166: Undercurrents

“Hmph, ridiculous!”

“That Xiao Family truly has some nerve!”

“It seems the Xiao Family has been living too comfortably these past few millennia!”

Inside the Beichen Family’s main hall, several high-ranking members of the Beichen Family spoke with anger.

The Beichen Family’s top genius of hundreds of thousands of years, the Contemporary Human Emperor, was actually being slandered as a fake!

At this moment, there were about a dozen people in the main hall, all of whom were absolute high-ranking members of the Beichen Family.

Even Northern Star Yuan Yi, the patriarch of the Beichen Family, was not qualified to sit in the highest position…

In front of him, there was an old man.

The old man’s white hair moved without wind, and his wrinkled skin was full of the vicissitudes of time, but only his eyes were exceptionally clear, showing no trace of age.

He was Beichen Shou, one of the Beichen Family’s reclusive ancestors!

A few years ago, he had just emerged from seclusion.

Northern Star Yuan Yi’s cultivation was already at the ninth level of the Emperor Realm, but Beichen Shou’s aura far surpassed Northern Star Yuan Yi’s, yet he had not reached the Supreme Realm.

He was now a Half-Step Supreme Realm expert!

Currently, Beichen Shou far exceeded ordinary ninth-level Emperor Realm experts, yet he was far from a Supreme, just one step away from breaking through.

However, this final step was already Beichen Shou’s limit; he would never be able to advance further in this life.

But to be able to cultivate to Half-Step Supreme in an Immortal Domain like Ancient Domain was enough to show his terrifying power.

Yet at this moment, even an ancestor of the powerful Beichen Family, a Half-Step Supreme Realm expert, was not the person in the highest position!

At the very top of the hall were two other people, two women.

One of the women was very young, with long golden hair, looking extremely noble. Facing the many top experts below, her expression was as calm as an ancient well, as if it should be so…

The most bizarre thing was that both of the young woman’s eyes were double pupils, symbolizing an emperor’s appearance, so much so that people overlooked her heavenly beauty…

Each of her double pupils had one red and one blue iris, incredibly mystical.

This woman was the Contemporary Human Emperor who had emerged in Ancient Domain, formerly Beichen Lin, now Beichen Lintian!

At this moment, beside Beichen Lintian, there was another woman.

This woman also looked extremely young, her water-blue long dress appearing incredibly captivating, and a cinnabar mark on her forehead added a touch of mystery, as if she was a peerless beauty who had stepped out of a painting.

However, despite her breathtaking beauty, no one present dared to look directly at her appearance; there was no other reason than that this person was a genuine Supreme Realm expert!

This woman did not belong to Ancient Domain but came from another higher-level Immortal Domain. Her specific identity was unknown to anyone except Beichen Lintian.

But none of this was important; what was important was that her current identity was Beichen Lintian’s master!

After the Beichen Family members spoke in anger, they all looked at the woman in the highest position.

Beichen Shou, with a respectful expression, bowed slightly to the woman above and said.

“Your Excellency, those from the Ancient Domain Xiao Family are distorting facts, spreading rumors, and slandering Lintian. Now, for several months, the entire Ancient Domain has been abuzz with this. What do you think…?”

Upon hearing this, the woman in the water-blue dress above slightly furrowed her brows; she had already known about these matters.

She did not speak, but her clear and cold voice still appeared in everyone’s mind.

“The real cannot be fake, and the fake cannot be real. Lintian’s Human Emperor identity was personally verified by me, and it is absolutely impossible for there to be a mistake. Therefore, that Xiao Family is clearly trying to confuse the public and deliberately target your Beichen Family…”

As she spoke, the woman’s voice became even colder.

“It seems my previous methods against the ancient clans were too gentle, which led some families to believe they had some foundation and dared to disregard the might of the Contemporary Human Emperor. If they are not given an unforgettable lesson, I fear other families will follow suit…”

“You go and inform the Gu Family that it’s time for them to show their loyalty…”

With that, the two women above vanished into thin air.

Below, several high-ranking members of the Beichen Family quickly bowed in respectful farewell…

Several more months passed, and an even more explosive piece of news swept across the entire Ancient Domain, far overshadowing the dispute over the true and false Human Emperors, making all forces in the Ancient Domain sense an unusual atmosphere, a sign of an impending storm.

One of the five great families of Ancient Domain, the founder of Ancient Domain, and the former imperial clan of Ancient Domain, publicly announced that the Gu Family had pledged allegiance to the Beichen Family, becoming an affiliate of the Beichen Family and obeying the Beichen Family’s commands!

The Gu Family’s allegiance to the Beichen Family can be said to be the most impactful event on the entire Ancient Domain’s power structure in over a hundred thousand years!

One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and many families sensed a volatile atmosphere.

Over a year ago, the Xiao Family publicly claimed that the Beichen Family’s Contemporary Human Emperor identity was false. However, immediately following this, the Gu Family announced its allegiance to the Beichen Family. To say that all of this was merely a coincidence, no one would believe it…

The various aristocratic families currently had only two choices: one was to remain neutral and play both sides, and the other was, of course, to side with one of them…

Several more months passed, and the impact of the Gu Clan’s surrender was clearly much greater. Many neutral small and medium-sized families successively announced their allegiance to the Beichen Family, and some forces that originally belonged to the Xiao Family even temporarily defected, seeking to gain benefits from it.

And being in the vortex, another extremely important link, the choice of the Nangong Family, also one of the great families, became particularly crucial…

Inside a magnificent hall.

Nangong Zhan, the patriarch of the Nangong Family, was pacing back and forth with a deep frown, looking at the sky for a moment, then at the ground, clearly in great struggle.

It was hard to believe that this was the behavior of a top expert at the ninth level of the Emperor Realm.

“Xiao Qian, ah, Xiao Qian, you’ve really given me a huge problem.”

Nangong Zhan murmured to himself.

At this moment, everyone else had already made their moves; his choice concerned the safety of the entire Nangong Family and the direction of the entire Ancient Domain…

If they also joined the Beichen Family’s camp, the situation would become one-sided. At that time, the Ancient Domain Xiao Family would be in precarious danger. Although with the Xiao Family’s foundation, it might not be annihilated for a while, it was very possible for them to fall from the ranks of the five great families.

If the Nangong Family remained neutral, allowing the Beichen Family and the Gu Clan to jointly weaken the Xiao Family’s power, then not only would the Nangong Family not get a share of the spoils, but once the Xiao Family was defeated, it was possible that the next target of the two families would be the Nangong Family…

But if they pledged allegiance to the Beichen Family like the Gu Clan, with the Gu Clan as a precedent, their status after allegiance would clearly not be equal; instead, the Beichen Family would be supreme, and they would obey the Beichen Family’s commands, becoming vassals. It was possible that their own power would be further weakened at that time.

And this, he was unwilling to accept.

Nangong Zhan shook his head, a tangled mess, still unable to make a choice easily. Finally, Nangong Zhan sighed deeply.

“Alas, each and every one of them has ambitions to contend for supremacy. How can being the ruler of this domain be so easy? Isn’t it better to be a patriarch peacefully and steadily…?”