Reborn as the Last van Ambrose

The tide of battle turned once the Dragon Kings coordinated their assault. What had been individual techniques became a symphony of destruction aimed at one target.

"Frozen Dominion: Absolute Zero!" Ao Shun’s attack created a field of ice so cold that it began to crystallize the corruption energy around Jiaolong’s body.

"Molten Sovereignty: Core Eruption!" Ao Qin’s lava struck the ice, creating a thermal shock that cracked even Jiaolong’s enhanced scales.

"Celestial Wisdom: Truth Binding!" Ao Run’s technique wrapped around Jiaolong like chains of pure mana, preventing him from using his dimensional tears to escape.

Jiaolong tried to counter with his corruption field, but Bi’an and Suanni struck in perfect coordination.

"Tiger’s Judgment: Five Claw Strike!" Bi’an’s attack struck Jiaolong five times across his right side.

"Lion’s Roar: Golden Tempest!" Suanni’s flames burned away the corruption trying to heal Jiaolong’s wounds.

"You cannot stop what has already begun!" Jiaolong roared, but his voice carried pain now instead of confidence. Dark blood flowed from dozens of wounds that weren’t healing fast enough.

The Dragon Kings pressed their advantage without mercy. They had seen what fifteen hundred years of corruption could do to a family, and they weren’t going to let sentiment interfere with what needed to be done.

Ao Shun’s next attack was particularly devastating. "Frozen Dominion: Eternal Burial!" Ice erupted from the chamber floor, trapping Jiaolong’s legs and preventing his movement.

"Now!" Ao Qin called out. "While he can’t dodge!"

Everyone attacked simultaneously. The combined force of their techniques created an explosion that shook the entire chamber. When the light faded, Jiaolong lay broken and bleeding on the stone floor.

His corruption field flickered weakly around his form. The dark energy that had enhanced him was failing, unable to sustain itself against the overwhelming damage.

"It’s over, nephew," Ao Shun said, approaching the fallen dragon cautiously. "The corruption will kill you if you don’t let us help you."

But Jiaolong laughed, blood running from his mouth. "Over? Look up, uncle."

Above them, the Dragon Emperor’s egg was cracking more rapidly. The colorless mana seeping from it had become a torrent, and the streams flowing toward the four key holes were pulsing with increasing intensity.

"The ritual is nearly complete," Jiaolong gasped. "You’re too late."

"Maybe," Ao Run admitted. "But at least you won’t be around to see what happens next."

"Won’t I?" Jiaolong’s broken body began to slide across the floor, pulled by forces beyond his control.

The streams of colorless mana weren’t just flowing toward the key holes anymore. They were creating currents in the air that drew everything toward the center of the chamber, directly beneath the massive egg.

Jiaolong’s body was pulled into the epicenter of these currents. He tried to resist, but his strength was gone, his corruption field too weak to anchor him.

"What’s happening?" Bi’an called out as he watched his brother being drawn toward the egg.

"The mana streams," Grim said, finally finding his voice. "They’re being pulled back in."

Indeed, the colorless mana that had been seeping from the egg was now flowing in the opposite direction. But it wasn’t returning to its source—it was pooling around Jiaolong’s broken body, soaking into his scales and wounds.

"No," Ao Shun breathed. "The Dragon Emperor’s power—it’s choosing him as a vessel."

Jiaolong’s eyes went wide as the pure mana began to fill his body. But instead of healing his wounds, it was changing him. The corruption that had claimed him for fifteen hundred years began to burn away, consumed by power so pure it couldn’t coexist with Mo Xuan’s taint.

The transformation was visible. Jiaolong’s scales, which had been black with corruption, began to shift and change. His size increased, but not from corruption—from something else entirely.

When the mana flow finally stopped, a different being lay beneath the egg.

The figure that rose to his feet was tall and powerful, but no longer monstrous. His hair flowed long and black, bound with golden rings. His eyes glowed like molten gold, his pupils looked like slits. His skin bore markings that pulsed—dragon patterns that seemed to move across his arms and back.

His robes were midnight blue and deep crimson, somehow manifested from the pure mana itself. A jade clasp at his belt.

"Jiaolong?" Suanni asked uncertainly. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

The transformed dragon looked at him with those golden eyes and shook his head slowly. "Jiaolong was the name Mo Xuan called me. The identity he created to serve his purposes."

His voice was different—deeper, carrying harmonics that spoke of true authority rather than corrupted power.

"My true name," he continued, "is Gongfu. Son of Ao Guang, heir to the Eastern Storm."

The Dragon Kings stared in shock. The corruption was gone, burned away by the Dragon Emperor’s mana. But the being before them wasn’t the nephew they remembered either. This was something new, something that carried both dragon heritage and imperial power.

"The corruption is gone," Ao Run observed. "But you’re not the same."

"No," Gongfu agreed, flexing his hands and watching the dragon markings pulse. "I’m what I was always meant to be, before Mo Xuan’s influence twisted my path."

He looked up at the cracking egg above them. "And now I understand what needs to be done."

"The ritual—" Ao Qin began.

"Must be completed," Gongfu finished. "But not the way Mo Xuan planned."

Gongfu turned to look at them. As he turned his body, he shifted from a human to a dragon. "The Dragon Emperor will wake. That cannot be stopped now. But who controls that awakening... that can still be decided."

In the corner of the chamber, the pool of corruption that had been gathering from the fallen dragons. It had grown larger while everyone’s attention was focused on Gongfu’s transformation.

But now, with Jiaolong’s corruption burned away, that gathered darkness began to move faster. It rose from the floor slowly outlining a human’s body.

"You fools," a voice spoke from the darkness. "Did you really think removing my puppet would stop the plan I’ve spent a millennia perfecting?"