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According to “The History of the Holy Dragon Empire’s First Emperor,” Taylor, the Aurora Dragon, was a trusted friend of the founding Emperor. They forged a pact, wherein Taylor pledged to become the greatest contributor to the founding of the Empire and safeguard it for ten thousand years, thus earning the title of the Guardian.

Throughout the long history of the Holy Dragon Empire, they had faced countless foreign invasions, internal conflicts, catastrophes and disasters. However, the presence of Taylor, the Guardian, had consistently ensured the Holy Dragon Empire’s unwavering position at the heart of the continent, instilling a sense of pride and unwavering confidence in their revered heroes who commanded respect of the world.

Even when the invincible Demon King invaded the heart of the continent a hundred years ago, severely injuring the supreme experts of the human race, the warriors of the Holy Dragon Empire still found the courage to take the Demon King head-on. As long as the Guardian had not abandoned them, the Empire’s strongest individuals would continue to fight.

For the Holy Dragon Empire, dragons were their totems and Taylor, the Guardian, was the destiny of their empire.

Despite not being directly involved in national affairs, the Guardian held a highly respected position that was on par with the founding emperor. He served as the pillar of support for the vast empire and was the source of peace for countless people. Whenever a new emperor assumed the throne, they had to first pay their respect to the Guardian by offering a cup of Dragon God Wine.

Although a ten-thousand-year contract seemed like it would never end, there would eventually come a day when time would bring it to a close. The recent generations of emperors had become increasingly anxious about this and had been desperately attempting to renew the contract with Taylor. They offered countless enticing perks, yet all were met with rejection.

Taylor explained that he had already missed an opportunity to return to Dragon Island. If he failed to return soon, he could be a withered dragon corpse the next time they saw him. The people understood this as a polite refusal and recognized that they could not force Taylor to stay. Furthermore, they did not want to risk angering the Guardian and losing his favor. Therefore, they accepted the second-best option and hoped that the Guardian would leave behind a successor.

Countless beautiful women of all shapes and sizes were selected to enter the palace. Whether one preferred a prideful, sweet or adorable type of girl, they would surely find the woman of their dreams among the carefully selected beauties from the entire Holy Dragon Empire.

To their surprise, the Guardian showed no interest in humans at all! Instead, he had a fondness for certain shapeshifters. He would often visit the brothels owned by the monster race on West Street, indulging in encounters with both shapeshifters and even those who had not undergone transformation. As a result, the numerous subdragon children he had fathered could easily form an entire infantry.

This revelation led people to question if they were truly inferior to monsters. However, fearing the consequences of openly criticizing him, they resorted to silently expressing their disapproval within their hearts.

Unfortunately, due to the powerful aggression of the dragon bloodline, the subdragon species were born fighters but lacked intelligence. They were useless in battle. The people had no choice but to settle for the next best alternative, requesting that Guardian take a disciple from the imperial family.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Taylor’s patience was wearing thin. When the current emperor timidly made the request, Taylor quickly agreed without much consideration. The emperor then carefully chose the candidate from among his children and ultimately selected the most beautiful princess. With great joy, he bestowed upon the fifth princess the title of “Estelle” and arranged a grand feast the following day for her to pay respect to her new master before the Guardian could change his mind.

After Princess Estelle became Taylor’s disciple, she quickly became the most exceptional member of the imperial family, surpassing even the once most favored princess among the imperial youths, who was bestowed with the title of “Oriana” by the old emperor. Additionally, Princess Estelle was gifted a drop of pure dragon blood by her master, Taylor.

Fueled by the dragon’s blood flowing through her veins, Princess Estelle achieved extraordinary growth in her cultivation, ascending through three realms in rapid succession. Despite starting off as unremarkable compared to her peers, she surpassed even the most exceptional talent, Princess Oriana, and reached the peak of the rank nine. This remarkable feat broke the imperial family’s record for the swiftest advancement.

Coincidentally, the Great Celestial Rite was about to begin. Eager to test her newfound strength, Princess Estelle signed up for the Martial God Tournament. Her goal was clear from the start—secure the first place as a gift for her master.

The teammates whom Princess Estelle recruited as part of her team to participate in the Great Celestial Rite were all well-known prodigies in the Holy Dragon Empire. According to Carol’s widely circulated publication, “Hot news! The Predictions For The Top 100 Participants for the Martial God Tournament of the Great Celestial Rite! Guaranteed Accurate!” It was revealed that three out of the five members in Princess Estelle’s team were ranked among the top ten contenders.

One of them was even rumored to have achieved a breakthrough to the Saint Realm. For the sake of joining Princess Estelle’s team, this individual lowered his cultivation by using a secret relic that had been passed down in his family.

Without a doubt, Princess Estelle emerged as the dark horse of the tournament. Betting houses were offering astonishing odds of three times the stake for her to win the tournament!

“Could someone as radiant as Princess Estelle really resort to such tactics as giving laxatives to the other participants?” Elder Grez pondered while stroking his beard. He could not help but recall the girl who embodied perfection in every way, feeling puzzled by the idea.

“Perhaps… Princess Estelle is just eliminating the less qualified participants before the tournament,” Hermand suggested. His condition had stabilized after Elder Grez’s basic treatment. However, his empty eye sockets were still terrifying to look at.

He continued, “I’ve heard that this year’s Great Celestial Rite is the liveliest it has been in years. Although Princess Estelle possesses exceptional talent and unwavering determination, young people lack patience. It’s understandable that she might resort to minor tactics in order to secure her victory swiftly.”

Elder Grez fell silent for a moment before nodding approvingly. “I suppose… I can only perceive it in that manner. While her methods may be crude and not befitting of a princess, her overall strategy is well-executed. If it weren’t for you, I doubt I would have ever suspected Princess Estelle. Such astuteness is a quality rarely seen in someone of her age. Even in my prime, I was easily swindled by scammers on the streets.”

“Should we inform Lord Taylor about this matter?”

“Forget it,” Elder Grez replied dismissively, pacing toward his desk with his hands behind his back. His gaze once again fell upon the stacks of documents before him.

“Let me pay for the treatment of your eyes. To answer your question, Lord Taylor has always believed in self-reliance. I doubt he would appreciate us bothering him with such a trivial matter. We’ll handle this situation as discreetly as possible. Just compensate where necessary and offer our condolences. The fewer people know the truth, the better. After all, this matter not only concerns the reputation of the imperial family but also Princess Estelle.”

With a wave of his hand, the documents on the table floated in the air before turning into dust and vanished without a trace.

“But… what if the victims cause a scene?” Hermand voiced his concern.

“We don’t have to worry about that. We already have a scapegoat, do we not?” Elder Grez replied coldly and glanced at Veyle, who was pretending to be dead.

“Prince Yeager only knows how to fool around with women every day. The imperial family has done enough to clean up the messes he left behind. It’s high time for him to repay them.”