Meanwhile, outside, Lin Yang was almost done with the ritual. She took out the same dagger she used to attack Lin Chen and stabbed it into his stomach. He screamed in pain, but she didn't stop. She pulled out both the Heavenly bead and the Heaven suppressing bead and combined them.
Golden energy began seeping from Lin Chen and was absorbed by the combined bead. The once quiet sky filled with thunder, and the environment became chaotic. However, Lin Yang and the Lin Family members smiled. Lin Yang looked up at the sky and declared, "The ritual is complete."
With that, a fanatical smile spread across her face. The Lin Family members, including their ancestors, displayed excited expressions, some even shedding tears of joy. The leading ancestor spread his arms wide and laughed, "Finally, after so many sacrifices, the ancestors of our Lin Family are free. Now we will rise again to the top of this world and beyond."
Along with his laughter, cheers erupted from the Lin Family. But more than that happened. The already chaotic environment grew worse. Thunder rained down, as if the sky wanted to tear apart the mountains and rivers. High-rise buildings in Azure Mountain City were hit by thunder strikes. Some bolts were so powerful that they severely damaged buildings, prompting the government to evacuate people from these structures.
In one of those high-rises, Louriel sat on her throne, surrounded by her army of undead creatures. The thunder that destroyed other buildings left her penthouse untouched. While sitting on her throne, she gazed toward the Azure Mountains. Her servant, Winston, knelt beside her and asked, "My Liege, do you want to intervene?"
Hearing this, she simply smiled in amusement and replied, "Why should I intervene? I told Vik that we should work together, but that fool didn't contact me even once. Let him deal with this problem alone."
Unbeknownst to her, the real reason Vik hadn't contacted her was that he couldn't gather the courage to speak with her. As the Snake of Singularity, Vik struggled to converse, especially with someone like Louriel. This struggle had now cost him an ally.
Back in Azure Mountain, the sky became more and more filled with thunder. The new combined Heavenly bead began to shine with golden light. Below, the ground started to rumble, and the main peak of the Azure Mountains, several kilometers away from the Lin family and Vik's group, began to crack.
Seeing this, Lin Yang shouted, "Everyone, kneel before the great one. Behold the arrival of heaven's ruler."
While Lu Xiaoran, Roman, and Lu Ran waited for Vik's return, they had already reached out to Lina for a Chariot drone, which could arrive at any time as part of their backup plan for retreat.
But as everyone focused on the cracking mountain peak, Lu Xiaoran decided to take a risk. He moved stealthily toward Lin Yang, specifically toward the altar where Lin Chen lay. At this moment, Lin Chen was unconscious due to his injuries, but Lu Xiaoran could see that he was still alive.
Moving quietly, he quickly lifted Lin Chen onto his shoulder and ran with all his strength toward the safety of the suppressing zone created by Vik. Thankfully, he succeeded. The Lin Family members noticed him, but it was too late. One of them informed Lin Yang, who was too focused on kneeling toward the mountain peak.
Lin Yang dismissed it, saying that Lin Chen was just an empty vessel and that his fate had already been taken from him. She ordered them to kneel properly.
Lu Xiaoran's group was confused, but there was no time to question it. An explosion sounded from the main peak of the Azure Mountain range as a huge crack opened up. From that crack, a massive, snake-like tail began to emerge, covered in fins and hard scales.
Slowly, the tail started moving, up and down, cracking the remaining peak, and soon, a huge serpentine body appeared. This creature did not crawl on the ground but floated in the air like a fish in water.
As it fully emerged, Lu Xiaoran, Roman, and everyone else felt a deep sense of primal fear from within their souls. Lu Xiaoran, Roman, and Lu Ran felt immense pressure as they hadn't knelt like the Lin Family members. A voice deep inside urged them to kneel before this force of nature.
Under the pressure, Lu Ran knelt on the ground, but Lu Xiaoran and Roman resisted. They faced the pressure and looked up at the creature now floating high in the clouds.
The creature had a long serpentine body, several kilometers long, wider than a dozen meters, with a lizard-like head, snake-like scales, cyan blue skin, hawk-like eyes, four sharp claws, and majestic antlers adorning its head like a crown.
Yes, Lu Xiaoran and Roman were facing a real dragon, not some lesser breed, but a legendary creature. At that moment, only one thought ran through their minds: "We need to run."
They had underestimated the situation, and now the Lin Family had summoned a real dragon whose power was beyond anything anyone present could measure. Just its presence sent chills through anyone who dared to look up at it, including the ancestors of the Lin Family.
But Vik was nowhere to be seen. His disciples pondered whether to retreat or wait for him. If Vik were present, he wouldn't have bowed to that dragon, or maybe he would have, but he definitely would have asked, "How did Lin Yang summon a dragon with only two beads when there are supposed to be seven?"
Maybe he would have even knelt and asked the dragon for a transformation with golden hair, but that was for another time.