Shifting the Blame

"It's Ao Sheng!"

Zhang Xuezhou has always believed that the rain was caused by Ao Li.

But when the Tongtian Crown, which had suppressed the dragon, fell, it was completely different from what he had guessed.

Zhang Xuezhou initially couldn't guess the dragon's origins, nor did he know where it came from.

But when the dragon cried out for help and displayed its defensive techniques, Zhang Xuezhou immediately recognized the dragon's identity.

During their exploration of the Mohists's mechanical city, Zhang Xuezhou and his group encountered this dragon, and Li Shaojun was even killed by it once.

After exploring the Mohists's mechanical city, the group parted ways. Zhang Xuezhou had almost forgotten about the dragon, but he never expected that it would actually receive a benefit from the Yuanshi Celestial Venerable and even bring such a long period of rain to the Jing River.

"Could it be that the Immortal Court also went to Anle Palace to steal the Nine Dragon Cauldrons?"

The Immortal Court controlled the Great Zhou Dynasty for eight hundred years. Even after the collapse of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Immortal Court maintained its high status until it declined during the Qin Dynasty.

Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. If the Immortal Court were to send a certain number of experts to Chang'an City, Zhang Xuezhou felt that Anle Palace's preparations would be in serious trouble, and even Divine Lord Zhenyuan wouldn't be able to withstand it.

"Damn it, I only came to challenge Ao Li, and you people attacked me without even asking what happened! I'm going to report this to the Immortal Court!"

Ao Sheng displayed extraordinary abilities, deflecting Lu Bode's blade and withstanding Li Guang's arrows.

The defensive power of this technique is rare. Zhang Xuezhou even saw the Yuanshi Celestial Venerable use this Technique Method to fight against the explosion of the Mohists's mechanical city and protect the Zixiao Palace.

Compared to the extraordinary defensive power brought about by the magic of the Yuanshi Celestial Venerable, the strange phenomena on Ao Sheng's body were clearly insignificant.

However, whether it was a problem with the Technique Method itself or with Ao Sheng, although strange phenomena kept appearing, they failed to knock away the Tongtian Crown that was being suppressed.

This left Ao Sheng pacing back and forth along the Jing River, grabbing at things and cursing loudly with his head on the ground.

"Evil dragon!"

Xu Chang cursed, his fingers trembling.

Despite his physical limitations, Xu Chang managed to knock Ao Sheng down, never expecting it to turn into a protracted duel.

The question now is whether the suppression in Xu Chang will last longer, or whether Ao Sheng's unusual phenomena will persist for longer.

His body began to tremble, and his fingers gradually turned black.

The Law Power cleansing within the body did not eliminate the snake venom injected into it.

This snake venom is not the venom of ordinary snakes, but rather the power of Incantation Technique.

If the caster dies, the snake venom in his body will be cleared instantly. However, if Xu Chang caster survives, removing the snake venom that is spread all over his body becomes a difficult task.

The Incantation Technique he had previously encountered was powerful and deadly; the current Incantation Technique was far weaker, but its spread was too rapid and too wide.

"Lord Dongfang, can this curse be burned?" Xu Chang asked Zhang Xuezhou, trembling, after cursing.

"The curse has not subsided even after the medium used for the incantation was burned. The Prime Minister will likely need to find someone to set up an altar and perform a ritual to remove the curse!"

Zhang Xuezhou pursed his lips.

Xu Chang had previously been bound by the Snake Head Incantation, which caused him to fall into the Jing River and be continuously choked by water, resulting in a coma. Now, he is suffering from the poison of the Snake Head Incantation, which has spread throughout his body. The two symptoms are completely different.

Zhang Xuezhou had previously dared to let Rong Tianding burn something, and Xu Chang only suffered a little pain before it passed. How could he dare to burn something recklessly now?

Furthermore, Zhang Xuezhou also noticed the difference in the Snake Head Incantation: the medium of the Snake Head Incantation he burned earlier was grayish-white, while the medium of the Snake Head Incantation he burned later was black.

This proves that the Snake Head Incantation originated from different monks.

Few people in the Yedie River Holy Land have mastered the Snake Head Incantation, and even fewer can silently cause Xu Chang to suffer losses.

The identity of the person with gray hair is easy to determine, while the person with black hair is either Wu Chao, a disciple of Hongku after he became a Venerable, or a certain monk.

Zhang Xuezhou found it difficult to judge for a moment; he even suspected that Hongku's yang spirit body was still nearby but had not yet manifested.

This made him extremely cautious.

If Ao Sheng hadn't fallen and hit him, Zhang Xuezhou felt that he and Rong Tianding would still be lying on the ground looking for an opportunity.

"What should we do with this wicked dragon?"

Zhang Xuezhou was unable to cure the curse, Xu Chang was slightly disappointed but could understand.

He struggled to maintain the Tongtian Crown's suppression, but Xu Chang felt that his suppression would not last long.

Firstly, the cursed poison in his body was causing his Law Power to become disordered and difficult to control; secondly, Xu Chang felt that he could not hold on any longer and needed to return to Chang'an City to seek medical treatment.

Xu Chang pointed at Ao Sheng, then looked at Li Guang still wore a wary expression.

"Lu Bode, how long will it take you to lead the warship army over?" Li Guang asked warily.

"Half an hour," Lu Bode replied quickly.

There's nothing else around here...

Li Guang glanced at the Tongtian crown pressing down on Ao Sheng's head, then at his own bow and arrows.

Zhang Xuezhou could recognize the Qingyun Technique, and so could Li Guang.

What he needs right now is not a force to strike, but the assistance of cultivators to suppress and bind him. As long as he can restrain Ao Sheng for a period of time and let the Technique Method on Ao Sheng's body dissipate, Ao Sheng will be like a turtle in a jar.

The naval forces, skilled in large-scale battles, were not here, and it was too late to request reinforcements from Chang'an City.

Although the perpetrator has been caught, the group is still unable to subdue him for the time being.

"You can't do anything to me. I can come and go as I please!"

Seemingly sensing everyone's helplessness, Ao Sheng realized what was happening while frantically scratching with his four claws.

"Hahaha, once I'm free, I'll use water vapor to create rain for three days and three nights, and force Ao Li out of his water palace!"

Ao Sheng laughed loudly. His body was surrounded by colorful clouds, and his head slowly rose from a pile of mayfly mud, making Xu Chang, who was barely maintaining the suppression, look even worse.

"Ao Li, Ao Li, come out quickly! A dragon is trying to frame you!"

Zhang Xuezhou didn't care whether Ao Sheng was beaten to death or escaped, but he couldn't stand Ao Sheng continuing to manipulate the rain.

He looked at the churning Jing River and couldn't help but shout at the top of his lungs.

"This ugly dragon can just leave. You have your Water Palace here, and our Great Han Dynasty emperors even have the Crimson Sky Sword, which is specifically for slaying dragons. If we can't find this ugly dragon, you'll be the one in trouble!"

Who are you calling ugly?!

Ao Shengting was happy to see someone goad Ao Li, but he couldn't stand Zhang Xuezhou calling him ugly.

"Look at you, covered in mud and moths! You're the ugly one, you ugly thing! You're so ugly yourself, yet you call me ugly..."

"If this ugly dragon keeps bringing rain for three more days, Chang'an City will be flooded all the way to the palace. Even if you didn't do it, you caused it, and you won't be able to escape responsibility..."

Despite Ao Sheng's cursing, Zhang Xuezhou continued to call for Ao Li to come forward.

His voice wasn't loud, but the Demonic Sound Technique vibrated back and forth, carrying the sound to great distances, while Ao Sheng's voice boomed with anger, never lowering.

After several attempts to persuade him, a wave surged into the sky from the Jing River, and Ao Li, clad in golden armor and wielding a spear, leaped out of the water.

"Ao Sheng, I have repeatedly yielded to you, yet you have repeatedly pursued and harassed me. Do we really have to fight to the death before this is over?" Ao Li roared, stamping his foot on the Jing River. "The First Emperor chose me over you; that was his decision. Your harassment of me is completely unreasonable!"

"Ao Li, I refuse to accept this! Why does looking good equate to justice? Once this old man removes the crown from my head, we'll fight to the death! If I lose and die, I have no complaints. If I win, you'll give me the Dragon Ball. I am the hope of this generation of dragons!"

Ao Sheng kept raising his head in the mud so that he could look directly at Ao Li on the Jing River.

Looking at Ao Li in his golden armor, and then at himself covered in mud, he felt an even stronger hatred for this contrast between beauty and ugliness, and felt that only a fight to the death could end the competition.

"You're too late!" Ao Li shouted. "A master named Ao Ye challenged me more than twenty days ago and took my Dragon Ball!"

"What?"

Ao Sheng was startled, only to hear Ao Li continue speaking.

"Ao Ye has no horns on his head, his body is covered with fine scales, he has a blue head and a black body with wings on his back. He possesses the bloodline of the Yinglong returning to its ancestral form, and his strength surpasses mine. He also took the Dragon Pearl. If you want the Dragon Pearl, go find him!"

Ao Li looked at Ao Sheng with a headache and had no choice but to explain to him.

He was also grateful that Ao Ye, who had taken the fall for him, happened to walk right into his room; otherwise, he would never have had a peaceful life.

He even described in great detail Zhang Xuezhou's state of mind at the time, thus convincing Ao Sheng that this had indeed happened.