Chapter 1021: Ao Yong

Seeing Long Teng so confident, Ao Duo's expression turned extremely ugly.

Entering the Ancestral Spirit Land meant facing the tomb keeper's scrutiny. Without absolute certainty, it would be walking into death.

Long Teng dared to say this, naturally because he had full confidence in Ye Yuan.

Hearing this, Ao Duo became hesitant.

Once Ye Yuan gained the tomb keeper's approval, it would solidify his status as Dragon Clan Lord, leaving no room for reversal.

Ye Yuan had been silently standing by without a word; since Long Teng wanted to use his influence to vent his anger, he wouldn't spoil the mood.

But he also realized that Long Teng genuinely intended for him to take over the Dragon Clan and replace Ao Duo.

As for the reason, Ye Yuan could guess a bit.

Venting was just one aspect, perhaps even incidental. Long Teng's real intention was for Ye Yuan to use the Dragon Clan's power to seek revenge.

The White Tiger War had clearly shown Long Teng the strength of Ji Canglan and the current Medicine King Hall. He felt Ye Yuan alone couldn't hold up, so he thought of this way to help him.

"Hmph! Even if Ye Yuan has the Sacred Dragon Token and the atavistic dragon soul, so what? In the end, he's just a human! Long Teng, you're nothing but a Dragon Clan traitor. Now you bring a human to the Dragon Clan to force a hand—don't you find it ridiculous?"

Just as Ao Duo was caught in a dilemma, Ao Jianbo stepped forward.

He insisted on Ye Yuan's human identity and mocked Long Teng as a traitor—a sharp counterattack indeed.

But as soon as he said this, the atmosphere turned somewhat strange.

Ye Yuan's expression darkened as he said coldly, "Is that so? I wasn't interested in being Dragon Clan Lord, but with that remark, I'll have to brave the Ancestral Spirit Land! Whether I'm qualified to be Dragon Clan Lord—you don't decide, I don't decide, but the tomb keeper... should have the final say, right?"

Ye Yuan's words made the expressions of Ao Jianbo and the others even uglier.

Ye Yuan truly wasn't interested in being Dragon Clan Lord, but he wouldn't allow anyone to slander Long Teng.

From his understanding of Long Teng, he couldn't be a Dragon Clan traitor.

Moreover, over this long time, Ye Yuan had sensed something. The incident back then was likely a setup against Long Teng, which was why he had always held a grudge.

Now that Ao Jianbo used this to attack Long Teng, Ye Yuan had to fight for his dignity even if it wasn't for the sake of the position.

Though he didn't know why, Ye Yuan was certain there was some connection between him and the Dragon Clan.

Bai Guang's perfect White Tiger body had earned such high regard from the tomb keeper, and his own atavistic dragon soul was even superior—Ye Yuan didn't believe the tomb keeper would look down on him.

"Ji Qingyun, don't go too far!" Ao Jianbo blustered.

Ye Yuan sneered, "Ridiculous! You've even abandoned your ancestors, and you say I'm going too far? If you didn't believe I could gain the tomb keeper's approval, you wouldn't be so nervous. Since you're nervous, you must already be eighty percent convinced, right?"

Ao Jianbo had no retort and could only snort coldly, not daring to talk back.

The evidence was conclusive; they had no choice but to believe it!

All the strange things happening to Ye Yuan could only be explained by the atavistic dragon soul.

And with the Sacred Dragon Token in hand, Ao Duo had no grounds to refute it.

The human identity argument could no longer stop Ye Yuan from becoming Dragon Clan Lord.

Seeing Ao Duo and the others silent, Long Teng felt immensely satisfied.

"Hey, if it weren't for me back then, where would your tens of thousands of years of glory be? A traitor? Ao Xinghan is truly shameless!" Long Teng sneered.

Ao Qian's expression changed as he said, "Elder Teng, what... exactly happened back then? Although I always believed you wouldn't betray the Dragon Clan, you... never returned after all!"

Long Teng waved his hand, saying, "All old stories, why bring them up?"

Long Teng showed no intention of defending himself. Ye Yuan saw this and couldn't help but sigh.

With such a magnanimous heart, how could Long Teng have betrayed the Dragon Clan?

Others didn't know, but Ye Yuan knew that he had once been with Fang Tian.

With Fang Tian's strength, returning to the Dragon Clan with Long Teng for revenge would have been unstoppable.

But he didn't!

"Alas..."

Just then, a long sigh broke the stalemate.

A figure slowly appeared—an old man with white hair and beard.

Ao Duo and the others, seeing him, changed expression and bowed, saying, "Ancestor!"

The ancestor waved his hand, saying, "Lord Long Teng is here, and you call me ancestor—aren't you shortening my life? Unworthy descendant Ao Yong pays respects to Lord Long Teng! Ancestor Ao Qian!"

Long Teng seemed to have long known of Ao Yong's existence and wasn't surprised by his appearance, only saying calmly, "You're also an old man with one foot in the grave; no need for such grand courtesy."

Even so, Long Teng accepted the bow without hesitation.

After finishing his bow, Ao Yong then bowed deeply to Ye Yuan, saying, "Ao Yong pays respects to the new lord of the Azure Dragon Clan!"

Seeing this, Ao Duo and the others were greatly shocked and quickly said, "Ancestor..."

"Silence! Ye Yuan returns to the clan with the Sacred Dragon Token; he is the common lord of the Dragon Clan! Ao Duo, why haven't you paid respects to the new lord? And you!" Ao Yong directly interrupted Ao Duo, speaking sternly.

Ao Duo's face changed several times; he didn't understand why the ancestor treated these unknown people with such an attitude.

But he dared not defy the ancestor's words, so he reluctantly stepped forward and bowed to Ye Yuan.

"Ao Duo pays respects to the new lord!"

Ao Jianbo and the others also dared not disobey and stepped forward to pay respects.

Ye Yuan was somewhat baffled—how did an old man suddenly appear, and the situation changed so quickly?

"Ao Duo was reluctant to give up the clan leader position, hence he made things difficult for the new lord. Ao Yong apologizes on their behalf!"

Saying this, he bowed deeply to Ye Yuan again.

Ye Yuan quickly helped him up, saying, "Senior, you need not do this. I understand, but they shouldn't have brought up Lord Long Teng!"

Hearing Ye Yuan mention Long Teng, Ao Yong sighed again, "This secret has been buried in the Dragon Clan for fifty thousand years; now it's time to reveal the truth! Lord Long Teng, Clan Leader Xinghan later felt deep regret about what happened back then. For the sake of being of the same clan, could you forgive him?"

Long Teng gave a wry smile, "The Ao family still has one sensible person! But would I bother being angry with a dead man? If I were truly a traitor, even wiping out the Dragon Clan back then wouldn't have been impossible! Don't think I'm boasting; my strength back then was beyond your imagination."

Long Teng's words shocked everyone.

Now just a vessel spirit, he still possessed such terrifying power; one could imagine how fearsome he was in his prime!

But they didn't know that it was after Long Teng met Fang Tian that he truly became formidable.