The appearance of the four-spirit pattern on the ground confirmed Leo’s intuition.
There was indeed a formation around the jade platform; otherwise, the four-spirit pattern wouldn’t have triggered such changes.
Fortunately, he hadn’t rashly stepped onto the jade platform, or he would have been caught off guard.
In the black light emerging from the north side of the jade platform, an image slowly appeared, like a holographic projection.
First, a giant turtle appeared, followed by a python coiled around it, forming the legendary Black Tortoise.
Next, green light burst forth from the east side of the jade platform, and a dragon’s roar echoed in the stone chamber.
In the green light, a majestic azure dragon appeared.
Then, red light illuminated the entire stone chamber, accompanied by a deafening bird cry. In the flames, a beautiful vermilion bird emerged.
Finally, white light flashed amidst the red glow, followed by a terrifying tiger’s roar.
In the white light, a fierce white tiger with piercing eyes appeared.
With all four spirits fully manifested, the once calm stone chamber was filled with violent clashes.
Using Divine Awareness, one could see that two powerful forces had emerged in the stone chamber, centered around the jade platform.
One force came from the four spirits summoned by Leo, while the other emanated from the dragon throne on the jade platform.
The two forces clashed violently, causing slight cracks to appear on the protective shield surrounding Leo and Sophia. Fortunately, it didn’t break.
The energy clash grew fiercer, like a storm raging in the stone chamber.
Despite the protective shield, Sophia couldn’t help but feel worried as she listened to the terrifying sounds and watched the cracks on the shield’s surface.
“Don’t worry, the shield won’t break,” Leo reassured her timely.
The sound of clashing energy soon turned into the noise of weapons colliding, with occasional sparks flying in the air.
If anyone were outside the protective shield, they would undoubtedly be caught in a deadly grinder, reduced to fragments in seconds.
Sophia clung tightly to Leo’s arm, her eyes fixed on the scene ahead.
No matter how violently the two forces clashed, they had no effect on the four spirits since they weren’t physical entities.
Leo formed a hand seal, and the python coiled around the turtle opened its mouth, releasing a black beam towards the dragon throne on the jade platform.
With another hand seal change, the Azure Dragon opened its mouth and shot a green beam at the dragon throne.
A third hand seal change saw the Vermilion Bird chirp and release a red beam from its mouth.
Lastly, the White Tiger roared and spat out a white beam from its gaping maw.
Once all four spirits had acted, the violent energy clash quickly subsided.
As both forces completely disappeared, so did the images of the four spirits.
Looking at the dragon throne again, it still shone with golden light, but the jade platform had turned black.
Dispelling the protective shield, Leo took Sophia’s hand and slowly approached the jade platform.
This time, without hesitation, Leo led Sophia up the five steps to the dragon throne.
Finally, they stood before it.
Unable to resist, Leo reached out to touch it.
The touch was icy cold, and an unusual sensation arose within Leo.
Suddenly feeling dizzy, his surroundings blurred as if watching a slideshow in reverse.
What was happening? Was time reversing?
“Leo, what’s wrong? Wake up!”
Sophia’s anxious voice echoed in his ears as his mind cleared again.
When Leo’s vision focused, he found himself standing at the edge of a large circular depression with Sophia beside him.
“Sophia, didn’t you fall in?”
“No, I’ve been right here. But you suddenly zoned out. I called you for ages before you woke up. What happened?”
“I…”
Leo was at a loss for words. Had everything just been an illusion?
Impossible. It all felt so real… Wait, the purple aura!
Using Divine Awareness to check his body, Leo found no trace of purple aura.
“Leo, look!” Sophia pointed to the depression ahead.
“Step back!”
Seeing purple gas rising from it startled Leo. He quickly pulled Sophia back and prepared to absorb it with his Spiritual Power.
However, instead of spreading out or entering their bodies automatically, the purple gas gathered in the depression, forming a cloud-like mass.
“So beautiful,” Sophia whispered softly.
Under the soft white glow from above, the purple cloud in the depression looked stunningly beautiful.
Leo wasn’t interested in admiring it; he knew something else was about to happen.
Sure enough, golden light appeared at the bottom of the depression.
The light pierced through the purple gas and reflected off the stone chamber’s ceiling before scattering around.
As its brightness increased, soon the entire chamber was bathed in golden splendor.
“Leo, it’s… a dragon!” Sophia exclaimed, covering her mouth in shock.
In the depression, after golden light burst forth, a golden dragon appeared-a five-clawed golden dragon!
But it wasn’t alive; it was a golden statue.
The majestic golden dragon statue stood in the center of the depression, surrounded by purple gas and golden light, inspiring awe and reverence.
First a giant python, then an azure dragon, and finally a five-clawed golden dragon-each step an evolution. Leo suddenly understood something profound.
The golden dragon statue was enormous and lifelike. If not examined closely, it could easily be mistaken for a real dragon.
Estimating its size roughly, this statue was at least three meters taller than any previous dragon statues they’d encountered.
Standing on the ground and looking up at it required a posture of reverence.
Gazing at the five-clawed golden dragon ahead, Leo’s lips curled into a meaningful smile.
With its appearance, they were close to obtaining the coveted emperor’s fortune-almost within reach.
“Sophia, would you like to experience an emperor’s fortune?” Leo asked with a wink and a smile.
Sophia was puzzled. “What’s an emperor’s fortune?”
“It’s something only ancient emperors could enjoy. Come with me,” Leo said as he led her to the edge of the depression.
When Leo took another step forward, Sophia’s expression turned to one of astonishment.