Roar! A dragon’s cry erupted from deep within Jared, echoing across heaven and earth. The sound belonged not to any man but to a true dragon. It carried ancient vastness, sovereign majesty, and ruthless dominance.
The roar froze the entire battlefield; celestials and beastfolk alike felt inexplicable reverence well up in their hearts.
“What sound is that?!” the Grand Venerable blurted, color draining from his face.
Lyria’s pupils shrank. “This is…”
Jared threw back his head and howled; golden light flooded outward in a blinding torrent. The radiance dazzled like a newborn sun, sweeping away the oppression cast by the sigil.
Crack!
The golden runes that blanketed the sky splintered under the impact, fissures racing across their surface.
“Impossible!” Lyria cried out, “The Divine Seal Sigil was crafted by Master’s own hand. It seals every law beneath High Immortal Realm Level Nine, how can this be…”
Her words were still hanging when something even more shocking burst forth.
A golden dragon phantom surged up behind Jared, shooting toward the clouds. The dragon stretched one thousand yards, scales gleaming, five talons razor sharp, whiskers floating, eyes glowing like twin suns and moons. It coiled above Jared’s head, radiating supreme authority and savage pride, the unquestioned ruler of heaven and beasts alike.
A shout tore through the stunned air. Someone finally found his voice and cried, “T-The Golden Dragon’s true form!”
The words cracked like thunder, nailing every gaze to the blazing beast coiling above Jared’s head.
Another voice stuttered from the ranks, high-pitched with terror. “Dra… Draconians?!”
The speaker could hardly finish the question, his throat locking around the ancient name. The Grand Venerable’s voice shook, disbelief forcing each word out of him. “And it’s a five-clawed Golden Dragon! How… How is that possible? That royal line was wiped out ages ago!”
His eyes stayed glued to the sky, wide and wet.
Silence swallowed the battlefield. No clang of steel, no beating drum, only the hush that follows an earthquake when everyone checks whether the world still stands. The three-hundred-thousand Celestial Army and the battered hundred-thousand-strong beast remnant all tilted their heads to the heavens. Blades drooped. For a heartbeat they forgot the fight, even forgot death itself.
Stories had whispered that Draconians stood at creation’s dawn, the loftiest of all living lines. To see one now felt like watching a myth step out of stone and breathe. Among that fabled race, a five-clawed Golden Dragon reigned as emperor. Its blood outranked even the celestials’ royal strain, a truth that pressed on every heart like a mountain.
Slowly, Jared rose from the scorched earth. Light wrapped him until man and dragon silhouette blended, the two figures overlapping until only one radiant outline remained. Shimmering beams washed over his torn flesh. Gashes knit closed, broken breath steadied, and his presence climbed higher with every pulse of gold.
The Golden Dragon Bloodline had awakened, ancient power humming through muscle and marrow. Jared opened his eyes, solid gold from rim to pupil. He looked down at the celestials milling like ants below and spoke in a voice colder than glacier stone.
“Celestials? Royal bloodline? Hahaha…” The single laugh rang out like a knife through ice.
He laughed again, longer this time, dripping scorn. “Before the Golden Dragon Bloodline, your so-called Divine King strain is nothing but barnyard fowl, dust beneath my claws.”
“You…” The word snapped out, no courage behind it, only raw alarm. Color drained from Lyria’s cheeks.
Inside her veins, the Divine King Bloodline quivered and shrank back, cowed by an older, higher sovereign. The dread came from the marrow, servant shrinking before lord.
Lucian pushed upright, trembling. Staring at Jared aloft, he choked on the truth. “Golden Dragon Bloodline… No wonder the chaotic force chose you…”
Jared spared him no answer. His gold gaze fixed on the Grand Venerable instead, flat and unforgiving. “Old relic, enjoyed yourself a moment ago, didn’t you?” The words fell soft, yet every syllable rang with promised pain.
The Grand Venerable jerked back a step, limbs shaking. “J-Jared, don’t act rashly! I am the Celestial Grand Venerable. If you kill me, the Celestial Palace will hunt you!”
“The Fourteenth Firmament?” Jared’s chuckle held frost. “Let them come. Today I start with you, old dog, and honor every beastfolk soul you butchered.”
His tone never rose, yet it carried battlefield-wide. Jared then lifted one finger, simple and steady. Above him, the dragon phantom threw its head back and roared, then dived as a single spear of gold straight at the Grand Venerable.
“N-No! Divine King Ward!” Panic shredded the ruler’s composure as he screamed the command. He poured everything he had into the call. Dark-gold robes flared, runes swarming outward to stack shield upon shield around him.
Against the Golden Dragon, those shields resembled damp parchment, already peeling. A ripping hiss split the air. The gold beam punched through every barrier and burned a bowl-sized hole through his chest. Rigidity claimed him. He lowered his gaze to the gap, horror clogging his final breath.
“I… I ruled level thirteen for centuries… How could…”
The sentence never ended. His body detonated, exploding into a crimson storm. Even his soul scattered, nothing left to flee.
“The Grand Venerable is dead!” The cry rang out, half shock, half terror.
“Run!”
“Flee!”
Panic cascaded from throat to throat. The Celestial Army collapsed at once. Discipline snapped like twine. With no commander, three hundred thousand soldiers scattered like headless insects across the torn fields.
A low growl slipped from Jared’s throat. “Trying to run?” His gaze flashed. “You killed my friends… Think I’ll let you stroll away?”
He wove his hands. Overhead, the dragon phantom answered with another thunderous roar.
“Golden Dragon Domain! Open!”
Gold radiated outward a thousand kilometers from Jared’s stance, blanketing sky and soil in regal light. Inside the domain, every celestial soldier slogged as though knee-deep in tar, while Beastfolk Warriors felt wounds knit and strength surge.
“Strike back! Make them pay for our brothers!” Luther’s shout rang out through the chaos. He led the ragged beast ranks in a sudden, vicious charge.
Slaughter followed, ruthless and one-sided. Robbed of courage and power, the Celestial Army offered no real resistance inside the golden cage. Steel flashed, limbs flew, screams blended into an unending wail.
Lyria supported the reeling Lucian, her stomach twisting as gore painted the ground. She could already see it; defeat was sealed.
Lucian shouted, “Junior Disciple, move!”
He bared his teeth. “This man carries the Golden Dragon Bloodline. We cannot fight him. We retreat to the Fourteenth Firmament, report to Master, and let Master decide!”
Lyria nodded once, drew a silver talisman from her sleeve, and crushed it between trembling fingers. She shouted, “Voidstep Talisman, open!”
Silver light wrapped around them, and ripples shuddered through the air itself.
Jared let out a cold scoff. “Trying to leave?”
He flicked a finger toward them. The golden dragon phantom spat a blazing stream, a lance of molten gold streaking straight for the pair.
Lyria screamed, “Divine King Amulet!”
She whipped out a jade pendant; the charm flared and unfolded into a glowing shield that swallowed them both.
Dragon breath crashed into the barrier. The shield trembled violently, yet it refused to break. While the shield held, the Voidstep Talisman finished igniting. Their figures blurred, turning half-transparent within the rippling space.
Lyria spat, “Jared!” She locked her gaze on him, venom swimming in her eyes. “The disgrace of today will be returned a hundredfold. The Celestial Palace will never spare you!”
Jared’s reply stayed flat. “Ha! I’ll be waiting…”
He added, “Tell the Fourteenth Firmament this: from today, level thirteen is no longer your back garden. If one of you invades, I kill one; if two come, I kill them both.”
The instant his words faded, Lyria and Lucian vanished completely.
Jared made no move to pursue. He drifted to the ground. The dragon phantom unraveled above him, and the gold in his pupils dimmed.
An unfamiliar wave of weakness flooded every limb. Awakening the Golden Dragon Bloodline had come at a brutal price. The clash moments ago had drained him to the marrow, leaving his breath ragged.
