1201 Azure Dragon Family's Ambitions

"By the way, is it really okay for you to be here today, Azure?" Zhu Ling suddenly asked her.

"What do you mean?" Azure raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled by her question.

"I mean, I heard there's a banquet going on at your place today to welcome Xi Meili. Shouldn't you be there?"

"Oh, that? Only certain people were invited, and I wasn't one of them. Though, even if I was invited, I wouldn't go to such a banquet. It'll surely be boring, after all." Azure shrugged.

And then she added, "Oh, yeah. I noticed that my family has been acting a little strange recently. I think something big might happen soon, so you should prepare yourselves."

"You don't know what's happening in your family?" Yuan asked her with a curious face.

Azure shook her head, "You probably don't know this but my family is very strict when it comes to sharing information, so only those who have a high position within the family are given information. As for the rest of us, we just live our life doing our own things until it's time for our marriage, which is determined by the family, of course."

Yuan had a weird look on his face as he said, "I don't want to sound rude, but that sounds miserable."

"How dare you!" Guo Xing slammed his fist on the table, causing everything on it to jump.

"Stop it. Yuan is right. We are allowed to do whatever we please for the first few hundred years of our lives, but that is merely giving us a false sense of freedom. Once our future is determined, that is where our freedom— and life ends. Most of us don't want to admit it, but it's a miserable life." Azure had a dispiritied look on her face as she said this, turning the atmosphere awkward and sad.

They would continue to eat in silence for the next several minutes, as nobody there knew how to continue the conversation.

Meanwhile, at the banquet, Xi Meili was seated at the main table with Liang Xuan and Patriarch Liang seated directly in front of her on the other side of the table.

"If you had done this earlier, this place wouldn't be so boring now." Liang Xuan sighed.

Xi Meili didn't say anything and silently stared at them with narrowed eyes.

Patriarch Liang then calmly spoke, "When our ancestors decided to hide in this small world from the humans, our Azure Dragon Family was only but a slightly reputable family. However, through thousands upon thousands of years of hard work and sacrifices, we've managed to bring the Azure Dragon Family to the top of this world, even ruling over one of the biggest cities in this world."

"We thought that we would be satisfied with our current standing, but our desire for more grew as time passed."

"Do you know where I am trying to go with this?" Patriarch Liang had a wide smile on his face as he looked at Xi Meili.

Xi Meili sneered, "So you've set your eyes on the Xi Family because we're above you, huh. How boring. And I was wondering what you were planning. I'm disappointed."

"Boring? You dare call our ambitions boring? How dare you!" Patriarch Liang's expression turned cold, his Spirit Sovereign aura leaking uncontrollably.

However, he quickly calmed down and smiled again, "Forget it. A child who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth like you wouldn't understand it."

"So how are you going to achieve that? By picking a fight with my family? By destroying it?" Xi Meili then asked.

"Destroy? Now why would we want to destroy your family?" Liang Xuan shook his head, and he continued, "The Xi Family has existed for even longer than our Azure Dragon Family, not to mention your history. It'd be a waste to destroy you guys."

After a slight pause, he continued with a grin on his face, "Therefore, instead of destroying you, we're going to consume the Xi Family."

Xi Meili frowned at his words.

Liang Xuan then said, "We're going to give you an offer right now. Become my woman and serve me, who will be the future of the Azure Family. If you do, we won't treat the Xi Family too badly. If you don't, the Xi Family will no longer exist in this world."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Xi Meili suddenly burst out laughing, "Unbelievable! The confidence in your voice! Truly unbelievable! Do you really think that you can take on my Xi Family? Don't look down on my family, you bastards!"

Patriarch Liang quickly responded, "You're wrong. We're not underestimating the Xi Family. If we did, we wouldn't have waited this long to finally make a move. It's precisely because we respect your power that we took this long to prepare."

"..."

Xi Meili stopped laughing upon hearing such words, and Patriarch Liang continued to speak, "The Xi Family has at most two Spirit Sovereigns, seven Spirit Emperors, and a thousand Spirit Kings under their command. Meanwhile, our Ancient Dragon Family has three Spirit Sovereigns, nineteen Spirit Emperors, and three thousand Spirit Kings."

"Do you know why there's such a difference between us? While your Xi Family has been slacking because of our 'peaceful' environment, our Azure Dragon Family has never stopped cultivating our military prowess. Furthermore, as I am aware, your Xi Family only has two direct descendants. Meanwhile, our Azure Dragon Family has over a hundred direct descendants and thousands more in our branch families."

Xi Meili sneered, "So you think you can defeat my family just because you have a slight advantage in numbers? How naive of you, Patriarch Liang."

"I think the one being naive here is you, Princess Xi." A new voice that Xi Meili found familiar suddenly resounded from beside her.

When Xi Meili turned, she could see a tall middle-aged man with short black hair and emerald eyes calmly approaching their table.

"You are…!" Xi Meili's eyes widened upon seeing this figure.

"Welcome, Patriarch Cui. I'm glad you were able to make it here today." Patriarch Liang stood up and greeted him with a bright smile.

"Patriarch Cui… What is the meaning of this?" Xi Meili glared at him, who she has only seen a few times in her life.

"Can't you tell by my presence here? You are truly naive." Patriarch Cui shook his head.

Xi Meili gritted her teeth, "So the Emerald Dragon Family is also in on this nonsense, huh?"

This man was the Patriarch of the Emerald Dragon Family, ruler of Verdant Dragon City, one of the three biggest cities in this world alongside the Azure Dragon City and the Ancient Dragon City.

"See? I told you that we weren't underestimating the Xi Family." Patriarch Liang smiled at Xi Meili.

"My Emerald Dragon Family may only have one Spirit Sovereign, five Spirit Emperors, and six hundred Spirit Kings, but if we combine our forces together, I think we have a pretty good chance to deal with the Xi Family. What do you think, Princess Xi?" Patriarch Cui asked her.

"You… traitorous bastard…! After all my family has done for the Verdant Dragon City, this is how you repay us?!" Xi Meili growled as she pointed at him.