The sacrifice begins
"The Demon Race's Heaven-Controlling Realm is dead."
A gentle, calm voice rippled outwards like water, clearly entering the Dragon King's mind.
Even though this was expected, the Dragon King still felt a touch of hypocritical sadness, as if he were mourning the death of a fellow rabbit.
This touch of sadness didn't last long.
Just two seconds later, the Dragon King's attention was once again focused on setting up the Sacrificial Formation.
Based on observations and speculations from the planet, it is believed that Ghouls have hunted and killed a large number of prey in a short period of time.
Even if he digests things quickly, it would conservatively take five to seven days to fully convert all that energy.
This period is the Dragon King's last chance to overtake his opponent.
The enormous dragon's body emerged from the lava pool.
He directed the remaining personal guards to set up magic arrays in different directions.
These guards were loyal enough that they wouldn't overthink why they were doing what they were doing.
All they needed to know was that this was the Dragon King's arrangement, so they carried it out step by step.
However, even with his personal guards in charge of some of the array placement work, the Dragon King was still quite busy.
He must set aside at least two days to process the energy falling from the subsequent planets.
This meant that setting up the magic array and completing the sacrifice had to be done in about three or four days.
Time is too tight.
Like a ticking time bomb about to explode, every passing second was, in the Dragon King's eyes, a step closer to death.
Under this suffocating pressure, he simply didn't have the extra energy to think about how to conceal his actions.
Naturally, the upper classes in Chongming City quickly noticed something amiss.
Regardless of the guards currently running rampant within the city.
It was not long ago that an order was issued to summon all the leaders of the Sea Race settlements.
These behaviors all revealed something eerie.
However, the Dragon Palace gates were tightly shut, and the Dragon King even suspended his court assemblies.
They had no way of knowing why all of this happened.
Furthermore, the Dragon King is, after all, the only Heaven-Controlling Realm expert among the Sea Race.
His power and status made these high-ranking officials and nobles dare not provoke him easily.
Although these people are keen on vying for power and profit, their minds have not yet been completely corrupted by greed.
The death of the Crown Prince merely means that the Dragon Spirit Species Royal Family has lost its heir.
Therefore, what they are doing now is more about secretly planning the allocation of resources for the next generation decades from now.
A family that remains constant, but kings come and go.
They firmly believed this.
Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, these people neither want to interfere with the Dragon King's actions nor want to be interfered with by the Dragon King.
Therefore, these self-proclaimed shrewd officials and dignitaries chose the approach that best served their interests at the moment.
Turn a blind eye.
And so, the guards moved freely and unrestrained throughout Chongming City.
They placed triggering devices in various locations, and added array nodes to the glass streetlights that roamed the city daily.
The high-ranking officials and nobles, however, turned a blind eye to all of this, as if these matters had nothing to do with them.
Finally, at dusk three days later, the last array node was installed.
At the same time, dozens of leaders from various Sea Race settlements, large and small, arrived in Chongming City with their guards.
They were so obedient because the contents of the decree made it impossible for them to refuse.
The Dragon King's original words were. "I know that the royal family has no heir. For the sake of the continuation of the Sea Race, everyone shall arrive at Chongming City in three days to receive their fiefdoms."
It is unclear what prompted the Dragon King to make the decision to grant fiefdoms.
But the leaders of these settlements simply couldn't refuse the words "legitimate" or "justifiable."
Imagine if almost everyone went to Chongming City, and only one person didn't.
Then, the person who didn't go will become the target of everyone's criticism.
Others have every reason to use this as an excuse to send troops to attack.
With that in mind, naturally no one would choose not to go.
Once they set off, in order to avoid being ambushed or killed along the way, the people in charge would inevitably bring an elite force to escort them.
Dozens of elite troops converged on Chongming City, which was no small number.
At this moment, on the great array covering Chongming City and its surrounding two kilometers, hundreds of thousands of Sea Race were completely unaware that they were about to be sacrificed.
The blood-red setting sun cast its rays upon the sea, its light unable to penetrate the icy water.
Night falls.
Inside the Dragon Palace, glass lanterns, like twinkling stars, adorn the elegant but somewhat desolate pavilions and towers.
The soft light from these palace lanterns made everything inside the palace shine, as if we had returned to the time before the war began.
Representatives from various settlements walked through this magnificent palace.
Their gazes were drawn to the surrounding scenery of the Dragon Palace, their eyes filled with amazement.
However, their admiration seemed more directed at the power that the Dragon Palace represented than at the Dragon Palace itself.
Greed was blatantly evident in their eyes.
These people had only recently seized control of decision-making in their settlement.
The allure of power fueled their desires like a raging fire.
So much so that they even began to covet this Dragon Palace.
Imagine yourself becoming the master of this place, possessing endless wealth and power.
The Sea Race filed in and gathered in the palace where the banquet would be held that night.
Inside the palace, a grand banquet had been set out, with a dazzling array of delicacies that made one's mouth water.
The wine cups were clinked and toasts were exchanged several times.
Amidst the laughter and chatter, and in this lively atmosphere, no one noticed the changes outside the Dragon Palace.
The glass streetlights that were originally scattered around the palace now silently changed their patrol routes.
As if manipulated by an unseen hand, they drifted slowly toward their designated location.
The intricate patterns on the surface of the streetlights glowed faintly.
The light was obscured by the streetlights' own light, so it was not noticeable.
Outside the city, the dark seabed also emitted a faint glow, echoing the dim light of the array patterns on the streetlights.
The array patterns connected, merging into one.
The seabed supporting Chongming City trembled almost imperceptibly.
Then, at the edge of the massive array pattern, a double Psychic Energy Barrier rose from the ground.
The outer layer is responsible for preventing external enemies from invading, while the inner layer is responsible for preventing the offerings from escaping.
Now, everything is ready.
The Dragon King's illusory energy descended upon the banquet hall, gazing down upon the crowd below.
His senses covered the entire formation, so he immediately noticed its completion.
Without hesitation, he calmly gave the order.
"The sacrifice begins."
"Boom--!"
A loud noise followed, startling the nobles from their reverie.
A chill ran through me.
Before they could even recover from their drunkenness...
The next second, the body, soul, and Psychic Energy within were forcibly separated.
They were completely immobilized.
The illusory image of the Dragon King on the main seat of the banquet vanished.
Dragon King Hall, the giant dragon coiled in the lava slowly closed its eyes.
At the same time, two barriers rose up in the Dragon Palace and the Dragon King Hall, protecting the Dragon King's body within them.
The Dragon King's attention became highly focused.
The energy within the body begins to gather and rotate, and the resulting suction force devours all the pure energy that gathers.
The Dragon King could clearly sense that his physical body was being strengthened little by little, and the power of his soul was also slowly increasing.
The planet turned a sliver of its attention toward the Dragon King.
This is His last "sword," and it cannot be broken again.