Chapter 154: The Ancestral Dragon Falls

First, it's the Ancestral Dragon!

Zhao Si carefully analyzed everyone's stance:

The Ancestral Dragon might be feigning loyalty; all of this could be its orchestration, with the obvious goal of numbing everyone, disguising itself as a 【victim】 to gain Jiao Ming's sympathy and survive.

Then, taking on the identity of a 【victim】, it gradually gains the power to break the balance, eventually the winner takes all, achieving the Dao alone, dominating eternity...

This possibility is very high; Zhao Si dare not casually take "true spirits can recognize enemies" as evidence to exonerate the Ancestral Dragon, for if it's true, it really could kill everyone.

Next, the Ancestral Phoenix.

In the previous two lifetimes, it appeared as an absolute precious object, but this lifetime, under Jiao Ming's few words of deception, it easily became a love‑brain, unwilling to achieve the Dao, only wishing to accompany Jiao Ming on Jade Capital Mountain...

To be honest, this development really makes it hard to believe she's reformed, because her behavior in the two lifetimes differs too greatly.

This is like Wu Zetian, when she was just one step away from becoming emperor, suddenly deciding to give up all power and benefits, running off like a love‑brain to spend the rest of her life with some civilian...

Compared to this development, Zhao Si would rather believe she is advancing by retreating, using love to numb the only one with the power to stop everyone from achieving the Dao—Jiao Ming—thereby framing the Ancestral Dragon.

After Jiao Ming, according to the plan, kills the Ancestral Dragon, only she will have the qualification to achieve the Dao; she can lock down that position tightly, although Jiao Ming might also incidentally kill her, but she could also use feelings to toy with the innocent little bird...

In short, Zhao Si is not Jiao Ming; he will not blindly believe she has turned from evil to good just because the Ancestral Phoenix shows all those positive images.

Finally, Lao Jun.

This goes without saying, the problem is huge!

Hongjun had already exploded with lightning in his past life; he himself said: he also wanted to achieve the Dao, and even had a complete chicken‑eating plan; most importantly, he was the champion of the Primordial Chicken‑Eating Grand Tournament in the original plot...

Hongjun, being innately divine, although his moral quality is relatively high among his peers, still fundamentally does not regard ordinary myriad spirits as people; sacrificing the masses comes easily to him—truly without hesitation!

Righteousness roars the fiercest, kd cuts the highest, Rahu can develop from a standard Grand Luo into a peerless monster capable of single‑handedly slaying a Quasi‑Sage‑level Three Ancestor, and kd simply breaks through the heavens.

It is estimated that the number he alone has killed equals the total casualties of the Three Clans War, and possibly even more...

Even if Hongjun truly is 'killing to protect life,' and his frenzied slaughter is for ushering in a new era, that is still absolutely abstract!

Moreover, he even has a whole set of indirect methods to achieve the Dao, with every detail maxed out:

First, let Rahu open the slaughter, to imprison myriad true spirits, gaining the power to oppose the Three Ancestors.

Then let Rahu slay the Three Ancestors, set him up as a target, saying he is the doomed one, bearing the black pot completely.

Finally, Hongjun himself, with righteousness maxed out, personally slays Rahu, reaping countless flowers and applause, then uses myriad true spirits to shape the "Heavenly Dao"!

This way, not only will all beings thank him for saving the world, the Heavenly Dao this silly child will also, out of gratitude, come under his control and indirectly help him refine the Primordial Heaven and Earth, becoming the sage who ushers in the new era...

Hongjun is highly suspect!

Moreover, this time Hongjun went on a long journey abroad; he fully has the motive and opportunity to manufacture so many Qilin clans, then assign the Qilin clans to slaughter the Dragon Clan, achieving the goal of framing the Ancestral Dragon.

And if Jiao Ming really kills the Ancestral Dragon, that perfectly suits Hongjun's wishes; in the future, with more Dragon Clan deaths, the ownerless true spirits can still be molded by him into the "Heavenly Dao," fulfilling his own Dao‑achieving dream!

In short, all three have serious problems, each with motive and ability, making it really hard to say who the mastermind behind the grand scheme is.

Zhao Si personally leans toward the idea that all three probably have issues, but such baseless speculation, if reported to Jiao Ming, would likely make him an enemy of the world, after which he could not get by at all...

However.

Zhao Si once again looks at Jiao Ming's question and the two options, thinking seriously:

Although Jiao Ming currently cannot determine who exactly is problematic, on the issue of the Ancestral Dragon he simply has no choice!

Option A: release the person; Option B: kill the person.

Can the person be released?

Obviously not, because no matter what, the Ancestral Dragon is a bomb, and a bomb that will definitely explode!

There's no other reason; it's simply because the Ancestral Dragon not only has the idea of breaking current limits, but also the corresponding strength.

As a cultivator who has entered the Dao‑achieving process and is a Grand Luo Peak powerhouse, it alone can fight three standard Grand Luo cultivators, and its win rate is not low either.

That means all the restrictions Jiao Ming set for it have completely failed; if not dealt with quickly, the Ancestral Dragon will surely cause a big incident.

As for whether it was framed or not, that doesn't affect Jiao Ming killing it—anyway, it has to die!

Choose B!

【You chose B, kill; no matter what, the Ancestral Dragon must die!】

【You deeply realize the Ancestral Dragon is no longer something you can restrain; now, as a Grand Luo Peak, it can simultaneously fight the three of you and still have the advantage, and later attaining Quasi‑Sage would be even more capable of destroying everything.】

【No matter what, at the moment the Ancestral Dragon indulges in slaughter and attains Grand Luo Peak, it will surely die!】

【Thus you say no more, and together with Hongjun and the Ancestral Phoenix, you encircle the Ancestral Dragon.】

【You reveal your Fire Bird True Form, your body blazing with Golden Crow True Fire beyond compare, like a second sun rising from the East Sea!】

【The Ancestral Phoenix also transforms into its Five‑Colored True Phoenix True Form; the Southern Bright Separation Fire turns into a sea of flames, the East Sea's water quickly boils and evaporates into mist, the scene of burning the heavens and boiling the sea truly unfolds.】

【Hongjun, on the other hand, never manifests his true form to boost combat power; he only attacks with Jade Tablet Immortal Script, the scriptures numbering in the thousands, all rushing toward the Ancestral Dragon!】

【Facing the three‑person siege, the Ancestral Dragon shows no weakness; under the impetus of its newly broken‑through Grand Luo Peak cultivation, the thirty‑six Sea‑Stabilizing Pearls fly up and down, interspersed with claws, fangs, Divine Thunder, Five Elements Qi, and other means.】

【For a moment, the Ancestral Dragon fights one against three!】

【The battle drags on, the qi of heaven and earth falls into chaos, making it hard to tell who is winning...】

East Sea.

Vast expanses of blue waves turn into rolling mist; beneath the mist's veil, an azure‑green giant dragon appears, head and tail unseen, employing myriad techniques as it battles the three opponents!

Grand Luo Peak truly lives up to its name; under absolute cultivation suppression, even though Jiao Ming and the three others fight desperately, they remain rather embarrassed.

Jiao Ming! Old man Hongjun! Bring out whatever tricks you have!

The Ancestral Dragon's voice thundered like lightning; its Sea‑Stabilizing Pearls smashed Jiao Ming, forcing him to retreat repeatedly; Hongjun's rule‑based immortal script shattered layer after layer, and from time to time he also had to endure a mouthful of lightning‑fire from the Ancestral Dragon, becoming ever more embarrassed.

As for the Ancestral Phoenix, the Ancestral Dragon didn't even glance at it, only sneering:

"You feathered fool, we're old friends—don't bother showing off those paltry tricks of yours!"

The Ancestral Phoenix flew into a rage, its Southern Bright Separation Fire blazing even fiercer, but the Ancestral Dragon felt no fear; as old friends exchanging moves, it left her without a shred of temper...

"Fellow Daoist, the situation looks grim!"

Hongjun fiddled with the laws while speaking in a deep voice.

And Jiao Ming's Golden Crow True Fire all over his body was suppressed by the water-phase vital energy of the Dinghai Pearl, forcing the sun to shrink by several notches.

But Jiao Ming didn't panic, for he knew the Ancestor Dragon's fighting style was merely a suicidal move!

"No problem."

Jiao Ming narrowed his eyes:

"If he fights like that, he surely can't last long; as long as we drag it out…"

Great Luo Peak can indeed take on three opponents, but that's only when the Great Luo Peak realm is solid.

Although the Ancestor Dragon had broken through, it wasn't a powerful re-cultivator; having just broken through a few days ago, it lacked both experience and foundation, and still didn't have the power to overwhelm three peers of the same level!

As a Half-Saint re-cultivator, Jiao Ming could easily see the Ancestor Dragon's outward strength but inner weakness; the greater its high-intensity output, the sooner it would die……

In a sense, Jiao Ming could actually read its thoughts:

Fighting, he definitely couldn't win; taking on three would only bring self-destruction.

But the Ancestor Dragon isn't one to accept defeat; it would rather die in a blaze of glory!

And the more it displayed such heroism, the heavier Jiao Ming's heart grew:

Not because he feared it, but because he was certain it hadn't lied; this bizarre Qilin clan slaughter incident really wasn't done by the Ancestor Dragon.

At least, doing this would only bring about its own early annihilation by my forces, since I would never let it keep growing stronger; even a quick breakthrough wouldn't help, for as fellow Great Luo Stage cultivators, the quality gap isn't so huge that numbers can't make up for it.

As long as it breaks through, it will surely die!

Jiao Ming's thoughts raced:

Since the Ancestor Dragon had no need to court self-destruction, who then was scheming all this?

Is it Hongjun? Or Ancestor Phoenix? Or some other innate deity?

What purpose does that hidden mastermind have in wanting to kill the Ancestor Dragon……

【After a full five yun of time, this protracted dragon-slaying war finally came to an end.】

【After the Ancestor Dragon's initial display of divine might, then the waning of its vigor in the middle stage, and finally the decline of its momentum, it perfectly demonstrated the strength of a powerhouse newly entered into the Great Luo Peak!】

【But its fate had been sealed from the very beginning……】

【With a mournful dragon roar, the Ancestor Dragon's massive body plunged into the East Sea, immeasurable dragon blood seeping into the vast ocean, who knows how much aquatic wisdom it will awaken.】

【After the Dragon Clan's Ancestor betrayed the elder brother, it too eventually met its own dead end…… Ancestor Dragon, fallen!】

【You, Hongjun, and Ancestor Phoenix all have serious injuries, yet you didn't tend to your wounds; instead, you all gazed at the Ancestor Dragon's corpse drifting on the azure waves, and for a moment there was an odd silence—no one left, no one spoke.】

【After the Ancestor Qilin, another old ancestor has perished…… Is this still a kind of special sacrifice?】

【You don't know; you can only gaze at the bloody, mangled dragon corpse bobbing on the sea surface……】

【In that silence, an Azure Dragon silently surfaced from the sea, gazing at its father's mutilated corpse, its eyes filled only with sorrow.】

【It lifted its head to look at you, and its eyes clearly revealed hatred!】

【Its father had done nothing wrong; merely advancing in cultivation was enough to warrant his death……】

【It suppressed its grief, slowly sinking its father's corpse into the sea, intending to hold a funeral for him—a grand funeral, a funeral for an innocent person.】

……

(End of Chapter)