47: Chapter 47 In the future, I will ascend to the Emperor Realm!

The main hall was quiet for a long time, and everyone's eyes fell on Hun Feng.

Hun Feng stood three steps away from Gu Yuan, bowing slightly, his etiquette as a junior toward an elder impeccable.

But when he straightened up, the certainty in his eyes made Gu Yuan narrow his eyes slightly.

"Patriarch Gu Yuan said the weight was not enough—then this junior will give a reason with enough weight."

Hun Feng's voice was not loud, but every word was clear in the silence, "This junior firmly believes that I will definitely ascend to the legendary Emperor Realm in the future."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire hall fell silent.

Gu Dao's originally livid face suddenly stiffened, and then a very light sneer escaped his nose.

But before that sneer could dissipate, it was abruptly blocked by Hun Feng's next words.

"Does Patriarch Gu Yuan think this is empty talk, or do you think I am inferior to Xiao Yan?"

Hun Feng tilted his head to look at Gu Dao, his gaze calm and steady, "Xiao Yan was able to walk from the Jia Ma Empire all the way to a Dou Sheng, relying on the Burning Technique, strange fire ranking list, and Dou Di Bloodline.

I have a God-Grade Bloodline, I have the Purification Lotus Demon Flame, I have the Sea Heart Flame, I have a Void Devouring Flame Sub-flame, I have the heaven swallowing mirror, and I have the full strength of the Hun Clan as my backing.

He has opportunities, and so do I; he has talent, and I am not inferior to him; he has perseverance—"

He paused, a very faint smile rising at the corners of his mouth, "Why should I not be able to do what he can?"

Gu Dao opened his mouth to refute but realized he truly could not come up with any strong arguments.

This young man before him was only twenty-some years old, yet he was already in the late stage of Six-Star Dou Sheng, had subdued the third-ranked Purification Lotus Demon Flame, held the Hun Clan's supreme treasure, the heaven swallowing mirror, and had two wives by his side who were equally heaven-defying in talent.

In terms of cultivation speed, he was only faster, not slower than Xiao Yan; in terms of resources and foundation, the Hun Clan was not inferior to any super power on the Fighting Qi Continent; in terms of temperament, he was able to walk away unscathed without changing his expression after being publicly jilted at the Ancient Emperor Hall, set an ambush in the Corpse Burial Mountain Range to intercept more than thirty elites of the Sky Mansion Alliance, and single-handedly stirred up trouble in the Demon Flame Space until all parties were left looking wretched—this ruthlessness and forbearance made even old foxes who had lived for thousands of years wary.

Gu Dao sat back down in silence, the sneer on his old face having vanished without a trace.

Gu Yuan did not look at Gu Dao, but silently watched Hun Feng.

Emperor Realm—these two words had become a distant legend on the Fighting Qi Continent.

Ever since the disappearance of the last Dou Di of the ancient era, the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor, no one had been born into the Emperor Realm on this continent.

How many astonishingly talented people had stopped at the peak of Nine-Star Dou Sheng, unable to take that step until their death.

How talented was Xiao Xuan back then, how astonishingly brilliant, gathering the bloodline power of the entire Xiao Clan to attempt to impact the Emperor Realm, only to eventually die with his bloodline exhausted, and the Xiao Clan perished along with him.

Gu Yuan had witnessed that scene with his own eyes, watching his most respected opponent and close friend turn into fly ash at the threshold of the Emperor Realm.

From then on, he understood a cruel fact: the Emperor Realm could not be reached by talent alone.

And now, this twenty-some-year-old young man stood before him, saying he was going to become an Emperor without changing his expression.

"Nephew," Gu Yuan's voice was deeper than before, not questioning, but stating a fact, "Xiao Xuan gathered the bloodline power of the entire Xiao Clan back then to impact the Emperor Realm, and eventually fell.

From the peak of Nine-Star to the Dou Di, that step, no one on the Fighting Qi Continent has taken for ten thousand years.

On what basis do you think you can?"

Hun Feng was waiting for these words.

"Because it has been a long time since anyone became an Emperor on the Fighting Qi Continent—not because the talent is insufficient, not because the cultivation technique is not strong, but because this continent lacks the Source Qi of the Emperor."

He turned around, his gaze moving from Gu Yuan's face to Hun Tiandi, then from Hun Tiandi to the Void Swallowing Flame, and finally falling back on Gu Yuan, "After the ancient era, no more Dou Di were born between heaven and earth.

The root is not in the people, but in the heavens.

The Source Qi of the Emperor on this continent has long since dried up.

Without the source, no matter how high the talent is, one cannot condense the Emperor's status.

This is the real reason why no one has become an Emperor in ten thousand years."

Gu Dao subconsciously wanted to refute, but swallowed the words that came to his lips.

Hun Tiandi's hand holding the wine cup stopped in mid-air, and for the first time, a very faint surprise appeared in his eyes—this explanation, even he, the Hun Clan patriarch who had lived for thousands of years, had never heard anyone put forward so clearly.

The black flames at the fingertips of the Void Swallowing Flame jumped violently, and a trace of elusive dark light flashed in his eyes, which were burning with black flames.

He was the Void Swallowing Flame, ranked second on the strange fire ranking list, and had once followed a Dou Di powerhouse from the ancient era.

No one present knew better than him what the Source Qi of the Emperor meant.

Hun Feng's gaze slowly swept across the faces of everyone present, taking in everyone's reaction.

He knew that his words had successfully swayed the minds of everyone present—including Hun Tiandi, including the Void Swallowing Flame, and including the ever-constant Hun Qinger in the corner.

Source Qi of the Emperor, these four words on the entire Fighting Qi Continent, other than the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor himself, were probably known only to him, Hun Feng, in terms of their origin and development.

When he read the original work in his previous life, he read the settings regarding Source Qi over and over again, and now it was perfectly suitable to use it to bluff people.

"The Source Qi of the Emperor is not completely impossible to reappear."

Hun Feng stood with his hands behind his back in the center of the main hall, his dark red brocade robe glowing with a warm luster in the dim candlelight, "There is a balance between heaven and earth.

The depletion of the source does not mean complete extinction, but that it has been dispersed into the bloodlines of billions of living beings.

After the last Dou Di of the ancient era disappeared, no one on the continent could re-condense these dispersed sources.

But this junior has a way."

Gu Yuan looked at him in silence.

The eyes of the others in the hall were also nailed to him.

"Merge the bloodlines of ten thousand clans, condense the source of all living beings."

Hun Feng said word by word, "Integrate the top bloodlines of all top clans in the Central Plains, extract the bloodline sources of various clans and the essence of the living beings of heaven and earth, gather the power of billions of living beings, and forcibly condense a brand-new plane Emperor Qi.

This is not wishful thinking—the Hun Clan already has a God-Grade Bloodline, the Gu Clan also has a God-Grade Bloodline, the Void Ancient Dragon has the Dragon Emperor bloodline, the Heavenly Demon Phoenix Clan has the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix bloodline, the Snake-People Tribe has the Nine-Colored Sky Swallowing Python bloodline, and the Calamity Poison Body is an even rarer mutation that appears once in a thousand years.

These top bloodlines each inherited a trace of the source of the Emperor Realm powerhouses of the ancient era.

If these source powers in the bloodlines can be extracted and fused one by one, it may not be impossible to reproduce the complete Emperor Qi."

After these words fell, the main hall fell into a true dead silence.

Gu Dao forgot to slap the table, the ice crystal lotus in Hun Qinger's hand stopped spinning at some point, and even the black flame at the fingertip of the Void Swallowing Flame solidified for an instant.

Gu Yuan finally understood.

He slowly raised his brown eyes, which had seen thousands of years of wind and clouds, and moved his gaze from Hun Feng to the tightly closed side door at the back of the main hall.

Medusa was the Nine-Colored Sky Swallowing Python, Yao Yao was the purest inheritor of the Hun Clan's blood-attribute Fighting Qi, Gu Xun'er was the owner of the Gu Clan's God-Grade Bloodline and the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame, and Xiao Yi Xian was the only powerhouse in ten thousand years to fully control the Calamity Poison Body.

These women each possessed a unique bloodline that was enough to be ranked among the top of the continent.

This kid hadn't just been coveting beauty from the beginning—he was playing a game far bigger than anyone had imagined.

"So you want to marry Xun'er."

Gu Yuan's voice was low and calm, as if talking to himself, "You don't just want her person, you also want her bloodline."

"I want to marry her because the Gu Clan owed the Hun Clan an explanation back then."

Hun Feng met Gu Yuan's gaze, "Her bloodline is the bloodline of the Gu Clan, and it is also a part of the future Emperor Realm source.

If she marries me, the Gu Clan and the Hun Clan will become in-laws from now on, and the two families will advance and retreat together.

If the Emperor Realm source can really be re-condensed, the Gu Clan, as in-laws, will naturally not fall behind in this great change of heaven and earth.

This is a matter beneficial to the Hun Clan, and it is also a business that the Gu Clan will definitely profit from without losing."

Gu Yuan was silent for a long time.

The crack in the gray sky outside the hall that had been torn open by Hun Tiandi had gradually closed, and the last bit of sunlight from the outside world had completely disappeared.

He looked in the direction where the crack closed, and suddenly remembered what Xiao Xuan looked like when he stood in front of him for the last time a thousand years ago.

At that time, Xiao Xuan was also so confident, so certain, and so full of grand plans.

But Xiao Xuan ultimately failed to take that step.

Would this young man in front of him also follow the same path?

Or would he go further than Xiao Xuan?

Gu Yuan withdrew his gaze but did not answer immediately.

He picked up the cup of clear wine in front of him that had long since cooled, brought it to his lips for the first time, and took a slow sip.

The wine was cold and slightly bitter, bringing a trace of very faint aftertaste as it slid down his throat.

He put down the wine glass, and the bottom of the glass made a crisp light sound when it touched the table.

"What you want to do, Xiao Xuan also did back then.

He failed."

Gu Yuan's voice was very light, as if speaking to Hun Feng, and also as if speaking to himself, "What if you also fail?"

"Then I am not Xiao Xuan."

Hun Feng's answer was without any hesitation, "Xiao Xuan only had the Xiao Clan, but I have the Hun Clan, the Gu Clan, the Dragon Emperor of the Void Ancient Dragon, the Queen of the Snake-People Tribe, and the controller of the Calamity Poison Body.

He alone could not carry the entire continent, but there are far more people standing behind me than him."

Gu Yuan did not speak again.

But Hun Feng could see that a tiny crack had finally appeared in the solid ice at the bottom of the eyes of this nine-star peak Gu Clan patriarch.

He did not need Gu Yuan to nod now; he only needed that crack—the rest, time would do for him.

At the same time as the conversation within the hall was taking place, Hun Qian slipped out of the side door silently, walking quickly along the corridor of the side hall toward the East Courtyard. The Young Master's instructions were clear—invite Lady Medusa, Lady Yao Yao, Miss Gu Xun'er, and Xiao Yi Xian to the main hall.

When Hun Qian arrived at the East Courtyard, the four women were seated in two different locations. Medusa leaned by the window, twisting that Nine-Colored Sky Swallowing Python scale that never left her side. Yao Yao was checking the inventory list for the day, muttering that the Snake-People Tribe needed to send a new batch of medicinal pills.

In the adjacent courtyard, Gu Xun'er sat on a stone stool, the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame flowing silently at her fingertips. Xiao Yi Xian crouched by the flower bed, using a sharpened wooden stick to loosen the soil for a newly sprouted poisonous plant. They had been detained in the Soul Realm for several days; while they were not mistreated beyond being unable to move about freely, this preferential treatment only made them more vigilant.

"The four of you, the Young Master invites you all to the main hall." Hun Qian stood outside the courtyard gate and said, bowing.

Yao Yao was the first to look up, a sharp glint flashing in her peach-blossom eyes. She put down the inventory list and exchanged a glance with Medusa. The main hall was currently hosting Gu Yuan, and for the Young Master to summon the four of them at this time, there must be a major matter to announce in person.

Gu Xun'er and Xiao Yi Xian walked out from the next courtyard, their faces full of wariness. Xun'er's Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame had not yet fully dissipated, with a faint golden light flickering at her cuffs. Xiao Yi Xian held two newly refined poison pills between her fingertips, her white hair drifting gently in the wind. Her expression was as calm as ever, but beneath that calmness hid a deeply buried worry—she knew very well that Hun Feng's attitude toward them was completely different from that toward Zi Yan and Qing Lin. Zi Yan and Qing Lin were ransoms with a clear price tag, while they had been another card held in Hun Feng's hand from the very beginning. With Gu Yuan here in person today, and Hun Feng suddenly summoning them, this card was likely about to be played.

As the four passed through the side hall corridor, Yao Yao deliberately fell half a step behind to walk alongside Medusa, lowering her voice to say: "My husband is planning to finalize the marriage in front of my father-in-law." Medusa did not answer, merely quickening her pace slightly.

When Hun Qian pushed open the side door of the main hall and the four women entered one by one, everyone's gaze in the hall turned toward them. Gu Xun'er saw the familiar grey-robed figure on the main seat at first glance, her eyes instantly turning red, but she bit her lower lip and forcibly suppressed all her emotions. She walked to Gu Yuan and stopped, softly calling out "Father." Her voice trembled slightly, yet she still maintained the proper demeanor befitting the God-Grade Bloodline of the Gu Clan. Gu Yuan looked at his daughter's slightly thinner face and the faint dark circles under her eyelids; his Adam's apple bobbed once, but he only nodded slightly without saying anything more.

Xiao Yi Xian stood beside Xun'er, her white hair particularly striking in the dim candlelight of the hall. She did not look at Gu Yuan like Xun'er did, but instead fixed her gaze on Hun Feng. Her eyes, usually as calm as water, were now filled with undisguised vigilance. Her fingertips inside her sleeves still clutched those two poison pills, though she knew that in this hall, in front of two Nine-Star Dou Sheng, her poison pills would not even have a chance to be used.

Medusa and Yao Yao walked to Hun Feng's side simultaneously. Yao Yao maintained her playful appearance, but her peach-blossom eyes darted quickly between Hun Feng and Gu Yuan, having already guessed the situation for the most part. Medusa, on the other hand, swept a faint glance at Gu Yuan, then looked at Gu Xun'er, who was standing in front of Gu Yuan with red-rimmed eyes. There was no extra emotion in her purple eyes; she simply stood quietly to the right of Hun Feng, resting her wrist, covered in nine-colored scales, lightly on his arm.

Hun Feng nodded slightly at Yao Yao and Medusa, then turned to Gu Xun'er and Xiao Yi Xian. His gaze swept across the faces of the four, and he turned to face Gu Yuan, his voice clear and firm: "Clan Leader Gu Yuan, everyone present today—Medusa is a Nine-Colored Sky Swallowing Python, Queen of the Snake-People Tribe, and a Four-Star Dou Sheng. Yao Yao has followed me since childhood and is the purest inheritor of the Hun Clan's blood-attribute Fighting Qi, a Six-Star Dou Sheng in the early stage. Miss Xun'er possesses the Gu Clan's God-Grade Bloodline and is the master of the Golden Emperor Sky Burning Flame. Xiao Yi Xian is the controller of the Calamity Poison Body, the only person in ten thousand years to have completely mastered this physique. Each of them possesses a unique bloodline capable of ranking among the top of the continent."

Gu Yuan had already guessed what he was going to say next.

"These bloodlines each inherit a wisp of origin from the Emperor Realm powerhouses of the ancient era. By refining and fusing the origin power within these bloodlines one by one, it is not impossible to recreate complete Emperor Qi. I want to marry Xun'er, not because I covet her beauty, but because her bloodline is an indispensable part of the entire plan. If the Gu Clan is willing to form a marriage alliance with the Hun Clan and the two families advance and retreat together, when the Emperor Realm origin is recreated, the Gu Clan will naturally not fall behind in this great change of heaven and earth. This is beneficial to the Hun Clan and also beneficial to the Gu Clan—and it is a guaranteed win."

Upon hearing these words, Gu Xun'er's eyes, clear as an ancient well, widened suddenly. She had originally thought that Hun Feng wanted to marry her only to humiliate Brother Xiao Yan, to retaliate for the old grudge of the Gu Clan breaking off the engagement, or perhaps simply out of lust for her appearance. But she never expected that what this person had in his mind was far more than just these things—what he wanted was the Emperor Realm, the peak that no one on the entire Fighting Qi Continent had been able to reach in ten thousand years. And the matter of her marrying him was, in his words, just one step in a great chess game.

Xiao Yi Xian's reaction was more direct. She had been staring into Hun Feng's eyes since he said the words "condensing the origin of all living beings," and upon hearing the end, she finally could not help but speak in a low voice, her tone calm but every word cutting to the heart: "So you detained us here not just to force Xiao Yan, and not just for your own selfish desires—you intend to use our bloodlines as stepping stones for your ascension to Dou Di?"

"Miss Xiao Yi Xian is half right." Hun Feng admitted frankly, "I need your bloodlines, but I have never treated you as stepping stones. If you are willing to stay, when the Emperor Realm is condensed in the future, you will also stand at the peak of the continent. This is not a transaction; it is a win-win."

After hearing these words, the playfulness in Yao Yao's peach-blossom eyes had long since vanished. She had known Hun Feng for twenty years, following him since she was five, fighting her way from the very bottom of the Soul Realm to her current status as a Six-Star Dou Sheng. She thought she had long since seen through all his thoughts. But only now did she realize that what this person in front of her held in his heart was far greater than she had imagined—so great that she, as his wife, did not know whether to feel proud or afraid.

Medusa stood silently by Hun Feng's side, something silently surging in the depths of her purple eyes. She had shared a bed with him for several months, thinking she had seen through everything about this man. But hearing these words now, she suddenly realized that what the person she married held in his heart was far more than just unifying the continent. He never wanted to be just a regional hegemon; he wanted the supreme Emperor Throne. She recalled the smile when he first looked down at her at the bottom of the Nine Serene Yellow Springs, the words he whispered in her ear on their wedding night, and the look in his eyes whenever he looked at Xun'er and Xiao Yi Xian, which she had mistaken for lust at the time. Now she understood: that look was not lust, but ambition—the certainty of a hunter watching prey step by step into a trap. She did not blame him for keeping it from her, but the faint unease in her heart had finally solidified into reality.

Gu Yuan looked at Hun Feng, then glanced at his daughter. Gu Xun'er's eyes were still red, but she did not flatly refuse this marriage as she usually did. She just looked at Hun Feng in silence, and something in those clear eyes was slowly changing—not acceptance, but a shift from pure disgust to a more complex emotion that even she could not clearly define. If Hun Feng had only wanted to humiliate Brother Xiao Yan, she could righteously hate him for a lifetime; if Hun Feng had only coveted her beauty, she could curse him as shameless without hesitation. But he was not. He detained her for his Emperor Realm grand cause; he wanted to marry her because her bloodline was irreplaceable. This ambition was so great that it left her with no room to refute, and so great that it forced her to re-examine the man before her.

Hun Tiandi held a wine cup, leaning back against his chair. The half-smiling arc at the corner of his mouth had disappeared at some unknown time, replaced by a faint, profound meaning that even he himself had not noticed. He looked at Void Swallowing Flame. Void Swallowing Flame did not speak, but the black flames at its fingertips were flickering at an extremely slow speed—that was the reaction it only had when it was thinking seriously.

Gu Yuan finally stood up. He walked to Xun'er, looked down at this daughter who had been stubborn for so many years, remained silent for a good while, and then reached out to gently smooth a stray lock of hair at her temple.

"Xun'er," Gu Yuan's voice was very soft, so soft that only she could hear it, "this marriage, Father will not force you. But this person—take another look at him; perhaps he is not as unbearable as you think."

Gu Xun'er raised her eyes, looking into her father's brown eyes that had seen a thousand years of turmoil. She neither nodded nor shook her head, but simply pressed her lips together and shifted her gaze to the grey, hazy void outside the hall, remaining silent for a long time.