50. The Clash of Dragons and Immortal Ruins

Evil King, gazing at the festive crowd, looks up at the midnight moon, half-hidden by clouds.

Dong!

The palace bell tolls, marking the transition from New Year's Eve to the new year, symbolizing the old giving way to the new. The crowd cheers as Ren and Mei appear, the atmosphere soaring. Fireworks explode, lighting the night like day, as people celebrate, hopeful yet anxious for the future.

Some, however, look skyward.

"It's here."

Righteous sect disciples brace themselves.

"It's here."

Xian Lilith, leading the Demon Sect's agents, glances at Feng one last time.

"It's here!"

Evil King's eyes seem to pierce the moonlight, sensing Bright Hua's dragon aura awakening from the people's prayers.

The dragon aura, born of the people's will, is flawless, the pinnacle of human power.

But this is the moment of transition between emperors. Ming's founding dragon aura has dissipated, replaced by Ren's rising divine dragon.

The unique founding aura will become Bright Hua's eternal shield, and if the dynasty endures, Ming's temple will remain a sacred site.

From the invisible dragon veins, a colossal purple-gold dragon, too vast to behold, emerges, its five claws radiating divine might. Its human dragon aura suppresses all, even Evil King, a near-immortal, feels its weight, let alone opportunists in the capital.

"Is this dragon aura suppression?"

Feng grits his teeth, his mana sealed deep within, sluggish and unusable.

The Demon Sect dares challenge a rising dynasty's aura, utter madness!

But looking up, his pupils shrink.

Ren's dragon aura, though grand and awe-inspiring, seems slightly illusory, not fully solid.

In the crowd, Feng realizes the Demon Sect's moment to strike.

Now!

"Suya, go back," Feng says gravely, taking a deep breath.

"Feng."

Suya's eyes flicker with worry, but knowing her weak cultivation and lingering poison make her a burden, she nods. "I understand."

Feng's expression is heavy, his mind racing with doubts.

From the tower, Evil King, watching Feng and Suya, seems to sense his confusion, murmuring, "Yes, the founding emperor's dragon aura has become the dynasty's barrier. Though Ren's reign is vibrant, it's the dynasty's weakest moment. The founding aura, not yet fully integrated, is unstable. Only when future emperors join the dragon veins will such a chance vanish, save for the dynasty's decline."

"So, the opportunity!" Evil King eyes Tao, whose face shifts uncertainly. "There's only one chance. Are you truly resolved?"

Tao pales, lowering his head. "I'm wondering, if Father were in my place, what would he do?"

"And?" Evil King counters.

Tao looks up, his eyes wild with madness. "Father would be crazier, more ruthless. If it's not my world, why not destroy it?"

"Hahahaha cough!" Evil King laughs, choking, black gas spilling from his mouth, corroding the treated wood beneath into brittle decay.

"That's why I say you're most like Ming."

Evil King's composure slips, his hair graying briefly before darkening. "That's why Ming chose Ren over you. With your mirrored mindset, Bright Hua would fall to ruin, war everywhere."

Tao doesn't deny it, nodding. "Since I can't be emperor, that's why I'm here today, isn't it?"

Evil King smirks, waving a hand. The coffin fully opens, revealing the prince in a python robe. The last dynasty's dragon aura surges, forcing Tao's jiao dragon back.

The four-clawed golden dragon, sensing Tao's shared hatred for Ren's divine dragon, roars at the sky.

Evil King forms a seal, his gaze piercing the city's facade, locking onto his three scheming disciples positioned at the capital's triangular points, aligned with his plan.

He also notes righteous heroes, aware of their scheme yet allowing the Demon Sect's preparations, intrigued by the stakes.

"You know, thirty years ago, that event," Evil King begins, ignoring Tao's expression. "The clash of the Twin Stars, Purple Star versus Immortal Seat, happened here in the capital."

"The Wanmin Star Array guards the capital and seals the site where Jianmu fell, the last immortal relic. Reverse it, and the immortal ruins will reappear, enveloping the city."

"And the array's core is our emperor!"

The rest is unspoken.

Tao pauses, then grins. "So, I use my royal jiao dragon aura to disrupt the array, let the last dynasty's dead dragon aura strike, loosening the seal. You reverse the array, the immortal ruins appear, and your coveted immortality method lies within."

"The righteous sects know," Evil King says calmly. "Otherwise, they wouldn't let us prepare."

"After all, ascension and immortality, who can resist?" He sneers. "But those old cowards lack the guts to come themselves, sending their disciples instead."

Few ancient beings, frozen in time, dare risk as much as he does, fearing death yet braving danger.

"Let's begin!"

At Evil King's command, the coffin glows blindingly, piercing the heavy curtains. The light soars, outshining the city's lanterns and fireworks, piercing the clouds.

As all eyes turn, massive spiritual fluctuations erupt from the city's triangular points.

Before anyone reacts, the Demon Sect unleashes immense power, shaking the sky and trembling the earth.

Yet, the human array activates, glowing across the capital. Starlight pours down, weaving with human will into an unbreakable barrier.

Even the combined might of thousands of demonic cultivators cannot dent it.

Spurt!

The backlash makes the demonic array leaders, including Lust, Zareth, and Ven, spit blood, their faces pale. Ven, the newest, cries, "Master!"

Evil King turns, signaling Tao. "Please."

Tao's jiao dragon soars, merging with the starlight and human will barrier.

As a dragon of the same lineage, it goes unchallenged, blending seamlessly.

On the jade carriage, Ren grips the armrest, nearly crushing it, roaring, "Tao, you court death!"

The jiao dragon, tiny against the mile-long divine dragon, melts the barrier like ice, allowing the demonic light to strike Ren's golden dragon.

"Roar!"

The illusory dragon roars in pain and rage.

Ren pales, alarming Mei, who moves to support him.

"Now."

Evil King's eyes sharpen, his mana surging with boundless deathly aura, enough to shatter mountains. His childlike facade fades, his face pale, spitting black blood darker than ink.

The blood touches a bird hiding under the eaves, dissolving its flesh instantly, leaving a skeleton that crumbles to ash mid-fall.

Empowered by Evil King's mana, the last dynasty's golden dragon gains strength, roaring with soul-deep hatred, charging the sky.

Though smaller, the black-tainted dragon bites Ren's divine dragon's arm.

"Roar!"

Both dragons' cries echo, audible even to mortals.

Ren's nose bleeds, startling Jian Qian and Mei, but he waves them off, enduring the pain. "Continue!"

"Majesty," Mei rises, unable to stay seated, moving to support him.

"Sit!" Ren snaps, his harsh tone piercing Mei's heart. She stiffens, trembling, and sits.

Ren wipes the blood, his eyes blazing. "Qing!"

A moon rises over the palace's rear mountain, a jade disc illuminating the earth like day, the mountain gleaming like ice.

A figure steps forth, bathed in moonlight, white robes pristine.

A chilling sword light, like an immortal from beyond, cuts through.

The moon and sword light envelop all, dimming the world, stunning onlookers.

It severs the last dynasty's dragon, causing Tao to spit blood. The prince's faint breath stops, truly dead.

"Too Yin Mysterious Heaven Sword!"

Evil King growls.

The Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady's blade, slayer of ancient gods, shakes the eastern seas. A Xian Sect treasure, wieldable only by its leader or disciples, one of the few immortal artifacts left.

Qing, wielding the moon, arrives.

"Feng! Jun! Lian!"

Ren roars.

Feng unleashes his hidden treasure, risking exposure to save the capital's people.

His aura rivals Qing's.

"Immortal artifact?"

Demonic cultivators eye him greedily, even righteous prodigies glancing over.

"Not a complete artifact," Evil King realizes, sensing its hollow grandeur. "A fragment."

Yet the greed persists, a fragment is still an immortal relic!

Thousands of soldiers, weapons gleaming!

The Black Tortoise army moves, Jun laughing, "Hahaha! What vermin dare defy Bright Hua's might!"

His laughter fades, eyes burning. "Intruders, die!"

The army forms, merging martial and human aura into a massive Black Tortoise, its dark waters radiating killing intent, rivaling the mythical White Tiger.

Lian's Yan Fu army, with wild, rolling aura, forms a ferocious wolf. Lian, in ghost-faced armor, raises her halberd, her pride clashing subtly with Jun's tortoise.

With these auras, the breached Wanmin Star Array stabilizes, resisting the pressure.

Evil King smirks at Tao. "Time to fight, boy. If you emulate Ming, you know how he'd break this."

"Ren is formidable," Tao admits, acknowledging Ren's pre-ascension strategies.

"But I won't sit idle."

Tao reveals a sealed scroll, sighing, "Father never imagined I'd find his traces."

Even Evil King's eyes narrow at the scroll's aura.

"The Wanmin Star Array was originally the Zhou Tian Star Array in his plan, but Father renamed it," Tao mocks, unsure if he scorns himself, Ren, or another.

"Using his array, his military tactics, his wisdom, then discarding him."

Tao sighs, "Father, how naive that man was to trust you. And you, trusting his work, never altering the array."

Evil King pauses. "Because that man was a once-in-a-millennium genius, unmatched."

Ming couldn't find anyone better.

Tao tears the seal, revealing a painting of a man's back.

"Bold!" Evil King sighs, slapping his forehead. "I'll go mad with you!"

A dao seed and wheel appear behind him, their world-shattering power collapsing, flooding the painting with endless spiritual tides.

The paper burns under the mana surge.

Yet, amidst the dao and mana, the figure seems to awaken, slightly turning.

His back alone is breathtaking, captivating.

A trembling old eunuch, Elder Mu, under the moonlight, grows dazed, as if a familiar sensation resurfaces.

"Don't torment me, please," he whispers, but no voice answers.

The figure raises a hand.

The Wanmin Star Array collapses!

A ruined landscape appears in the sky, like a mirage.

Countless cultivator corpses, monstrous beasts, glowing treasures, and scarred battlegrounds, drenched in blood and resentment, materialize.

Among the dead are sect leaders, shocking righteous disciples.

Intact or broken treasures stun rogue cultivators.

Rivers of blood and resentment terrify demonic cultivators.

All stare, awestruck, at the sky.

The immortal ruins!

And now, they descend!

Below lie the capital's people, countless unaware mortals.

Righteous sects hesitate, act, and miss the chance; stay, and gain unparalleled opportunity.

Demonic cultivators and rogues, eager, nearly cheer.

Righteous sects turn away, unwilling to watch, but do not intervene.

The immortal path is arduous; mortal lives pale beside it.

But some care.

"Hold it back!" Ren grips the armrest, eyes bloodshot with fury.

"You want to play, Tao? I'll play to the end!"

From the palace's secret realms, a giant cauldron shadow envelops the capital.

"Mountain River Cauldron!"

"Soldiers, can you defend the nation?" Ren asks. "Jun, can you still fight?"

"Though old, I have strength!" Jun shouts.

"I obey!" Lian adds.

Jun laughs, pointing at Lian. "Not your turn, girl!"

Four god shadows emerge from the tortoise: a soaring Azure Dragon, a sharp White Tiger, a fiery Vermilion Bird.

Onlookers pale.

"Four Symbols God-Slaying Array!"

Ming's invincible formation, disbanded after peace, should be gone, yet Jun revives its shadow.

"I underestimated the world's heroes," Evil King admits.

Jun, with one army, echoes past glory.

"Girl, watch this!" Jun waves, the White Tiger merging with Yan Fu's wolf, dominating it, bolstering the army.

Qing's sword, Ren's cauldron, Feng's fragment, and Jun's array hold the ruins aloft.

Ren spits blood, Mei's eyes welling, but Consort Yu Fei reaches him first, wiping his mouth with a jade cloth, tears falling.

Mei sits, defeated.

Ren, catching his breath, asks, "When will the Wanmin Star Array restart?"

"Before dawn," a voice replies. "But the ruins' time flows differently, half a month passes there by dawn."

"Half a month in the secret realm," Ren leans back, waving Jian Qian, Mei, and Yu Fei out to calm the people.

Alone, he speaks.

"Let the sects fight for the ruins' treasures. Time's ample, I'm not stingy."

"After, except Xian Sect, halve the sects' disciple quotas for twenty years. Make those watching sects pay tribute. Establish the Demon Subjugation Bureau, Father's dream, I'll fulfill."

"Sect secret realms for ten years, the court gets quotas."

"Fair trade," Ren coughs, pale.

"Bold!" Evil King coughs, glancing at the stunned Tao.

"That's why you lost, why Ming didn't choose you."

"He doesn't betray the nation or people. The cauldron's use wounds an emperor, likely leaving him frail."

"Would you trade your life and health for a million citizens?"

Tao is silent.

He couldn't.

"Ren's throne ensures Ming's legacy. Yours would've ruined it," Evil King sneers.

"You lost utterly. I'm spent too."

His dao seed and wheel gone, Evil King's wounds and decay surge. Facing dragon aura directly, he's weaker than a novice cultivator.

Heavenly decline, ten calamities, death awaits.

Using his last mana, he flies to the ruins.

"I'll live again!"

"Pray your disciples don't find you," Tao warns, regaining composure.

"Let them try," Evil King scoffs. "Killing their master would prove their worth."

He becomes a streak of light, joining countless others rushing to the perilous, opportunity-filled ruins.

Tao watches silently, his thoughts unreadable.

Soon, Lust, Zareth, and Ven arrive, asking, "Where's Master?"

"If you hurry, you might catch him," Tao replies. "He wants to know if you're worthy."

The three pale, rushing to the ruins without farewell.

Tao, alone with the prince's coffin, pours wine for himself and the corpse, sitting beside it. "What a loss! You're gone, but I'm trapped, neither living nor dying."

He pauses, noticing a faint heartbeat. Frantically, he pulls the prince out, producing a teleportation talisman.

"Meant to escape with this, but you get it now."

"Live, it's fate; die, it's destiny. Don't say I didn't give you a chance."

He activates the talisman, sending the prince to a hidden refuge.

Tao lies in the coffin, awaiting his fate.

Soon, armored guards and Embroidered Guard surround the tower.

Touching the coffin's dragon carvings, he mocks, "Buried with imperial honors, eh?"

"Ren, you won."

"I concede fully."

Flames engulf the tower, cries of fire echoing.

At the palace's rear mountain, Qing exhales, her cultivation strained by the immortal sword.

"Go up," Ren's voice urges. "The court stays out, but Xian Sect's Qing can go."

"Father," Qing hesitates.

"It's fine. I'm here."

"Yes, Father." Qing nods.

She summons a cloud beneath her feet, preparing to enter the ruins.

As she moves, Elder Mu, panicked by the day's events, grabs her foot.

"Immortal! Princess! Don't go!"

Thinking she's ascending forever, he clutches her leg, his face brushing her robes, arms wrapping around her perfect calf.

"You!" Qing stammers, flustered, feeling a man's touch for the first time.

"Let go!" she demands, shy and urgent.

"No, Princess! Don't leave me," Elder Mu sobs.

The moonlit immortal, unshaken by the ruins, sighs at the old man.

"Come along."

Elder Mu beams with joy.