Chapter 1113: Chapter 1113

“Zhang Liang Ruixiao!”

The moment he saw the young man, Huang Yuanlang’s expression clearly changed.

A four-character name? Lan Xuanyu and Bai Xiuxiu were both a little surprised.

The young man called Zhang Liang Ruixiao glanced at Huang Yuanlang with open disdain. “What, not willing to introduce me? Fine, I’ll do it myself. Hello, you two beauties. I’m Zhang Liang Ruixiao from Ruilong City. My family’s ancestor is the Ruixiao Dragon Knight.”

A Dragon Knight descendant—there was no doubt about it. He came from a family that possessed a Dragon Knight. Judging from the way Zhang Liang Ruixiao carried himself, his family’s Dragon Knight likely ranked fairly high as well. A Huang Family backed by a Dragon Knight and a clan that inherited Dragon Knight bloodlines were clearly not on the same level.

Huang Yuanlang stepped sideways, placing himself in front of Lan Xuanyu and Bai Xiuxiu. “Zhang Liang Ruixiao, these two are members of our clan—Xiuxiu and Lan. The Rising Dragon Competition is about to begin.”

He deliberately emphasized the last sentence, but no matter how one looked at it, he seemed all bark and no bite. Clearly, he didn’t dare offend the man before him.

“The Rising Dragon Competition is just the basics to us. Move aside.”

“I don’t recall hearing that our clan had two such outstanding beauties before. Ruilong City is under our ancestor’s protection, and Ruilong Fruit is famous across the entire planet. You’re both welcome to come and taste it sometime.”

Lan Xuanyu replied calmly, “Let’s focus on the competition first.”

His tone was polite, yet carried a faint chill that kept others at arm’s length.

Under the disguise of the treasure-hunting transformation, his voice sounded exceptionally pleasant. Zhang Liang Ruixiao’s eyes immediately lit up.

“You’re Lan, right? Your voice sounds really nice!”

“Zhang Liang, get ready. The competition is about to start.”

At that moment, a slightly low voice came from not far away. Zhang Liang Ruixiao’s expression instantly changed.

“Brother, I’m coming.”

As he spoke, he shot Lan Xuanyu and Bai Xiuxiu a glance. The earlier arrogance vanished in an instant. He raised an eyebrow, turned, and hurried off in the direction of the voice.

Lan Xuanyu followed his gaze and saw a tall young man. He stood over two meters tall, broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted, with long powerful arms. His dark red short hair stood upright, and only his profile was visible, sharp and angular.

He was looking up at the Rising Dragon Platform with his hands clasped behind his back. No one else stood near him. The Higher Dragon clans around him all watched with unmistakable fear in their eyes.

Zhang Liang Ruixiao walked quickly to his side and stopped five meters away, lowering his head obediently—completely different from his earlier provocative attitude.

Bai Xiuxiu quietly asked Huang Yuanlang, whose expression had turned somewhat ugly, “Big brother, who is that?”

Huang Yuanlang replied in a low voice, “That’s Qi Tianlong, from Celestial Dragon City. He’s the personal disciple of the Head and one of the hottest contenders in this year’s Rising Dragon Competition. He’s widely regarded as someone destined to become a Dragon Knight.”

He paused briefly, then continued, “It’s said that throughout his cultivation, he’s been suppressing his own advancement. His Dragon Force body-tempering has reached an extremely high level, yet he refuses to break through. In terms of cultivation and bloodline, he’s the standout of our generation.”

“And Zhang Liang Ruixiao? And what’s this Ruilong Fruit?” Bai Xiuxiu asked curiously.

Huang Yuanlang clenched his fists. “Zhang Liang Ruixiao is just a jumping clown.”

Lan Xuanyu had been carefully observing Huang Yuanlang’s reactions. It was obvious that Huang Yuanlang had a past grievance with Zhang Liang Ruixiao and had likely suffered losses at his hands before—hence the resentment. Yet he also clearly didn’t dare provoke him, which meant Zhang Liang Ruixiao’s cultivation surpassed his own.

Judging by Zhang Liang Ruixiao’s attitude toward Qi Tianlong, one could imagine just how powerful Qi Tianlong was. Below the god rank—could it be that Qi Tianlong was already at the level of an Ultimate Douluo?

Huang Yuanlang took a deep breath and regained some composure. “Ruilong Fruit truly is a rare treasure. It’s unique to Ruilong City and matures once every five years. It’s offered to Dragon Knights, with some retained by the city itself. Only the Ruixiao family can provide it.”

The Ruixiao family—so Zhang Liang Ruixiao’s clan was named after their Dragon Knight. That meant his actual name was Zhang Liang, while “Ruixiao” was the Dragon Knight’s honorific title.

That was the origin of the name “Zhang Liang Ruixiao.” Qi Tianlong’s name likely came about in a similar way—he belonged to the Celestial Dragon lineage.

At that moment, an impassioned dragon’s roar echoed through the air. All dragonkin present instinctively looked up.

The clouds in the sky suddenly parted, revealing the full form of the towering Rising Dragon Platform. A colossal dragon spread its wings and descended from above, the powerful roar coming straight from it.

Lan Xuanyu’s eyes shimmered with a faint purple glow as he activated his Purple Demon Eyes to look closer. The moment his gaze landed on the dragon, a sharp pain pricked his eyes as a surging bloodline aura rushed in—but quickly subsided.

It was a massive dragon over four hundred meters long, its entire body covered in gray scales. It looked no different from the True Dragons of the human world.

A long, sharp horn jutted from its massive head. Its entire body radiated an overwhelming, ferocious aura. As its wings spread, its form should have appeared small due to the distance from the ground—yet instead, it felt impossibly vast.

An immense pressure swept downward. The dignity of a top-tier powerhouse made every dragonkin present tremble.

The Lower and Intermediate Dragon clans behind Lan Xuanyu instantly dropped to their knees, some even prostrating themselves on the ground in reverence. Only the Higher Dragon clans at the front remained standing, though most of them lowered their heads in awe.

Very few could still lift their heads to look at the dragon in the sky—and that did not include Bai Xiuxiu, nor Zhang Liang Ruixiao.

Lan Xuanyu sensed someone looking at him and turned his head, meeting Qi Tianlong’s gaze. Qi Tianlong’s face was resolute, dark red light flickering faintly within his eyes like molten magma. A few dark red scales briefly surfaced on his neck before retracting.

Their eyes met. Surprise flashed across Qi Tianlong’s face—clearly, he hadn’t expected Lan Xuanyu to still be able to look up at the dragon. Qi Tianlong gave him a slight nod before returning his gaze to the sky.

The gray dragon circled as it descended, growing larger and larger in everyone’s view. Its overwhelming dragon might continued to rise.

Another thunderous dragon roar shook the surroundings, making the very air tremble.

Only then did Lan Xuanyu notice that a person stood atop the dragon’s head.

It was a man with ordinary features, yet against the backdrop of the colossal dragon, he exuded an air of supreme dominance.

Though too far away to judge his height, Lan Xuanyu could see that he wore a suit of black Divine Dragon Armor. He wasn’t wearing a helmet, allowing his black hair to stream freely behind him.

Unlike the Dragon Knight portraits Lan Xuanyu had once seen—where sharp armor spikes pierced into the dragon’s head—this man simply stood there, unmoving, as the gray dragon soared through the sky beneath his feet.

Without question, this was a true Dragon Knight—and one bonded to a seat dragon.