Sean Shaw glanced at the sky, saying nothing.
"Dragon Lords!" the Celestial Empress called out, "In the name of the Celestial Empress, I order you to seize Sean Shaw, Baxa, Lily Bai, Faustin, and Nine Li!"
The four Dragon Lords exchanged glances, but none of them moved.
"What now? With the Celestial Emperor gone, am I just a useless Celestial Empress now?" the Celestial Empress asked, her regal bearing undiminished.
"Your Majesty!" Adrian Drake stepped forward. "Perhaps we should wait for First Prince Brandon Xiao to calm down—"
"Adrian!" the Celestial Empress snapped, cutting him off. "So in your eyes, I have no right to give orders here?"
Adrian looked miserable. "I..."
"That’s exactly what he means." Suddenly, Sean Shaw spoke up.
Adrian stared at Sean Shaw, wide-eyed. Why would he throw me under the bus like that...?
"Then seize Adrian too!" the Celestial Empress barked. "Let this be a lesson—disrespect divine authority, face the consequences!"
The Guardian Drake Lord was just about to apologize for his son when suddenly, a palace guard rushed in, shouting, "Your Majesty! Dragon Lords!"
"What’s got you so flustered?" the Celestial Empress snapped. "Is the sky falling or something?!"
"Well... just about!" the guard stammered. "Outside, Tribulation Clouds are gathering—a lot of them! And they’re red! I’ve never seen anything like it, it’s really weird and scary!"
"Tribulation Clouds?" The gods exchanged looks. "Who’s facing a heavenly trial?"
"Me." Sean Shaw suddenly said, "To avoid wrecking the Celestial Hall, I’ll go outside."
With that, he strode out.
The Azure Dragon Lord was still processing this. "Hasn’t he already ascended to peak High God? How can there be Tribulation Clouds?"
The Guardian Drake Lord shot him a look like he was an idiot, said nothing, and turned to leave.
Lord River Drake and Lord Wynn Drake exchanged glances, raised their eyebrows, and followed him out.
Everyone else trailed after them.
Just as the guard said, the sky was thick with Tribulation Clouds.
But these Tribulation Clouds weren’t the usual black—they were black streaked with red, radiating a pressure and killing intent no one had ever felt before.
Sean Shaw flashed to the center of the plaza, calm as still water.
At that moment, Skye sprinted over and turned back into a dragon scale, reattaching itself to Sean Shaw.
The gods began whispering: "Isn’t that Skye? So Skye was really just one of his scales? All those rumors about him being something else… guess that was nonsense."
"No wonder their auras were exactly the same!"
"What kind of spell is this? How can a single scale turn into a living person?"
"It must be a technique his mother taught him…"
...
Lily Bai stood in the crowd, a little dazed, just staring at Sean Shaw.
She didn’t snap out of it until the first Tribulation Storm bolt struck, jolting her awake.
This Tribulation Storm bolt was different from the usual—golden at the core with a rim of red. It hit Sean Shaw, knocking him straight to the ground.
The Celestial Stone plaza shattered, rubble flying everywhere!
"That power…" The Guardian Drake Lord frowned and shook his head. "It’s practically on par with Genesis Bolts!"
"He, he, he…" Adrian stammered. "Is he going to—"
"Shut up!" Lily Bai suddenly barked at him. "Don’t jinx it!"
Adrian glanced at her.
For a second, her vibe was just like Lu Xianyu…
Bolt after bolt crashed down. At first Lily Bai just trembled inside, but soon her whole body was shaking—she could barely breathe…
She grabbed Faustin’s arm. "Master… how many strikes was that?"
"Six."
"Does that mean he’ll make it, or is it a bad omen?"