Rumble!

Accompanied by a tremendous peal of thunder, the four Celestial Sages led by Lei Zhong were all swallowed by that violent storm of lightning.

Just as Lu Yuan had said, he did not care in the slightest what identities these people before him possessed, nor whether killing them would provoke the wrath of the entire Celestial Race.

Once he had made a decision, he would not change it. Besides, this was hardly the first time he had killed a so-called Ranker.

At this moment, under Lu Yuan's methods, terrifying lightning poured down from the heavens. That dreadful power completely engulfed the four Celestial Sages.

In order to prevent them from escaping, he continuously channeled the golden vital qi within him, along with the Great Sun's Furnace to suppress them utterly.

However, dealing with Lei Chong and the others did not require Lu Yuan to unleash his true strength at all. Otherwise, this battle would have ended long ago.

Of course, even so, under Lu Yuan's methods, the four Celestial Sages did not hold out for long before they were utterly destroyed by the power of that lightning. Not even their corpses remained behind. It was as though they had never existed in this world at all.

"So... it's already over?"

Standing off to the side, Yinglong Ao Ze stared in shock. From its perspective, everything that had just happened had taken no more than the span of a few breaths.

It had originally thought that even with Lu Yuan's current strength, dealing with four Celestial Sages would surely require no small amount of effort. But now it seemed that it had completely overthought things.

Ao Ze had even been preparing to make a move. Yet in the end, it had done nothing at all.

"Yeah, it's over." A faint smile appeared on Lu Yuan's face as he looked at Ao Ze before him. He knew that Ao Ze must be deeply shocked by his strength but that was fine as this had been part of his intention from the beginning.

"Weren't you going to the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace? Let's go together," Lu Yuan spoke again in a calm voice, not paying any mind to Ao Ze's stunned expression. He had not forgotten the main reason he had come to the Eastern Sea.

"Alright." Ao Ze came back to its senses and immediately nodded.

Then, the man and dragon plunged directly into the sea.

As for the battle earlier, it had already ended completely. Only the air itself, along with the lingering force pervading the sky, seemed to speak of how terrifying that clash had been.

Deep within the Eastern Sea, that enormous Dragon Palace still stood beneath the waters. Ordinarily, there should have been many mutated sea beasts here. However, because of the battle that had just taken place above the surface, they had feared being caught in the aftermath and had fled immediately.

After all, one side had been Celestial Sages, while Lu Yuan himself was a Lesser Sage. To weaker lifeforms, the only sensible choice was naturally to flee as far away as possible.

"The Eastern Sea Dragon Palace is still much the same as before. There haven't been any major changes," Lu Yuan remarked softly as he observed the scene before him.

The Third Awakening had only just begun. If one wanted to gather more information, it was indeed still very difficult.

Unless the changes had developed to a certain degree, otherwise, as things stood now, even after visiting many places, including the various famous mountains and rivers, his gains had been limited.

Now that he had arrived at the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace, the situation seemed to be no different.

He then turned to Ao Ze and continued, "You came here because you knew there were many folded spaces around the Dragon Palace, and you wanted to try your luck and use them to evade the Celestials' pursuit?"

Now, with the onset of the Third Awakening, folded spaces had become far more numerous in every region. Naturally, the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace was no exception.

This place had once been a gathering ground for the dragon race. For it to come here in search of a thread of survival was entirely reasonable.

"That's right." Ao Ze nodded. "Though from the looks of it now, it seems there's no longer any need."

In truth, even as a member of the dragon race, successfully entering a folded space that had yet to fully open was extremely difficult. Back then, it truly had no other choice. But now, the situation had been completely reversed.

Lu Yuan did not respond further and simply continued observing the surrounding scene.

After confirming that there was nothing to be found, he turned back toward Ao Ze and said, "Ao Ze, your injuries have not recovered, and they look rather serious. Instead of staying here, why don't you come with me to Mount Tai and enter the Celestial Court?"

The moment those words were spoken, Ao Ze was first startled. Then it simply stared at Lu Yuan.

Only after a while did it slowly say, "So the reason you helped me deal with those Celestial Sages was because you wanted to win me over?"

Ao Ze was not stupid. Connecting it with everything that had happened before, it could now already guess the motive.

"Yes." Lu Yuan did not deny it in the slightest and nodded directly. "However, I do not mean to win you over in the ordinary sense. As for dealing with those Celestial Sages, the truth is that even if you weren't involved, I still would have acted. As for bringing you in, I merely wanted to display my own strength and let you see it for yourself."

In the current world, strength reigned supreme. With great enough strength, there would naturally be many who chose to follow, just like the Celestial Court now.

Yinglong was proud by nature, blessed with exceptional talent. To make such a being submit under ordinary circumstances was absolutely impossible, unless one possessed truly terrifying strength and combat power.

That was why Lu Yuan had acted as he did. He had directly revealed his Lesser Sage Realm's power, then, within an extremely short span of time, used the Celestials' own strongest methods to erase them outright.

He knew that doing so would surely bring a tremendous shock to Ao Ze. As long as this first step succeeded, then what came next would become much easier.

"It seems my reaction really was a bit slow."

After hearing Lu Yuan admit it, Ao Ze could not help but laugh. It had always been straightforward in both thought and action. And in its heart, it also approved of Lu Yuan's methods—using absolute strength to earn another's respect.

At the same time, Lu Yuan had also said that he was merely inviting Ao Ze into the Celestial Court. There were no other attached conditions.

"As things stand, beings from the Outer Cosmos are eyeing this world like tigers watching prey. They have gathered in outer space around Earth, and once the power of the Separation of Heaven and Earth disappears, they will descend without the slightest restraint. When that time comes, if we do not possess sufficient strength, there will be no way to resist them.

Lu Yuan continued speaking, "And you, Yinglong, are also a lifeform of this world. You should understand the cruelty of that."

These were the true words in his heart. His gradual building of the Celestial Court was not for the sake of becoming some so-called Lord of the Celestial Court.

The Celestial Court's purpose was to amass a foundation great enough, so that when the time came, they could calmly face the beings from the Outer Cosmos.

He understood very clearly that when that day arrived, those existences would absolutely not be as "reasonable" as they were now.

Lu Yuan had always understood this point, and that was why he had always been preparing.

And what was the only true way to face all of it?

Absolutely overwhelming strength.

Yinglong Ao Ze was also someone Lu Yuan wished to draw in.

He simply had not encountered the opportunity before. Now, Lu Yuan had one. The reason he was saying so much now was also to make Ao Ze understand the true state of affairs.

Of course, if Ao Ze refused, Lu Yuan would not say anything further, because he had no intention of forcing anyone against their will.

After hearing Lu Yuan's words, contemplation surfaced in Ao Ze's eyes.

Eventually, it lifted its gaze and slowly said, "Alright!"