An Imperial Son represented a background identity that spoke volumes.
"Imperial Son?" Ye Chen raised an eyebrow but offered no explanation. Behind him, Yan Wushuang couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. His master was no Imperial Son, but possessed a status even more terrifying than one.
The several Old Antiques of the imperial clan exchanged glances. "Although we failed to properly welcome Your Highness the Imperial Son, interfering in the chieftain election of our Jiuyan Imperial Clan in this manner is rather beneath your station. We must ask you to leave immediately. If you do, we can let this matter rest. Otherwise, it will seriously affect the peace between our two great imperial clans."
Ye Chen gave a light laugh and waved his hand. "You've misunderstood. I am not an Imperial Son. However, you guessed one thing correctly—I am indeed an Ancient Monarch."
And a Henggu Monarch at that, far stronger than ordinary Ancient Monarchs.
Of course, he didn't voice that part.
Before them, merely the identity of an Ancient Monarch was already enough to awe the Jiuyan Imperial Clan.
Ye Chen continued, "So, what do you say? As long as my disciple Yan Wushuang becomes the next chieftain, if anything happens to the Jiuyan Imperial Clan, I might just lend a hand."
Hearing this, the imperial clan's high-ranking members present all had a noticeably brighter gleam in their eyes.
An Ancient Monarch offering to lend a hand—and one so young at that, with immense potential. It wasn't impossible for him to reach even greater heights in the future, perhaps even having hope of proving his Dao and becoming an Emperor. Such a promise from a highly promising Ancient Monarch was undeniably enough to stir the hearts of many imperial clan elders, including the several Quasi-Monarch Old Antiques.
After all, even for an imperial clan, the role of an Ancient Monarch was extremely significant.
Yan Gushen grew somewhat flustered and hurriedly said, "Several Ancestors, we absolutely must not agree! He is, after all, an outsider. And how do we know if he has other ulterior motives for supporting Yan Wushuang as chieftain?"
The other imperial clan elders also felt Yan Gushen's words held some merit. The Old Antiques felt similarly. After a moment of contemplation, they said, "Dare we ask, Monarch Lord, what is your true purpose? If you cannot provide a suitable reason, I'm afraid not only will Yan Wushuang be unable to campaign for the chieftain position, he might even lose his corresponding qualification. The affairs of our Jiuyan Imperial Clan have never allowed outsiders to participate, even if you are an Ancient Monarch."
Those who achieve more are teachers. Even though Ye Chen was young, as an Ancient Monarch, the Old Antiques had to respectfully address him as Monarch Lord.
But even so, the Jiuyan Imperial Clan would not act according to an outsider's wishes.
Ye Chen smiled faintly. "You should be aware of which Emperor's Path my disciple intends to walk in the future, correct?"
"The Faith Emperor's Path?" the Old Antiques frowned.
"Correct," Ye Chen said. "To establish more divine statues and widely spread faith, one must wield sufficient authority. One such authority is that of an imperial clan chieftain. As the leader of a clan, with overwhelming power, it becomes much easier to widely propagate faith and gather Faith Power."
"To put it bluntly, the position of imperial clan chieftain isn't all that significant. If not for needing to borrow the deterrent force and various resources of the imperial clan to act more conveniently, whether one takes this chieftain position or not doesn't really matter."
"My disciple here has quite good talent in the Dao of Faith. I hope he can continue walking this path. Perhaps one day, he can use it to prove his Dao and become an Emperor."
"Do you understand now?"
The crowd wore bitter smiles. So this was the reason Yan Wushuang was campaigning for the imperial clan chieftain position. They had misjudged him.
"Moreover, my disciple is quite capable. He can lead the Jiuyan Imperial Clan better. He himself is a proud son of the Jiuyan Imperial Clan. To be honest, if he holds the position of imperial clan chieftain, he can both borrow the clan's prestige to broadcast faith widely and lead the clan toward a better direction. This matter can be considered killing two birds with one stone," Ye Chen added.
Generally speaking, he wouldn't waste so many words. If not for his disciple Yan Wushuang, he really couldn't be bothered to talk so much with these people.
Yan Gushen, however, snorted coldly. "What evidence does Monarch Lord have to prove these words?"
Even now, he was unwilling to give up his qualification for the chieftain election.
After all the painstaking preparation over so many years, how could he lose everything in a single day!
"Hmph! A mere Divine King dares speak to this Monarch!" Ye Chen's cold snort was like heavenly thunder. Yan Gushen was sent flying backward, vomiting three mouthfuls of blood in succession. His aura withered, but he dared not voice his anger, only seethe in silence.
To offend an Ancient Monarch was a heinous crime. Not being killed was already tremendous luck!
Then, Ye Chen looked outside the Heavenly Palace and said, "Fellow Daoist Monarch of the Jiuyan Imperial Clan, since you've arrived, you might as well come in. Some matters might be more appropriate for you to discuss personally."
"The Nine Mysteries Ancient Ancestor has come personally?" The imperial clan elders were startled. Then they saw a serene figure suddenly appear—white-haired with a youthful face, his Dao natural and harmonious. It was indeed the Nine Mysteries Ancient Ancestor. They immediately performed grand bows of respect, not daring to show the slightest neglect.
The Nine Mysteries Monarch nodded slightly. With a flick of his finger, a ray of dawn light entered Yan Gushen's body, healing most of his injuries. Then, with a demeanor as gentle as a spring breeze, he looked at Ye Chen and smiled. "Young Friend, your face is quite unfamiliar. You don't have much fluctuation of Supreme bloodline. Indeed, you are not an Imperial Son. May I ask who you are, Young Friend?"
"My identity... I'm afraid your Jiuyan Imperial Clan might not really want to know," Ye Chen suddenly smiled, a hint of mockery curling at the corner of his lips.
The crowd was puzzled. The Nine Mysteries Monarch was also rather surprised. He smiled lightly and said, "Young Friend, you jest. You are so unfamiliar, and this is the important Emperor World of our Jiuyan Imperial Clan. You shouldn't be an enemy. Please enlighten us."
"Ye Chen," Ye Chen said, then revealed an expression that was both a smile and not. "Of course, more people prefer to call me—"
"Battle Saint King!"
As his words fell, a brief silence ensued, followed by earth-shaking uproar.
Within the entire Heavenly Palace, all the high-ranking members of the Jiuyan Imperial Clan—from the Great Powers below to the Nine Mysteries Monarch, an Ancient Monarch, above—were all dumbstruck, staring blankly at Ye Chen.
Then, intense, thick horror erupted in everyone's gazes.
"Battle Saint King?!" someone couldn't help but exclaim loudly.
Was this the same Battle Saint King who, all those years ago, single-handedly infiltrated the Nine Colors Emperor Star, assassinated the previous chieftain and several imperial clan elders, and even stole five imperial clan divine treasuries?
Without a doubt, the person bearing that title was, for the Jiuyan Imperial Clan, nothing short of a nightmare-like existence, or more accurately, an existence representing a blood feud.
Back then, it was precisely because of the Battle Saint King that the Jiuyan Imperial Clan suffered heavy losses and became the laughingstock of the entire great universe.
Even after so many years had passed, he remained at the top of the imperial clan's must-kill list.
Who could have imagined that this enemy standing opposite the imperial clan would now appear within the Jiuyan Imperial Clan's Emperor World, and so openly at that, demanding the chieftain position be handed to his disciple Yan Wushuang.
"You are the Battle Saint King?"
Suddenly, the spring-breeze-like Dao charm around the Nine Mysteries Monarch slowly faded, replaced by thechilling of autumn wind.
His eyes narrowed slightly, faintly emitting strands of sharp light containing terrifying killing intent.
Behind him, the several Quasi-Monarch Old Antiques reacted similarly. Secretly, they had already begun communicating with the Supreme Emperor Weapon and connecting with the Emperor World's origin, intending to immediately seal the Emperor World and prevent this chief culprit from years past from leaving.
Silently, the entire Heavenly Palace seemed to have transformed into a slaughterhouse.