The poorest member of the Imperial Guard, the Empress begged me to embezzle.

Chu Xiu still remembered Li Long's kind warning that day; this Jackal Dragon Demon Commander had long since treated the Alligator Dragon as a pawn to be discarded.

He was given the secret method to revive the dragon bear, with the intention of letting the dragon bear devour him.

It was only because the dragon bear looked down on the alligator dragon, whose bloodline was incomplete, that Chu Xiu had the opportunity to take over.

Although Chu Xiu searched through the alligator's memories, he couldn't find the reason why it was being targeted by its superior.

Therefore, we can only guess that the jackal dragon actually coveted the demonic sword in the hands of the alligator dragon, which contained the blood of the alligator dragon's true ancestor.

Now that Longxiong is dead, no one knows the true intentions of Chailong towards Tuolong.

Chu Xiu had no choice but to maintain a facade of respect for his former superior, lest he reveal that he already knew about Li Long's dirty tricks and Li Long's good intentions.

Chu Xiu clasped his hands and said, "General, rest assured, I will do my utmost in this Ascension Ceremony to complete the awakening ritual, enhance my strength, and better serve His Majesty and the General in the future!"

Upon hearing the mention of the Demon Emperor by the alligator dragon, the jackal dragon demon general's hypocritical smile faltered, and a dangerous glint flashed in his narrowed eyes:

"Are you warning me that you have gained His Majesty's favor and that I should treat this with caution?"

Chu Xiu smiled slightly, neither confirming nor denying: "General, you are overthinking it. Which of you generals is not serving His Majesty with utmost loyalty?"

"Tuolong is merely reminding the commander-in-chief that he is no longer the same as before. Commander-in-chief, please do not underestimate me as you did in the past!"

The demon generals beside the Jackal Dragon Demon Commander cast surprised glances at the alligator dragon.

This alligator dragon, its current words, actions, and aura are far beyond what they remember of the dark, useless creature with a broken bloodline.

Li Long was right. It seems we should heed Li Long's warning and make good friends with this now much stronger alligator dragon demon general.

The Jackal Dragon Demon General stared intently at the alligator dragon demon general before him, who had transformed into a handsome young man.

If he hadn't still been able to sense the aura of the alligator dragon demon sword from this person, he would have thought that the alligator dragon had been possessed, or that some audacious person was impersonating it.

Jackal Dragon Demon General knew that among his ten demon generals, apart from his youngest son, Alligator Dragon was the weakest.

He is also the only one among the Ten Demon Generals with an incomplete bloodline, as he did not even fully inherit the true blood of the alligator dragon from his ancestor.

That is why Jackal Dragon devised a scheme to kick this good-for-nothing who relied on his ancestors' influence out of the ranks of demon generals and to take the alligator dragon demon sword in his hands for himself.

But the aura and demonic power emanating from the current alligator dragon no longer bear any trace of its former ferocity...

As a direct descendant of a true dragon, the Jackal Dragon Demon General believed himself to have an extremely keen sense of the bloodline of other true dragon descendants.

From the alligator dragon, he felt an unprecedentedly strong sense of oppression and suffocation.

It's as if... now the power of the alligator dragon's bloodline can firmly suppress him!

Could it be... that what the black dragon and the yellow dragon said was true?

This kid must have obtained some real dragon artifact within the Heavenly Demon Tower to be able to suppress the dragon's offspring with just his aura.

The jackal demon general concealed the killing intent and covetous look in his eyes.

Fine, anyway, he, the alligator dragon, won't live much longer. When the time comes, I'll take the demon sword and the true dragon's possessions with me!

"Come on, the time has come, it's time to start the Ascension Ceremony!" The Jackal Dragon Demon General patted Chu Xiu's shoulder in a perfunctory manner, then turned around and returned to his seat in the spectator's area.

Li Long, who was in charge of the ceremony, stepped forward and frowned slightly at Chu Xiu.

"Brother, you shouldn't have shown hostility towards the Demon Commander so early..."

Chu Xiu chuckled and patted Li Long on the shoulder. "Don't worry, after the ceremony, that jackal dragon will have no right to put himself above me!"

Upon hearing this, Li Long's eyes lit up: "How confident are you?"

Chu Xiu raised an eyebrow: "I wouldn't dare say 100%, but I'd say 99%."

"...You kid, fine, as long as you know what's going on."

Li Long shook his head helplessly, but his curiosity about this capable and audacious friend had been piqued.

He wanted to see how Tuolong could once again shock the entire Yuling Sect!

"Be careful in everything you do. I can only guarantee that none of the demon generals will dare to interfere with your awakening ceremony, but if it's the Jackal Dragon Demon Commander... well, that's up to you!"

Chu Xiu nodded: "Don't worry."

The Lilong patted the Tuolong on the shoulder, nodded emphatically, then stepped back several meters and announced loudly:

"The auspicious time has come!"

"Attendees of this Ascension Conference, please enter!"

Before the dragon demon general could finish speaking, several figures darted out and arrived at the stone platform on the mountaintop.

Looking around, Chu Xiu saw that all the people who had participated in the Ascension Assembly with him today were demon soldiers. Among them was a young man wearing silver scale armor, whom Chu Xiu remembered quite well.

Sensing Chu Xiu's gaze, the silver-armored youth smiled slightly, turned to face Chu Xiu, and bowed slightly, clasping his hands in greeting: "Greetings, General Tuolong."

Chu Xiu hummed in agreement and smiled, "Long You, I didn't expect you to be here today to participate in the Ascension Ceremony. Did the Commander send you?"

The silver-armored youth before them was named Long You, the strongest demon soldier under Tuolong's command, a young powerhouse at the early stage of the Qiankun Realm.

This person comes from a branch of the Crocodile Dragon lineage. Although he is young, the power of the Crocodile Dragon bloodline within him is several levels higher than that of the previous Crocodile Dragon.

If it weren't for the fact that the Crocodile Dragon was born into a powerful family and received ancestral blessings, he would probably have had to hand over the position of Demon General and the Crocodile Dragon Demon Blade to this silver-armored youth.

Long You forced an awkward smile:

"General, you are overthinking it. It is the commander-in-chief who sees the decline of our alligator dragon lineage and is afraid that you will fail to awaken your bloodline again and be scorned by others. That's why he dragged me here to cover for you. Please don't take it to heart!"

"That unparalleled sword passed down from our ancestors should still be in the general's hands, right?"

Long You chuckled: "General, you'd better keep it safe. Since you can't wield such a treasured sword, after this Ascension Ceremony, I will report to His Majesty the Demon Emperor and ask you for it!"

Chu Xiu raised an eyebrow. Was this kid really that confident, daring to openly state his intentions in front of him?

It seems this kid wants to make a name for himself at this year's Ascension Ceremony and replace the Crocodile Dragon!

It should be noted that the Yuling Sect does not have any deputy general positions, yet Long You, who comes from a branch of the Tuolong lineage, dares to form factions under Tuolong and call himself a deputy general. This is a complete slap in the face to Tuolong, this demon general.

However, the previous Tuolong was a cowardly creature with a fierce appearance, and hesitated for decades without daring to make a move against this branch brother who might be its equal in strength.

The reason for this is also related to the rules of the Yuling Sect.

Although within the Yuling Sect, the main family bloodline has the power of life and death over any collateral branch, if a collateral branch produces someone with the same pure bloodline as the main family, the main family cannot use that power on that person.

This Longyou is truly remarkable for growing from a minor branch to the present day, possessing a bloodline power even surpassing that of the main family's Tuolong. He is by no means an ordinary person.

Unfortunately, Chu Xiu was not a crocodile!