I, the Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, am being kept by the state.

Chapter 57 Taking the Stage

at the same time.

Jinghu Lake, the island in the middle of the lake.

The once calm, mirror-like lake surface suddenly began to ripple.

Underwater, a huge golden figure is slowly stretching its body.

Li Chen woke up.

To be precise, I was awakened by that intensely rich, almost tangible aroma.

"It smells so good..."

Li Chen slightly opened his golden vertical pupils, his nostrils flaring.

In the air, countless invisible golden threads are converging from all directions; they are the pure power of incense offerings and prayers, representing humanity's most sincere faith and expectations.

It was more concentrated and purer than ever before.

In particular, there were a few auras among them, which, though faint, were as resilient as steel, carrying a grand will to change the world.

"That's... the aura of merit?"

A hint of surprise flashed in Li Chen's eyes.

Ordinary people's willpower is white, but those few auras actually shimmered with a faint golden light.

That is the radiance of the soul that can only be condensed by those who have made great contributions to heaven and earth and to all living beings.

"That's interesting."

Li Chen's enormous dragon body flipped over in the water, its golden scales shimmering with a cold light in the dark lakebed.

"Looks like that kid surnamed Chen did a good job this time."

He could feel that his long-parched meridians were now emitting joyful roars under the nourishment of this power of will.

The damaged Dragon Ball began to slowly rotate, greedily devouring this power.

At this rate, as long as this power of will continues to be supplied, he can recover to the Nascent Soul stage in at most six months.

At that time, let alone a small amount of nuclear wastewater, even if those islands were directly sunk, it would be just a matter of turning over.

"Now that the guests have arrived..."

Li Chen slowly raised the dragon head, his gaze piercing through the hundred-meter-deep water layer, looking up at the sky above that was shrouded in clouds and mist.

"It's time for me to make some preparations."

......

The next morning at eight o'clock, at Yufeng Mountain.

As the first rays of dawn pierced through the thin clouds, as if draping the entire mountain range in a pale golden veil, this mountain, watched by billions of eyes around the world, finally awoke.

"Click".

With a soft sound, the alloy gate at the entrance of Guanlongtai slowly slid open to both sides.

At this moment, the square, which had been as noisy as boiling water, fell into a brief silence.

Then came the explosion after the suppression had reached its limit, with countless heavy breaths coming together, as if even the air had become viscous.

"Please enter in an orderly manner, and do not crowd or run."

A sweet notification tone came over the loudspeaker, but in this adrenaline-pumping moment, the voice sounded somewhat weak and powerless.

Fortunately, the people maintaining order at the scene were not ordinary security guards, but armed police officers, Lei Zhan and others, and... that divine power hanging overhead, making one's soul tremble.

Wang Dali stood at the front of the line, clutching the ticket numbered "00001" tightly in his hand, his palms sweaty.

As a deliveryman who has been delivering food for five years, the biggest event he has ever witnessed in his life was winning a rice cooker in a raffle at the company's annual party.

But now, he felt as if he were standing outside the South Gate of Heaven.

"Dude, stop shaking your legs."

A voice came from behind me.

Wang Dali turned around and saw a middle-aged man wearing an Armani suit. Judging from his demeanor, he should be a big boss, but at this moment, the boss's face was even paler than Wang Dali's, and the bottle of nitroglycerin pills he was holding was rattling loudly.

"I...I'm just excited."

Wang Dali stammered, "Aren't you shaking too?"

"nonsense!"

The boss took a deep breath. "That's a real dragon! Something from mythology! Who wouldn't be confused by it?"

The line began to move slowly.

When Wang Dali first stepped onto the completely transparent glass walkway, his heart skipped a beat.

Below you is a hundred-meter-deep abyss, and the lush trees look like green broccoli florets, with mist flowing beneath your feet.

This illusion of "lost in mid-air" is enough to cause someone with acrophobia to go into shock on the spot.

But soon, fear was replaced by shock.

This three-kilometer-long "crystal necklace" winds its way above the sea of ​​clouds, with a viewing platform every hundred meters.

At the end of the boardwalk, the island in the middle of the lake, shrouded in mist, is like a veiled goddess, exuding a fatal attraction.

"Look! It's them!"

A sudden commotion arose in the crowd.

Following the gaze of the crowd, Wang Dali saw a special "green channel" on the other side of the boardwalk.

There was no crowd, no noise.

More than a hundred elderly people, some in wheelchairs and some with canes, slowly moved forward with the help of young guards.

They walked slowly, even somewhat unsteadily.

But where they passed, the previously noisy crowd of tourists seemed to have been muted, falling silent as if by unspoken agreement.

"It's Mr. Qian..."

Wang Dali recognized the old man who was leading the group, and his eyes instantly reddened.

He had seen this face in the news.

The old man who lived in anonymity for the country for thirty years, and couldn't even go home to pay his respects to his parents when they passed away.

"salute!"

I don't know who shouted.

On the boardwalk, whether they were billionaires, ordinary workers, or young people who were complaining about how tiring it was to queue, they all straightened their backs and paid their respects to the group of elderly people.

Even the foreign journalists mixed in with the group were affected by the solemn atmosphere and subconsciously put down their cameras.

It's a tacit understanding that needs no words.

In this country, the gods are in the heavens, while the backbone that supports this heaven is on earth.

……

Jinghu Lake.

Li Chen slowly opened his eyes, his golden vertical pupils reflecting the radiance flowing around him.

The intense power of his vows had solidified into a tangible form, like a layer of golden mist surrounding him.

What caught his attention even more were those few strands of golden merit power. Although there were only a few strands, they contained a grand will to change the world.

"Qian Youmin..."

Li Chen's divine sense swept across the Guanlong Platform, where the white-haired old man was sitting in a wheelchair, being helped forward slowly by a guard.

The old man's body was decaying, but his soul, like a sword forged through countless trials, radiated a captivating brilliance.

"That should be about right."

Li Chen withdrew his divine sense, and his dragon body trembled slightly.

The lake, hundreds of meters deep, exploded instantly, but strangely, not a single drop of water splashed out of the lake.

All the water was suppressed by an invisible force, forming a huge vortex in the air.

In the next instant, Li Chen's figure had already disappeared into the bottom of Jinghu Lake.

In the blink of an eye, they appeared high in the sky.

Thick clouds and fog still shrouded Jinghu Lake. Tourists on the Guanlongtai platform could only vaguely see golden light shimmering deep in the clouds, but could not make out what it was.

Li Chen looked down at the people below him; millions of people were crowded at the Guanlongtai and at the foot of the mountain, like devout pilgrims.

He could hear those heartbeats—the sounds of anticipation, tension, awe, and pure faith.

"It's time to let them see."

Li Chen took a deep breath, and the powerful dragon energy flowed through his body before suddenly sinking down.

"roar--"

A dragon's roar resounded from the heavens.