Chapter 3016: The Demon Emperor's Final Counterattack

It was helpless, the Azure Flood Dragon was of the bloodline of the Bekka emperors, standing at the pinnacle of worldly power, yet its heirs were so weak they could not withstand this sudden storm.

Amidst the attendees each harboring their own thoughts, under everyone's gaze, the Chief Envoy of the Cloudy Realm, Lu Yongyan, gently placed the Dragon God Crown upon Wuhuan's head—this was also the second glorious moment of his life; after all, counting back forty years, no one else had been able to crown the Demon Emperor.

Wuhuan let out a soft hiss, for within the Dragon God Crown a needle suddenly extended, piercing its scalp and drawing a drop of dragon blood! This was the treasure automatically recognizing its master, and only the bloodline of the Dragon God qualified to become its new master.

Then the light on the Dragon God Crown flashed, and suddenly a colossal phantom appeared.

Flood Dragon!

Today the sky was clear and cloudless, its coiling form almost circled the entire Ascending Dragon Mountain once, scales intact, massive and magnificent—let alone the officials observing the ceremony on the mountain peak, even the merchants and commoners coming and going below had never seen such an anomaly on Ascending Dragon Mountain, and all stopped at once to watch; the officials were greatly startled, thinking the Dragon God had manifested, but upon closer look, that was not the Dragon God's apparition, but rather the earlier departed Azure Flood Dragon Demon Emperor! Even the half-missing scale on its tail armor was clearly visible.

Immediately, the Demon Emperor's resonant voice echoed once more across Ascending Dragon Mountain:

"My son Wuhuan, remember—"

The hidden formation on Ascending Dragon Mountain simultaneously activated, light flickering, extending his voice once again, and for the last time, throughout the entire Lingxu City: "When you hear this testament, it means I have been harmed by the Heavenly Gods. You must uphold my dying wish—Bekka and the Heavenly Gods shall never……" The Demon Emperor's testament rang through the clear sky, each word like a heavy hammer, striking hard into the hearts of the listeners.

Everyone halted their steps, mouths agape.

The vast Lingxu City suddenly fell into a strange stagnation, as if time had stopped.

What? What did they hear?

The late emperor, already departed to heaven, actually in his testament named the killer as the Heavenly Gods?

Wait, wasn't it Cangyan?

Earlier, rumors had spread wildly in Lingxu City that Cangyan's Nine Abysses Great Emperor had driven the Earth Mother Plains to infiltrate Lingxu City and slain the emperor; the entire nation of Bekka was filled with righteous indignation, all shouting they would not share the sky with Cangyan.

Who would have thought now there would be a sudden reversal, the emperor himself leaving a testament directly naming the true culprit!

For years, the conflict between the emperor and the Heavenly Gods, between Lingxu City and the Heavenly Palace, had long been sensed by the common folk; added to the prevalence of various conspiracy theories, the more speculation in the markets, combined with Lingxu City's inherently open public discourse, which could not be suppressed.

Well, now they no longer need to speculate—the late emperor's single sentence can confirm that the Heavenly Gods indeed harbor a conspiracy.

Chief Envoy Lu Yongyan of the Cloudy Realm seemed to hear a crackling sound, that of his own heart and blood vessels freezing.

The Demon Emperor's phantom's shout made everyone in the Heavenly Palace feel their hearts turn icy, their minds holding only two words:

Disaster!

Where lies the problem?

Naturally, it is the Dragon God Crown placed upon Wuhuan's head.

After the Demon Emperor's death, the Heavenly Gods and Heavenly Palace naturally focused their next steps on his confidants and direct lineage, such as Nie Xiaolou and Wang Qun, etc.; the Demon Emperor's dying wishes would certainly be carried out through these people; as long as these remnants were eradicated, Bekka would naturally fall into their control. But they never imagined the Demon Emperor had also laid this trap!

The Dragon God Crown usually lay gathering dust in the temple treasury; according to its frequency of being taken out only four times in six hundred years, normally no one would think of it, just as the Bekka people rarely ever mention the Black Dragon God Sovereign—

there simply was no use case for it.

The Demon Emperor cleverly exploited this blind spot of the Heavenly Gods, embedding his testament within the Dragon God Crown. The Dragon God's Reverse Scale is indeed a true divine artifact, capable of far more than mere knowledge storage; but the Heavenly Gods have never worn it, so how could they know its other functions?

The Demon Emperor had also thought this through thoroughly: although he did not know how the Heavenly Gods would deal with him, nor what his final fate would be, he understood that his struggle with the Heavenly Gods amounted to only two outcomes:

victory, or defeat.

If he ultimately succeeded in his resistance, Crown Prince Wuhuan would not ascend the throne, and the Dragon God Crown would remain peacefully in the temple, continuing to gather dust. If he failed, the Heavenly Gods would need to control a vast demon state, and likely would still use the Azure Flood Dragon's bloodline—that is, support a young emperor to the throne. This has been Bekka's tradition for six hundred years: the more turbulent the times, the more one must adhere to it, in order to win over the people's hearts.

Only then could the Heavenly Gods continue to use "Bekka" as a weapon.

So when Wuhuan ascends the throne and dons this Dragon God Crown on Ascending Dragon Mountain, the truth will be revealed to all under heaven, delivering a heavy, unexpected blow to the Heavenly Gods! What, you ask what if the Demon Emperor did not die at the hands of the Heavenly Gods?

It doesn't matter.

Even if it was not the Heavenly Gods who killed him, he is willing to pin this crime on the Heavenly Gods' heads.

For the main contradiction currently facing Bekka is precisely the struggle for control between Lingxu City and the Heavenly Gods!

The descendants of the Dragon God must lead Bekka to break free from the Heavenly Gods' control!

The Demon Emperor certainly did not expect the Heavenly Gods would pin his death on Cangyan.

But the method he adopted mirrors that of the Heavenly Gods exactly, throwing this blame back onto the Heavenly Gods!

Moreover, the Heavenly Gods' framing of Cangyan had no real eyewitnesses—no one saw the Nine Abysses Great Emperor or Cangyan's great demon immortal appear on Heart Island, no one personally witnessed them killing the Demon Emperor!

It is not that the Heavenly Gods did not wish to do it more thoroughly, but rather that Lingxu City itself is full of powerful beings; if they found someone to impersonate the Nine Abysses, they could not guarantee shaking off pursuers.

Lingxu City's current environment is no longer like that of twenty years ago when He Lingchuan caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace—it now has walls!

With walls come formations, with walls come guards, with walls come flight- and escape-prohibiting barriers—"Nine Abysses Great Emperor" would find it no easy task to escape.

Rather than take such a risk, it is better to chase shadows and winds—at least that is something one can see but not grasp.

Thus the conclusion "Cangyan assassinated the emperor" is also widely questioned in Bekka, because from official to folk circles, no genuine evidence can be produced. The sole eyewitness merely saw, on the northern wall of Lingxu City, a huge object sinking into the ground in the distance, and thus inferred it was Cangyan's Earth Mother Plains. But the Demon Emperor's testament directly naming the Heavenly Gods—that is irrefutable!

The victim himself has spoken—who could still not believe it?

Even if the Heavenly Palace wished to claim the Demon Emperor's phantom in heaven is fake, an enemy's conspiracy, they would still need an executor.

The Dragon God Crown was brought forth by the temple priests from the Dragon God Temple, having gone through every procedure;

The Dragon God Crown was also personally placed upon Wuhuan's head by Chief Envoy Lu Yongyan of the Cloudy Realm, with no intermediary involved—how could it be said that someone else tampered with it?

Furthermore, who could pour this testament into the Dragon God Crown—whose identity is not self-evident?

The credibility of the Demon Emperor's testament, compared to the Heavenly Palace's earlier accusation against Cangyan, is almost worlds apart.