Old Tang lifted his head, eyes filled with confusion.
When he looked at the others, his pupils had already turned golden.
The thousand-year memories of Dragon King Norton were overwhelming the mere twenty years of memories he had as a human.
"Haha! This guy is hilarious—he believed it! He really believed it!"
Ren Asakura suddenly burst into laughter, like a conman celebrating a successful trick.
But Old Tang couldn't tell the difference.
He couldn't tell whether he was the Dragon King or a human being.
After all, memory shapes identity.
"Brother?"
From inside the bronze urn, Constantine seemed to sense the presence of his closest kin. He was calling out to the person dearest to him.
Everyone knew: in a thousand years of solitude, only the twins kept each other company on the throne. That's why every Dragon King either had a little-brother complex or big-brother complex, or they were obsessed with younger or older siblings.
Old Tang heard the familiar voice, and the memories in his mind surged even more violently.
The Dragon King's oppressive aura began radiating outward.
With just one look, Mai dropped to her knees.
This was the absolute dominance of a Dragon King over lower-blooded beings.
Ren Asakura lowered the dragon spine sword, as if he was bored of playing with it—or had found something even more entertaining.
"A thousand years of memories… too many to count. Old Tang's memories are like a flower in a dream, the moon in water—gone in a blink."
Dragon King Norton was awakening.
Almost in response to the call of bloodline, a corner of the bronze urn cracked open.
A pair of innocent eyes peeked out from the fracture.
"Constantine…"
Old Tang responded slowly.
"I'm back."
In that moment, he could no longer be called Old Tang.
He was Norton, King of Bronze and Flame.
The scorching royal flames burned wildly around him, and scales began to grow densely over his human skin.
The flames and scales tore his clothes apart.
His fingers were encased in dragon armor, forming razor-sharp claws—his legs too.
His height shot up from nearly 1.8 meters to a full two meters.
Rejoice—the Dragon King has returned.
Norton was now in a half-human, half-dragon state, and the heat radiating off his body far surpassed normal human levels.
Even the surrounding air shimmered with the heat.
Mai trembled all over—Norton stood just a few steps away from her.
She had never observed a Dragon King from such close range.
Old Tang was no more.
In Norton's eyes, these people were just thieves and rats who had broken into his royal chamber.
They deserved to die.
"Die!"
Norton made a small wave of his hand, and a massive explosion of flame detonated beneath their feet!
Royal Flame—this was Dragon King-level flame.
Lu Mingfei raised one hand, forming a shield of spiritual energy to protect himself.
Ren Asakura, on the other hand, swatted the Royal Flame away like it was a fly.
"Our little friend just woke up. Bit cranky, huh? Looks like someone needs a spanking!"
Ren Asakura stepped forward and instantly appeared in front of Norton. He gently extended a finger—
Through the searing heat, he flicked Norton on the forehead like he was playing a game.
And half of Dragon King Norton's body vanished.
Lu Mingfei: "???"
Mai: "???"
Ren Asakura clapped his hands like it was no big deal.
The half of Norton's body still wrapped in flames slowly fell silent.
The black dragon armor began to fade.
"No! Brother!!!"
Watching his brother die before his eyes, Constantine let out a heart-wrenching scream.
He was born.
The bronze urn began to melt.
A small figure emerged.
Black hair, black eyes—a childish yet somewhat adorable face.
But at this moment, that face was twisted with rage.
Constantine, the embodiment of power, could unleash the strongest fire-based Word Spirit.
A Word Spirit capable of reducing an entire city to ashes.
"ROOAAAR!!!"
Ren Asakura still wore his gentle smile, as if he hadn't even noticed Constantine's rage.
"Clearly, the twin dragons on the throne must devour one another to become a true king. They both knew that. Yet across the long millennia, neither ever did it. Maybe it was love—family bonds. The emotions of dragonkind are really such a contradiction."
Ren Asakura extended his hand.
Constantine's entire body was enveloped in intense flames, and his skin glowed with red-hot magma-like lines.
The temperature kept rising.
The air distorted.
Oxygen evaporated.
Constantine was about to unleash Zhu Long.
It was the pinnacle of fire-based Word Spirits.
His fury had already made him lose all reason.
If Zhu Long activated—
The entire Bronze City would be reduced to ash in an instant.
Even the Yangtze River would boil from the heat.
Dragon script and language lit up in the air.
Constantine was invoking the Word Spirit.
Mai was on the verge of tears.
Her instincts screamed at her to run.
And never look back.
But there was no escape. Zhu Long's range was too vast.
"Am I… going to die?"
Mai couldn't help but despair.
The next moment, Ren Asakura flickered forward and slapped Constantine across the face.
The invocation of Zhu Long was broken.
Half of Constantine's body vanished.
Now the two blood brothers lay side by side—each left with only half a body.
Mai stared wide-eyed at Ren Asakura.
"Am I seeing things? That was a Dragon King…"
Lu Mingfei was equally dumbfounded.
"Group leader… did you just kill them both?"
Ren Asakura waved his hand dismissively.
"Relax. Dragonkin skeletons and body structures aren't like humans'. They won't die from this. I just needed them to cool off."
Lu Mingfei didn't buy it.
"But they kinda look… super dead."
"I swear on my honor as your group leader—they're not dead. And even if they were, I could bring them back."
Lu Mingfei's mouth twitched.
"Fine, fine… I guess they've cooled off by now. Y'know, the best way to communicate with morons is to make sure they really hear you. As Confucius said, 'Win people over with virtue!'"
Ren Asakura stepped up to the two half-bodies.
A green light shimmered at his fingertip.
A powerful surge of life force flowed into the two Dragon Kings.
The half-bodies began rapidly regenerating.
In less than two seconds, the Kings of Bronze and Flame—
Norton and Constantine—were whole again. Though both now lay with eyes closed,
As if peacefully asleep.
Then Norton's body suddenly began twitching—as if trapped in a nightmare.
In a flash, his eyes flew open.
His gaze was filled with fear and rage.
He had dreamed that his brother died.
Died before his very eyes, turned into a cross of dragon bone.
"No—no!!!"
Blazing eternal flames wrapped around Norton's body. But he had no time to transform.
He looked over at Constantine beside him.
And pulled him into a tight embrace.
"No, no… I can't lose you."
Constantine slowly woke up, sensing his brother's presence. The anger in his eyes faded.
"Brother, I knew you wouldn't leave me behind!"
"Constantine—I will never leave you."
The two Dragon Kings, still wreathed in flame, held each other tightly.
Ren Asakura said flatly:
"See? Kill them once, and they calm down. What a great method."
°°°
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