Aotian blinked for a second and then found himself back on the sandy island in the middle of the sea.

He knew he had not been teleported, only dragged at high speed by the dragon, but even he could not notice almost anything.

The Dragon King was a being probably at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence realm, or rather, a beast at the peak of the seventh level. And considering that, even Aotian’s strongest avatar was only a slightly bigger ant in front of him, let alone his main body, which was very limited.

Even with thousands of minds, if Aotian’s body could not perceive anything, then it was obviously impossible to use those thousands of minds to process something.

But he, at the moment, did not dwell on such a problem; there were more important things to consider now.

Then, raising his eyes toward the dragon, who only had its head out of the sea again, he saw it looking toward the horizon, probably where they had come from, with a tense gaze.

It was only a few moments later that silent relief finally appeared in the beast’s solemn eyes, and only then did it turn its gaze back to them, much more relaxed.

Such a scene triggered alarms in Aotian’s heart, and his gaze became thoughtful, no longer feeling as much security as he thought he would have when using this small world as the sect’s base.

[“The test is over, and there is no doubt who the champion is.”]

The beast spoke, shifting its focus to Aotian, which made everyone there look at him as well.

Among the Dragon Peak disciples, who, without exception, wore gloomy expressions while looking at the winner, young master Chun was clearly the most evident. His twisted face and bloodshot eyes were all that needed to be said to narrate his state of mind.

The dragon secretly shook its head at those foolish people. They did not even know that, in the end, this third challenge, which lasted one hour, always caused many casualties. It was only due to the intervention of the four people they hated—especially Aotian—that everyone survived this time.

It was unknown whether Aotian himself was aware of this, but, in the end, the fact was that he did not care about what the Dragon Peak disciples thought and only raised his gaze to calmly face the beast responsible for the judgment.

Black eyes met reptilian blue ones, waiting.

Fortunately, the beast did not take long to speak.

[“With the end of the test, it is time to distribute the rewards. As in all previous times, the top five have the right to acquire inheritances in the Dragon Sovereign Pavilion, with the first having the right to choose four, the second three, the third two, and the subsequent ones only one.”]

The dragon declared with authority, its thick and powerful voice drumming in everyone’s mind, but such a reward, aside from the disciples of the Infinite Dao Sect, who seemed a little interested, did not excite the others much.

[“Finally, for first place, as the winner of this test, the greatest prize shall be awarded… a portion of authority over the Dragon Sovereign Mansion.”]

Unlike the first reward, this stirred the Dragon Peak disciples, who turned pale at the thought of failing the sect’s mission and letting authority fall into the hands of outsiders for the first time in thousands of years.

The beast did not care about their reaction, and its focus was exclusively on Aotian.

[“The authority of the small world is divided among four testing grounds. In this field, 13% has already been granted to the champions of previous challenges, and this particular trial can award at most 25% of the total authority.”]

[“Among the other three existing testing fields, only 30% of the authority has been distributed so far. The remaining 57% from all fields still remains in my hands.”]

Its loud and powerful voice made everyone take a deep breath, unable to imagine what the 57% of authority in the dragon’s hands could do.

“How do I obtain the other authorities?” Aotian suddenly asked, his brows furrowed.

Such a question made the already gloomy faces of the Dragon Peak disciples become even darker with the affront. He was basically asking how to steal the rest of their authority.

Ignoring them, the dragon replied calmly.

[“Fight.”]

The answer was simple.

[“As long as you have received authority, you can challenge other authority holders. If the realms are equal, the fight is mandatory. If the realms are different, the challenge must come from the weaker side to be mandatory, or at least be accepted by it if the challenger is the stronger one between the two. It is not necessary to kill, only the admission of defeat is enough.”]

[“The remaining authority must be obtained within the testing grounds. The more authority you possess, the greater the benefits and control you will have over the Dragon Sovereign Mansion. With full authority, you will become the new master of the small world.”]

As he spoke, even the Dragon Peak disciples were shocked, their complexions turning pale.

There was much they did not know, and as they listened, they realized they might merely be pawns in a struggle between the higher-ups of their sect, their life-and-death battles serving only to nourish their respective masters.

But Aotian, although not in the same situation, did not seem satisfied.

Upon hearing that, he felt he would not receive much authority this time, and from what it seemed, this challenge did not happen very often, which would be a huge problem.

Even if he could send his disciples to clear the challenge occasionally, which would not be a problem for them, if the tests took too long to happen every time one ended, the world would probably be destroyed before he could gather the total authority.

While he was thinking about whether he should simply break the formations with his avatars, even if there were some risks, or give up when remembering the beasts from the corrupted part of the small mansion that frightened even the seventh-level dragon in front of him, the beast finally spoke, looking at him.

[“For this challenge, the portion of authority you will receive will be…”]

When he reached this part, the dragon strangely hesitated for a second, with a complicated light shining in his eyes, before firmness appeared and he declared in a firm tone.

[“It will be 12%, the total authority I can give with this test!”]

As soon as his words fell, absolutely everyone froze this time.

Even Aotian was stunned, wondering if the dragon had heard his thoughts of causing trouble and quickly appeased him.

When everyone came back to their senses, the Dragon Peak disciples fell into turmoil.

“Impossible!”

“12%?! How can that be?! The sect’s ancestors and elders always said that completing a challenge only grants 1% authority!”

“What the hell is happening?!”

Incredulous voices sounded among all 60 disciples there.

Rihai, Cang Song, and Hui Lang, on the other hand, exchanged glances with smiles before looking at Aotian. It seemed that the mission the sect gave them would go more easily than they had imagined.

But their joy and the confusion of the Dragon Peak disciples were suddenly silenced by a sudden roar.

“NO! NO! THIS AUTHORITY IS MINE!! MINE!!”

Young master Chun violently pushed the disciples beside him and marched forward violently to face the blue dragon in challenge, apparently completely losing his mind.

He was the most talented person born in this small world with the Water attribute in more than ten thousand years, ever since the Mahayana Mansion fell and began to be inhabited by humans.

His Sacred Physique was like the birth of the new ruler of the world, and to him it was obvious that he would gain the authority in this challenge.

It never crossed his mind that the higher-ups might plan to steal all his authority when he had been fattened well, like the other disciples thought. In his view, everyone saw him as the hope to truly gain control of the world, and he even imagined that those who held authority in Dragon Peak would proactively return it to him when he became stronger.

So, the only real problem was the existence of Aotian, who seemed to be ruining everything and unfairly stealing the authority that was his.

If it were only 1%, he might not have gone mad like this, but 12% was simply insanity. It was greater than the individual authority of any higher-up in his sect, and several times greater.

And, in fact, it was such great madness that even the dragon hesitated. It was only because he liked Aotian’s talent and apparent personality very much, together with his suspicions about his origin and with the pressure of the end of the world approaching, that he decided to take the risk.

In any case, the world was on a countdown, and he at least wanted to decide his lord’s heir before the apparent end, which was a mission his family had carried for millions of years. He wanted to put an end to that obsession before death.

But, although he did not care at all about the opinion of that crazy fellow called Chun, he did not like in the slightest the arrogant affront of an ant unrelated to him, a fool with delusions of grandeur.

Then, with a simple snort from his nostrils, a powerful gust of wind struck the insane Young Master Chun — who seemed about to attack Aotian and even the dragon, a seventh-level beast — like a freight train, sending him flying.

The crazy boy spat blood into the air as he was hurled straight into the sea, tearing through the waves before quickly sinking and disappearing into the depths

“Senior brother!!!”

With their jaws dropping, the Dragon Peak disciples immediately fell into panic.

Young Master Chun was highly valued by the high-ranking members of the sect, and they feared for themselves what might happen if anything were to befall him.

They quickly glanced at the dragon in fear, only to see that he was paying them no attention at all. Then, some of them, gritting their teeth, leaped into the sea to rescue Chun—not for his sake, but to save their own lives.

Aotian, selectively ignoring those people, looked thoughtfully at the dragon, waiting for the authority to arrive, wondering what he could do with such a degree of authority.

Fortunately, the dragon did not waste time, and a white ray flew from his gigantic forehead, which soon fell like a pillar of light onto Aotian, disappearing a few moments later, apparently without affecting him.

However, Aotian blinked, sensing a faint connection with the world around him. Soon, knowledge of two types of benefits granted by his current authority proactively appeared in his mind.

The first was the simple right to fight and absorb authority from others, unlocked upon reaching 1% authority.

As for the second, unlocked at 10% authority, he couldn’t help raising an eyebrow in surprise when he comprehended it.

‘Well, it could be better, but it will still be very useful.’

Smiling lightly, he began mobilizing his avatars within the sect, preparing the ground for this new ability.

Unaware of Aotian’s plans, the dragon ended the test.

[“You will all be sent back now. Only the top five will go to the Dragon Sovereign Pavilion to choose whatever inheritances they desire, before being sent outside.”] 

The beast declared, and with a sudden gleam in his blue eyes, everyone vanished from the place.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep