"Good!" Upon hearing Celt’s response, Long Taichu said in a deep voice, "Then according to the rules set by the Ancestral God, when the current Dragon King cannot fulfill their responsibilities, another clan leader of the Dragon Race will temporarily assume the role of Dragon King. Since you have recognized this fact, now I am the Lord of the Dragon Realm."

After these words, Long Taichu immediately sat upright on the Dragon Realm throne. He placed his hands on the broad armrests, and the clan leaders from the Daoist Realm on both sides of the Dragon Palace knelt down willingly, while the clan leaders from the Magic Realm, despite their discontent, had no choice but to kneel with one knee to show their respect and loyalty to the new Dragon King.

"Considering the unforeseen situation, everything will be kept simple. My first task after assuming the throne is to deal with the mess left by the predecessor." Long Taichu’s words were blunt, but he completely ignored the increasingly grim expressions of the Magic Realm members and continued to order, "If I’m not mistaken, such a major event has occurred, and you haven’t reported it to the Ancestral God yet, have you?"

"My lord, oh! No, His Majesty the Dragon King." Celt spoke, initially addressing him as my lord, but upon receiving the deadly gaze from both Long Taichu seated on the Dragon Throne and many others from the Daoist Realm in the room, he immediately corrected himself and continued, "Your Majesty, the immediate priority is to rescue our clan leader. Reporting to the Ancestral God can wait until after that."

"Foolish! You only consider the honor and safety of your own clan; have you thought that the entire Dragon Realm is now in peril?" Long Taichu reprimanded Celt, then turned to his trusted aide and commanded, "Immediately report this matter to the Ancestral God."

"Your Majesty, the Ancestral God has been in the Daoist Realm for many days. Miss Sara attempted to contact once the day before yesterday, but it seems the Ancestral God is dealing with some rather urgent matters and is in seclusion, unable to be contacted by the outside world." The aide whispered into Long Taichu’s ear upon hearing this.

"You must contact them! Use every means; if a Secret Technique is ineffective, then notify our kin in the Daoist Realm to go directly to the Immortal Palace to request a meeting with the Ancestral God." Long Taichu ordered sternly.

"Your Majesty, aren’t you overreacting? The situation hasn’t reached an irretrievable point yet; alarming the Ancestral God at this stage might interrupt his significant tasks, and neither of us can afford such a responsibility." Phoenix, angered by Long Taichu’s near backstabbing approach, couldn’t help but speak frankly.

Long Taichu glanced at Phoenix. Due to some reasons between the two clans, he had to be polite to the leader of the Fire Phoenix Race. After a moment of silence, he asked, "What you all want from me is to decide on sending troops to rescue your clan leader Zhuo Geng, isn’t it?"

"That’s right." Celt nodded without hesitation.

"Then let me tell you, it cannot be done! No clan members are allowed to leave the Dragon Realm right now. The entire Dragon Realm is on highest alert; anyone defying orders will be considered as colluding with the enemy and traitorous, expelled from the Dragon Realm, and exiled permanently." The announcement caused a stir among the crowd. The Magic Realm clan leaders present showed anger, ready to explode at any moment, and even the Daoist Realm clan leaders felt the leader’s words were excessive after exchanging looks. Even if intending to use this opportunity to strike at the Magic Race, some restraint should be observed. Isn’t this pushing both sides back into confrontation? How could the usually prudent leader be so careless, heightening tensions and provoking the nerve of the Magic Race?

"Lord Long Taichu, may I ask why you are doing this?" Phoenix, equally direct, addressed Long Taichu as lord again, indicating that if he could not provide a satisfactory answer, the Magic Race would no longer recognize his authority.

Long Taichu wasn’t angry and sneered, "Leader Phoenix, you said I was overreacting earlier, didn’t you? Do you consider an ambush on the Lord of the Dragon Realm and the Dragon King a minor issue?"

At this point, Long Taichu waved to interrupt Phoenix’s attempt to argue and continued, "I know what you’re thinking: before the problem escalates further, rescue the Dragon King, thus turning a big issue into a small one. But even you must understand, why hasn’t the enemy retreated after succeeding? Nine times out of ten, it’s a trap, right? You came to me claiming to abide by Dragon Realm rules, but simply put, you want someone to be responsible, a shared responsibility between two tribes if issues arise!"

The clan leaders of the Magic Race blushed, having their true intentions exposed in public. Celt, scorned to this point, felt his blood boil and coldly snorted, "If Lord Long Taichu sees us this way, then our clan really doesn’t need you to share this responsibility. We’ll simply return to rescue our clan leader ourselves. Only afterwards, if the Ancestral God asks, it shouldn’t be said that the Magic Realm doesn’t understand the rules."

After speaking, Celt and the others turned to leave.

"Wait! Hear me out."

"My lord, is there anything else to say?" Upon hearing Long Taichu’s command, Phoenix stopped and turned to ask.

"If you hadn’t come to me and privately dispatched troops for rescue, that would be your clan’s issue alone. Since you came to me, it’s a shared issue between two clans. Now, I must consider the safety of both the entire Dragon Realm and the two clans jointly."

After saying this, Long Taichu waved his hand, and although the Daoist Realm clan leaders knew this would exacerbate conflict, they had no choice but to execute the leader’s command. They surged forward to surround the Magic Realm leaders in the middle. Seeing this situation, Salafam raised his head to look at the Dragon Throne and questioned, "My lord, what do you mean by this?"

"Listen to me; if you find my reasoning unsatisfactory, feel free to leave, but you will be responsible for any ensuing consequences." As he spoke, Long Taichu stood up from the Dragon Throne, slowly descending the stage, and continued, "You think being in the Dragon Realm, even with an ambush, that the arrival of a Dragon Race army, with such strength, any conspiracy would crumble, right? But have you considered that the Blood Cult isn’t foolish? Since they dare openly ambush Zhuo Geng and remain to attract our forces, they must be thoroughly prepared. If too few reinforcements go, they’ll be mere pawns swallowed whole; if too many go, ha ha ha, if manipulated to delay you, preventing you from disengaging temporarily, have you thought about the potential consequences?"

As he spoke, Long Taichu’s gaze swept across each Magic Realm clan leader’s face and asked, word by word, "Have you not thought about why they captured the Dragon King and yet haven’t left? What could be worth more to them than the Dragon King’s bloodline, making them risk staying here?"

"Dragon, Dragon, Dragon Realm!" Long Taichu’s words awakened those in a dream, cold sweat broke out on Salafam’s forehead, and he stammered, blurting out.