Chapter 50: The Contrast Is Just Too Striking!

Yet, no one could have anticipated that the Dragon Kingdom's ancestral deity, Yinglong, would suddenly materialize out of thin air. Upon its arrival, Yinglong did not even need to employ any divine powers; with a mere slap powered by pure biological energy, it batted Takagi Kora straight to his death.

Not only that, but it also executed Takagi Kora's contracted deity, the Sea God Wadatsumi!

The instant the Sea God Wadatsumi was slain, countless divine contractors within the Sakura Country who possessed resonance with Wadatsumi suffered an immediate backlash, coughing up blood and collapsing to the ground. The higher the resonance, the more severe the backlash; some contractors even perished alongside Wadatsumi.

Atop the Sakura Country's national destiny pillar, the phantom of the Sea God Wadatsumi vanished without a trace the moment it died, as if it had never existed at all.

Meanwhile, inside the military broadcasting studio.

Ji Tianxing, who had already plunged into despair, stood frozen in place, his eyes fixed on the imagery transmitted by Clairvoyant and Wind-favourer.

Others might not know the truth, but he knew it best.

There was simply no way that true incarnation of Yinglong had been summoned by that good-for-nothing Ji Yun.

Leaving aside the fact that Ji Yun had zero resonance with Yinglong, by that point, Ji Yun had already been toyed with like a fool by Takagi Kora, lying on the ground utterly exhausted.

How could he possibly have the strength to summon Yinglong, let alone its true incarnation?

The only one capable of summoning Yinglong's true incarnation was Ji Ling.

Ji Tianxing had roughly deduced that if this true incarnation of Yinglong had been summoned by Ji Ling, one of Ji Ling's five sensory organs would undoubtedly have been sacrificed.

If the subsequent imagery showed any damage to one of Ji Ling's facial features, the entire world would know that the true incarnation of Yinglong moments ago had been summoned by Ji Ling, and that the one who instantly obliterated Takagi Kora and the Sea God Wadatsumi was Ji Ling, not Ji Yun.

Any explanation he offered would be entirely futile.

Though this divine battle had been won, averting the impending doom of the Ji family, all the lies he had fabricated, along with every slander and smear directed at Ji Ling, would instantly crumble.

At this moment, Ji Tianxing's heart was gripped by intense anxiety.

When Ji Tianxing saw Ji Ling—whose five facial features were completely intact—walk into the frame alongside Nangong Lingyue, he instantly let out a sigh of relief.

Ji Ling's features suffered no damage whatsoever; his eyes were bright, and every single facial organ remained perfectly intact on his face.

This made Ji Tianxing realize that he still had room to salvage the situation.

However, even Ji Tianxing could not figure it out.

Since Ji Ling had not sacrificed one of his five sensory organs, where in the world had Yinglong's true incarnation come from?

As stated before, throughout the entire Dragon Kingdom, aside from Ji Ling, there was absolute no second person capable of summoning Yinglong's true incarnation.

Yet he had summoned Yinglong's true incarnation into the void arena of Ji Yun and Takagi Kora without a single one of his facial features being sacrificed.

What was going on here?

Could it be that this brat really harbored some unknown ancient secret technique capable of shattering the rules of the void arena?

However, the host did not give Ji Tianxing time to ponder these questions, quickly walking over with a microphone in hand. "General Ji! Congratulations, General! Although Major Ji Yun's performance at the beginning left something to be desired, in the end, he secured victory in this divine battle with thunderous momentum!"

Ji Tianxing forced an awkward smile, nodding as he said, "Indeed, indeed. Regardless of how the beginning went, as long as the outcome is good... and that little Japanese bastard certainly deserved to die!"

The host then voiced the doubts of the audience watching the barrage of live comments, "However, General Ji, look—the viewers in the chat are asking why Major Ji Yun's performance before and after felt like he was two completely different people."

"Earlier, Major Ji Yun's performance looked like a chaotic, defensive meltdown, but in the end..."

"If Major Ji Yun truly possessed such capability, why didn't he use it from the start instead of letting himself be toyed with by the opponent?"

Caught off guard by the question, Ji Tianxing's gaze inadvertently fell upon Ji Ling within the footage. Confirming once again that Ji Ling's features were completely undamaged, he regained a measure of confidence. He gave a couple of light coughs to clear his throat before speaking: "Well, about that... it's actually quite simple."

"As everyone knows, to ensure that Ji Ling wouldn't waste the Yinglong deity summoned through his contract, and so that Ji Ling could bring glory and achievements to the Dragon Kingdom alongside Yinglong and play a role on the battlefield, Ji Yun remotely transferred a portion of his divine power to Ji Ling a few days before the divine battle began."

"As a result, Ji Yun's vital essence suffered severe damage, leading to a drastic drop in his strength."

"That is why his earlier performance was... um..."

The words coming out of Ji Tianxing's mouth were so unconvincing that even he felt a pang of guilt.

Sure enough, the audience watching the live comments refused to buy his explanation.

[General Ji, an explanation like this is a bit hard to swallow...]

[Indeed, we know Major Ji Yun lost vital essence leading to weakened strength, but weakened strength doesn't turn your brain to mush, does it?]

[Exactly. Earlier, Major Ji Yun acted like an absolute idiot—even I could tell you shouldn't fight like that! And yet he let Takagi Kora wear him out to exhaustion!]

[The contrast between before and after is just too stark! It couldn't possibly be a deliberate act to make the opponent lower their guard, could it?]

Looking at the comments scrolling past, Ji Tianxing momentarily didn't know how to respond, but that final remark sparked an inspiration.

"That's right, exactly! That's how it was!" Ji Tianxing immediately blurted out, "You see, you wouldn't understand. Xiaoyun's strength was compromised, so even though his resonance with Yinglong also reached one hundred percent and he was able to summon Yinglong's true incarnation, performing the summoning alone made it difficult to unleash Yinglong's full power. He *had* to make the opponent lower their guard in order to seize the opportunity and launch an attack!"

Though somewhat feeble, the viewers without the benefit of a god's-eye view found it difficult to connect any of this to Ji Ling, leaving them with no choice but to accept the explanation.

After all, under the continuous narrative shaping by the Ji family, Ji Ling had been thoroughly painted as a good-for-nothing parasite. The only reason he could summon Yinglong was because he stole Ji Yun's notebook, and the only reason he could wield Yinglong's divine power was entirely because Major Ji Yun had sacrificed his vital essence to transmit power to him.

Never in their wildest dreams would anyone suspect that this true incarnation of Yinglong had been summoned by Ji Ling.

Still, it was not absolute.

In the comment stream, someone still raised their doubts.

[General Ji, did Major Ji Yun really achieve a one-hundred-percent resonance rate with Yinglong?]

[Right! Raising your resonance with a deity you haven't even contracted with is extremely difficult!]