star Dou Saint or above left the clan and hid in the void, either to search for the Old Dragon Emperor or because they disliked the atmosphere of internal conflict.
On the vast Dragon Island, only a few three-star Dou Saint level Dragon Kings remained, fighting among themselves.
Therefore, in the eyes of various transcendent forces, the Ancient Void Dragon was no longer a threat.
However, since powerful existences like the Ancient Void Dragon still existed, outsiders would have to think twice before trying to bully them.
Perhaps a seven-star or even eight-star Ancient Void Dragon would appear and teach you a good lesson.
Even the missing Old Dragon Emperor might reappear at any time!
This created a strange balance. No one wanted to deal with the Ancient Void Dragon, and the Ancient Void Dragon themselves chose to lie low in seclusion.
The internal conflicts among the four Dragon Islands were a means to keep the Ancient Void Dragon in a competitive environment and prevent them from becoming too comfortable and weakening.
However, the conflicts and hatred between them were within controllable limits. If the Old Dragon Emperor returned or a true Ancient Dragon genius appeared, they could still rule the entire clan.
This explained why, in the original timeline, the battles between the four Dragon Islands seemed like small skirmishes. However, after Zi Yan began acting as the Dragon Empress and Zhu Kun reappeared, many of the clan's powerful members returned, and their strength instantly skyrocketed.
For example, Zhu Huo, the Great Elder of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan, was a powerful figure second only to Zhu Kun in age.
It was surprising that he could serve as an elder of the entire clan during Zhu Kun's reign, and he was already quite old.
Thousands of years had passed, but he had not even reached the level comparable to Hun Tiandi or others.
At the very least, he was definitely inferior to the newly promoted nine-star Dou Saint, the Nihility Devouring Flame.
If even the Hun Clan knew how to hide their strength, the major Ancient Clans certainly would not fail to hide theirs.
On the surface, the Ancient Clans only had Gu Yuan, a late-stage nine-star Dou Saint, and three late-stage seven-star Dou Saints — the Three Immortals.
Were there really no eight-star Dou Saints capable of dealing with unexpected situations?
A thousand years ago, the Hun Clan had four eight-star Dou Saints.
Man proposes, but heaven disposes. That was all one could say.
In reality, the Hun Clan, along with forces like the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan, had joined the internal conflict of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan and completely caught them off guard.
The fact that the Northern Dragon King, blinded by greed, devoured the Western Dragon King and Southern Dragon King to increase his power in order to kill Zi Yan suggested that there might be some hidden motive behind it.
That Dragon Transformation Demon Array looked quite strange no matter how one looked at it.
[Xun Er]: In the end, picture books can't convey the whole story.
[Feng Qing Er]: Previously, I asked my mother, "Why doesn't our Heavenly Phoenix Clan take advantage of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan's internal conflict? The three Dragon Kings of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan are only at the late stage of three-star Dou Saint, much weaker than the clan leader. Perhaps we can find a way to transform into the Ancient Void Dragon Clan through them." I thought it was a very clever idea at the time, but my mother looked at me like I was an idiot…
[Huo Zhi]: This is the survival wisdom of Ancient Clans and major clans.
[Yao Ling]: Indeed, our clan possesses a foundation of spiritual medicines beyond your imagination. These are our trump cards.
[Cai Lin]: Man proposes, but heaven disposes. Now, even that can't compare to my man's calculations.
[Yun Yun]: Do you think Xiao Ting can bring back the Old Dragon Emperor?
This was an important question that everyone was now concerned about.
And the answer was quickly revealed.
After looking at Zi Yan, Zhu Kun turned his gaze to Xiao Ting and said, "From what you said, young friend, it seems that when Zhu Huo brought people to search for me, Zi Yan escaped."
"At that time, she was still a dragon egg, bound by my seal. When I tried to break Tou She Emperor's seal, I must have brought her to the realm right above us, which you now call Jia Nan Academy."
"A Dou God is a Dou God. Although Tou She Ancient God is despicable, he is incredibly powerful. The void restraint chains he set up cannot be broken even by this Ancient Void Dragon Emperor. It's as if he's deliberately slapping my face."
"Young friend, I'll remove one of the inverted scales that binds my life and give it to you. After you leave, have my daughter activate it with her own blood. That way, Zhu Huo will be able to sense it."
"When I was captured, he was already at the late stage of eight-star Dou Saint. He must have reached the nine-star level by now."
"With the protection of Zhu Huo, no one on the Dou Qi Continent will be able to bully you."
"Have him find the location of the Tou She Ancient God's Jade and bring it to this Tou She Ancient God's Cave. That way, he can save me from being trapped."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Ting indeed lightly shook his head.
"Senior Zhu Huo alone is not enough to protect my safety."
"Senior, please handle this yourself."
Zhu Kun: ???