Decide? How was this supposed to be decided?
Xue Ke's gaze turned toward Golden Crocodile Douluo, but Golden Crocodile Douluo sat there as if glued in place.
No way to advance, no way to retreat.
That dog couple Bo Saixi and Tang Chen, plus the Clear Sky Sect elders were all here—who could guarantee that the reckless brute wielding the Clear Sky Hammer wasn't around too?
Here, Tang Chen had once made an agreement with Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect: he was not allowed to act against anyone related to the imperial family again.
This was the agreement made back when Xue Qinghe "fell," when the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect helped Heaven Dou take revenge, pushed the Star Luo front line back to its original position, and then struck the deal with Tang Chen.
Him helping Xue Ke basically counted as being related to the imperial family.
But if they withdrew, that might not hold anymore.
This time, the Clear Sky Sect had come under the banner of revenge. They were only wary of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, so Tang Chen hadn't acted or even shown himself, but he was most likely hiding in some remote corner, preparing to deliver a devastating strike against them.
No one could guess what Tang Chen and Bo Saixi were truly thinking.
Whether this included an element of testing Spirit Hall was another factor that had to be considered.
After all, Pope Bibi Dong had not appeared for several years now. It wasn't impossible that people were suspicious. If only they had done like Qian Renxue back when she was lurking in Heaven Dou—put out a body double to take the hits.
But now suspicion had already arisen. Perhaps they suspected that Spirit Hall's top leadership had all died somewhere unknown, and they were using this to probe the Spirit Hall members here.
"What a headache!" Golden Crocodile's mind raced.
If they withdrew from Heaven Dou, they might be pursued by Tang Chen—nine chances of death and one of survival, or even ten deaths with no life.
Even setting aside pursuit, the condition just now was to withdraw all Spirit Hall forces from the Heaven Dou Empire, which included a large number of military and political personnel.
It was only because the other side had moved too quickly this time and Spirit Hall hadn't reacted in time, plus mobilizing a large army corps required time. In the end, Xue Ke lacked Xue Qinghe's prestige, and many nobles were still watching from the sidelines.
If they pulled out all their hidden pieces, that would mean Xue Beng taking back the Heaven Dou Empire. For Spirit Hall, they were already at the point of no return—things would only get more troublesome.
If they only withdrew the high-level personnel, they might still fall into the other side's trap.
Perhaps their goal was to plunge the Heaven Dou Empire into chaos, leading to rivers of blood.
The deeper purpose…
Might be related to Zhu Zhuqing and Tang San's divine trials.
After all, the last time the Star Luo Empire launched a war, it seemed to be for the sake of maximizing deaths.
Zhu Zhuqing, as the inheritor of the Rakshasa God's divine trial, her iron-blooded actions might also be connected to cultivation.
Rumors said Zhu Zhuqing had already reached Title Douluo. It was unlikely she had advanced so quickly through normal means.
Next was Tang San—his cultivation method was probably similar to Zhu Zhuqing's.
That extremely evil kind of cultivation method.
Whether being hunted down or triggering a great war in Heaven Dou, none of these aligned with Spirit Hall's interests.
Last time it was stopped because of Dugu Bo and the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Who could guarantee they didn't have countermeasures this time? According to the intelligence gathered, the Star Luo Empire had always been preparing for war.
Most importantly, even if the Star Luo Empire lost, its overall strength still surpassed the Heaven Dou Empire's.
What should be done?
Withdrawing or not withdrawing—both were dilemmas for Golden Crocodile.
The most crucial point, according to what the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena had said:
Qian Renxue did not need the faith of angels to become a god, but Qian Daoliu required faith to become a god.
If they withdrew now, everything might fall apart at the last moment.
But if they didn't withdraw…
After deep contemplation, Golden Crocodile Douluo spoke in a low voice: "We can leave, but we must take Xue Ke with us."
It was not yet time to completely antagonize the other side. First, they needed to preserve their strength.
Once the great worshiper and the others emerged, they should be able to regain the advantage.
Xue Beng was a traitor. Xue Ke was the true successor. After all, Xue Qinghe had been Emperor Xue Ye's heir. In terms of legitimacy, Xue Ke was more rightful than Xue Beng.
"No!"
Before Bo Saixi could speak, Xue Beng cut in decisively. "You and all your Spirit Hall people must withdraw, but Xue Ke is my younger sister and a member of the Heaven Dou imperial family. I will not allow you to take her away."
Taking Xue Ke away so they could stage a comeback later—that was absolutely unacceptable.
The advantage was on his side now. How could he possibly allow them to take away Xue Ke, who possessed "legitimacy"? Even if he kept Xue Ke caged like a canary, he could not let her leave with Spirit Hall.
Even in the worst-case scenario, killing Xue Ke would be better than letting her go.
Moreover, only with Xue Ke here could he better win over the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
From all signs, that fence-sitting bunch from the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect seemed to have a favorable inclination toward Xue Ke, the successor Xue Qinghe had designated before "dying."
To win over the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and to avoid being swallowed by the Star Luo Empire, Xue Beng needed his own power base.
Others might not know, but how could Xue Beng not know?
Zhu Zhuqing of the Star Luo Empire was from Shrek, far closer to them than he—a half-baked disciple of Tang San. If the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was there, it could serve as a check against the other side.
Yes, this was the art of balance that Xue Beng had learned.
If it really came to it, he could only kill Xue Ke. The reason was simple: the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect were fence-sitters, but they also wouldn't lean too far to one side. If they wanted to develop, they could only rely on him, Xue Beng. There might be some estrangement that way, but it would still count as his force.
Therefore, no matter what, he could not allow Xue Ke—this imperial princess—to be taken away by Spirit Hall.
"Xue Beng, are you saying you want to imprison me, or what? The same way you treated those women you toyed with, or something else?"
"Please don't forget—as long as I don't write the abdication edict,"
"This Heaven Dou Empire belongs to Xue Qinghe, and to me. You are just a traitor, a good-for-nothing playboy."
"The imperial family… is not limited to just Father's line. There are no shortage of other branch members who want to become the great emperor of Heaven Dou."
"Are you willing to gamble whether, with a million-strong army below, you, Xue Beng, can escape?"
"Or are you gambling on your own position in Tang San's heart?"
"Xue Ke, don't be so stubborn." Xue Beng was furious.
All these years—how had he not known Xue Ke could be this tough? She had always acted delicate and bird-like around Xue Qinghe. Even when speaking to him back then, she had given the impression of being extremely fragile.
How long had she been regent of Heaven Dou? How had she changed into a completely different person?
Outside, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was blocking the Star Luo Empire's army. He could only rely on an internal coup to take power. If he couldn't take it down quickly, it would fail.
Moreover, the nobles who had risen up this time were basically the last batch he could use. The rest were either still watching or preparing to rally to the rightful emperor.
Bo Saixi had already noticed that both sides were riding a tiger and finding it hard to get off, while Golden Crocodile Douluo was unwilling to retreat.
"Golden Crocodile, are you really determined to fight to the death?" Bo Saixi spoke up. "You should know very well—with me and him here, you've only just reached Limit Douluo. You have no room to resist."
"Heh, finally dropping the pretense?" Golden Crocodile sneered. "Tang Chen doesn't dare act inside Heaven Dou City, so you're planning to wait until we withdraw and wipe us all out in one go?"
"Think whatever you want. Even if you don't withdraw, do you think I, Bo Saixi, can't deal with you just because Tang Chen doesn't act?" Bo Saixi's voice turned cold. "Don't forget—in the battle between Tang Chen and Qian Daoliu, I was the number one."
In the end, it was still the fear of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Otherwise, she wouldn't have dragged things out with so much back-and-forth.
That damned fence-sitter—it looked like they hadn't gotten involved at all.
But in their own way, they were protecting Heaven Dou's rule. You couldn't ignore them when making plans.
Even if they could disregard Ning Fengzhi's side, there was still Ning Rongrong…
Thinking back to how, with merely Soul Douluo strength, she had nearly killed both him and Tang Chen—even shattering a divine artifact—Bo Saixi still had lingering trauma.
So the current situation was: the best outcome would be a smooth transition.
Most importantly, they needed to use this incident to let Zhu Zhuqing and Tang San ascend to godhood as quickly as possible.
(End of chapter)