Chapter 1070 - Protecting The Civilization In A Roundabout Way

From the competitor’s section, Han Wu had a clear view of the two powerhouses’ brief exchange. Confused, he quietly asked Long Xiang about it. “Why would Senior Long Qi trade blows with someone from the Great Dragon race? I thought the Ancient Dragon Clan and the Great Dragons had a good relationship.”

Long Xiang replied in a whisper, “They do, but only relatively speaking. Those born from the Ancient Dragon Clan have a higher chance of obtaining Great Dragons as their core race.

“The clan wants to build ties with the Great Dragon race to accelerate their core races’ growth. On the other hand, the Great Dragon race wants to use the Ancient Dragon Clan’s influence to expand their population.”

Han Wu blinked at the explanation. A moment later, it clicked. “You’re saying the Great Dragon race has always wanted to absorb the Ancient Dragon Clan.”

Long Xiang nodded, somewhat surprised by how quickly Han Wu had caught on. “One option increases their own race’s numbers. The other adds the Great Dragons’ combat power to the Divine Civilization. The Great Dragon race isn’t stupid. They know which option benefits them more.

“Thankfully, our clan has my great-grandfather, Long Qi. His strength is on par with a Dragon Emperor. That’s the only reason that the Ancient Dragon Clan hasn’t been swallowed up.”

Han Wu raised another question. “What about the Dragon God above the Dragon Emperor rank? If it intervened, the entire Divine Civilization probably couldn’t resist.”

From the Ancient Dragon Clan’s lessons, Han Wu had learned that the current ruler of the Great Dragon race was the Nine-Faced Dragon God, a being powerful enough to shake the entire Divine Civilization at will. If it made a move, forget the Ancient Dragon Clan. Even the Divine Civilization would have to beg for mercy.

“I used to wonder the same thing,” Long Xiang said quietly. “Then I heard a rumor. Apparently the Nine-Faced Dragon God did try once, but someone incredibly powerful from the Divine Civilization scared it off.”

“Who?” Han Wu’s eyes lit up. The Divine Civilization had someone that strong? He had to know.

“Supposedly, it was the former Destruction God King.”

Han Wu choked. Great. Wonderful. The Destruction God King. Han Wu, who had wiped out the entire Destruction Clan, suddenly felt sweat dripping down his back.

“But didn’t the Destruction God King enter the Chaotic Starfield?” Han Wu pressed.

If that weren’t the case, what he had done to the Destruction Clan would earn him a punishment far worse than death. Not only would the Destruction God King kill his parents, but they would also uproot his entire family tree, three generations above him and three generations below. Not even his pet would survive.

“That’s what they say, but the Great Dragons don’t know that.” Long Xiang gave him a meaningful look. “Who do you think the Great Dragons trust most within the Divine Civilization?”

Han Wu glanced at Long Xiang, then up at the viewing platform, where Long Qi sat beside the Jade Dragon Emperor. It hit him all at once.

Long Qi, with his honest-looking face and thick eyebrows, was actually a double agent. On one side, he cozied up to the Great Dragons to secure benefits for his clan. On the other hand, he fed them false intelligence to the Divine Civilization’s benefit and kept them in check. In front of the Great Dragons, Long Qi was the most loyal ally. In front of the Divine Civilization, he carried the civilization’s weight on his shoulders.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant!

The Jade Dragon Emperor sitting right next to Long Qi suddenly looked like a clueless fool. Han Wu even suspected that Long Qi was still feeding the Great Dragons fake sightings of the Destruction God King every now and then. Naturally, it was all mere speculation. He wasn’t about to go ask the Jade Dragon Emperor to confirm it.

Han Wu mentally saluted Long Qi’s roundabout method of protecting the Divine Civilization. He then shifted his attention to the five Great Dragons that the Jade Dragon Emperor had brought along. They were all Subcosm Dragon Kings. Each held its head high with an air of supreme arrogance as they took their seats across from Han Wu’s group in the opposing competitor’s section.

Long Qi stood on the podium and delivered a rousing speech about the Great Dragon Championship’s significance.

When it was the Jade Dragon Emperor’s turn, it said exactly one word. “Fight!”

With the two powerhouses as witnesses, the Great Dragon Championship began.

The rules were straightforward. Projections of all ten contestants from both sides would be placed into an arena, where they would fight until one side was completely eliminated. The surviving side would be declared the winner.

The winners would split the prize pool, jointly contributed by the Ancient Dragon Clan and the Great Dragon race, according to their individual performances.

The prizes sat on a table in front of the two powerhouses. Even from a distance, Han Wu could sense treasures brimming with potent dragon attributes among the rewards. His Yinglong had already attained the purity of a Dragon King bloodline after its recent power upgrade.

If he could contribute enough and win the championship, the Yinglong could ascend into a Dragon Emperor. More importantly, the Yinglong’s evolution path would likely be preserved as a template for every future Yinglong. That was the real prize.

I have to win this one, he thought.

The moment the referee announced the start, the ten contestants’ projections were randomly teleported into the arena.

Han Wu immediately felt the arena’s rules take effect. The Great Dragons faced no restrictions whatsoever and could unleash their full power. Meanwhile, those from the Divine Civilization faced two constraints.

First, the only units the contestants could summon were dragon-related ones of their core races. This restriction prevented contestants from cheating by borrowing powerful units from others. Second, the contestants couldn’t use their own powers inside the arena. They could only rely on their core races.

The two restrictions massively crippled Han Wu’s capabilities. Under those conditions, even he could die at any moment. He had no choice but to proceed cautiously and play it safe. His first priority was scouting. Without access to his powers, his own eyes were practically useless for surveying such a vast area. Deploying units to scout was his only option.

He opened a portal and summoned a large swarm of his core race, the Pterlings. Those were adolescent Unique life forms cultivated through Han Wu’s dragon-attribute enhancement routes. Their dragon attributes were diluted enough that they barely qualified as mixed-blood dragons, which meant that using them didn’t technically violate the rules. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

The Pterlings had evolved from locusts, so their numbers were staggering. Han Wu couldn’t use his powers, but his strands of faith were still intact. Under his direction, the Pterlings quickly covered a 100-kilometer radius and showed him a complete picture of the surroundings.

None of the Great Dragon contestants were within his scouting range. However, he did pick up trails of Drake activity that led him to one of the Ancient Dragon Clan contestants.

Han Wu wasn’t particularly close with that teammate, but they had trained together for four days. That counted for something. As such, he decided to link up with that teammate first, then search for the rest of his squad. Together, they would have a much better chance against the Great Dragons.