Chapter 1078: The Crystal Legacy?
Chapter 1078: The Crystal Legacy?
"Thank you for the kind words, Brother Xu, but I would like to proceed with the fight."
Both Xu An'yu and the two Emperors presiding as referees were surprised by the absolute calmness of Tang San's voice. His tone held no fluctuation, and his face looked as serene and steady as always. He stood there with the Black Tortoise Shield in his left hand and the Holy Dragon Spear in his right, smiling faintly as he looked toward Xu An'yu.
Xu An'yu blinked a few times, but then replied with a smile, "Very well. Then come."
Tang San didn't rush to attack, however. Instead, he continued, "Brother Xu, since you have a mount, I suppose I'll summon mine too. You don't mind, do you?"
Xu An'yu froze for a second. "A mount?"
The Scourge Dragon was banned. Did Jin Miaolin have another one? According to tournament rules, living beings weren't allowed to assist in battle. The Scourge Dragon had been allowed because it had been purchased in the auction, and even then, it had been a point of contention. The Light Sprite was technically not alive, since it didn't have a true physical body, while Xu An'yu's "mount" was actually a manifestation of himself and didn't fall under these restrictions.
Tang San smiled faintly, turned to face Council Mountain, and bowed deeply. "This is the grace of the Ancestral Court. Come forth, Crystalline!"
A melodious dragon cry rang out at once. In that instant, nearly all the Emperors present—as well as Xu An'yu—felt their hair stand on end. This dragon's cry felt engraved into their very bones, as if it had always lived inside them. It stirred something ancient, something unforgettable.
Xu An'yu's eyes widened in an instant. He stared at Tang San in utter disbelief, his face frozen with shock.
Even the Undying Demon Emperor and the Sunborne Nymph Emperor sharply turned their gazes toward Tang San, both of them visibly shaken.
A crystalline radiance began to rise silently behind Tang San. His aura surged wildly, no longer purely life energy, but now infused with something more… something ethereal and transcendent. He seemed to become slightly incorporeal, as if his body were fading into another dimension.
Behind him, the shiny form of a dragon emerged, covered in shimmering scales like translucent crystal, which gave off a pale blue glow. Under the illumination of Xu An'yu's radiant aura, this dragon sparkled magnificently.
A crystal dragon… The Crystal Demon Emperor?!
In that moment, nearly all the Emperors burst from the resting chambers atop Council Mountain. They looked up at the sky, and even the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor couldn't help but gape in disbelief.
Tang San spoke with solemn reverence, "As Your Majesties well know, before my city lord evaluation, I was granted the honor to commune with the Celestial Pillar of Her Majesty the Crystal Demon Emperor, and I received its legacy. Once more, I have to express my deepest gratitude to Her Majesty for her acknowledgement. Today, I summon the Crystal Dragon to fight alongside me!"
As he finished, he gave a slight bow to the shimmering dragon behind him. The semi-illusory Crystal Dragon dodged the salute with a graceful dip, then flew beneath Tang San, catching him with its head. Crystalline blue scales began to rise from its snout, flowing upward to cover Tang San's body. In an instant, he was clad in full-body dragon scale armor.
Tang San's aura skyrocketed. While still not as overpowering as Xu An'yu's, it now possessed a dreamlike, intangible quality that, in a way, made it even more shocking.
We're talking trump cards now? Please. Who doesn't have one?
Even before the Battle for the Throne began, Tang San had known he couldn't win the championship relying solely on those few divine artifacts. But he couldn't reveal his multiple bloodlines either, especially the transcendent ones, without drawing suspicion from the Emperors. So, he had prepared several layers of contingencies. Among them, the most crucial was Crystalline.
The Crystal Demon Emperor's greatest ability had been replication: the ability to replicate three bloodline abilities simultaneously, and even adjust them to counter specific opponents. By passing off his own multiple bloodlines as her "legacy," Tang San could reasonably use some of his powers without raising alarm. Even better, since her bloodline imprint had a mind of her own, Tang San was actually able to summon her under a concrete form to assist him in battle, just as she had told him a while back.
He had to admit: She had been right. Communing with her Celestial Pillar had been an amazing idea; it had given him a powerful trump card that he could use out in the open with no consequences. And now, facing the overwhelming might of Xu An'yu, it was time to reveal this trump card.
The entire audience was stunned. Even the Emperors were shaken to their core. As for Mei Gongzi, she had already leapt to her feet and was staring at the scene unfolding in the sky, her heart in disarray.
Whether it was Xu An'yu with his two hearts, or Jin Miaolin, blessed by the Crystal Dragon, were these truly foes she could defeat? These two had saved their most unfathomable trump cards until this very moment!
Xu An'yu took a deep breath, staring at the Crystal Dragon beneath Tang San with bitterness on his face. Nonetheless, he bowed deeply. "Your Majesty. I never would've imagined… that Brother Jin would receive your recognition. I had originally planned, once I became Lord of Crystal City, to report to the Ancestral Court and attempt to commune with Your Majesty's Celestial Pillar. I didn't expect Brother Jin to beat me to it."
Tang San shook his head and replied with a gentle smile, "I was just fortunate. It is my honor."
In his mind, though, he heard Crystalline's voice ring out. "I swear, Dad, you might be a good fighter and whatnot, but you're entirely missing out on an acting career."
Indeed, only Tang San and Crystalline truly understood the truth. The Emperors, Xu An'yu, the spectators, even Mei Gongzi—everyone was entirely in the dark about how he had actually come across this particular ability. Everything had been an act, from beginning to end.
"Behave, child." Tang San chuckled internally. Then, slowly, he raised the Holy Dragon Spear.
Behind him, the phantom of the Ancestral Tree still shimmered, surging with vast life energy. But clad in the crystal scale armor, his aura was no longer simply that of life energy.
"Let's go, Brother Xu. Let us fight with all we've got," Tang San said solemnly.
Xu An'yu's expression turned grim. He spun his dragon spear in his hand, pointing it at Tang San. "Show me your worst, Brother Jin."
Their dragon mounts surged forward almost in unison. The two dragon knights lunged at each other.
In the sky, a powerful dual roar of dragons rang out.
The Emperors watched the clash unfold. For some reason, each of them felt an inexplicable sensation stirring deep inside. It felt… as if a new era had just begun.
Xu An'yu's strength was no surprise; they had all expected it. The dragon race's council of elders would not have supported him over the Tenebrous Demon Emperor otherwise. But no one had anticipated how deeply the Blue Gold Tree clan leader, Jin Miaolin, had hidden his power.
They all knew he had received the Crystal Demon Emperor's legacy, yet he had never revealed exactly what that legacy was. And in this tournament, he had won match after match with nothing but divine artifacts bought in the auction. Had he not been prohibited from using the Scourge Dragon, then with both that dragon and the Crystal Dragon helping him, who among his peers could have stood against him?
Clearly, in spite of his claims that he was here just to make up the numbers, from the very beginning, his goal had been an Emperor's seat and the championship.
Now, even the Sunborne Nymph Emperor regarded Tang San with complex emotions. This junior of his clearly wouldn't be as easy to control as he had initially seemed. He had hidden his cards far too well. And after today's battle, regardless of who won, Jin Miaolin's rise could no longer be stopped. Together with Xu An'yu, and perhaps only Xu An'yu, they would become the brightest stars of the Ancestral Court's future.
Compared to them, even Mei Gongzi with her powerful sword seemed lacking in depth.
The two massive dragons clashed in midair.
Xu An'yu's radiant power condensed entirely into his spear, which streaked like a lightning bolt toward Tang San.
Meanwhile, the Holy Dragon Spear in Tang San's hands appeared faint, almost ethereal. At the same moment, his Crystal Dragon mount began to shift in a strange and subtle way.