Chapter 1454: Chapter 1454

Once the fifth prince, now His Majesty of Wood, his demeanor is entirely different from when he used to tail behind others and pretend to be worthless. The only similarity might be that his figure is still so striking. The originally spacious Dragon Throne now seems a bit narrow.

His Majesty has the capability, and ever since he was pushed onto the throne by Lord Owen, he discovered a "wise ruler’s little trick": trust those who should be trusted, such as Adonis Dunn, Abner Lane, Nick Liam, and the most trustworthy person, Owen Bertram.

Many princes can fully trust their wise ministers before ascending to the throne, but after their enthronement, some ministers inevitably appear to have "merits that intimidate the ruler" and the like. The reasons are complex, the main one being the change in the positions and mentality of both the king and the minister. The mindset of a prince and an emperor is entirely different.

However, the fifth prince is an exception. He found that leaving all matters to the ministers and enjoying the pleasure brought about by imperial power is very rewarding! He can really "rule by doing nothing"!

Why the Emperor wanted to launch a new Dragon Snake List, besides the reasons speculated by the outsiders, is because he felt bored and wanted to do something interesting. He spent years playing in the Copper Gorge Extinction Domain with the previous emperor, and he was somewhat influenced.

Moreover, the emperor is now wealthy. Having annexed Nanni Nation and made expeditions against the Red Barbarians, various families have made significant profits. Accordingly, they have offered many exotic treasures to the emperor. Last time, His Majesty contributed many treasures for Lord Owen to break through, but his private treasure house is now almost full.

His Majesty picked out some relatively inferior treasures as prizes for this Dragon Snake List. These prizes have made the young cultivators go crazy.

When Lord Owen and Verna were preparing to go to the capital, the young Heaven’s Chosen from various places followed one after another, believing that they also had a chance.

Robin personally commanded his merchant team, heading south from the Northern Territory and heading straight to the capital. There were a total of forty large carts in the merchant team, loaded with various specialties from the Northern Territory, especially the 36 Tribes of the Northern Region.

However, the truly valuable treasures were all in Robin’s Storage Brocade Pouch. This time he had two purposes for going to the Capital: One was to accompany his son Jeremy to participate in the Dragon Snake List, aiming for a good ranking. Second, he wanted to make connections in the Capital and distribute the treasures in his Storage Brocade Pouch.

Although it was painful to give away these treasures, Robin believed that in a few decades, these treasures sent out would return several or even dozens of times over!

The Dou residence in the Northern Territory was only three hundred miles away from the border between Wood Dynasty and the 36 Tribes of the Northern Region. Over the past few decades, by smuggling food, salt, and iron to the 36 Tribes of the Northern Region, the Dou family had leaped from an ordinary landlord to a wealthy tycoon in the Northern Territory!

What? Is this aiding the enemy? Say it louder, I can’t hear you!

The North Prison Town Governor’s Office is under the control of Lord Liam, but he cannot take care of every detail on the local level. The Dou family collaborated with a local revered Lord. This kind of "housecleaning" matter is not something that Lord Owen or even Abner Lane could easily interfere with.

However, after Lord Owen conquered the Northern Plain and supported Windsor, trade with the Northern Region gradually opened up, exposing the revered Lord who was colluding with the Dou family and was secretly dealt with by Lord Liam.

Without a protector, Robin sought to find a new one. This time in the capital, he wanted to befriend a powerful court official, influence the imperial court’s policies, re-close the borders between the two countries, and continue smuggling to make money for the Dou family.

If that couldn’t be achieved, at least protect the Dou family for ten years. After ten years, his son, Jeremy, would grow up. By then, even Owen Bertram wouldn’t dare move against the Dou family easily!

Robin’s confidence came from the fact that during the last smuggling trip to the 36 Tribes of Northern Region, he brought back a distinguished guest. He claimed to be a "Protector" from the Central State of the Eight Desolates.

He was protecting a country called Douglas Country, which was already a regional overlord in Central State. This time he took risks to cross the sea in pursuit of the remnants of Malu Country, Douglas Country’s mortal enemy.

This Protector took a liking to Jeremy and took him as a personal disciple. Robin, a cultivator, recognized the astonishing power of the Protector’s fighting techniques when the latter was teaching his son. Only then did he learn that cultivators from the Central State, focusing on fighting technique abilities, completely surpassed those from Eastern Land of the same rank!

Moreover, the Central State is far superior to Eastern Land in terms of Array, Pill Master techniques, and Artifact Making. For example, a single spiritual medicine could be utilized to its maximum effect in a Central State Pill Master’s hands, making the spiritual pills even more effective compared to the Eastern Land’s pills by about 40%!

Jeremy originally had extraordinary talents, and with the coaching of the Protector, he quickly made a leap forward. The Protector, following the Central State’s standards, did not merely lock Jeremy in closed-door cultivation. Instead, he would take Jeremy to challenge a renowned Grandmaster in secret. Jeremy was able to achieve several breakthroughs, sometimes even overcoming those stronger than him.

Half a month ago, the Protector left three secret books for Jeremy to continue his cultivation and set off to return to the Central State. The Protector and Robin made an agreement: the Dou family would be Douglas Country’s insider in the Eastern Land. In return, Douglas Country would provide various cultivation supports. If one day, Douglas Country’s fleet arrived in the Eastern Land, the Dou family would raise the flag of rebellion within the Wood Dynasty to welcome the aid of the kingdom.