The Invitation

He may have not been placed on the frontline before but he has certainly been in war. His late father, wishing to exile him for his weak talent that did not befit the potential of an heir wished him to fail in this war. And he did.

Failed.

Failure.

As much as he had taken to read new things to cover up for his martial weakness, he failed constantly, and finally, in one war that nobody would even care for at this point, he lost it all. To a single man that still wasn't present. That night was still etched in his mind. The fortress was burning and when he finally escaped, HE waited there. But meeting HIM was also a fortuitous encounter that will never be credited.

Yu Xiaogang looked in front of him. He wore thick clothes to keep the chill at bay. His fur-lined boots stepped upon the ice drenched with blood and now crimson while a tiny blue dragon with lightning dancing around its mane and body coiled around his neck. It was none other than his Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul that had awakened that fateful day. The dragon could only shift his size now, once he reached the ranks of spirit sage but this was also the end of his sudden growth spurt...

That inheritance site controlled by his master was certainly his greatest fortune. But he could only gain so much. He still didn't know what the inheritance site really passed on but at this point, with this strength, he didn't care. He would have his answers sooner or later. Like his master, the Golden Crocodile said, he just had to cultivate, cultivate, and cultivate.

He no longer spent his time in books, reading through the tiniest detail. No, instead, he trained. His martial soul had finally allowed him to participate in battles, too. After all, this was a strange type of martial soul that was a beast but acted like a tool spirit. Someone else had this type, too... and she belonged in that person's team. His fiancee. But she was too weak. Yu Xiaogang never had any eye for weakness and he would overcome those stronger than him soon enough.

*Roar*

With a gust of cold air, a giant snowy white wolf with red eyes took the chance to ambush him using the snow as a camouflage.

*Bzzt*

A lance of lightning formed and cut through the wolf at... well, lightning speed. Something the wolf could not have dodged. Its body fell on the ice and snow with a soft crushing sound and the next moment, its body was cleanly split in half.

Yu Xiaogang exhaled softly. The extreme environment made everyone use their spirit energy to stave off the chill and thus, expend more of their strength. He was feeling weak but his results were admirable in the eyes of the spirit masters of the Alliance.

Alliance acted as the glue for the three superpowers— The Two Empires and the Spirit Hall. Situated within the two Empires, the remaining clans and sects were pulled along, too. Of course, the Alliance did not deploy everyone. On the contrary, this expedition was a slow one and the members are not supposed to kill everyone. They are supposed to capture regions and solidify control. Divide the area and make sure that the spirit beasts in one region cannot contact another. In essence, instead of thinking of the Extreme North as one giant whole, it was being treated as a collection of small ecosystems that can be appropriately divided.

This did slow down the process. Apparently, the 'super' team of the Spirit Hall didn't take more than a week to conquer Sunset Forest and make it their own.

But the Extreme North is different, the environment makes it the absolute hunting ground for the snow and ice attributed spirit beasts while only a small portion of spirit masters can overcome these difficulties.

Yu Xiaogang soon left the region with his team. He was part of the clearing team and the perimeter team would soon appear after getting their report.

Even if the Alliance had served to bring different factions together... the offensive team was anything but that. The army was extremely divided. And seeing this, the three major factions decided that it's better for everyone to form a seven-man team, register themselves in the base camp, and then earn contributions to exchange for various benefits from the base camp. The list... included five spirit bones!

It was enticing, very much so. And the quicker one got to the top of the contribution list, the better.

Of course, the contribution of the offensive team is considered based on their kills so one of his teammates took the body parts of the beasts that would get them the points and they returned to one of the outposts in the Extreme North.

Alongside a tower manned by the personnel of the perimeter team, there was an isolated tent of the commander of the outpost. These commanders were largely spirit sage and higher in cultivation. In fact, Yu Xiaogang had been asked to take this post given his background but... something deep within him wanted to fight. To get his body bloodied. To have his martial soul dig its claws and teeth into barbaric spirit beasts!

'Contributions... and then a spirit bone... I'll get even stronger...'

He lay on his bunk bed with an exhausted sigh.

It hadn't been long since Xiaogang closed his eyes when he was called by the commander of the outpost. There was a reason why he settled here. After all, their outpost— Number 12, was slightly into the deeper section of the north where they may encounter a 10000-year-old beast alpha of a species, and given the disadvantages that the humans faced, many would most certainly die.

"Xiaogang, come, take a seat." A middle-aged blonde man greeted Xiaogang with a smile.

This man was none other than Yu Luomian, Yu... no, Liu Erlong's father. After the strange disappearance of the clan leader as Yu Shantian took over the clan and the second elder of the clan helped control the damage. The man had aged much further. The Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had powerful enemies and when their patriarch died, it gave many individuals the reason to hurt them. The Clan hadn't recovered even now!

"Uncle Luomian," Xiaogang greeted the man and sat. Truly, Xiaogang felt... annoyed by the man. His daughter ran rampant but he still had the face to consider himself important... she had spat on the fact of her ancestry and here he was, reminiscing the past as if he hadn't been cruel to Xiaogang back then when he was weak. Xiaogang laughed coldly in his heart. Men like these won't have any place once he surpasses everyone.

His fortune had changed wildly. He will surpass everyone, that's for sure... eventually.

At this time, the outpost shuddered and the noise of panic entered the commander's tent where Xiaogang was currently in. His expression changed and he rushed out only to find an avalanche tearing down long snow-layered trees throttling in their direction!

---

A few days later.

"It's strange, Supreme Pontiff... how can our outposts be suddenly attacked by an avalanche in multiple locations? All the steady progress has been lost and the lucky survivors would need to utilize most of their contribution points to recover or wait for months!"

Bibi Dong looked at the speaker... It was an intimate setting. Instead of the large halls and thrones of the Supreme Pontiff Palace, the meeting was held in the much closer location of the Heaven Dou City and one of its most exotic establishments, the Heaven's Pavilion.

Aside from the Emperor of the nation who had no other choice to but submit to her reasonable demands, the speaker could only be someone who still thinks he's capable.

"Lord Yu," Bibi Dong sighed softly. She was the only woman in the current spots of supremacy and looked extremely peculiar in a room filled with hardened men who had somber expressions. She... had a devious smile, her pink pupils flickering with cunning, "That is a question reserved for the ones who speak of fortunes and study natural disasters among mortals, is it not? We are spirit masters. We ARE natural disasters. So why not stop questioning it but rather face one and let the Extreme North know who the ruler of the continent is going to be?"

Of all the clans, strangely, the Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan is the one that has been suffering the most since the start of this war. Even the avalanches were limited to the regions headed by the Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Flame Leopard Sect under the White Tiger Imperial Clan. It was clear that something foul was afoot.

Before Yu Shantian could speak something he may regret, Dai Laohu smiled and interrupted. They couldn't lose any faction to natural disasters or human attempts because it will shift the power struggle greatly. "These recent disasters during the expedition, do, however, make me believe that it is time we develop a more unified approach so that everyone's interests are more... equal."

"Of course," Bibi Dong nodded, "In the interest of equality, I am well aware that the clans and other factions do need to keep their strength around their clan grounds just like the Empire needs their army. So I propose that we utilize more of the spirit masters of spirit hall."

Dai Laohu frowned for a second.

At first, the difference in the number of men sent by the variety of factions was quite low but Spirit Hall is the only one with the highest concentration of the spirit masters. The different lords gathered wanted to pressure Bibi Dong to send more of her troops but they didn't expect her to be eager about it... yet, even more surprising was Emperor Xue's snort and refusal.

"Preposterous! Armies are used to carve a path and settle foundations! What use is an army loitering around and wasting their potential in the capital? I suggest that Spirit Hall shouldn't bear the entire burden of something we all will benefit from. It's not righteous! Every man needs to be accounted for and instead of wasting our men currently on the outskirts when beasts create natural disasters... I suggest that we send our strongest forces to tame the beasts hiding deep within."

"We are humans. We are able to strategize and I do not believe for a second that multiple Titled Douluos cannot take care of a single 100000-year-old beast!"

Everyone's brain felt short-circuited as Bibi Dong's smile grew wider.

In discussions like these, it is only natural to know what the next step should be in HER books. The Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was already about to become a thing of the past. A few members survived, yes. But she didn't care if it was found out that Erlong and Ah Yin caused these disasters under her order even if Golden Crocodile came looking for her. His disciple survived, right? The Second Priest should simply count his lucky stars and move on before she is enticed to harm Xiaogang again.

The discussion soon fell into place when Ning Fengzhi, under Emperor Xue's orders decided to have Bone Douluo participate in this mission under the name of the Empire and the Sword Douluo participate under the name of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.

Bibi Dong easily gave the name of Porcupinefish Douluo who had been trying to resist her back in the Spirit Hall and once vied for her position. Heck, Firebird Douluo directly under her command would have been more effective but it was never about success. It was about dealing with troublesome individuals using rules and authority.

Tang Peng had to give his own name and so did other Titled Douluo patriarchs including Dai Laohu who was quite genuinely distressed.

But this also served another important thing... to make other parties realize how pitiful a clan without a Titled Douluo is. To make them realize that without a certain strength, a faction shouldn't be called a faction but should either be subordinated, dissolved, or absorbed... and quite certainly, Yu Shantian and other such patriarchs left under the slightly shifted mood from those around them.

An avalanche wasn't the only natural disaster brewing around them... and it wouldn't be the last of disasters they would be facing alongside spirit beasts.

In this era, at this point, you're either strong or you're a subordinate.

And Bibi Dong had shown this to others well enough to the point that no other Titled Douluo could complain. After all, her own strength wasn't any lower than theirs, and given her poison and its effect... it was simply better to steer clear from her right now. The momentum of conquest favored her and other rulers knew well enough that this is the least favorable moment to face or incur her wrath.

---

"Thank you..." Liu Erlong lowered her head and spoke somberly.

"I expected many responses from you once you killed your father but this wasn't it." Bibi Dong chuckled. Currently, it was only her and Liu Erlong in the office provided by Emperor Xue as the dragoness looked up. Her dark pupils lit in curiosity.

"Well, what did you expect?"

"You getting wasted and bragging about it. Honestly, I had prepared Yin to knock you out the moment you tried to do that. You know, can't have a drunken brag waste all my plans," Bibi chuckled as Erlong snorted and sat down.

Yu Luomian had survived the avalanche but Erlong had killed him still. She had been wanting to for some time... no, from the moment she left her clan but now she felt satisfied with her life... there were still some things that she wanted to do though. Like defeating one particular bastard and having him under her foot... although, some events seemed to suggest that he would like such treatment instead.

"I wouldn't have done that... it's no fun to party without him," Erlong muttered.

"You do understand that he's me and Yin's lover. Not to mention your dear Yuehua's fiance. If you keep longing for him like that then it would make us look bad." Bibi Dong smirked and returned to whatever paperwork had made its way to her desk.

"Bite me," Erlong scoffed.

"Give it some time. Biting is one of my favorite manners to spread the poison," the Pontiff smirked without looking up.

"Still... any news on him?" Liu Erlong questioned after hesitating for a second.

"Well, he's either in the center of the Extreme North, the Star Dou Great Forest or he is enjoying a tropical vacation in one of the islands in the ocean. I do miss him and want to return but... if he's here, I would have been too distracted to make things work this efficiently. Although, I still wonder what mess he's upto... heh, he wouldn't have missed a war for the world."

Bibi Dong shook her head with a slightly fond expression. His absence was making a greater impression at this point, after all.

There was another thing in Bibi Dong's and Erlong's minds that they didn't express— How strong had he gotten?

Because Ah Yin's improvement had startled everyone including her own master...

Would his achievements be even greater?

A part of them wanted it to be like this. After all, that was his role— to be their goal no matter their strength. He had actually become one of their pillars of motivation.

The knocks on the door brought Bibi Dong and Erlong out of their thoughts as she called out, "Yes?"

"It's me," Ah Yin's voice appeared from the other side, "And as strange as it sounds, I have a spirit beast in my room saying that she has a letter of invitation for the famed Supreme Pontiff and her trusted people by the Beast God... and saying that Ka-ul is a captive there."

"Couldn't you have said all that after coming insi— wait..." Erlong stopped in her tracks, "What?!"

***

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