Chapter 2951: The Hidden Dragon in the Abyss

Nie Xiaolou said softly, "But in my view, these are merely the beginning. Although domestic unrest has appeared, the impact of the fall of the Great Heavenly Gods and the emergence of Panlong Ancient City has not truly spread."

"True impact?" the Demon Emperor pondered, "And how do you see it?"

"To humanity, the most awe-inspiring aspect of the Heavenly Gods is their vast divine powers and boundless might. The slaughter of the three Great Heavenly Gods and the True Immortal Sea Emperor Xuandu by the Nine Abysses and the Red General this time has shaken the world no less than a rewriting of heavenly laws." Nie Xiaolou spoke solemnly, "After this battle, humanity's faith in the Heavenly Gods will once again be greatly weakened!"

He spoke of "the human realm," but the Demon Emperor understood that he mainly referred to Bekka.

The three Great Heavenly Gods and one True Immortal could do nothing to the ruler of Cangyan, and instead were slain on the spot! Such a fantastical plot unfolding in reality left people astonished, yet they could not help but believe it in the end.

For the super eruption of Imperial Flowing Paste will soon arrive.

Humanity follows only the strong; once the Heavenly Gods cannot prove themselves eternally strong, a great multitude of followers will surely abandon them.

Extremely fanatical devotees have always been but a minority.

The words Nie Xiaolou dared not speak were spoken by the Demon Emperor himself: "The adulation of the Nine Abysses and the Red General will again cause a great commotion."

Over the past decade or more, when mentioning the prominent figures of the human realm, none could be avoided more than the Great Emperor Nine Abysses! Countless paintings, dramas, and storytellers' tales about him have been passed down, growing more and more heretical, more and more absurd, even elevating him to the foremost in humanity, praising him for treading on Heavenly Gods with his feet and plucking stars and moons with a single hand.

Formerly, learned men hearing these could smile and dismiss them, adding a few cold sarcasms, but now Nine Abysses has truly accomplished the feat of slaying gods and destroying immortals, and did so against four great immortals and demons at once!

One of them is even the second-ranked heavenly figure of the Lingxu Multitude!

Therefore, even the common folk of Bekka say he plucked stars and moons with his bare hands—what is wrong with that? As a reincarnated Dragon God, can he be measured by ordinary human eyes and knowledge?

When ironclad facts are slapped in your face, who could still refute?

After this battle, the number of followers of the Great Emperor Nine Abysses will surely surge.

Although Bekka is the stronghold of the Heavenly Gods, after over a decade of erosion, especially due to the startling change of the Earth Mother Plains War, the faith maintained for six hundred years is rapidly collapsing;

In other parts of the world, the number of those who worship the Great Emperor Nine Abysses and the reincarnated Dragon God is growing geometrically, causing many Heavenly Gods to lose their foundation, and even the great immortals of Ling Mountain have been deprived of much incense by Nine Abysses.

The aftermath of this event has not yet truly spread, and the next wave of turmoil in the world is already brewing.

Moreover, the Red General, originally known only as a hero around Shen Guo, will soon become renowned throughout the world due to the two great feats of "Yinming Rebirth" and "Slaying the Jia Lou Heaven."

Nie Xiaolou immediately said: "The reduction of the Heavenly Gods' prestige and foundation is a great boon for the Emperor!"

The Demon Emperor grinned, exhaling a wisp of white mist: "The states of Haoling and Bolang have already been shaken, hoping to obtain the antidote for 'Qianji' from me."

This is the prelude to a defection, quite obvious, merely requiring further negotiation.

Nie Xiaolou rejoiced: "Congratulations, Emperor!"

These vassal demon states are the handles of the Lingxu Multitude Gods in the human realm; even after the outbreak of the 'Qianji' antidote incident, several vassal demon states still stand with the Heavenly Gods.

It is not that these vassal demon kings do not wish to lift the curses on themselves, but rather that from themselves to their entire nations, they are entangled with the Heavenly Gods in an inseparable relationship. This relationship is like an old tree whose roots are entwined in rocks, mutually dependent and entangled, difficult to separate.

To say "helpless" is not an exaggeration.

That these two vassal demon kings could secretly communicate with the Emperor indicates that the last stubborn forces within Bekka are also on the verge of collapse. Once these two states are conquered, the Demon Emperor will likely regain supreme rule over the entire Bekka Empire!

"Supreme" means no longer needing to obey the will of the "Upper Gods."

Is this the wish of the Dragon God's descendants, the heart's desire of the Bekka Empire for how many years?

"The outside world all thinks you bowed to the Heavenly Gods, that even Nine Abysses never considered your plight, unaware of your suffering in silence!" Nie Xiaolou sighed further, "Since the passing of the Qingyang State Master, you have also — too hard."

The Qingyang State Master was once one of the main forces in the Demon Emperor's dealings with the Heavenly Palace; many of her abilities Nie Xiaolou cannot replace. After Qingyang's passing, the relationship between the Demon Emperor and the Heavenly Gods has irreversibly slid into the abyss of deterioration.

Only Nie Xiaolou knows that the Demon Emperor has long endured in silence, secretly plotting, even actively responding to the Heavenly Gods' recent overtures, with two main reasons: one is that the Heavenly Gods' foundation in Bekka is truly solid, and the Demon Emperor must wait for this influence to loosen again before he can act to uproot it. For example, the recent heavy blows dealt by Nine Abysses and the Red General to the Lingxu Multitude are precisely a new round of powerful upheaval, and the Demon Emperor can make great use of this momentum!

Another reason, known to few, the Demon Emperor nodded: "My Ascending Dragon Technique will also be completed soon, before the next full moon!"

That is within ten days! Nie Xiaolou held his breath, full of hope: "You, you mean — "

"The day of transforming into a dragon is not far off."

Nie Xiaolou immediately knelt and paid respects: "Congratulations, Emperor, the Ascending Dragon is in sight!"

"After these ten days, everything will be different." The Demon Emperor himself also looked forward to it.

After the ancient great war, the Dragon Race gradually disappeared; their descendants, even if existing in the world, had to degenerate into flood dragons. The Bekka royal family, as descendants of the Dragon God, are actually all flood dragons.

But since the spiritual energy of heaven and earth has once again become abundant, the Dragon Race ought to return to the world!

The Ascending Dragon Technique is a secret method imprinted in the bloodline of every flood dragon; the Demon Emperor has practiced it diligently for years, especially after obtaining the Dragon Pearl from Qingyang, who brought it from the Flashing Gold Plains, gaining insight into the predecessors' experiences in cultivation and transformation, thus greatly accelerating the process of becoming a dragon!

Only Nie Xiaolou and a handful of other confidants know that the Demon Emperor has always accommodated the Heavenly Gods with false compliance, the main reason being that he himself is at a crucial stage of transforming into a dragon, a difficulty comparable to the legendary carp leaping over the Dragon Gate; crossing it brings vast skies and oceans, failing to leap means not knowing when the next opportunity will come.

The Demon Emperor has already devoted himself to cultivation for many years, precisely what is meant by "the hidden dragon in the abyss." As a descendant of the Dragon God, he can only advance from flood dragon to true dragon, directly completing a two-stage leap, which is far more difficult than ordinary dragon kinds, and this may also be considered a kind of indirect punishment;

But once transformed into a true dragon, he can unleash the innate great power in his bloodline, absolutely incomparable to ordinary dragon kinds!

The so-called "true dragon" is greatly different from the commonly spoken "dragon"; its bloodline is purer, its strength greater, its divine powers more at will. Though the gap is not as vast as that between True Gods and ordinary Heavenly Gods, in ancient times, every leader of a Dragon Race clan was necessarily of true dragon standard.

Divine beasts emphasize bloodline, for bloodline is the cornerstone of cultivation, and the Dragon Race is no exception.

This great power is precisely what the Demon Emperor urgently needs to oppose the Heavenly Gods, and will become his most reliable trump card.

Therefore, the Demon Emperor must patiently wait.

Before the full moon, ascend the dragon!