Chapter 1702: Doomsday Celestial Pearl

He Lingchuan also applauded with everyone.

The capital gates of Chiyan and the palace gates of Yaoguo both possessed guardian spirits that could be activated to repel invaders, proving highly effective. He speculated that the sculpted southern gate of Panlong City also had this function, but it was only today that it was finally put into use.

Zhong Shengguang descended from the high platform and took the opportunity to converse with several foreign guests observing the ceremony.

Someone asked why the Celestial Orb was inserted specifically today.

Zhong Shengguang smiled and replied, "The dragon horn wasn't long enough to fit the Celestial Orb until now."

He only offered that one sentence, which left others somewhat confused but hesitant to ask further. However, He Lingchuan immediately understood:

When the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is abundant, the dragon horns grow. Only when the spiritual energy reaches a certain density can the black dragon hold this Celestial Orb and effectively function as a guardian deity.

From this day forward, Panlong City's defensive capabilities would improve by at least two levels.

Nearby, a concerned citizen asked, "This pearl must be very precious. Aren't you afraid it will be stolen if it's embedded here?"

Zhong Shengguang casually picked up a branch and threw it towards the city wall. He didn't aim directly for the dragon's mouth; the branch landed on the wall, and in a flash, it moved, transforming into a small treeman—faceless and mouthless, but animated.

It was an animation spell.

Zhong Shengguang had rarely demonstrated his power in front of He Lingchuan. This sudden display made He Lingchuan realize that Panlong City's "boss" also possessed formidable cultivation.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, this crude treeman swiftly climbed the city wall towards the dragon's head, quickly extending its branches to snatch the treasured orb from the dragon's mouth.

But faster than the treeman was the dragon itself.

It suddenly turned its head, its great mouth opening and closing with a crunch, utterly pulverizing the treeman!

The sudden action was like a giant crocodile ambushing its prey. The commoners below gasped in fright, but once they recovered, they burst into applause.

"Amazing! This dragon is clearly a living creature," they exclaimed. "Who would be foolish enough to try to take something from the mouth of a living dragon? Are they tired of living?"

He Lingchuan also understood why Zhong Shengguang didn't directly attack the dragon's mouth; this precious treasure likely possessed counter-attack abilities. On such a joyous day, it was best to avoid any tragedies.

Fortunately, the dragon's mouth was positioned very high, making it completely out of reach for ordinary people.

After the ceremony concluded, people dispersed happily, and discussions buzzed throughout the city.

The authorities held such a grand ceremony not merely for show, but to bolster the confidence of both the military and civilians, as well as visiting merchants, ensuring everyone understood:

Panlong City was protected by a divine object and was extremely safe!

He Lingchuan watched the jubilant crowd, knowing in his heart that this was a particularly serious matter.

Panlong City was currently in a state of outward expansion and aggression, having beaten the Xianyou Kingdom to a pulp in the north, allied with various smaller states to the south, and opened trade with the outside world via the Longchuan trade route to the east. It was truly an unprecedented era of glory. Why, then, was Zhong Shengguang still reinforcing the city walls and animating the dragon statue at this time?

This indicated that Zhong Shengguang believed the situation facing Panlong City was far from optimistic, and he had not been blinded by victory.

Once Beijia confirmed Panlong City's refusal to submit, it would immediately dispatch a massive army, and the environment around Panlong City would quickly deteriorate. Everyone knew that if Beijia possessed ten parts of strength, it had only exerted one or two parts against Panlong City so far.

Why was General Hong racing against time on the northwestern front? It was to cripple Beijia's most aggressive lackeys before Beijia truly made its move, thereby maximizing Panlong City's strategic space.

This was called offensive defense.

Zhong Shengguang pulled He Lingchuan back to the official residence to continue discussing military deployment.

This operation had to be swift and covert. As a surprise force, He Lingchuan was to catch the enemy off guard.

After their discussion, He Lingchuan couldn't suppress his curiosity. "The Grand Divination Celestial Orb seems to be an extraordinary treasure. How could Wutu Kingdom bear to offer it as a tribute?"

"They could bear it, absolutely," Zhong Shengguang said with a chuckle. "Many years ago, Wutu Kingdom acquired this treasure from who knows where. But disaster followed: first a three-year drought, then their capital was submerged by a flood unseen in a hundred years, and they repeatedly lost conflicts with neighboring countries. Several royal children even died."

He Lingchuan, ever the pragmatist, mused, "How did they know it was the pearl causing the trouble? Perhaps they were just unlucky and chose to blame it on the pearl."

"The Celestial Orb was stolen once and remained missing for a year and a half. During that period, the officials and common folk lived comfortably, the nation was peaceful, and no more royal children died. When the thief was later caught, he tearfully recounted how the pearl had brought him several calamities, even breaking his leg." Zhong Shengguang cleared his throat. "After the King of Wutu retrieved the pearl, the nightmares resumed. On the third day, he went hunting in the royal enclosure and encountered a landslide, almost getting buried along with his horse. He needed three days of recovery after being rescued. Immediately after that, he quickly sent the pearl to me, to forge good relations between our two lands."

There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Actually, they presented the Grand Divination Celestial Orb two months ago, constantly boasting that it was a peerless treasure, the ancient Shadow Dragon's orb. All these strange occurrences I mentioned were things my people investigated in Wutu Kingdom." Zhong Shengguang was exceptionally shrewd; seeing Wutu offer such a genuinely significant gift, he knew something unusual was afoot and immediately launched an investigation to get the full story.

He Lingchuan scratched his head. "A malevolent orb like this, are we still keeping it?"

"Aren't you afraid of it bringing disaster upon yourselves?"

"The Shadow Dragon's legacy is recorded in ancient texts. The Shadow Dragon was an ancient evil dragon, whose emergence inevitably brought natural disasters—floods and fires—devastating living beings. Its greatest pastime was hunting its own kind and devouring their dragon pearls. It was pursued for thousands of miles by the Dragon Clan twice, and ultimately, the Dragon God himself had to intervene to execute it."

Zhong Shengguang was not a skilled storyteller, yet with just those few dry words, He Lingchuan could feel the utter lawlessness of this evil dragon.

How terrifying must a creature be if it was pursued twice by its entire clan and ultimately required the intervention of the Black Dragon God to be dealt with?

"When General Hong returned, I also asked Mitian to examine this pearl, confirming that Wutu Kingdom hadn't mistakenly offered a false treasure."

He Lingchuan nodded.

If Mitian himself confirmed it, then there was likely no mistake.

"This dragon pearl has two abnormalities. Firstly, a trace of the Shadow Dragon's malevolent will, or ill-will, still lingers within it. If it were in the hands of a Dragon God or a powerful being, it wouldn't be an issue. However, if a human acquired it—like the King of Wutu—who couldn't suppress it with their own cultivation or by leveraging the nation's destiny, or if the nation was too small and weak to suppress it, then this object would become a source of disaster, bringing misfortune and harming both the individual and their surroundings."

He Lingchuan murmured, "The Shadow Dragon's malevolent will... do you have a way to suppress or remove it?"

He was quite familiar with malevolent will. Wasn't it the malevolent will within the Rahu Armor that caused so much strife and tragedy on the Shinjin Plain in the past? If not for the malevolent will being completely purged by the Great Square Pot, he wouldn't have been able to confidently wear that treasured armor.

"Not me," Zhong Shengguang said with a mysterious smile. "It has undergone the baptism of Chaos."

He Lingchuan suddenly understood, recalling the gigantic figure within the red sea of the Great Square Pot.