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Azure City.
Hailed as the greatest city in the entire Great Azure Country; it commanded over eleven other Provinces and was home to the country’s very own royal family, the Lan Clan!
With a population of over 197,000 people, the city was quite large, being only slightly greater in size than its fellow Noble-ranked municipality, the Red Sun City. While compared to the rest of WuDang, with an estimated total population of twenty billion inhabitants, the Azure City was not much.
Even if set next to the Eastern Moon Continent, a massive land that stretches an impressive fifty thousand square miles(77700 square km) and hosts nearly seven billion people, there was almost no need for a competition.
But if compared to the overall Great Azure Country, with a sum population of about 590,000, including villagers, and an surface area spanning 1,746 square miles (4,521 square km), the Azure City practically made up around one-third of the country’s population!
Since the world of WuDang had existed for nearly a two trillion years, several eras have passed by; such as the earliest Primordial Era, then the Stelliferous, the Ancient Era, and the Hell Era.
The current period is the Martial Era, an epoch where martial arts and power are kings and each person is aspiring to rise to the top of the hierarchy.
In this time, where wars are commonly waged between a few weaker countries, the Great Azure Country was one of such participants. A country, that was erected five thousands years ago along, was unable to compare to the stronger countries that existed for nearly tens or even hundreds thousands of years. Thus, it could only attempt to grow its power through conquering other countries.
The Lan Clan was often the first to wage war against another weaker or slightly comparable country, in an hungry attempt to seize that country’s resources. The royal family did not care what method they used to achieve their goal, be it bribing other country’s officials to start a rebellion, or even launching sneak attacks.
And while the Lan Clan appeared humble and gentle on the surface, they were extremely wary of anyone who seeks to challenge their authority. Those who had once opposed the royal clan before had all been wiped from the Great Azure Country long ago…
Thus, very few dare to disobey the Lan Clan, regardless of their status. The only result was death.
However, being aware of subtle fear of their subordinates, the Lan Clan made a tradition where the few hundred clans in the country would compete with one another every year. The winner of the competition would receive great benefits from the royal family, making the Lan Clan look benevolent while asserting its dominance among the many clan masters! It was a way for the royal family to provide benefits to its followers in a way that would make itself appear stronger.
As such, the Azure City today was packed with a large mass of crowd. Every several minutes, a group of people would be entering the city, chatting excitedly with each other. Loud shouts from nearby vendors rang out, offering discounts and whole deals. The city was practically booming with excitement and liveliness!
The streets were bustling with different colored uniforms and robes, as each person rushed towards one particular area: The Blue Imperial Colosseum.
The Blue Imperial Colosseum was a specially constructed arena located at the center of the city. It was quite spacious, with countless stands elevated around a massive, circular battle stage. Many people had already arrived and were sitting patiently on the stands, awaiting for the main event.
The colosseum was booming with noise, as people streamed in from four different large gates of the building and took their respective seat.
Sitting at the very front of the stands were all prominent families in the Great Azure Country, while the middle and end seats were filled up by commoners or by practitioners from smaller clans.
Situated directly north of the huge battle ground, was a particular eye catching seat. With a tall chair spine made of white marble and two solid arms, the big seat was occupied by an aged man with gray hair.
Wearing a golden robe decorated with expensive gems, the person had a face full of wrinkles, a grecian nose, and small beady eyes that exuded a light of shrewdness, looking to be around his early sixties.
The old man seated on the marble seat also gave off a dangerous, thick aura; and when he swept his eyes across the other stands, none of small clan masters dared to meet eyes with him. They all lowered their head in respect and fear, with some forcing an awkward smile in response.
There were two other seats to the left and right side of the old man, albeit at a slightly lower elevation to the middle seat. The right chair was currently empty.
But to the left of the golden robed old man, sat a forty to forty five years old looking man in mountain patterned armor. His torso, shoulders and thighs were covered in a multitude of iron plates, with alternating brown and red colored designs.
A thick bloody aura continuously exuded from the middle aged man’s body, and his fierce gaze and scarred face did not help alleviate the fear of the surrounding people who looked at him.
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Wearing a sword sheathe by his right side, the middle aged man sat with an air full of arrogance, both his hands resting on his thighs of his open legs as he leaned forward, surveying the entering crowd of people.
The two men sat quietly, looking at the streams of people. No one was willing to approach them, nor dared to disturb them. The several clans masters could only offer a polite bow or a forced smile whenever they faced the two men.
“Reporting to Royal Father Lan Fu.”
A respectful voice called out, as a young man in his early thirties, wearing an expensive looking, blue robe walked up to the old man seated at the center and gave a low bow.
The man had two patches moustache under his straight nose, as his eyes were filled with clarity. While he looked quite normal, the young man’s body faintly gave off the aura of an 8th staged Spiritual Dan practitioner!
The elderly man named ‘Lan Fu’ looked at the blue robed man with a small smile as he said in a deep, gruff voice: “So you’re back. Speak. After going out collecting information for the past month, how are the numbers this year?”
“Yes. Out of the hundred clans, we have received confirmation from only ninety clans this year. Based on our intelligence report, those clans were either eradicated in a struggle of power or lost their ruling strength over the past year. In particular, we lost five major clans from two different provinces.
They include the Gao clan, Fei clan, and the Ting clan that were all eliminated by the Jin Clan from Tian City. Then, there were the prominent Meng clan and Fan clan from Red Sun City that both fell from an onslaught by the Ju clan, Bronze Turtle clan, Grass Snake clan, and the Gong clan. The rest of the destroyed clans were all minor ones.”
“Your report would have been perfect, if not for a single omission…We already know about the Meng clan and Fan clan. And with their strength, a few combined clans should not have been able to cause their downfall…” King Lan Fu said, with an intelligent glow in his eyes. “So do you know how they truly fell down, Gan’er?”
(NOTE: Chinese kings tend to refer to themselves as “WE” not “I”. )
“Your royal son’s intelligence gathering is too poor. I ask royal father to enlighten your ignorant son!” The man named ‘Lan Gan’ asked politely, seeing that his father already had a crucial piece of information that he did not receive in his own report. As the only son of the king, he had specially trained both mentally and physically at a young age in order to succeed the throne. However, even then it seems his father was always one step ahead of him, be in regards to cultivation or informational networking.
“It was because their patriarchs were killed beforehand by a someone.’ King Lan Fu said solemnly, a strange smile playing on his lips. “And it was apparently done by an youth, nonetheless.”
“What?” Lan Gan looked at his father in shock.
Although the Lan Clan was powerful, there were other great clans that lived nearby; these strong clans mostly inhabited Noble-ranked cities, like the Red Sun City. Thus, in order to ensure that the Lan Clan remains in power, the royal family had taken the initiative to establish a relationship with all those greater clans. The Fan clan and Meng clan were a part of this circle.
Thus, Lan Gan understood those two clans’ their level of power. With two Spiritual 9th stage practitioners in their arsenal and a few Spiritual Dan leveled elders, Lan Gan had felt that it was weird a few combined clans could shake the position of these two giants in Red Sun City. But hearing his father’s words, Lan Gan was even more in confusion and shock.
Off to the side, the middle aged man wearing the mountain patterned armor only frowned as his eyes radiated with soft killing intent. As the general of the royal family, Ma Tanzi was often the one in charge of clearing out any potential ‘threats’ to the Lan Clan. It did not matter what method he used, as the royal family would always help cover him. In return, he had led a life filled with mass murdering and carefree indulgence.
At this moment, gasps could be heard echoing across the field as groups after groups of cultivators trod into the ground, each holding a distinct air of arrogance and pride.
“That’s the Hou Clan! Ahh, Hou Jin looks as handsome as always!”
“Ah! That’s the Wen Clan! They came this as well…”
As the cultivator clans streamed in took their respective seats, many bystanders could not help but glance at them in awe. Each of those clans present were powers that many of them could not afford to offend as long as they wished to continue staying in the Great Azure Country…
The last group of people did not attract as much attention, albeit a few soft jeering from nearby crowds. But they did not pay attention to those mockeries as they proceeded over to their seats, which were situated at the very back of the western side stand.
As Jin Liu Dan took his seat, he could not help but glance towards the center of the colosseum, with hope and indignation glowing within his eyes. In a soft voice, he muttered to himself.
“I wonder when Xia’er would arrive…”