At this moment, within the East Sea Dragon Palace—
Ao Qing, now the East Sea Dragon King, sat silently in meditation atop the dragon throne. Dense, oppressive dragon might surged outward from him in waves, forming powerful shockwaves that rippled through the surroundings.
Behind him, a colossal dragon-shaped phantom had begun to faintly emerge.
This phantom was a vast and ancient divine dragon, measuring hundreds of thousands of zhang long. Its entire body gleamed with crimson-gold scales, each one the size of a full-grown human…
Had the former East Sea Dragon King been here to witness it, he would've been rendered utterly speechless in shock.
And the reason was simple—
This colossal divine dragon phantom wasn't just any dragon. It was the Ancestral Dragon, the supreme ruler of all dragonkind, a legendary peak existence of the Dragon Clan!
Back when Pangu cleaved the heavens and the earth, the five chaotic elements—water, fire, wind, lightning, and earth—gradually condensed into various primordial beasts of chaos. Among them, the mightiest was the Dragon Clan's sovereign: the Ancestral Dragon.
At that time, the Ancestral Dragon, with unmatched physical defense and close-combat prowess, ruled over the entire Dragon Clan. His dominance was absolute. Even the Phoenix Clan could only barely contend with him by relying on their innate gifts. As for the Qilin Clan? They had no chance—they could only rely on rapid reproduction to barely maintain resistance.
Even the Six Great Saints of that era didn't dare challenge the might of the Ancestral Dragon.
One could only imagine how terrifying, how awe-inspiring the Ancestral Dragon truly was.
And now, this very Ancestral Dragon's shadow had appeared behind Ao Qing.
If Ao Guang saw this, his feelings would be beyond words.
However, though the phantom had emerged, it was still faint and indistinct. Only the general shape of the Ancestral Dragon could be seen behind Ao Qing—its full form had yet to manifest.
Completely unaware of the vision behind him, Ao Qing sat cross-legged like a meditating monk, his eyes gently closed.
Before cultivating the Dragon God Art, Ao Qing had assumed it was merely a powerful technique to help him evolve into a Twelve-Clawed Golden Dragon. But after studying it closely yesterday, he was utterly shocked to discover—
The Dragon God Art was far more than a mere cultivation technique for evolution.
It was a comprehensive, all-encompassing method that taught the Dragon Clan's martial combat techniques, spellcasting, and divine arts!
The Dragon God Art was divided into twelve levels:
The first four levels focused on martial techniques in dragon form—powerful physical combat arts.
The middle four levels taught spellcasting and weather-manipulation abilities—techniques for summoning rain, wind, and other natural phenomena.
The final four levels contained the most advanced skills in both martial arts and spellcasting—true peak abilities.
Ao Qing noticed something astonishing: once he reached Level 7, he would be able to summon Heavenly Tribulation Lightning; at Level 8, he could summon the Ninth Heaven Tribulation!
Just that alone was enough to prove how frighteningly powerful the Dragon God Art truly was!
Currently, Ao Qing was cultivating the first level, which granted him powerful dragon-form combat abilities:
Dragon Claw Strike
Dragon Battle in the Wild
Dragon Claw Strike was divided into three techniques:
Bone-Crushing Claw
Mountain-Cleaving Claw
Dragon Talon Grip
Dragon Battle in the Wild also had three moves:
Golden Dragon Emerges from the Sea
Ancestral Dragon Divine Claw
True Dragon Claw of All Creation
Originally, Ao Qing thought mastering these combat techniques would take at least ten days to half a month.
But to his astonishment, the first level of the Dragon God Art was fully mastered after merely reading it once. Every technique, every move—he comprehended it instantly, all cultivated to perfection!
Very quickly, Ao Qing realized why: within the East Sea Dragon Palace, his cultivation speed was doubled, and with the aid of Primordial Sea Water, his efficiency reached near-miraculous levels.
So, breaking through the first level of the Dragon God Art so swiftly made perfect sense.
After a brief period of stabilization, Ao Qing began attacking the second level of the technique.
This second level also focused on martial skills, but on a broader, large-scale battlefield level—techniques meant to dominate mass combat:
Dragon Command Technique
Ten Thousand Dragons Return to Origin
Dragon Command Technique: Summon countless dragon phantoms to launch a coordinated assault against enemies.
Ten Thousand Dragons Return to Origin: A more advanced form of Dragon Command. During battle, it creates the illusion of countless dragons fighting alongside the user—its power is peerless!
And just like before, Ao Qing broke through the second level without much effort...
And somehow, he managed to breeze through the third, fourth, and fifth levels just as easily!
In a single day, he had cultivated the Dragon God Art all the way to the sixth level.
By this point, he had gained mastery over the Five Elemental Techniques:
Wind Manipulation
Fire Manipulation
Thunder Manipulation
Water Manipulation
Earth Manipulation
These abilities greatly enhanced Ao Qing's resistance—any enemy using elemental attacks would have their damage reduced by 50%!
As Ao Qing perfected the sixth level of the Dragon God Art, his golden dragon scales began to shimmer with a seven-colored radiance, refracting the light like a rainbow.
Whoosh!
Once he fully stabilized the sixth level, Ao Qing slowly opened his eyes.
And in that instant, a radiant burst of seven-colored light flashed from his eyes, illuminating the chamber.
If any deity or celestial being had witnessed it, they would've been shocked beyond belief—because this seven-colored light represented the power of virtue and divine merit.
The more brilliant the light, the greater the merit—and the stronger the bearer's fate and destiny.
"D-Dragon King, you're awake!"
As Ao Qing opened his eyes, Prime Minister Turtle, who had been patiently waiting at his side, immediately stepped forward eagerly:
"During your days of cultivation, the South Sea coast has been completely brought under our East Sea's control."
"The South Sea's shrimp soldiers, crab generals, dragon sons, and grandsons have all surrendered and pledged allegiance to the East Sea. Compared to before, our East Sea military strength has doubled! The number of magical treasures and sacred artifacts has also doubled!"
Prime Minister Turtle's eyes gleamed with excitement as he continued:
"As for those who refused to submit—we've eliminated them all, root and branch. I await your next command, my lord."
Hearing the report, Ao Qing nodded slightly, inwardly satisfied.
As expected of the Prime Minister—a long-trusted confidant of the Dragon King. He had managed everything flawlessly during these days of secluded cultivation.