Chapter 229 - Rampant Brat
Now, there were only two dragons left beneath the platform. Jiao Qingtu stood tall on the stage and looked down at them, his heart was racing with excitement. Only two more rounds, two more obstacles that hindered him from opening that door and acquiring the heritage and mark of the Ancestral Dragon!
“Which of the two senior martial brothers will come up next?” Jiao Qingtu asked politely.
Right at that time, he saw an exhausted figure tiredly treading over on the river waters.
“Long Yue!”
Light flashed in his eyes, Jiao Qingtu shifted his sights away from the two dragon Qi Practitioners and looked at Zhong Yue, laughing loudly, “Long Yue, you are finally here! I almost thought you’d been eliminated! I said, we would have a battle in the Ancestral Dragon Ritual, and today shall be it! Brother Long Yue, please!”
Zhong Yue made his way below the stage with his weary gait, and asked curiously, “What is this test?”
“The Five Levels Mergence.”
The female dragon Po Luke who had not gone on stage kindly explained to him from the side, “The one that has defeated all the other opponents in this test can win the approval of the Ancestral Dragon, and will be bestowed with the Leize totem patterns and acquire the mark of the Ancestral Dragon. Senior Martial Brother Long Yue, my clan elders told us to tell you that they are very interested in discussing the matters of the East Barren.”
“Only the Leize totem patterns and the mark of the Ancestral Dragon?” Zhong Yue did not answer her and only mumbled to himself in disappointment, “No ancestral blood?”
Po Luke explained patiently, “There will be no ancestral blood. Furthermore, how can the ancestral blood be comparable to the Leze totem patterns and the mark of the Ancestral Dragon? The Leize totem patterns are the totem patterns of the innate dragon gods, how potently strong are their powers? While the mark of the Ancestral Dragon comes into play when you’ve ascended to a dragon god, it is the pass to enter the Leize Galaxy, it’s value is incalculable…”
Hearing her explanation, Zhong Yue was even more disappointed, he mumbled, “What’s the use if the rewards aren’t the ancestral blood?”
Po Luke was piqued, she winked her eyes and waved her hands in front of his face as if she was carrying out a sanity check on him. In an unfriendly tone, she said, “You stupid dragon, do you even understand what it means at all? What grades are the Leize totem patterns and the mark of the Ancestral Dragon, and what grade is the ancestral blood? Has your sanity been pummeled away by the five tests? The Leize Galaxy, that is the origin place of the dragon race!”
“Going to the Leize Galaxy is only an issue after we become gods, it is useless to us now.” Zhong Yue shook his head and said apologetically, “If so, I’ll have to disappoint Brother Qingtu as I will not compete in this test, I’ll turn back and get some more ancestral blood.”
Most importantly, Zhong Yue was not of the dragon race. Even if he had become a god, he would still not be summoned to the Leize Galaxy. Furthermore, it was still a long and arduous journey to ascend to the level of the gods.
There were many misfortunes and adversities in the journey of cultivation, countless uncontrollable and unpredictable events; who could say that he would definitely be able to ascend to the level of gods? A cultivator might acquire an appallingly strong cultivation technique and die the next day; an incredibly talented young man might have never cultivated before, or if not, be stuck at the same cultivation level for the rest of his life, unable to break through.
Hence, even a single drop of ancestral blood was more important to him than the Leize totem patterns, or the mark of the ancestral dragon.
Jiao Qingtu was shocked and watched as Zhong Yue turned back and left, treading away on the same path as he came, as he turned back for the test of the Rebirth Qi Practitioners!
“This brat, what is he trying to do?”
The other three dragons were stunned, Po Luke more than the others. “Is he trying to go back to the Rebirth level test? Has he lost his mind?”
While another dragon Qi Practitioner mumbled, “Going backwards again to the tests, he is crazy, really crazy … I bet he didn’t know that if he turns back to the tests again, the difficulty will totally be at a whole new level. He will be faced with the strongest 100th golden statue right away, he wouldn’t have the time to warm up!”
They could only pass the test by following the conventional order, mainly because the first golden statue was weaker, and it would cast all of its skills to let the Qi Practitioner warm up, get themselves familiar with the different stages, and allow them to train themselves up.
Then, they would fight one golden statue after another, tempering the Qi Practitioner’s control ability and gradually increasing their prowess. Finally, they would face the strongest, which was also the 100th golden statue.
Nurturing the disciples was the sole reason why the Ancestral Dragon had placed so many tests.
If the disciple decided to turn back and unconventionally go through the stages again; his prowess would still be suppressed, while the test would start with the strongest draconic golden statue!
After battling with the strongest draconic golden statue, one would surely suffer serious injuries even if he could win; but the the test would show no mercy, the second strongest draconic golden statue would come out right away, leaving no time for the disciple to recover from his wounds!
Henceforth, no one had ever succeeded in unconventionally completing the tests in the history of the dragons!
Reaching the 100th draconic golden statue was already hard in the conventional way, only one in a thousand could have done it. Finishing the test in the unconventional way was even less possible!
That was why Po Luke and the others said that Zhong Yue was crazy.
Suddenly, Jiao Qingtu’s face turned solemn, he murmured, “Did he just say ancestral blood? Could it be that he has fought all of the hundred draconic golden statues, and has acquired the ancestral blood? No, impossible, he must have only heard about the ancestral blood from those elders … But why didn’t he compete in the Five Levels Mergence, and instead, turned back for the tests of the other cultivation levels?”
He was bewildered, but Po Luke has leapt onto the stage, Jiao Qingtu could only clear off his thoughts and focus on the battle; this was one of the most important fights his life, he could not afford to lose it!
------
“If I pass the tests of the Rebirth level, I will also be rewarded with the ancestral blood, right?” Zhong Yue was agitated, standing in front of the test palace of the Rebirth level, he was enthralled thinking of the rewards he could easily get.
He entered the golden palace and a few moments later, a voice bellowed in the golden palace, “Come and fight me, dragon … you, how are you so strong … save me … Ha! Don’t you dare to fight back, eat my fist….”
“Xin Huo, can you shut up please!”
In the golden palace, Zhong Yue was slammed away by the draconic golden statue, crashing onto the golden palace wall, he then morphed into a Xiang Dragon and ran on the walls like a lizard, evading the attacks from the golden statue, he shouted in ire, “Is it you that is getting hit, or me? Don’t make annoying noises, you are hurting my head!”
On top of Zhong Yue’s head, a little flame was hopping around while shouting and cheering for Zhong Yue, “If it was me, he would’ve been taken down dozens of times already!”
Zhong Yue was speechless, the draconic golden statue behind him also morphed into a golden dragon and clung to the golden wall, forcing him to focus on resolving the crisis before him.
The golden dragon and Xiang Dragon raced around the golden wall, clashing and exchanging attacks; soon, they had both reached the top of the golden palace, lashing out with their skills while engaging in close-quarter combat!
From the moment he stepped into this Rebirth level golden test palace, he was caught off-guard by the draconic golden statue, its strength and prowess had exceeded his estimation, and along with the suppression of his prowess to the level of Rebirth, he was nearly taken down by the draconic golden statue in their first bout!
Even now, he had yet to turn the tide, and being at the losing end he had to keep on moving around the battlefield to dodge the draconic golden statue’s strikes!
“Stay strong!” Xin Huo was anxious, shouting, “This brat can’t hold any longer!”
Zhong Yue was piqued, he didn’t know if the ‘brat’ referred to him or the draconic golden statue.
“Yin Yang Sword Qi!”
Zhong Yue suddenly opened his eyes, the Yin and Yang Qi lashed out in the form of dragon patterns, one white and the other black. He had already cultivated the Yin and Yang Qi when he was still a Rebirth Qi Practitioner, and had killed an Awakening Qi Practitioner relying on them. However, the consumption to cast the Yin and Yang Qi was immense, which stopped him from using them too frequently.
But now, he was forced to use them as the draconic golden statue had pushed him into a corner.
Lashed by the Yin and Yang Qi, the draconic golden statue was nearly dismembered. Even if it had twists and turned its body, or changed sizes and shapes in an attempt to evade the attacks, the two Sword Qi still managed to leave dozens of wounds on its body!
The stronger the cultivation base, the longer one could cast the Yin and Yang Sword qi, half of his cultivation base was consumed in such a short while. Quickly, he recalled the Yin and Yang Qi while he surged out his psyche and formed a bell surrounded by nine dragons. He trapped the draconic golden statue in the the nine dragon bell while blazing fires were blasted out from the heads of the nine dragons, incinerating it!
A fierce shriek came from Zhong Yue’s back; it was the three-taloned Golden Crow Yuan Shen, clawing on the bell and slamming it down onto the ground. The nine dragon bell fell down like a meteor from the top of the golden palace.
Meanwhile, the Golden Crow was still blasting fire from its mouth, adding more heat to the big bell, aiding it in incinerating the draconic golden statue.
Suddenly, cracks formed on the nine dragon bell, and the draconic golden statue escaped by breaking through the bell, casting out its Yuan Shen in an attempt to fight back. But as Zhong Yue now had the upper hand, how could he allow the draconic golden statue to turn the tide? Immediately, he visualized the eight-armed Ming King, with each of its arms clenching one of the Eight Extreme Weapons. He cast out the Eight Extreme Slaughtering Array and launched a barrage of attacks down at the draconic golden statue, changing dozens of forms and skills, finally cutting the golden statue into crumbled fragments!
“Hu … hu …. hu ….”
Zhong Yue was gasping heavily for breath. In such a short period of time, he had spent more than half of his cultivation base, and there were at least twenty wounds all over his body. Thankfully, he had the experience of going through countless battles in the level of Rebirth, and his foundation was strong and firm like no other. Otherwise, the outcome of this battle would not be the same!
“Brat Yue, en, can you still defeat a golden statue that is nearly as strong as this one?” Xin Huo suddenly asked.
……
Zhong Yue raised his head and saw another golden statue leaping down from the golden stage, his scalp tingled and he grit his teeth, striding forward and engaging in another bone-rattling battle.
“Die!”
Once again, a rampant and unbridled voice sounded in the golden palace, “Don’t hold back, kill it alive … Quick, get up, get up, don’t lie down … Yes, that’s right, take off your clothes and fight to the end….”
“Xin Huo, shut up!”
---
Finally, Zhong Yue had defeated the last golden statue, he was swaying like a tilting doll, and eventually, he fell onto the ground and stopped moving completely; the wounds that riddled his body broke open, and blood gushed out from his body as if he was a fully soaked sponge getting pressed.
The hundred rounds of battles were direly grievous, he could not suppress the wounds on himself anymore, and collapsed, he was dying!
Seeing this, Xin Huo quickly leapt out and shouted, “Old brat of the Leize family, where is the reward? Quickly take out the reward and save a precious life!”
A cold sneer came from the golden palace; then, a jade pool emerged out of nowhere, while the finger of a dragon reached out and a single drop of ancestral blood fell into the pool before the finger disappeared into thin air.
Zhong Yue did not even have the energy to lift a finger, and his psyche was also completely depleted. Thankfully, his Yuan Shen was still here, and the seriously damaged Golden Crow Yuan Shen mustered its energy and carried him into the jade pool.
After a long time, Zhong Yue jumped out from the jade pool as if he had been given a new life, energetically saying, “Next test!”
The next test was a stage to test the Yuan Shen. Zhong Yue’s mortal body was suppressed and only his Yuan Shen could be used. However, he heaved a breath of relief as his Golden Crow Yuan Shen and the Star Toad Yuan Shen emerged interchangeably behind him. He raised his head and said, “Elder, I have two Yuan Shen forms, is this test necessary?”
“In terms of Yuan Shen, it is true that no other existence can ever surpass the Fuxi celestial race.” The voice came from the golden palace, it was placid and indifferent. “However, your bloodline is impure, it is still uncertain if you can fully unleash the powers of the sun and moon spirits.”
After an hour, Zhong Yue crushed the last golden statue under his feet, raising his head, he smiled and said, “Where is my reward?”
The voice didn’t answer, but a few moments later, the jade pool appeared, and the dragon finger released a drop of ancestral blood into it.
“Brat, you are rampant enough. What a pity there aren’t anymore pure-blooded Leize Clan members in this abandoned ruins of the gods, or else, they could teach you how to write words like ‘humble’ and ‘modest’…”