Whether Ian truly had mountain folk blood was another matter, but he genuinely possessed their heritage. That was beyond doubt.
After driving Mo Ren away, Elder Manyan brought Ian and Azure Tide back to the heart of the Avude Tribe—the ritual chamber where Ian had once "recovered from his injuries," or rather, the ritual platform halfway up the mountain above it.
Here, Ian summoned the Ritual Seal once again, causing a silver-gray dragon shadow to emerge within the altar. It spiraled upward within the ritual platform as though it were alive.
—It was not forged. Ian had indeed inherited the Dragon God's priestly legacy from Radiant Haze Lake!
Once he confirmed this, Elder Manyan felt not only shock, but also wild delight.
After several centuries, a true priest of the Dragon God had emerged, and the heritage had returned... Could it be that his wish, which had seemed almost impossible to realize for so many years, had finally reached the moment of fulfillment?!
But after calming down, the old man knew it could not be that simple.
Ian could clearly have watched him fail to break through and become a true core elder of the Dragon-Worshiping Cult in the Southern Ridge—Anfa was from Canaanmore, the Mountain King and Sheo were True Dragons, not even of the same lineage as humans, while Pan Sha had not reached the Second Energy Level. He could have waited, obtained power by the easiest means, then used the Ritual Seal to summon the mountain folk within the tribe.
But he had not done so.
That represented only one possibility... What Ian sought was far greater than the mere power of the Dragon-Worshiping Cult and the Avude Tribe.
"Ian, what do you want to do?"
Drawing a deep breath, Elder Manyan said solemnly, "So long as