Chapter 153

【「Ancestral Dragon! 」】

【This answer is somewhat unexpected, yet reasonable, because the kirin tribe would not appear out of nowhere; given that the ancestral kirin is dead, they still could appear on a large scale, planned, and slaughter the dragon clan, clearly this is the result of someone manipulating behind the scenes.】

【Moreover, slaughtering the dragon clan benefits only Ancestral Dragon; besides, Ancestral Dragon originally wanted to prove the Dao, but you gathered Hongjun and Ancestral Phoenix to forcibly suppress it, so it indeed has sufficient motive to commit the crime!】

【Now it has broken through to the Da Luo peak, the balance of power between the two sides has suffered a major imbalance; if we do not take it down immediately, ……】

【"Fellow Daoist, don't hesitate any longer!"】

【Hongjun said solemnly: Now is the last chance; we must immediately slay Ancestral Dragon; the Da Luo peak is merely a one versus three situation; as long as we three give our all, Ancestral Dragon is not unbeatable, but if we wait for it to break through again…… everything will be too late!】

【You naturally feel angry at the tragic deaths of countless beings, and you also very much want to immediately go to the Eastern Sea and behead that two-faced, treacherous old dragon, but now you must first obtain the consent of another person on our side.】

【You gazed heavily at Ancestral Phoenix: "It broke the agreement."】

【Ancestral Phoenix was also shocked and angry; she did not understand why the old worm persisted in delusion; for the sake of proving the Dao, she had already lost a friend, and she did not want to lose a second.】

【But the vast aura of Ancestral Dragon's breakthrough is like a warning bell: if we do not kill it, everyone will face mortal danger……】

【After undergoing a difficult ideological struggle, Ancestral Phoenix finally mustered the decisiveness expected of an elder: slay it!】

【Thus you no longer waste words; taking advantage of Ancestral Dragon's unstable aura, the two of you, with you as leader, directly rush to the Eastern Sea.】

【……】

Eastern Sea, inside the crystal palace.

The breakthrough Ancestral Dragon walked out of the sleeping palace, his eyes deep, as if he had already seen through his own fate……

"Congratulations, Father King! Congratulations, Father King!"

A little azure dragon that looked almost exactly like it hurried forward and showered its father with congratulations:

"Father King, your dragon might overwhelms the world; you will surely unite heaven and earth and prove the Dao……"

Ancestral Dragon's gaze fell upon it; the azure dragon, which had been congratulating, suddenly froze, for it not only failed to see the joy of progress in cultivation on its father's face, but instead perceived a vacant, spiritless emptiness……

"Father King?"

The azure dragon was somewhat puzzled: why, with good fortune at the door, is Father King not happy?

"My son Azure Dragon, heed my command."

Ancestral Dragon suddenly spoke, his tone regretful.

The azure dragon shuddered, quickly bowing its head to obey.

"From now on, you are the lord of the dragon clan; I do not expect you to lead the dragon clan to prosperity, I only wish you to preserve the lives of the three Red Dragons."

"As long as the four main lineages of true dragons remain unharmed, the remaining branches can be abandoned……"

"Father King?!"

The azure dragon turned pale with shock, not at all understanding why its father suddenly seemed to be leaving a last testament; clearly the dragon clan's situation is now splendid, it is the undisputed hegemon of the primordial wilderness, and its father's cultivation has also made progress……

"Step back."

Ancestral Dragon sighed once, lifted its head to gaze at the sky.

It could sense that three familiar auras were rapidly approaching and would soon end its life; even though it had broken through, there was absolutely no chance of victory.

This is not due to lack of confidence in its strength, but because it knows that the mysterious schemer behind the scenes, daring to let it break through, must have the certainty to kill it……

At this final moment of its life, Ancestral Dragon made a simple summary of its life:

All of its failures were already destined from the moment it decided to slay the old ox and horse.

The old ox and horse's saying that "none of the three would prove the Dao" was snorted at by its former self!

But only in the end did it discover that the old ox and horse were right; even if there is only one position to prove the Dao, the best course is for none of them to prove the Dao.

This is not some impractical saintly mindset; it is the only way to keep the three united. For the Three Ancestors, whether they prove the Dao or not is actually irrelevant; what matters is the existence of the small trio, which can both balance interests and jointly resist external foes.

Compared to other innately divine beings, the Three Ancestors' greatest advantage has never been the ability to awaken spirit and prove the Dao, but rather that the three form a unified interest group, sufficient to make all ambitious rivals retreat threefold!

But having listened to outsiders' provocations, and killing the old ox and horse for the sake of proving the Dao, it originally thought it could continue to cooperate with the miscellaneous feathered birds to resist enemies and jointly curb the threat posed by Jiaoming and others.

Little did it know, this actually destroyed the foundation of the Three Ancestors' cooperation:

Once the old ox and horse died, the miscellaneous feathered birds outright gave up; they not only refused to help it slay each other to prove the Dao, but instead went to mingle with that scoundrel Jiaoming, and then joined forces to suppress its plan to prove the Dao……

Everything, is of its own making.

"But, I do not regret it."

If it could return to the past and try again, Ancestral Dragon knows it would still choose to oppose the old ox and horse, for nothing else but the temptation of proving the Dao.

Regardless of whether the news that "there is only one position to prove the Dao" is true or false, Ancestral Dragon dares not gamble; it would rather believe it is true than risk the chance that it is false……

This is what it means to be innately divine: believing neither in one's own morality nor in others'.

Being able to unite and win together is merely a coincidence among coincidences; a spark igniting the tinder is the most normal outcome.

The only thing Ancestral Dragon can possibly resent is that individual who came to fan the flames; if there had been no provocation, everything would have been different……

……

【With a roar, the boundless azure dragon surged out of the Eastern Sea's azure waves, its vast dragon might overwhelming one side of heaven and earth!】

【You, Hongjun, and Ancestral Phoenix gazed at it coldly……】

【In the gaze of the three of you, Ancestral Dragon fell silent for a moment, then said: "If I say that all of this has nothing to do with me?"】

【"Do you think I would believe that?"】

【Ancestral Phoenix said coldly: From the time you slew the old ox and horse, I had foreseen that this day would come sooner or later; you have never been willing to play second fiddle!】

【Ancestral Dragon wanted to speak but held back……】

【Hongjun also angrily rebuked its faithlessness and betrayal, clearly saying it would not concern itself with worldly affairs, yet secretly plotting thus!】

【Ancestral Dragon ignored him, only gazing at you, for it knew you were the one in charge.】

【"Although it is hard for me to make you believe this, I am willing to swear that those kirin have nothing to do with me……"】

【Ancestral Dragon's words made you feel laughable: "Slaughtering the dragon clan, the sole beneficiary is you; you wouldn't be trying to tell me that some benevolent soul wants to help you prove the Dao, would you?"】

【Ancestral Dragon pondered for a moment and asked: "What if that person's intention is precisely to have you kill me?"】

You:...

You increasingly feel the Ancestral Dragon is truly insane, actually daring to say such nonsense!

But the Ancestral Dragon slowly asked you a question: Do you know why we must have others slaughter the bloodline, rather than doing it ourselves?

You answer without hesitation: Because the True Spirit will hate whoever kills it.

The Ancestral Dragon is surprised that you know the answer, but obviously now is not the time for surprise, so it asks again: Since you know this, I ask you, if I wanted to slaughter my own bloodline myself, could my methods let them die in a confused muddle?

You froze, because you had never thought of this, but now that it said it, you suddenly understood: If a Great Luo Golden Immortal wanted to make ordinary beings into confused ghosts, that would be too easy!

Just thinking casually, you can think of many good methods: using disguise to start slaughter, mass poisoning to kill, using great divine powers to create natural disasters to slaughter…… and so on!

Wouldn't that mean lowly cultivators among the masses still couldn't know who did the killing?

You were dumbfounded, because if such a method were even slightly feasible, the great war of the previous two lifetimes would never have happened; the ancestor could have slaughtered all the bloodline themselves—don't overestimate their three's moral standards……

Seeing you dazed, the Ancestral Dragon chuckled: As an extension of the giant god's will, the True Spirit naturally possesses all kinds of inconceivable divine abilities; indestructibility through myriad kalpas is just one, and the ability to cultivate is just another.

Thirdly, even if they die in a confused muddle, they can naturally tell whether they died at the ancestor's hand; if it is the ancestor's doing, they will still hate the ancestor!

Having heard that, you unconsciously looked toward the Ancestral Phoenix, hoping for reliable proof.

The Ancestral Phoenix was also reminded by its words; seeing you look at her, she hesitated and nodded: That's right, indeed……

The Ancestral Dragon chuckled: Do you understand now? If those Qilin clans were assigned by me, I could never have broken through; the True Spirit would have fled long ago… Jiao Ming, you've fallen into a scheme without realizing it!

The Ancestral Dragon's self-defense left your thoughts in turmoil, because you already felt something illogical about its inexplicable slaughter; now, after the Ancestral Dragon thoroughly exposed it, you immediately realized the whole affair is problematic.

You seem to be caught in someone's invisible scheme, and what that instigator hopes for is that you lead people to slay the Ancestral Dragon……

Who is that person? What is their purpose?

A string of doubts makes you increasingly indecisive, your hesitation taking effect again……

Ding! Facing the Ancestral Dragon's explanation, you realize you might be being schemed against without knowing it; regarding the life-or-death question of the Ancestral Dragon, you find it hard to decide, so you choose: (?)

A: Don't kill, you want me to kill, but I won't let you have your way! The main point is rebellion! B: Kill, no matter what, the Ancestral Dragon must die!

"There are still experts?!"

Seeing Jiao Ming reduced to someone's pawn without realizing it, Zhao Si couldn't help but frown:

"The Wilderness, still has such experts?"

To be frank, rather than believing there is a behind-the-scenes expert scheming the whole situation, Zhao Si would rather believe this is all a ruse carefully designed by the Ancestral Dragon!

Because the beneficiary of the slaughter can only be the Ancestral Dragon alone; others coming to scheme so much—could it be a sudden burst of kindness, specially coming to help the Ancestral Dragon attain the Dao, in order to raise a saintly great father?

Obviously not, the most powerful experts in the Wilderness are all gathered around Jiao Ming:

Jiao Ming himself, the Dao Ancestor Hongjun, the Phoenix Clan Ancestor, the Dragon Clan Ancestor.

The remaining experts can only be the 'Qiankun' and 'Yinyang' wave of innate divinities who originally died in the Slaughter Immortal Formation; innate divinities are notorious for poor moral character—how could they possibly come to help the Ancestral Dragon attain the Dao?

Moreover, using this to scheme against Jiao Ming is out of the question!

Furthermore, given the established plot that Qiankun and Yinyang originally died in the Slaughter Immortal Formation, they obviously lack such scheming and wit……

"Who could it be then?"

Zhao Si murmured:

If this truly is a heaven-shaking scheme, the schemer is likely among the few people present.

The Ancestral Dragon might be feigning loyalty in reverse!

The Ancestral Phoenix's previous life as a precious entity needs no elaboration; it's also not impossible that they appear affectionate on the surface while secretly scheming against Jiao Ming!

Old Yin compared to the Old Man Hongjun…… is even more likely!

In short, Jiao Ming is caught in a vortex of scheming where friend and foe are indistinguishable; aside from Zhao Si outside the game, he has no one he can fully trust……

(End of chapter)