The Ancestral Dragon's Awakening

Within the grand edifice, silence reigned. On the elongated table, the Heavenly Stele, no longer than a meter, lay dormant like a miniature primeval dragon, its surface calm yet harboring a perilous energy within.

An array of mysterious instruments scanned the stele from all directions, while dozens of screens displayed cascading data streams as the supercomputer's calculations ran at full capacity.

Suddenly, the vast laboratory filled with the hum of machinery, and a mechanical voice rang out:

"Appearance: stone-like. Composition: not stone. Extremely complex, difficult to identify. Contains mysterious power. Preliminary estimate: one-trillion-trillion times stronger than database subjects 'Divine-Demonic Experimentals.'"

Of course, these were mere numbers,the voice intoned without inflection, the digit 'one' followed by an endless chain of zeros, ending with a 'times'.

Xiao Chen paused in astonishment, refraining from interference. He had never dismissed technological civilization and now wished to see if an alternative path could fully decipher the Heavenly Stele's mysteries.

"Probe Number Seventeen detects life fluctuations within the stele—the vital essence of a living organism..."

The mechanical voice carried no emotion, utterly formulaic, even imparting a chilling, metallic aura.

At this moment, Xiao Chen's heart shook. He could not remain as placid as the lifeless machine. A surge of agitation roiled within him.

Life fluctuations within the Heavenly Stele? This overturned all common understanding. How could a cold stone monolith harbor the flow of vital essence?

He recalled the speculations left by a great power on the back of the Eighth Heavenly Stele in ancient script—that the steles might be beings, not things. This seemed to find confirmation.

"Detected: no flesh, no blood... Danger! Danger! Extreme danger!"

Suddenly, piercing alarm klaxons filled the entire laboratory. All instruments trembled; every screen flickered into static.

The Heavenly Stele on the table quivered faintly, emitting a chilling aura, like a primordial savage beast opening its maw to devour all.

Sensing the peril, Xiao Chen retreated swiftly, bursting out of the building. At that moment, the little celestial horse, bearing Zhao Lin'er, followed him in flight.

Xiao Chen covered them with a sheet of multicolored radiance, using a divine shielding technique to teleport to the far end of the underground world.

Boom!

The entire laboratory collapsed in a pulse of soul-shaking energy. All instruments turned to ash; the place was razed to the ground.

The destructive aura did not fully erupt. Xiao Chen looked back and saw that the area had formed a self-contained world—a world connected by artificially created wormholes.

Yes. Six gigantic metal doors sealed the four cardinal directions and the zenith and nadir. Each door linked to a wormhole, controlled by massive instruments outside.

This was a product of technological civilization—man-made spacetime passages channeling all erupted energy into other worlds.

"Star Gate..." Zhao Lin'er murmured those two words. She knew this place well.

This underground realm belonged to a lost ancient civilization. Thirty thousand years ago, the Empress of the Nine Provinces, Zhao Lin'er, had acquired vast quantities of super-technological weapons here.

Later, when the Nine Provinces fell and its people were annihilated, she had hidden here but could not escape disaster. She became an experimental subject, suffering unimaginable torment.

Suddenly, Xiao Chen sensed a soul awakening. From the depths of the underground world erupted an unparalleled aura. He instantly concealed his presence and placed Zhao Lin'er and the little celestial horse within the Eight Aspect Worlds.

"I don't need you to save me..." Zhao Lin'er said, covering the right side of her face with her hair. She sat slumped in a corner, her expression despondent as she murmured to herself.

The little celestial horse paced around her, gazing at Xiao Chen with concern.

Xiao Chen said nothing. Time could heal all wounds. He understood Zhao Lin'er's heart, but he did not wish to speak of it now. He merely reached out to erase the traces and clues left outside, lest the awakening being detect them.

He did not want to act rashly; he wanted to observe and see what this being intended to do.

Before long, all six Star Gates fell silent; the man-made wormholes vanished. The Heavenly Stele floated motionless in the void.

A flash of light, and a silver-haired woman appeared before the stele. She frowned and muttered to herself, "Scanning failed again... I'll need to refine some more powerful artifacts." Saying this, she took the stele and disappeared, transferring it to another giant laboratory.

Soon, the silver-haired woman gathered a pile of even more complex instruments. Gnashing her teeth, she cut her finger, letting drops of blood fall, and used her own divine power to begin refining these instruments—sanctifying the products of technological civilization with her blood, the essence blood of an Ancestral God. She spared no expense.

These instruments were the latest creations developed after the Otherworld took over.

Scanning and calculation of the Heavenly Stele began anew. Complex programs ran at extreme speed; data flashed across the screens.

"Calculated result: the stone tablet can be termed a perfect artifact. Partial structure understood: extremely complex, suspected to be an object that cannot exist in this world..."

"Warning! Warning! Danger! Danger!" The piercing alarm shrieked again.

This time, the silver-haired woman stayed nearby. She hurriedly cut off the connection between the instruments and the stele, thereby preventing another explosion.

"I don't believe it cannot be calculated. Everything can be quantified and rearranged. I must crack the Heavenly Stele's secret!"

Gritting her teeth, she offered up a third of her essence blood to re-refine these technological products and began scanning and calculation once more.

"Detected life fluctuations within the stele. Detected blood. Detected thought waves. Danger! Danger! Danger!"

When this was spoken, the silver-haired woman transformed into a sheet of light, merging with the various instruments, and commanded, "Continue the scan!"

"Detected a drop of fresh blood within the stele, a blood bead containing human thought waves..."

Xiao Chen, hidden afar, was shocked. This was too incredible.

"Blood dried; thought waves dissipated; the stele's active power extinguished."

The light forming the silver-haired woman's figure condensed into a beautiful face. She frowned. "What happened? Why did it disappear?"

"After analysis and calculation: the stele is empty; the blood bead is dry; no life fluctuations, no thought waves. It is an indestructible dead object..." the mechanical voice read the data in a flat, emotionless tone.

From a distance, Xiao Chen frowned, utterly bewildered.

Within the great laboratory, the silver-haired woman raged, "I granted you life and called you the God of Technology. But what can you do? You have measured nothing!"

"Warning! Warning! Unknown energy flowing within the stele! Warning! Warning! Complex patterns arranged within the stele..."

"Scan them out!" the silver-haired woman commanded.

On each screen, a series of mysterious, complex patterns appeared.

"This is..." The woman furrowed her brow.

From afar, Xiao Chen also looked on, utterly confused.

Whoosh!

The patterns on all the screens transformed into a different set.

"How did they change?" the woman asked.

"Variables: countless trillions. That glimpse barely captured the trajectory. Cannot be calculated... Cannot be clarified..." The mechanical voice grew discontinuous, as if about to self-destruct.

The silver-haired woman snorted in anger and quickly lent her aid.

At that moment, a few more sets of changes appeared on the screens.

Xiao Chen's heart trembled. He sensed it—the formless traces of the Dao, expressed in an alternative form by this God of Technology!

Of course, this was by no means the supreme Dao, only a faint embryo of its mark, far removed from the myriad transformations.

Clearly, the woman also realized this. Anxiously and urgently, she shouted, "You must calculate it! Simulate it!"

"Cannot achieve. To fully simulate would require several billion years of precise computation, without a single error..."

"Damn it!" the radiant silver-haired woman cursed, forgetting her dignity. "If you cannot simulate, be prepared to be dismantled! I can grant you life, and I can take it away!"

"Warning! Warning! Danger! Danger!"

The piercing alarm sounded again, followed by a thunderous roar. A terrible explosion erupted here; even the light-form of the silver-haired woman could not stop it.

She fled in disarray. Several Star Gates appeared, and man-made wormholes connected to the area, channeling all the violent energy away.

At that moment, Xiao Chen struck. Having witnessed these events, he understood the gist and needed to wait no longer.

Trying to use scientific methods to decipher the Heavenly Stele and the supreme Dao's imprints—this woman of the Otherworld could be called either wildly imaginative or brilliantly insightful, sharp and unorthodox.

Xiao Chen thus appraised her as he reached out and seized her, trapping her under his palm.

"You—!"

She clearly recognized him. Xiao Chen's rampage across the Otherworld's Ninety-Nine Stone Steps had made his name known throughout the Otherworld's gods, whether in seclusion or wandering abroad.

"Even the Saint Shadow of the Demon could not grind you away..." Her eyes filled with terror. "How is this possible? How could you escape the stone gate? Impossible!" She could not believe it and refused to accept this reality.

At the same time, Xiao Chen swept up the now-calm Heavenly Stele into his hands. He probed with his divine sense and communicated with his Heavenly Mark.

But in the next moment, Xiao Chen's expression changed drastically. This Heavenly Stele from the Burial Valley did not have a Heavenly Mark left within!

"How can this be?"

Vaguely, Xiao Chen sensed something amiss. Ever since this stele had been taken by another first, he had had a bad feeling.

"Speak! Who extracted the Heavenly Mark?!" Xiao Chen demanded.

"Haha... you mean that tangible imprint that flowed out of the stele?" The silver-haired woman laughed arrogantly, her beautiful face becoming wild and demonic, a cold glint in her eyes. "Do not think that only you can cultivate the Heavenly Stele Profound Art. My race also has peerless geniuses who have comprehended it!"

Xiao Chen's heart sank. As he had feared, someone else was also pursuing the Heavenly Steles. This was a most unfavorable outcome. He had to enter the Otherworld to recover that Heavenly Mark; otherwise, the consequences would be dire.

After dealing with the silver-haired woman, he wanted to take Zhao Lin'er away, but she stubbornly refused to leave, as if death were preferable.

For her, this place held everything—this lost ancient civilization would become the launching ground of her hopes.

"I will build a bridge between the surface technology and this civilization. There is technology here no weaker than the power of an Ancestral God. It can continue to develop..." That was her primary reason for staying.

Xiao Chen searched the place thoroughly and, by chance, discovered a purple jade bracelet in the silver-haired woman's room.

His heart jolted. He was familiar with this bracelet. It originated from Ancestral Dragon Village and could open the world gates at Lushan and other places. He had never expected to see it again after thirty thousand years.

Connected to the Ancestral Dragon, connected to Ancestral Dragon Village—this purple jade bracelet had an extraordinary origin!

Leaving the underground civilization, Xiao Chen basked in the sunlight. The purple jade bracelet, in the shifting light, vaguely revealed the shadow of an Ancestral Dragon within.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind. He tore through space and arrived at Lushan to test the bracelet's power once more.

It did not open any gates. Instead, a strange fluctuation emanated, shattering a huge boulder beneath Lushan Waterfall.

Clatter. A snow-white skull rolled out from within.

"Who disturbs my peace? I am dead; can you not let me be?"

Xiao Chen was stunned. The snow-white skull still contained a last wisp of fading remnant soul. He recognized it with shock—it was Tong Hu, the guardian of Lushan from ages past.

"It is you... You came too late. I cannot hold on any longer. Bury me..." With these words, Tong Hu's skull crumbled to bone powder.

Xiao Chen stood in silence. Another old friend had departed. Everything signified that all people and things of the past no longer existed. He covered the white bone powder on the ground with yellow earth.

Without hesitation, Xiao Chen departed. Half a day later, he returned to the banks of the Yellow River, before what was once Ancestral Dragon Village.

There, tall buildings now stood; no trace of the past remained.

Holding the purple jade bracelet, he focused his mind to sense it.

A roar erupted—the Ancestral Dragon's cry shook the sun, moon, and rivers. The rolling Yellow River surged, great waves lashing the sky.

At that moment, Xiao Chen's spiritual sense, probing into the bracelet, was struck as if by lightning. He recoiled.

Crack.

The purple jade bracelet split, then shattered into pieces, purple crystals falling to the ground.

A dragon-shaped phantom burst forth and plunged into the surging Yellow River.

The Yellow River soared into the sky, like a great dragon, stretching ten thousand miles across the land of the Nine Provinces.

The Ancestral Dragon roared; the entire river condensed into a stone river, forming a ten-thousand-mile-long stone dragon.

Its immense presence crushed the Nine Provinces!

At the river's mouth, the cries of Ancestral Dragons shook the heavens. Three Ancestral Dragons, intertwined and entwined, raced upstream against the current, their colossal bodies writhing in the sky.

Thus began an unprecedented age for the Dragon Clan: three Ancestral Dragons appeared in the world at once, charging toward the primal Ancestral Dragon Village!