Ancient Dragons and Heaven Phoenixes at War

Qingshan slowly recounted the events of those years, laying out the past one matter at a time and answering Ling Yuan and the others' doubts.

It turned out that after Dragon Emperor Zhu Kun vanished, the Ancient Void Dragon Clan was left leaderless. Most of the clan's high-ranking experts had voluntarily entered the Void to search for the Dragon Emperor's whereabouts.

At that time, the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan did not yet exist. The present Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan was merely descended from the ancient Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan.

The Ancient Void Dragons and Ancient Heaven Phoenixes were mortal enemies. They fed on one another.

The Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan somehow learned that the Ancient Void Dragon Clan was leaderless and that its experts had gone out. Seizing the opportunity, they launched a surprise attack against the Ancient Void Dragon Clan.

The attack came without warning. The Ancient Void Dragons remaining on Dragon Island had neither the time nor the powerful experts needed to resist, and seventy percent of the clan members were slaughtered.

Although those slain were weaker clan members, they were the fresh blood of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan—the future of the clan.

To the Ancient Void Dragon Clan, this was an utterly devastating blow.

Before long, this earth-shattering news traveled through spatial communication to the Ancient Void Dragon Clan experts searching for the Dragon Emperor in the Void.

When those experts learned that their clansmen had been massacred and Dragon Island had suffered disaster, every one of them flew into a rage.

They temporarily abandoned their search for the Dragon Emperor, joined forces, and marched upon the Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan, swearing to avenge their slaughtered kin.

The Ancient Void Dragon Clan was innately skilled in spatial power and could ignore the Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan's restrictions.

Using this advantage, they quietly approached the Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan's territory and launched a surprise attack, catching their enemies completely off guard.

At the beginning of the ambush, the Ancient Void Dragon Clan held the upper hand and slew quite a few Dou Sheng experts of the Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan.

The Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan quickly recovered and organized a counterattack, plunging both sides into a brutal slaughter.

In the end, although the Ancient Void Dragon Clan won the battle and successfully wiped out the Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan, avenging their clansmen's blood debt,

they had also paid an extraordinarily terrible price. Calling it a pyrrhic victory would not be an exaggeration.

Why was the price so terrible?

Because although the Ancient Void Dragon Clan had numerous Dou Shengs at the time, they did not have a Nine-Star Dou Sheng overseeing them;

while the Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan had a Nine-Star Dou Sheng clan leader.

Though the Ancient Void Dragon Clan had more Dou Shengs, their top-tier combat strength was inferior to that of the Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan.

Back then, aside from that Nine-Star Dou Sheng, the Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan also had two Eight-Star Dou Shengs and three Seven-Star Dou Shengs.

The suppressive power of a Nine-Star Dou Sheng over an Eight-Star Dou Sheng was obvious—it was practically a complete crushing advantage.

The suppressive power of a Nine-Star Dou Sheng over an Eight-Star Dou Sheng was obvious—it was practically a complete crushing advantage.

Once the Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan's Nine-Star Dou Sheng clan leader joined the battle, the Ancient Void Dragon Clan's several Eight-Star Dou Shengs were no match for him at all.

In the end, to kill that Nine-Star Dou Sheng clan leader of the Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan, four Eight-Star Dou Shengs and two Seven-Star Dou Shengs of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan chose to sacrifice themselves. They used the Ancient Void Dragon Clan's ultimate trump card and, by catching him off guard, barely managed to perish together with that Nine-Star Dou Sheng.

With their Nine-Star Dou Sheng clan leader slain, the Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan's morale plummeted.

The Ancient Void Dragon Clan seized the chance to press their victory and completely annihilated the Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan. Yet they themselves had suffered grievous losses, making it a pyrrhic victory.

Before the great war, the Ancient Void Dragon Clan had over a hundred Dou Shengs and stood among the continent's foremost powers;

but after the war ended, fewer than ten Dou Shengs remained alive.

The Ancient Void Dragon Clan had lost far too many experts, and Dragon Island had already been massacred before that, costing them an enormous amount of fresh blood.

The once incomparably powerful Ancient Void Dragon Clan thus declined completely, never again returning to the glory of its heyday.

As Qingshan recounted that great war of long ago, his tone was filled with grief and indignation, and his voice trembled faintly:

"For tens of thousands of years, our Ancient Void Dragon Clan relied on our innate advantage in treasure hunting to search everywhere for heavenly treasures and rare materials. We reproduced while nurturing experts, and only then did we barely recover some of our vitality.

If not for that war, if not for that massacre, how could our Ancient Void Dragon Clan have so few experts now?"

By the end, he could no longer suppress the towering fury within him. Dou Qi surged uncontrollably around his body.

Qingshan had not even reached the Dou Zun realm back then and was not part of the main force. He could only watch from the outskirts of the battlefield as his clan's elders fought one after another, drenched in blood. That was why the battle had left such a deep impression on him.

Ling Yuan was also deeply shaken after hearing this.

"I never expected the Ancient Void Dragon Clan and the Ancient Heaven Phoenix Clan to have such a history."

He quietly pondered it. This great war had never been mentioned in the original work, and he had not expected it to be so tragic.

With that, it made much more sense that the Ancient Void Dragon Clan had declined so completely, leaving only thirty-odd Dou Shengs, to the point that even three Dragon Kings with merely the strength of Three-Star Dou Shengs dared compete for the Dragon Emperor's position.

Fortunately, the Ancient Void Dragon Clan possessed powerful innate treasure-hunting abilities. They could swiftly locate cultivation resources in the Void, allowing their clansmen to use those resources to rapidly increase their strength and reproduce.

Otherwise, let alone having thirty Dou Shengs now, it would have been unimaginable for them to retain even a few experts.

Seeing Ling Yuan's expression, Qingshan pulled his lips into a bitter smile and slowly shook his head.

He had witnessed firsthand as the Ancient Void Dragon Clan declined from its peak. He had watched his clansmen be slaughtered and his elders die on the battlefield.

Yet he had been too weak back then, utterly powerless to save them.

Now that he possessed some strength, Dragon Island had split apart, and he still could not save it.

The bitterness and unwillingness in Qingshan's heart were easy to imagine.

He stepped forward and bowed deeply to Ling Yuan. His tone was incomparably earnest, and his eyes were full of pleading.

"Young friend Ling Yuan, the Ancient Void Dragon Clan has been divided for far too long. Internal strife never ceases, and it has already severely affected the clan's development. If this continues, I fear that even after another tens of thousands of years, we will be unable to return to our peak.

I beg you, young friend, leave Zi Yan behind. Everyone on East Dragon Island will certainly do everything in our power to protect her!"

Qingshan was somewhat nervous, afraid that Ling Yuan would refuse to leave Zi Yan behind.

Although the Ancient Void Dragon Clan truly had more than thirty Dou Shengs outside searching for the Dragon Emperor, how many he could summon back remained unknown.

Even though Zi Yan was the Dragon Emperor's daughter and possessed the purest royal bloodline, those experts who had wandered outside for many years might not necessarily return.

In the end, perhaps only Dragon Emperor Zhu Kun himself could summon every expert outside back to the clan.

Qingshan could only say that he would call back as many as he possibly could.

Zi Yan listened completely to Ling Yuan.

She did not care about the Dragon Emperor's position at all. Whatever Ling Yuan said, she would do.

To her, the greatest benefit of becoming the Dragon Emperor might be this: her status would become more noble, making her more worthy of Ling Yuan.

Ling Mother, meanwhile, felt that her son was destined to inherit the clan leader's position someday and wanted to see his decision-making ability.

As for Ling Yang, there was even less to say. He was merely the Seventh Elder of the Ling Clan, here purely to provide protection, and had no standing to make decisions.

Thus, the decision fell entirely upon Ling Yuan.