"Okay, then this young lady shall go first." The Dragon Emperor nodded his head at Wang Xiuying.
Wang Xiuying then approached the crystal ball in the middle of the formation.
"I just need to drop some of my blood onto this crystal ball, right?" She asked for confirmation.
"That is correct. You may use the dagger beside the Crystal of Fate to release your blood. Just a few drops will be enough." The Dragon Emperor nodded.
Wang Xiuying grabbed the cool-looking dagger with a dragon design on the handle and poked a small hole on the tip of her finger.
She then squeezed a few drops of blood onto the crystal ball.
The crystal ball immediately absorbed her blood and began glowing a subtle golden light.
A few seconds later, one of the dragon statues emitted a golden aura before shooting into the sky.
A few more seconds later, a second dragon statue released a pillar of golden light into the sky.
Then, a third pillar of light appeared in the sky for all of the people in the city to see.
"Someone is partaking in the Dragon Awakening Ritual? Who could it be?"
The people in the city stopped whatever they were doing to spectate the ritual like they always do.
However, the ritual ended sooner than the people had expected, as the pillars of lights had stopped at three.
"Hahaha! Which trash is participating in the ritual? Three pillars of light? That's pathetic!"
"When was the last time someone released only three pillars? I don't remember!"
The people spectating the ritual from afar burst out laughing when they saw the results.
Meanwhile, at the ritual site, Xi Murong slapped his thighs and laughed out loud, "Three?! Hahaha! How laughable!"
"I guess you're not the one…" The Dragon Emperor shook his head at Wang Xiuying, who returned with a somewhat embarrassed expression on her face.
"Don't mind it, young lady. Releasing three pillars of light is actually very good for someone from the Lower Heavens. You should be proud of yourself." Xi Meili approached Wang Xiuying to comfort her.
"Thank you, Dragon Princess…" Wang Xiuying said with a slight smile on her face.
"I am serious, young lady. Releasing three pillars of light is an incredible feat for a human. This Dragon Awakening Ritual is meant for dragons. If other humans in the Lower Heavens were to take this ritual, they might not even be able to release a single pillar." Xi Meili reassured her that it was nothing to be embarrassed about.
"If you say it like that, I guess…" The smile on Wang Xiuying's face became less stiff and more genuine.
"Young man, it's your turn." The Dragon Emperor looked at Yuan.
Since Wang Xiuying failed, it was very likely that Yuan is the person mentioned in the prophecy, but there is also the chance that neither of them has anything to do with the prophecy and that they'd truly arrived in this place by accident.
Sometime later, Yuan approached the crystal ball shaped like a dragon's head and took a deep breath.
He then dropped some of his blood onto it.
Once the crystal ball absorbed his blood, it immediately began to glow golden, and it was emitting a light that was noticeably more colorful than Wang Xiuying's attempt.
A few seconds later, the first pillar of light was released, piercing straight into the heavens.
The second pillar appeared a few more seconds later, as did the third and fourth.
"Look! Someone else is partaking in the Dragon Awakening Ritual!"
"Four pillars, huh? At least this person is already better than the last one."
"Obtaining three pillars will guarantee that they will reach Spirit Grandmaster. Four pillars mean they have the talent to reach Spirit Lord."
A few seconds later, the fifth pillar appeared.
"Five pillars! This person will reach at least Spirit King! Not bad!"
"Ooooh! Six pillars! Someone has managed to obtain six pillars! This person is, without a doubt, a genius! Spirit Emperor is guaranteed for this person as long as he or she lives long enough!"
"H-Heavens! Seven pillars! This person has managed to get seven pillars! He's on the same level as the children from the Royal Family!"
"Whoever this person is, his future is looking great!"
"S-Seven pillars…?" Xi Murong, the Dragon Prince, swallowed nervously upon seeing this, and an ominous feeling appeared in his guts.
However, the eighth pillar didn't appear after the seventh pillar— at least not within just a few seconds like usual.
Just as Xi Murong sighed in relief that Yuan stopped at seven pillars of light, the eighth dragon statue began emitting a golden aura before shooting it into the skies, shocking the spectators.
"E-Eight! Eight pillars! Whoever this individual is— he's managed to rival the ancestors in terms of talents!"
The spectators were shaking in excitement when they saw this.
The Dragon Emperor also trembled with excitement and anticipation when he saw this.
'He's the one! There's no way he isn't the one in the prophecy!' The Dragon Emperor was almost certain at this point that Yuan was the one they have been waiting for— the one who'll help them reveal their ancestors' treasure!
A whole minute after Yuan released the eighth pillar of light, the Ancient Dragon City suddenly began to shake, which shook the residences greatly, as they have never experienced an earthquake in this world before.
In fact, natural earthquakes cannot happen in this world, so this was a phenomenon caused by something unnatural!
"W-What's happening?"
The earthquake was so powerful that it'd knocked many people onto the ground.
A few moments into the earthquake, the ninth dragon statue suddenly began to emit a golden aura.
However, what came out of the ninth statue wasn't a pillar of light. Instead, the hologram of a dragon appeared from the statue and flew towards the sky before circling around the world like some kind of guardian.
In fact, this dragon somewhat resembled the dragon that appeared at the Dragon Essence Temple after Yuan cleared all 100 floors of the Carp Leaping Over Dragon's Gate Tower!