Chapter 1156: Crystal Dragon Ascends |
For him, it had once been nothing more than a fool's hope, never something he truly believed. What made him begin to take it seriously was the day he first felt the immortal energy within the Blue Gold Palace.
Three hundred meters. Five hundred meters. Blue and red, yin and yang, twined around them, carrying them ever upward. The stairway beneath their feet shone dazzlingly.
Above, the shattered space seethed ever more violently. It was as though the plane itself was going mad with fury, determined to crush and destroy them. Yet against that monstrous oppression, the Emperors could still see the two-colored stairway stay stable and unyielding, stretching higher and higher.
Finally, they reached two thousand meters. And then… the stairway halted.
The Emperors' hearts tightened. In the Gauntlet of Ascension, stopping was tantamount to dying. Once halted, taking the next step often became impossibly difficult.
The Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor clenched his fists nervously. He knew this situation all too well; he had once faltered like this, and when he tried to rise again, the pressure forced him back. Only with the aid of the Crystal Demon Emperor and Undying Demon Emperor opening the path had he succeeded.
But then, a scene that shook every Emperor unfolded.
The distorted space above suddenly slowed. Its violent surges grew strangely calm, so much so that the figures of Tang San and Mei Gongzi could almost be seen—though blurry, as if a curtain of rippling water was hiding them from view.
"A divine item!" the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor cried out.
With the shattered space calmed down, the path ahead was clear.
Mei Gongzi felt the pressure ease. The baptism of the tribulation still fell upon them, but it no longer blocked their ascent.
On their clasped hands, the Spacetime Ring gleamed with strange radiance—the power of the Spacetime Lighthouse. It was not yet a transcendent divine item, yet even the forces behind the Gauntlet of Ascension had to bow in front of its might.
"Let's run," Tang San said with a smile.
And then, hand in hand, they sprinted upward. Beneath their feet, the stairway spread in red and blue, now also gleaming with silvery-white light.
The Emperors below were dumbstruck.
Sprinting through the Gauntlet of Ascension? What madness was this? And what kind of divine item could grant them such speed at this point?
The stairway soared, spreading upward at more than ten times its previous pace. The Emperors felt as if they were witnessing something beyond reason. How much more could these two shock them?
The void strained in fury, struggling to tear free of the slowing effect. But by the time it burst loose again, Tang San had already carried Mei Gongzi another thousand meters higher. Past the critical barrier of three thousand meters.
Did they succeed?
The same thought flickered through every mind.
But in the next instant, heaven roared, its anger manifesting as a host of monstrous shapes rushing down upon them. This was certainly no end; instead, the Gauntlet turned fiercer still. Three thousand meters was generally the limit for it, but that was not the case for people with truly great potential, and it was most certainly not the case for these two.
The pressure surged anew.
Tang San and Mei Gongzi faltered. Even the Spacetime Rings vibrated under the crushing force. Mei Gongzi gasped, nearly suffocating; her three bloodlines ignited, and the Asura Sword produced threads of sword intent to hold the pressure at bay.
"Shall I take over?" Mei Gongzi asked in a strained voice.
"Not yet. Let me continue," Tang San replied calmly.
His eyes flared with radiant light, and he called out, "Crystalline, ascend!"
From his dantian burst out a brilliant radiance. A crystal-like shell spread outward, enveloping them both. The pressure remained, but its crushing impact vanished.
Blue and red light erupted brighter than ever, dazzlingly bright.
Mei Gongzi felt the surge of Tang San's blood and spirit. Through the Lifebond Necklace, her own body was also infused with strength, as if given a powerful stimulant. The furious baptism of the void no longer smothered them; astonishingly, it even felt faintly comforting.
A majestic dragon's roar split the sky.
A colossal dragon appeared around them, its massive body wrapping them in brilliant light. The dragon looked as though sculpted from flawless crystal, and each of its scales glimmered with red and blue brilliance.
Its roar thundered three times, and across the Ancestral Court, every dragon felt their blood boil in response. Xu An'yu, who was flying at full speed toward the Ancestral Court, staggered midair as his dragon blood surged beyond control. Outside the Blue Gold Palace, the Scourge Dragon Nihil lifted his head and roared toward the heavens in response.
The Crystal Dragon coiled around Tang San and Mei Gongzi, shielding them. Its titanic head then rose toward the sky, and as it snapped up, the shattered space gave way.
With triumphant roars, it bore them skyward.
This was Crystalline's power, but not hers alone. It was also the power of Tang San's five yin-yang bloodline imprints: the Dragon Roc's soaring flight, the Golden Armor's might in attack and defense alike, the Lion-Tiger's majestic presence, the Holy Radiant Dragon's radiant shield, the Immortal Flame Phoenix's inextinguishable fire. Each was a titanic force in its own respect, and under Crystalline's command, they merged into one, allowing her to burst free of the void's fetters and carry the two aloft.
Tang San closed his eyes. On his brow, a vertical eye opened, glowing faint white. The Polar Luck Domain was active.
This was what it meant to seek fortune and evade calamity.
The shattered space shifted, strange ripples spread out, and a path appeared where none had been, carved by the Crystal Dragon's strength.
Beneath the dragon, stairs unfolded once more, stretching faster than even their sprint had before. In mere breaths, they had risen another thousand meters. Only then did their pace begin to slow, but even so, they were climbing, and they were climbing fast.
The Emperors below had grown numb. Was this truly the legacy of the Crystal Demon Emperor? Could his inheritance really reach such heights? It defied all reason, yet there it was, before their eyes.
The Crystal Dragon bore them past five thousand meters. But still, the tribulation was not done. The void's crushing fury pursued them relentlessly, gnawing at their ascent.
Gradually, the dragon's light dimmed, and the crystal stairway slowed down. But still, the dragon pressed on.
For Crystalline, too, this was a baptism. She was fundamentally a spirit now, and a normal tribulation would not have impacted her much, but this one was different. This rare tribulation honed her, giving her a precious chance to grow once more.