Chapter 1013: Dragon Taming

Tang San smiled wryly. "Your Majesty, I've never claimed I have the confidence to take the big win. But taking one step forward is still progress, right? I'll take it slow, step by step. After all, I'm just a Blue Gold Tree."

The Sunborne Nymph Emperor scoffed. "You don't act like one at all, do you now?"

Tang San chuckled awkwardly. "So, does that mean you've agreed?"

"You want to do it now?"

Tang San nodded quickly. "Yes, right now. Everyone's focused on the tournament, so nobody is paying attention to me. You must have a suitable location, right?"

The Sunborne Nymph Emperor looked rather exasperated. "You really are milking our relationship for everything it's worth, huh? Fine, I'll help you one more time. Come with me."

As he spoke, a golden-red radiance surged from his body, enveloping both himself and Tang San, and shot into the sky, flying off into the distance.

As an Emperor, he had no restrictions flying within the Ancestral Court. Tang San suppressed his aura and protected his body with life energy, letting the Sunborne Nymph Emperor carry him as they sped through the air.

Before long, they had left the Ancestral Court far behind. As they flew, the Sunborne Nymph Emperor said, "My domain is the safest place, but you can't manipulate life energy within it. So I'm taking you outside to a more suitable location. I'll seal off the surrounding space with my divine consciousness, so you can go all out. If there's any danger, I'll protect you."

Tang San was overjoyed. "Thank you, Your Majesty. I'm fortunate to have your help."

The Sunborne Nymph Emperor responded mildly, "I'm not helping you for nothing. Whenever you ascend to Emperorhood, I want the first Blue Gold Fruit you produce."

"Of course, that will be yours. I already said that I'm in your camp, so whatever I produce naturally belongs to you. I have to say, though: I'm not sure what its effects will be. We'll see when the time comes."

"Mm." The Sunborne Nymph Emperor could tell he was being sincere and said nothing more.

They flew roughly a hundred kilometers from the Ancestral Court before the Sunborne Nymph Emperor brought Tang San down into a lush valley.

A powerful divine consciousness radiated from the Sunborne Nymph Emperor, creating an invisible barrier that sealed off the entire area. As expected of one of the top Emperors of the age, his divine consciousness was of such magnitude that this barrier didn't even let the sun's heat pass through.

Landing gracefully, the Sunborne Nymph Emperor nodded to Tang San. "You may begin."

"Alright." Tang San gave a respectful nod, then walked to the side. He slowly raised his hand, and the storage ring on his finger flashed with light. In the next instant, a massive cage appeared on the ground. A deep, menacing roar echoed through the valley.

The cage was enormous, and within it was the source of the terrifying roar: a massive dragon covered in dark purple scales. It had no forelimbs, only hind legs, and a huge collar wrapped around its neck.

This was the Scourge Dragon that Tang San had bought at the Super Auction for thirteen thousand amethystine coins, the one Crystalline said was a so-called puppet dragon. A mutated dragon whose combat strength was near the level of an Emperor!

The moment the cage appeared, the Scourge Dragon began to roar madly, its huge body thrashing violently as it slammed against the cage.

The cage alone couldn't possibly restrain such a beast. What really kept it in check was the collar around its neck.

The Sunborne Nymph Emperor glanced at Tang San. "Well, here we go. How do you plan to handle it?"

"Your Majesty, may I trouble you to suppress it for now?"

"Mm." A flash of golden-red light appeared in the Sunborne Nymph Emperor's eyes. Instantly, the surrounding temperature soared, and a terrifying pressure descended from above.

It was as if the sun itself had fallen from the sky and was crushing the Scourge Dragon beneath it. The frenzied dragon was instantly immobilized, unable to even get up. Yet at the same time, the cage remained unharmed. The Sunborne Nymph Emperor's finesse and control over his power was truly terrifying.

Tang San felt a chill in his heart. The Sunborne Nymph Emperor was even stronger than he'd expected. While suppressing the Scourge Dragon, he was also subtly showing Tang San his strength.

The Scourge Dragon still tried to struggle. Even facing an Emperor, its madness left it with no intent to submit.

Tang San didn't dare hesitate. He stepped forward and used the key given to him at the auction to unlock the cage.

The side gate of the cage swung open. Tang San entered directly, deactivated the cage's array, and opened the top as well, leaving an opening large enough for the Scourge Dragon to get out.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Everyone knew what this creature was meant for when it appeared at the auction: a weapon of pure destruction. A beast like this, unleashed in a city, would cause unimaginable devastation. The problem was, of course, that everyone now knew who owned it. If it went on a rampage someday, the buyer would be held accountable. That was why such a terrifying creature was sold for only thirteen thousand amethystine coins. Its uncontrollable nature and public ownership meant that it was far more of a liability than it was an asset.

Tang San flew up, positioning himself just above the Scourge Dragon's head, which it could still barely lift.

On its head was a single slanted horn glowing with a deep purple light. The aura of annihilation it emitted made even Tang San feel uneasy. Without the Sunborne Nymph Emperor suppressing it, it would have taken him a tremendous effort to subdue this beast. Its power could likely even resist suppression by his divine seat. Controlling it safely required one thing and one thing alone: absolute, overwhelming force.

Tang San took a deep breath and said toward the Sunborne Nymph Emperor, "Your Majesty, I'll need you to maintain the pressure. I'm going to remove the collar."

"You're going to do what now? Then how will you keep it under control?" the Sunborne Nymph Emperor asked with some surprise.

Tang San replied, "Without removing the collar, there's no way to win its loyalty, not even if all Emperors gather up and beat it into submission. I want to give it a try. If it doesn't work, I'll just put the collar back on."

He had already been told how to use the collar and what resources were needed. Thus, he was well aware that the collar could only temporarily pacify the Scourge Dragon, and it came at a steep cost.

He had initially considered releasing it directly during the tournament to wreak havoc, but it was far too uncontrollable. And the collar would not help him in that respect—once it was activated and the dragon was pacified, it would simply slump down and proceed to do nothing at all. In other words, it just wasn't possible to make the dragon do his bidding. Thus, after careful consideration, he had put together a broader strategy.

After using the Sword Saint Demon Emperor's statue, the next step was to tame the Scourge Dragon.

The entire dragon race had no real solution to the Scourge Dragon's power. But as a former God King, how could he not have encountered annihilation before?

Back in the Douluo Divine Realm, there were five God Kings: the Supreme God King Asura, as well as the Goddess of Kindness, God of Evil, Goddess of Life, and God of Annihilation. Tang San himself had taken over the seat of the Asura God, thus becoming the ruler of the Divine Realm. As for Life and Annihilation, these divine seats controlled the most fundamental laws of the Divine Realm. Life and annihilation, creation and destruction—these two were inextricably intertwined.

Now, Tang San carried the Ancestral Tree's imprint, which gave him full access to the life origin of the plane. Meanwhile, the Scourge Dragon's annihilation energy was not at the level of the Divine Realm's God of Annihilation; powerful though it was, it still belonged to this plane. Tang San had a hunch that this annihilation energy might actually be a product of fortune reversal. In other words, the birth of such a unique being was an indirect result of the Celestial Fox Demon Emperor's influence.