Chapter 778: Ao Ling Appears

"The Dragon Ancestor?!"

Those attending the birthday banquet saw the stunning woman in a black dress standing quietly before the Old Dragon Emperor. They simultaneously shot up, their eyes wide with disbelief.

Several high-ranking sea creatures were so startled they couldn't maintain their human forms, abruptly reverting to their colossal original shapes. The entire Dragon Palace immediately descended into chaos.

Ao Ling was renowned throughout the East Sea, and her portraits were widely circulated. All those qualified to attend the banquet were influential figures in the East Sea, and they had all seen Ao Ling's image.

Among the sea creatures with deep roots, some had ancestors who achieved the Half-Immortal stage, and there were even records of Half-Immortal elders being defeated by Ao Ling.

The Phoenix Ancestor had also publicly announced at the Monster Kingdom's founding ceremony that she and the Dragon Ancestor were both wives of the Qilin Immortal.

With these layers of identity, it was impossible for people not to be shocked.

"Good heavens, she looks exactly like the ancient paintings. It's really the Dragon Ancestor.""How could the Dragon Ancestor be here?!"

"Is this what Daoist Sanshan referred to as 'related to the Dragon Ancestor'?!""This is more than just 'related'!"

"Truly worthy of being the leader of the East Sea humans, to be able to find the Dragon Ancestor who vanished three hundred thousand years ago!""Ancient cultivators are emerging one after another; a grand era has arrived."

Mr. Tinghai and Venerable Liuhe heard these exclamations and praises, their eyes filled with confusion. They each slapped themselves, then turned to see the Dragon Ancestor still standing there."Are the effects of the Grand Void Immortal Grass's poisonous gas really that strong? Did they fall victim even after circulating their cultivation techniques?"

Before opening the wooden box, the Old Dragon Emperor had exhausted his imagination trying to figure out what artifact of the ancestor could be contained within such a small box.He never imagined the box held the ancestor herself.

"Where have we ended up?" Not only were the attendees bewildered, but even Lu Yang, one of the direct parties, was baffled. "Why are there so many people here, and who is this old Dragon race man so excited he's nearly fainting?""Wait a moment, could this be the Old Dragon Emperor's birthday banquet?""The timing seems to align."

"Huh, why is there a shriveled Grand Void Immortal Grass here?" Immortal Bu Xiu's voice echoed in the spiritual space."What is Grand Void Immortal Grass?""It's a type of grass used to temper one's state of mind by creating illusions. Its effect isn't very strong, though. When I'm plating food, it's only good for decoration."

Immortal Bu Xiu emphasized that her cooking should be perfect in color, aroma, and taste.

Lu Yang heard Immortal Bu Xiu's casual remark and assumed it was just an immortal herb with an impressive name but little substance.

Pfft—Old Ma, representing the Dragon-Horse clan, spat out his spirit wine, staring at Lu Yang as if he'd seen a ghost.

"What on earth happened during the time I wasn't with you?""It's only been a month since you left the Dragon-Horse clan, yet somehow, you, Lu Yang, are standing right next to the Dragon Ancestor?"

Ao Ling, having seen much of the world, reacted quickly. She cupped her hands towards Lu Yang and said, "Thank you, young Daoist, for waking me from my slumber. I wonder if you would be willing to join my Heavenly Court?"

Lu Yang returned the gesture, his demeanor respectful but firm: "Senior Ao Ling, I appreciate your kindness, but as a disciple of the Dao Inquiry Sect, it's impossible for me to join any other force!"

"That's truly a pity."

The casual exchange between the two, however, set everyone's minds racing."So the Dragon Ancestor, like the Phoenix Ancestor, is also a member of the Heavenly Court.""Both the Dragon and Phoenix Ancestors are in the Heavenly Court. I heard they both possess the potential to become Immortals, though it's unknown why they haven't yet. Just how powerful is this Heavenly Court?"

"The Dragon Ancestor was previously in a deep sleep, and Lu Yang woke her up?"If Grand Daoist Hanhai was greatly surprised to see Ao Ling, then seeing Lu Yang standing next to Ao Ling utterly shocked him.

He used his Spatial Dao Fruit manifestation, grabbed Lu Yang by the scruff of his neck, and pulled him over."What's going on with you, kid?"

Lu Yang explained with an innocent expression, "I don't know either. The Dragon Pearl sucked me in, and I saw the Dragon Ancestor lying inside it, so I woke her up."

Grand Daoist Hanhai poked Lu Yang's forehead. "You really are bold, kid. Fortunately, the Dragon Ancestor isn't someone who gets annoyed after waking up, otherwise, a single sneeze from her could kill you!""I wouldn't dare next time, I wouldn't dare next time," Lu Yang said with a forced smile.

"Ao Cang of the Dragon Race greets the Ancestor!" The Old Dragon Emperor shakily stood up and kowtowed to Ao Ling.Ao Ya also kowtowed.

The Dragon Race also had another Tribulation-Passing stage cultivator named Ao Fan, who was at the mid-Tribulation stage and served as the Vice Palace Master of the Dragon Palace. It was he who led Ao Li and others to the Monster Kingdom to attend the founding ceremony.He hadn't expected to see the Phoenix Ancestor at the Monster Kingdom's founding ceremony, and now, half a year later, he was seeing his own ancestor at the Palace Master's birthday banquet.

"Ao Fan of the Dragon Race greets the Ancestor!"

Ao Ling noticed there were only three Tribulation-Passing stage cultivators in the Dragon Race and slightly frowned. "Does the Dragon Race not even have a single Half-Immortal nowadays?"

The Old Dragon Emperor was mortified and didn't know how to respond.The rudimentary form of a Dao Fruit was not so easily condensed.

At this moment, both the sea creatures and humans were unified in their intent. They simultaneously bowed in unison, respectfully declaring,"We pay our respects to Senior Ao Ling!"

All beings prostrated themselves, their voices roaring like mountains and seas.

Daoist Sanshan remained calm. He knelt on the ground, and like everyone else, also loudly proclaimed his respects to Senior Ao Ling.

Suddenly, a pair of elegant shoes appeared in his vision.He looked up and saw that Ao Ling was standing before him, though he hadn't noticed when she arrived.

Ao Ling stared at Daoist Sanshan, her eyes slightly narrowed. Her pupils had, at some point, turned into vertical golden dragon eyes, and she revealed an extremely dangerous smile.

"If what I just observed is correct, at the moment I appeared, you had the intention of your soul leaving your body. Were you planning to seize the body of this descendant of my own race?"

Daoist Sanshan's soul-seizing technique was covert, and he had immediately ceased his attempt the moment he saw Ao Ling, confident that no one would notice.However, he might have fooled others, but he couldn't hope to deceive Ao Ling, who had endured countless battles in ancient times and possessed extraordinary insight.

Ancient times were far more chaotic than the present, and soul-seizing incidents occurred frequently.

"What?!"Ao Ling's words caused an uproar among the crowd. They stared at Ao Ling and Daoist Sanshan in disbelief. Those who were a bit slow to process the situation hadn't even fully grasped what was happening.

Daoist Sanshan looked bewildered, not knowing what Ao Ling was talking about."Senior Ao Ling, do you perhaps misunderstand me?"

Ao Ling scoffed, seeing through Daoist Sanshan instantly: "Misunderstanding? Then perhaps you can explain where this rudimentary Dao Fruit, condensed from the power of faith, on your body came from?"

Upon hearing that Daoist Sanshan possessed a rudimentary Dao Fruit, both the sea creatures and humans revealed astonished expressions.

"What did the Dragon Ancestor just say? Daoist Sanshan has a rudimentary Dao Fruit? Doesn't that mean he's become a Half-Immortal!""The first Half-Immortal in the East Sea in a hundred thousand years!"

Ao Ling continued, "I don't know where you learned this half-baked method of condensing a rudimentary Dao Fruit using the power of faith, recklessly allowing it to enter your body without discernment.""Presumably, most of the time, your body is already out of your control.""In such a situation, if you don't choose soul-seizing, I'd be very curious to know what other self-preservation methods you might have."

Originally, Ao Ling didn't know much about the power of faith, but since the foundation of the Xinhuo Dynasty was faith, she had become very familiar with how to use it after spending twenty thousand years there.

"I didn't expect the Dragon Ancestor to know so much about the power of faith." Daoist Sanshan's eyes turned fierce, and his face was so grim it looked like it could drip water. He listened as Ao Ling dissected and analyzed his situation word by word, realizing he couldn't bluff his way out of it, so he simply dropped the pretense.

"I originally intended to secretly seize the Old Dragon Emperor's body to control the entire East Sea. Since you won't give me that chance, don't blame me for resorting to force!"

He didn't want his plan to seize the Old Dragon Emperor's body to be known because he feared complications.But that didn't mean he couldn't fight!

Lu Yang sat obediently next to Grand Daoist Hanhai, thinking, "Daoist Sanshan, you're so strong, I wonder if you'd cough up blood if I bowed to you?"