Chapter 224 - The Ancestral Dragon Ritual
Zhong Yue felt a little bit surprised, and asked, "Why are you saying this, Brother Fenglou?"
Ao Fenglou sighed, but he did not say anything as he thought to himself, The elders of our Ao Clan have crossed the line. I'm doing this so that there is still room for negotiation in the future and we will not become enemies.
He hesitated for a while, and finally he took out a high quality jade, made it into a token with the word "Lou" on it and said, "I will not give you empty promises, Junior Martial Brother Zhong, so please accept this token and in the future, you may ask me to do any one thing in my capability for you using this token!"
Zhong Yue was shocked and thought, Could it be that Ao Fenglou felt that the dragons treated me poorly, and did not give me proper treatment as their ally, so he is trying to reimburse me?
He did not hold any grudges to the dragons; they might be stingy, but both the Golden Feathery Peng Sword and the Ancestral Dragon Ritual were way too important to him.
However, he still accepted Ao Fenglou's token, as he wanted Ao Fenglou to feel better about what his elders had done. Ao Fenglou was also one of the most talented individuals among the dragons, which would make this token of his quite valuable in the future.
Besides, if Zhong Yue did not accept his token, Ao Fenglou would not let his guard down. With his personality, he might even think that Zhong Yue held a grudge towards the dragons, which would bring harm to the dragons in the future, and so Ao Fenglou might try to kill Zhong Yue.
From Zhong Yue's viewpoint, Ao Fenglou really might do it!
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After a few more days, the Dragon City became more lively as the Clan Master and the elders of the Li, Yu, Po and Jiao Clans arrived to discuss some matters regarding the Ancestral Dragon Ritual and their plans to go ashore to pursue the Sea King Sha Qishan.
Because the Ao Clan had the eldest bloodline among the bloodlines of the Ancestral Dragon, whenever the other clans had important matters to discuss, everyone would gather in the Dragon City of the Ao Clan.
Other than these older generation Qi Practitioners, Qi Practitioners of the great clans' younger generations and from the other smaller clans also arrived in the Dragon City for the Ancestral Dragon Ritual.
The Ancestral Dragon Ritual took place once every thirty years. Thirty years might be enough for humans to get married and have their children or grandchildren, but to the dragons, thirty years passed like the blink of an eye.
Dragons could live on for a very long time, which allowed most of them to become Qi Practitioners. Three decades was nothing to them, and when some of the dragon Qi Practitioners could not make it in time, they could still participate in the Ancestral Dragon Ritual the next time as long as they had yet reached the level of Heavenly Dharma.
Some of the more talented dragon Qi Practitioners, that managed to achieve the level of Heavenly Dharma, would have no need to take part in the Ancestral Dragon Ritual anymore. Because of their talents, the Ancestral Dragon Ritual would not benefit them much. Normally, the dragons would pour in even more effort and resources into these talented individuals, which would bring them even more benefits, in order to cultivate them.
Ao Fenglou was one of those talented individuals; he had managed to reached his current level in less than thirty years, and his talent was one of the rarest even among the dragons.
In the city, many of the dragons' young Qi Practitioners challenged each other, and the challenges among the great clans were even more frequent and vigorous, especially the Jiao Dragon Clan that was very well known for its combat prowess. These challenges and fights among the dragons made the city very lively even before the Ancestral Dragon Ritual started.
Zhong Yue received a challenge invitation from a servant of Jiao Qingtu, stating that Jiao Qingtu wished to compete with him in the Ancestral Dragon Ritual.
On the same day, the five great clans stopped their discussions as they came into agreement on selecting five magnate Qi Practitioners, each leading their troops ashore to hunt down Sha Qishan.
Then, the five great clans announced an unusual list of selected candidates for the Ancestral Dragon Ritual, causing an uproar among the dragons.
This time, from the level of Spirit Nurture up to the level of Inner Core, each clan would be able to select ten candidates from each level to partake in the Ancestral Dragon Ritual. With that, there were a total of two hundred candidates!
"Why are there so many people taking part in the Ritual this time? There were only eighty people at most previously…."
"I heard that it was because of the rebellion of Sha Qishan. The captured rebels under the command of Sha Qishan were sacrificed to the Ancestral Dragon, and with that, the Ancestral Dragon has bestowed a much generous reward on us, allowing more people to be selected."
"There's still some time left before the Ancestral Dragon Ritual starts, and if we dragons manage to capture Sha Qishan and sacrifice him to the Ancestral Dragon, the Ancestral Dragon Ritual this time would be even grander!"
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The Ancestral Dragon Ritual finally began, and this Ancestral Dragon Ritual was even grander than the previous Ancestral Dragon Rituals. It took place not in the city, but instead on the ocean surface.
On this day, almost all of the dragons headed out of the city and rose to the surface, standing on the vast expanse of the sea. Then, under the lead of the Clan Masters of the five great clans, along with the elders behind the Clan Masters, they all started to pray to the heavens and earth.
Zhong Yue and the other one hundred and ninety-nine candidates participating in the Ancestral Dragon Ritual stood at the side, while the other dragons stood in midair. Some of them even turned into their true form as they danced and moved in the skies. At that moment, dragon species like the Jiao Dragons, Po Dragons, Li Dragons, Fish Dragons, White Dragons, and many other dragons could be seen covering the skies with their long, slender bodies.
Other than the dragons, there were also gigantic creatures that emerged from the sea. Huge giants and monsters stood on the gigantic creatures, slamming their fists onto the drums in front of them, playing a rhythm Zhong Yue had never heard before.
The giant monsters then started blowing horns made from the ivory of unknown gigantic creatures more than five feet long, with deep yet clear tones.
After the prayers, the deepest part of the sea rumbled, and something started to emerge from the depths. When Zhong Yue looked down, he saw a huge landmass ascending slowly from the sea floor.
It was a very ancient land lying deep in the abyss of the ocean, and the prayers of the dragons were meant for this ancient land.
This land had always been the ancestral land of the dragons, an ancient yet sacred place filled with traces left behind by the ancestors of the dragons.
As the land emerged, the sacred palace, ancient mountains, and huge holy statues also showed themselves, as if they were trying to bring everyone back to the ancient days of long ago.
This entire land was a huge altar. Countless dragon armies brought up the rebels commanded by Sha Qishan. Although most of the rebels were killed on the battlefield, the dragons managed to captured over forty thousand of these rebels.
As the magnate figure of all sea races under the command of the dragons, Sha Qishan had many potential armies under him. Excluding the five great clans of the dragons, his faction was the strongest in the entire Eastern Sea.
His rebellion has caused great damage to the entire dragon race, reducing the population of the dragons to an extent. With the traditionally low population of the dragons, which was far lower than the sea races, the dragons had to execute these rebels. This would set an example, so that the other sea races would not dare to rebel against them in the future, and to prevent any future threats!
And that was the other, hidden reason why the Ancestral Dragon Ritual was so grand.
The giants and huge monsters started to play their drums and horns louder, while countless rebels were brought up the altar and formed a circle around it. These rebels had their strength sealed away and without any power to resist, they could only kneel down around the altar obediently.
On the outer circle were the Spirit Nurture level Qi Practitioners, then the Rebirth level Qi Practitioners, Awakening level Qi Practitioners, and then the Inner Core level Qi Practitioners. The innermost circle was the Heavenly Dharma level Qi Practitioners.
The atmosphere became thicker and thicker. Suddenly, the Clan Master of the Ao Clan shouted, "Yuan Shen Execution!"
The other four Clan Masters cried out, "Yuan Shen Execution!"
The elders then bowed towards the altar and shouted, "Saint Weapon, Yuan Shen Execution!"
The Pan Dragon Sword floating in the air then turned into a huge winding dragon. The Yuan Shen of the Heavenly Dharma level Qi Practitioners emerged from their bodies uncontrollably.
Then, the coiling dragon wound through one Yuan Shen after another of these Qi Practitioners, killing and dispersing their Yuan Shen as it passed through them!
The scene was extremely terrifying! Zhong Yue, standing off to the side was shocked as he watched these strong Qi Practitioners die just like that!
As the Yuan Shen of the rebels was destroyed, their power remained at the scene. The remained energies merged together, forming an incredibly horrifying power that grew stronger and stronger.
The five Clan Masters and the elders directing the Ritual started humming a mysterious dragon sound that sounded just like a real dragon. Their voices contained some sort of mysterious rhythm that started to resonate with the void as they continued to hum.
A terrifying soul out in the void awakened as the humming resonated with the space around it. The energies made from the power of the Qi Practitioners then linked with this ancient soul in the void, and formed a bridge that allowed the ancient soul to descend!!
"Body Execution!" The Ao Clan's old Clan Master then said, "Use their blood to awaken the Ancestral Dragon!"
Following after him, the other Clan Masters and the elders shouted, commanding the winding dragon to behead the already dead Heavenly Dharma Qi Practitioners!
As their heads fell onto the ground, their blood gushed out and merged together in the air again!
When their blood merged together, it turned into a blood dragon that charged right into the void! It kept on coiling and moving as it disappeared entirely into the void!
As soon as the blood dragon disappeared, a terrifying aura gushed out from the place where it had disappeared, the air twisted around while a pair of great eyes faintly appeared.
The eyes were facing down, and quickly started to become clearer.
Then, the eyes opened and started to shine. They became brighter and brighter, to the extent that they were even brighter than the sun!
After that, a dragon's head started to form behind the pair of eyes, its whiskers floating in the air.
When the dragons around the altar saw the gigantic dragon head appearing from the void, they shivered excitedly. Their souls trembled while they sang and danced around the altar with the other dragons moving through the air.
"We hereby offer you the sacrifices, Ancestor of all dragons!" shouted the five Clan Masters as they bowed towards the gigantic dragon head.
The Ancestral Dragon opened up its mouth, and the forty-some thousand members of the sea races flew towards its mouth!
In just a split-second, the head of the Ancestral Dragon devoured all of the rebels!
Witnessing this scene, Zhong Yue felt goosebumps rise all over his body. That scene was simply too terrifying and barbaric, yet mysterious and amazing at the same time!
"We beg for your blessing, Ancestral Dragon!" shouted the countless dragons around the altar while they all bowed towards the head of the Ancestral Dragon.