The People's God: Sacrificing Trillions to Ascend

“What’s the Great Dragon Championship?” Han Wu asked.

“The Great Dragon Championship is the Ancient Dragon Clan’s annual event,” explained a clan member on Long Lie’s behalf. “It symbolizes the friendship between the Ancient Dragon Clan and the Great Dragon Tribe, with the two groups co-hosting it.

“The Ancient Dragon Clan sends its best members to compete against the Great Dragon Tribe’s finest. The goal is to foster stronger dragon bloodlines. As part of that, the winning side receives treasures that can greatly enhance the purity of their bloodline.

“Elder Long Qi himself used the Championship’s prizes over the years to evolve his core race to its current level.

“The clan is running qualifiers to select our best representatives. There’s an important rule, though. Only members with a dragon-type core race can participate. Given your situation... Han Wu, you might not be eligible,” the clan member awkwardly concluded.

Long Lie sobered up slightly at the realization that he hadn’t considered Han Wu’s circumstances. Downing another shot, he apologized, “Young Han Wu, I’m sorry. Please forget what I’ve said.”

Han Wu stood up and turned to the clan member who’d explained the rules. “So... as long as I present a dragon-type core race, I can enter the qualifiers?”

“Technically, yes. Your core race is the locusts, though, isn’t it?” the member asked with visible confusion.

Han Wu smiled, wordlessly opened his divine realm’s gate, and summoned a Yinglong. Yinglongs were the ultimate form of his dragon-attribute evolution line, with a base strength starting at Heavenrender rank.

Every clan member and Great Dragon in the hall froze at the sight of it. The Yinglong differed completely from a Great Dragon, yet the dense dragon attribute radiating from it left no doubt. It was indeed a dragon-type unit.

Every Great Dragon in the room, regardless of strength, felt a sharp sense of danger from the Yinglong, as if it carried something that could counter them.

“That’s a dragon too?” someone asked.

Patriarch Long Lie had shaken off his drunken stupor with his energy the moment the Yinglong appeared. Studying its aura, he nodded. “Definitely a dragon. It also shares an inseparable bond with Han Wu. It’s his core race, that’s for certain.”

The clan members were stunned. They knew core races weren’t fixed and that they could be changed through methods like evolution paths or genetic mutations. A shift from insect to dragon was undeniably extreme, however—the kind of leap that was almost unheard of in the Divine Civilization. Han Wu had clearly invested significant time and effort in this.

Impressive as that was, the clan members weren’t optimistic about the Yinglong’s combat potential. Anyone whose core race hadn’t reached the Microcosm rank would be embarrassed to summon it before others of the clan. Han Wu’s Yinglong was only a Heavenrender life form.

Even if the Yinglong carried some hidden counter to dragon-type units, the raw power gap would likely mean defeat in the qualifiers. Han Wu remained oblivious to their skepticism. All he cared about was whether this qualified him for the Championship.

The Ancient Dragon Clan generously agreed, figuring the Yinglong posed no real threat anyway.

After the banquet, Han Wu was shown to a guest room, while his Great Dragons went off to socialize with the local Great Dragons.

The room was decorated with items made from teeth and bones. Some came from Great Dragons, some from Drakes, and some from dinosaur species like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. These were easily differentiated by the faint Dragon energy each piece carried. Dragons had truly become inseparable from every aspect of clan life.

He slept through the night. When he stepped out the next morning, the muscular man was already waiting at his door. “Honored guest, I’m here to escort you to the qualifiers.”

Along the way, he conversed with the man and learned that he was allowed inside the hidden realm because of the qualifiers. Even though those without Great Dragons as their core race were treated rather poorly in the clan, they were at least still allowed to participate in the qualifiers for the Great Dragon Championship.

It was one of the few chances for members like him to change their fate. Han Wu also learned that the muscular man’s name was Long Xiang, and that he was Patriarch Long Lie’s youngest son.

Han Wu unwittingly clicked his tongue. The Ancient Dragon Clan’s rules applied equally to all. Despite Long Xiang’s noble birth, they had still booted him out to guard the gates just because his core race wasn’t Great Dragons or Drakes.

The two soon arrived at the grounds.

Long Xiang explained the qualifier rules. The qualifiers were used to select the elite among them. The three categories of speed, defense, and attack would be tested across three days. As this was the first day, their speed would be tested.

Each contestant could summon one core race unit as their main, though other core race units could assist from the sidelines. Assistance could mean buffing their main participating unit or hindering others’ units as long as no one was harmed. Violations meant instant disqualification.

Each category was scored out of a hundred. The top five across all three categories on average would represent the Ancient Dragon Clan in the Championship.

These rules stirred Han Wu’s excitement. Being allowed to openly use tricks to interfere with other contestants sounded fun. With his enormous variety of core race units, he had plenty of options.

“Time to put on a show,” Han Wu muttered to himself as he stared at the complex obstacle course ahead.