Chapter 1825: Withered Dragon Venerable
Although the Dragon God Realm was the supreme of the divine realms and directly governed the Xi Shen Domain, successive Dragon Emperors had rarely issued orders to the other king realms of the Xi Shen Domain, much less forced their hands. This was because the pride and strength of the Dragon God Clan made them disdain such actions—and they had no need for them either.
But the order Long Bai had just issued was extremely forceful, and he had even spoken the six words, "Don't blame me, Long, for being ruthless."
The Eight Dragon Gods were so shocked that it was easy to imagine the massive upheaval it would cause when it reached the Five King Realms of the Western Region.
After the shock, the blood of the Eight Dragon Gods began to boil.
Huijin had died tragically, Feimie had lost his dignity. The proud dragon blood of the Eight Dragon Gods, dormant for countless years, had long been stirred by unprecedented humiliation and rage. Long Bai's sudden seriousness and ruthlessness startled them at first, but then multiplied their excitement many times over.
Long Bai only wanted the Divine Lords of the Five King Realms. And this kind of divine realm-level war—the highest level in the history of the divine realms—indeed only required Divine Lords. Below the Divine Lord level, all were ants.
"Yes!" the Cang Dragon God responded heavily, then immediately added, "All the upper star realms are also in a state of readiness. Should we…"
"No need," Long Bai said in a deep voice. "These upper star realms have at most one or two Divine Lords each, and they have their own grievances and hidden agendas—a scattered mess. Moreover, in twenty-four shichen, more than half of them probably won't be able to arrive in time. No need to mobilize them."
"Also," Long Bai turned, his dark dragon eyes making all who met them feel the weight of ten thousand jun, "Recall all Dragon Lords and Master Dragons who are outside. No matter how important the matter, they must return within twenty-four shichen!"
Long Bai's voice was low and calm, yet it shook the entire Dragon God Realm, making everyone tremble in their souls as they realized that Long Bai's determination to wipe out the Bei Shen Domain was beyond imagination.
Zhou Xuzi's old face could no longer contain his excitement. Until this moment, his greatest fear had been that the Dragon Emperor would underestimate the Bei Shen Domain, or scorn them with arrogance and disdain to make a full move.
But now, with the Dragon Emperor at the lead, all Dragon Gods, Dragon Lords, and Master Dragons recalled, and the forced concentration of all Divine Lord power from the Five King Realms of the Western Region… such a lineup and such ruthlessness made no one doubt that it was enough to easily crush the entire demon race.
"With the Dragon Emperor's resolve, the Northern Domain is doomed!" Zhou Xuzi murmured with closed eyes.
"Cang, Fei, Suxin, Baihong, Qingyuan, Zili, Biluo," Long Bai called out the names of the Dragon Gods one by one, "Go and personally convey and execute my orders just now. There must be no mistakes."
"Feimie, follow me."
—
Nan Shen Domain, Canglan Realm.
Chi Wuyue's jade finger, pressed against her brow, unconsciously curled. The black light in her eyes slowly condensed into an endlessly deep, pitch-black vortex, and her face was heavier than ever before.
What kind of situation would cause a massive force to choose to leave no room for retreat, to burn all bridges?
Only the Northern Domain demons, who had accumulated a million years of hatred and none of whom expected to return alive.
And yet the Dragon Emperor, who held the highest status and controlled the supreme Dragon God Realm, had actually issued such an order in his capacity as Dragon Emperor…
This was absolutely not just an emphasis on the Bei Shen Domain… it was clearly a terrible distortion.
A distortion caused by extreme hatred.
Chi Wuyue couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
The Dragon Emperor loved the Dragon Empress dearly, cherishing her as a treasure. Everyone in the entire divine realm knew this. And Chi Wuyue had long known that Long Bai's infatuation with Shen Xi far exceeded what ordinary people could imagine.
But until now, Chi Wuyue suddenly realized that Long Bai's feelings for Shen Xi were no longer mere infatuation…
He practically valued her more than the entire Dragon God Realm!
When facing the three divine domains, the Bei Shen Domain had a huge advantage: the demon clan on one side was fighting with their backs to the Yellow Springs, while the various forces of the three divine domains prioritized self-preservation, none willing to directly trade their tens of thousands of years of foundations for a mutual destruction with the demons.
But this huge advantage vanished completely when facing the most powerful Dragon God Realm.
The one who should have been the most stable and imposing—the Dragon Emperor—had made a choice more extreme than any ordinary Realm King, and in one move, he not only offered up the core power of the Dragon God Realm but also forced out the core power of the Five King Realms of the Western Region.
Chi Wuyue had defeated the Feimie Dragon God at no small cost, with the greatest aim of making the Five King Realms of the Western Region hesitate and hold back… now, the effect was greatly diminished.
"The supreme Dragon Emperor of the divine realm turns out to be the biggest madman," Chi Wuyue murmured softly. "Shen Xi… what kind of person is she, to make the supreme of this world go mad to this extent?"
"But in the end, it's Yun Che's own fault… sigh," Chi Wuyue gave a short sigh, her brows furrowed with unresolvable worry.
"He keeps emphasizing twenty-four shichen…"
—
Long Bai led the way, Long Fei followed behind. They crossed most of the Dragon God Realm, opened a special barrier, and stepped into a long-sealed underground palace.
The Feimie Dragon God stopped in his tracks, his dragon eyes shaking. "Dragon Emperor, are we going to…"
But Long Bai ignored his words and walked straight down.
The Feimie Dragon God said no more. He took a silent deep breath, his expression quickly returning to calm solemnity.
This underground space, which had not seen the light of day for countless years, was vast and cold. A faint light from an unknown source cast the entire space in a gray haze. In the emptiness, there was a heavy, terrifying pressure, enough to make even a Divine Lord unable to breathe.
The two dragons' steps involuntarily slowed.
The gray, dreary space stretched on for an unusually long time, but there were no more barriers in between. Only the dreadful, overwhelming weight made each step extremely difficult.
The slow footsteps continued for a long time before finally stopping.
Ahead, in the dim light, five gray humanoid figures appeared, sitting side by side.
They had no aura, like dead bodies that had withered for many years.
In the terrible silence, Long Bai slowly raised his hand.
"Wait!"
The Feimie Dragon God rushed forward, his right hand gripping Long Bai's raised wrist tightly. "Your Highness Dragon Emperor, the Northern Domain is strong, but… it is absolutely not to this extent!"
Long Bai did not speak, only casting him a cold sidelong glance.
"…" The Feimie Dragon God gritted his teeth secretly, his expression quickly calming down, and his hand finally slowly released.
He stepped back, bowed his head in shame, and said, "Feimie overstepped. Please forgive me, Dragon Emperor."
Long Bai still said nothing. Dragon energy swirled in his hand, his dragon eyes flashed, and both dragon energy and dragon soul were released at the same time, turning into a solid white light that swept toward the five withered gray figures.
Roar—
A not-so-loud dragon roar echoed and resounded for a long time in this gray space.
Amid the roar, the five "withered corpses" simultaneously opened their eyes, which had been closed for who knows how many years, and their bodies slowly sat upright.
When all five pairs of old eyes—some turbid, some ancient—fully opened, the entire space fell into utter silence… Not even the tiniest speck of dust continued to drift.
"Who has awakened us?"
In the sealed space, a voice vast as the heavens came forth. Though it clearly came from the withered figures ahead, it seemed to originate from the distant edge of the sky.
Thump!
The Feimie Dragon God fell heavily to his knees, and the head of the First Dragon God bowed deeply toward the rightmost withered figure. "Unfilial son Long Fei… kowtows to his father!"
The rightmost withered figure spoke heavily, "I am Long Wu, not your deceased father. Feimie Dragon God need not perform such a ceremony."
"…" The Feimie Dragon God's head remained on the ground for a long time before he finally slowly rose, though a faint glimmer of tears, not wiped away in time, appeared in his dragon eyes.
Long Bai stepped forward and said calmly, "Long Bai, Seventh World King of the Dragon God Realm, comes to awaken the five Withered Dragon Venerables from their slumber."
"What calamity brings you here?" the Withered Dragon Venerable in the center spoke slowly.
Five gazes converged on Long Bai.
Withered Dragon Venerable—a name that did not exist in any Realm King's memory, nor had it ever appeared in any records.
Because they had always existed but had never emerged into the world.
The lifespan of dragons far surpassed that of other races. Among dragons, the Dragon God Clan lived the longest. For a Dragon Emperor like Long Bai, the maximum lifespan could reach five hundred thousand years—ten times the human limit.
And those who reached the peak of Divine Lord realm, with their Dragon God divine power at its limit, perfectly controlling every shred of power and soul in their dragon bodies, could cultivate a very mysterious and forbidden secret art…
Withered Dragon Divine Concealment!
It was unique to the Dragon God Clan and could only be used once in a lifetime.
A Dragon God who had cultivated Withered Dragon Divine Concealment could activate it when their life was about to end, entering a special state of "divine concealment."
Under "divine concealment," the dragon body, dragon power, and dragon soul would fall into slumber. In this sleep, the loss of lifespan would be extremely slow, extending the nearly expired life of a Dragon God by nearly two hundred thousand years.
Its greatest power lay in the fact that "Withered Dragon Divine Concealment" could completely preserve a Dragon God's peak dragon power and dragon soul, waiting only for its awakening to once again awe the world with dragon might.
However, a slumbering Dragon God could only be awakened once.
Because once awakened from "Withered Dragon Divine Concealment," after seven days, they would inevitably die of old age—regardless of their state before the "concealment," even if they had entered it in their prime.
Dragon Gods who should have died of old age chose to slumber in this way. In the perception of the world, they had already turned to dust and departed, but in truth, they became the long-slumbering "Withered Dragon Venerables," using their final life and will to become the hidden guardians of the Dragon God Realm—its strongest guardians.
If danger came, they would be awakened. If there was no danger, they would truly return to dust after two hundred thousand years… and soon, new Withered Dragon Venerables would take their place at their former slumber sites.
In Long Bai's generation, there were five slumbering Withered Dragon Venerables. The newest to take the position, "Long Wu," was the father of the Feimie Dragon God and the previous Dragon Emperor.
Long Yi, Long Er, Long San, Long Si, Long Wu—five names so ordinary they could not be more ordinary, yet they were the five strongest Dragon God guardians hidden in the lightless depths of the Dragon God Realm.
On this day, they were awakened simultaneously by Long Bai.
It was also the first time in the history of the Dragon God Realm that slumbering Withered Dragon Venerables had ever been awakened.
Facing the gazes of the five great Withered Dragon Venerables, Long Bai said calmly, "The demon race of the Northern Domain has rebelled and invaded the world. The Eastern Divine Region and the Southern Divine Region have fallen one after another, and countless living beings have suffered. Our clan has also lost a Dragon God, and all realms are in panic."
"Although it has not yet directly endangered our clan, such a dark calamity is unprecedented in ancient times. Therefore, I have come to awaken the five Venerables."
Long Bai's words moved all five Withered Dragon Venerables.
"How could the mere Northern Domain become such a threat?" Long Yi spoke slowly.
Long Bai replied, "The leader is one who bears the Evil God's inheritance and likely also remnants of the Calamity Demon Emperor. The Northern Domain demons, who were originally completely harmless, have been completely reborn under his hand in just a few short years."
Evil God's inheritance, remnants of the Calamity Demon Emperor… these words caused the five great Venerables, whose hearts were like dead wood, to tremble violently in their souls.
"Fortunately, this Yun Che is young, aggressive, and arrogantly proud. In just four years in the Northern Divine Region, he led the demons to swarm out, which also gave our clan the best opportunity. If we cannot completely crush and kill him now, and he escapes back to the Northern Domain, hiding in the shadows and lying low, the consequences will be endless."
Four short years… Northern Domain reborn… Eastern Divine Region and Southern Divine Region fallen one after another… If not crushed and killed, endless consequences.
A few brief words had already formed sufficient reason to awaken the Withered Dragon Venerables.