27: Refusing the Holy King's inheritance, the parents were stunned on the spot.
Su Jue blinked, understanding the implication.
Oh, it was time to hand over the spoils of war.
He wasn't one to keep things for himself.
After all, these things belonged to his parents anyway; wasn't it normal to hand them over?
First, he began pulling things out of his small storage bag.
The first thing he pulled out was that head-sized demon core, pitch-black all over, radiating the pressure of the Dharma Idol Realm.
The demon core of the Decay Mother Nest.
"Hmm?"
Elizabeth took one look and let out a disdainful cold snort from her dragon nose.
"Rubbish."
She gave her evaluation succinctly.
However, while her words were dismissive, her actions were quite honest.
With a gentle wave of her dragon claw, a silver light of Life enveloped the demon core, causing it to float in mid-air.
"The power of the laws within is too violent and chaotic; it's not suitable for you to devour directly right now."
"Later, I'll have Ao Ning use the Life Furnace to purify it for you and refine it into a few batches of Decay True Essence Pills. You can eat them like jelly beans."
Ao Yuan's dragon mouth twitched as he listened from the side.
The source demon core of a Dharma Idol Realm Great Demon, an eighth-grade spiritual material that would cause King Realm Experts across the entire Lanxia Universe Federation to fight over it, was considered "rubbish" to his wife?
And it was being refined into pills for their son to eat as jelly beans?
This was simply too extravagant!
But... hehe, as expected of my wife! So overbearing!
Ao Yuan felt delighted in his heart, his gaze toward Su Jue full of showing off.
See, son? Look how well your mother treats you!
Su Jue didn't care about any of that; his mind was currently filled with thoughts of food.
Jelly beans?
That sounded much tastier than gnawing on rocks directly.
He nodded expectantly.
Then, under the watchful eyes of Elizabeth and Ao Yuan, he flipped his small hand and took two items out of his system space.
Boom—!!!
The moment these two items appeared!
The entire Life Temple, this small world personally created by a Saint King Level expert, trembled violently!
An ancient, desolate, and vast aura descended with a crash, as if it had crossed the long river of time from billions of years ago!
Above the temple dome, the star patterns condensed from the Law of Time actually began to flicker under the impact of this aura, as if they might be extinguished at any moment!
Elizabeth's golden dragon pupils, which had always been as calm as an ancient well, suddenly contracted to the size of pinpricks the moment she saw those two things!
Even Ao Yuan beside her felt his dragon body shudder!
"This... this is..."
For the first time, Ao Yuan's voice carried an unspeakable shock.
In Su Jue's left hand, he held a simple storm dragon codex cast from an unknown bronze material.
On the pages, ancient dragon scripts of storms, thunder, and lightning were engraved, with wisps of cyan law power slowly flowing between the pages.
The storm dragon codex!
And in his right hand was a heart!
An emerald-green heart only the size of an Infant's fist, yet it seemed to contain the Life energy of an entire universe!
It was still beating!
"Thump... thump... thump..."
With every beat, it seemed to synchronize with the pulse of the entire universe!
With every beat, it caused the flow of time in the surroundings to stagnate!
The world sealing core!
The final legacy condensed from the Saint King source and Law of Time of the Storm Dragon Emperor, Ao Cang!
"Ao Cang..."
Elizabeth stared fixedly at that heart and the dragon codex, a name escaping from the depths of her soul.
As an ancient Saint King from the same era as Ao Yuan, she naturally knew the Storm Dragon Emperor!
He was a powerful Dragon Emperor who had become famous throughout the universe in the Primeval Era for his mastery over the laws of storms and time. His combat strength was even a notch higher than hers back then!
However, after the War of Eras, he had mysteriously disappeared.
Everyone within the Dragon Race thought he had long since fallen on some unknown battlefield.
They never expected... that his inheritance and his source core would appear in her foster son's hands in such a manner!
This could no longer be described by the word "fortuitous encounter"!
This was a... complete inheritance that would drive any Saint King mad!
A supreme treasure that could allow one to reach the heavens in a single step and directly peer into the Saint King Realm!
"What happened?!"
Elizabeth suddenly looked up, her golden dragon pupils shooting out two beams of divine light as she locked her gaze onto Ao Yuan.
"What exactly happened on the Star of Wither?!"
Ao Yuan remained silent for a moment.
He extended a dragon claw and sent a divine sense into Elizabeth's soul.
Instantly, everything that had happened in the underground cavern of the Star of Wither—the appearance of Ao Cang's remnant soul, the truth of the Abyss Rift, the request to stand alone through the ages, and Su Jue's decisive refusal—all these scenes flashed through Elizabeth's mind.
A long time passed.
Only then did Elizabeth slowly close her eyes.
When she opened them again, the shock in her eyes had faded, replaced by an unprecedented complexity.
She looked at the little fellow in her arms, Su Jue, who was still curiously poking the Saint King's heart, seemingly studying whether this thing was edible.
This little guy... he actually... refused a Saint King's inheritance?
He refused the chance to become a new Saint King who wielded power over storms and time?
Just for... what he called "still having very important things to do"?
Elizabeth could not understand it.
But she could feel the absolute resolve radiating from his soul when Su Jue said those words.
It was as if becoming a Saint King and suppressing the Abyss was, in his eyes, a nuisance that would delay his "proper business."
How... arrogant!
How... unreasonable!
But also... how... captivating!
"Hahahahahaha!"
Ao Yuan, standing nearby, finally couldn't help but let out a world-shaking roar of laughter.
"Did you see that?! Wife! Did you see that?!"
"This is my son!"
"What does a Saint King inheritance count for?! What does universal karma count for?!"
"My son, Ao Yuan's son, does whatever he wants! No one can dream of binding him! A mere Abyss is worthy of having him guard it?!"
He laughed so hard he doubled over, his massive dragon shadow rolling in the temple, filled with triumph and pride.
It was as if the one who had refused the Saint King inheritance wasn't Su Jue, but himself.
Elizabeth gave him a cold sidelong glance.
"Shut up."
"..."
Ao Yuan's laughter came to an abrupt halt.
The dragon shadow instantly shrunk, returning to that cautious appearance.
Elizabeth ignored him and looked down deeply at Su Jue.
"Do you... do you know what you refused?"
She still couldn't help but ask.
Su Jue looked up and stared at her blankly.
Of course he knew.
It was written clearly on the system panel.
[Ding! Detected 'Saint King Level Inheritance Imprint'!]
[Detected 'Saint King Level Source Core'!]
[Warning: Once accepted, you will bear the karma of suppressing the Abyss Rift! This karma level is... Universe Level!]
[Accept?]
[Option 1: Accept. You will obtain everything of the Storm Dragon Emperor and become the new Saint King, but you will also be trapped on the Star of Wither for at least one million years until the Abyss is pacified or your power is exhausted and you die.]
[Option 2: Refuse. You will maintain your freedom, but you will also offend the Lord of the Abyss because of this and miss the opportunity to reach the heavens in a single step.]