Under the Red Dragon.

Chapter 545 The sun should shine in the sky, looking down upon all directions.

The capital of the Golden Empire is situated on a vast terrain, located at the intersection of three planes, and backed by the majestic and towering Dragon Nest Mountains.

It possesses the golden river that flows through the entire empire from north to south; and thanks to the empire's construction of canals, it connects the east and west seas.

Whether it's the roadways and horse trails on land, the rumbling steel python trains that rumble around all day, or the large and small steel merchant ships and sailing vessels on the water, it can be said that it has the most convenient sea transportation system in the world of Ekania.

The inclusiveness brought about by the diverse racial civilizations and the Golden Empire's open policies have made this dragon kingdom located in the Northern Lands a dreamland that many people in the world of Ekania and even the surrounding material planes yearn for.

The austere and massive architecture of various styles, the towering, roofless towers and sculptures everywhere, the sky bridges and pavilions, the ever-blooming, green central park... all of these are the enchanting aspects of the Golden Empire's civilization.

Adventurers, bards, painters, dancers, architects, and sculptors from all over the world regarded the capital of the Golden Empire as a must-visit destination.

The city of Capito in the Golden Empire is known as a pilgrimage city by many sculptors, painters and other artists because of its prosperous and complex multi-ethnic culture.

The capital city, which normally has a permanent population of three million, now has a population of over four million when there are many outsiders.

As the grand ceremony took place today, the number of people arriving from near and far was far greater than this, and their exact numbers are now impossible to ascertain.

Because the relevant departments and agencies of the empire had long since abandoned this idea, they only knew that the capacity of this royal capital seemed to have reached its limit by now.

At least according to the rough estimates of the imperial government's official agencies, the number of people gathered in the capital city today alone is more than three times the usual daily population.

If it weren't for the fact that other cities in the Golden Empire also have synchronized magical projections displayed in their central squares, the Royal Capital might have nowhere to settle down today.

Even the soldiers from the standing legion stationed near the capital of the Golden Empire, tasked with maintaining order and dividing the viewing area, faced immense pressure.

The soldiers were astonished to find that the city seemed to be teeming with people, and even the traffic on the widest central street was frequently congested.

When the bells in the capital rang for the twelfth time, the city was bustling with noise and activity.

Not only were the aerial bridges built by the elven craftsmen that allowed people to traverse the sky crowded with spectators, but even the rooftops and balconies of the city's residents were packed with tourists and travelers.

These people were stopped in their tracks by the shouts of the Imperial Legion soldiers and city patrol guards, and could no longer move around freely, but this did not arouse their dissatisfaction.

Because they were all eager to see the legendary colorful prince whose wings covered the wasteland, and the rising dragon emperor of the golden empire.

There are also the legendary Dragon Kings who are always by the Dragon Emperor's side, growing up, fighting, and ruling the mortal world together, as well as those extraordinary dragons.

So when the royal court, perched high in the nine heavens, appeared, and the main gate of the imperial palace slowly opened, everyone held their breath, as if they could feel the extremely high and vast royal court hanging above their heads.

The first sounds were the deep, resonant tolling of bells, drums, and horns. These powerful and stirring instruments emitted their own distinctive tones, carrying the Dragon King's Battle Song from the heavens down, instantly putting everyone to a solemn moment.

Then the wall of clouds suddenly collapsed, turning into wisps of cloud that rolled down the tall, wide steps, swallowing them up like a veil of clouds, revealing only the bare stone beneath.

The moment the rolling clouds descended upon the foot of the mountains, millions of people in the city felt the world suddenly tremble.

On the walls of the capital, hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of cannons stood simultaneously pointing skyward, their booming roar shaking the entire city.

Amidst the deafening roar of fireworks, countless people saw a gigantic, shadowy figure emerging from the depths of the Dragon King's court.

The Golden Guard, who forever guard the imperial palace and the emperor's side in the Golden Empire, and the warriors of the Storm Thunder Legion were the first to step out of the Dragon King's Court and descend the high, wide steps.

Every so often, a Golden Guard and a Storm Giant would stand on the left and right steps, wielding heavy-bladed longswords and lightning tridents, facing each other solemnly, standing sideways.

Perhaps to envoys and travelers from other civilizations, these warriors wielding lightning-tridented halberds and molten-flow horse-slaying blades were unparalleled killing weapons, terrifying and unstoppable forces.

But in the eyes of the empire's citizens, these warriors represent the indestructible dome of the Golden Empire.

The crowd looked up at the tall warriors who resembled generals under the throne of gods. The armor of the Golden Guards gleamed with golden light, while the armor of the Storm Giants was dark and shimmering. They descended in order from tallest to shortest, yet they carried an imposing and awe-inspiring presence.

When the last two Golden Guards and the Storm Giant stood at the foot of the mountain, the towering Dragon Royal Court, in the eyes of millions of living beings, was as majestic and unapproachable as the palace of the ancient god who ruled the world.

Many people could even imagine that the Dragon Emperor and the Dragon Kings of the Golden Empire were sitting on their royal thrones, waiting for the military, political and civil officials, who were lined up in two rows, to ascend the imperial palace and pay their respects.

The imposing aura, however, caused cheers and shouts to erupt from the royal capital.

"Holy Emperor Gogmora!"

"The unifying king of the empire!"

"Your Majesty the Holy Emperor!"

Those youthful or mature, low voices rose and fell, beginning to converge into a surging tide, erupting throughout the capital, even surpassing the previous sounds of fireworks and cannon fire.

However, the supreme emperor of the Golden Empire and the unifying kings never appeared. The military, political and civil officials of the empire silently, solemnly and respectfully ascended the steps toward the towering and vast Dragon King's Court.

Prince Adrian and his companion Weston stood in the middle of the Orc Empire's delegation, gazing intently into the distance.

This wide street now gathers envoys from dozens or even hundreds of civilizations in the world of Ekania, as well as many important guests from other material planes.

Prince Adrian even saw a wind elemental lord, a being unique in the material world.

The elemental lords vary in strength, and many powerful lords born from the primordial elements in the primordial elemental realm are even a type of wild god, known as elemental wild gods.

These elemental gods rule over the various primary elemental planes and are worshipped as gods by the beings in those planes. These elemental gods themselves are powerful beings with godlike power.

Many beings in the mortal realm even worship these elemental lords as deities in order to obtain elemental power. While the elemental lord Adrian encountered wasn't as powerful as an elemental god, it was still extremely powerful within the mortal realm.

In Prince Adrian's eyes, the elemental lord appeared almost as a humanoid storm, like wind and clouds merging into a shapeless and ever-changing cloud.

Even Prince Adrian couldn't discern the exact nature of the black fragments and swirling moisture that formed the eyes and mouth of this elemental lord.

The sound emanating from this elemental lord was like the soft rumble of thunder in the rain.

Prince Adrian's gaze swept over the strangely shaped elemental lord, his heart heavy. He then looked at the military, political, and civil officials of the Golden Empire, who were climbing the steps in two rows.

Despite the extremely high and wide staircase, the officials of the Golden Empire seemed to have crossed the mountainside from the foot of the mountain in a very short time.

Although Prince Adrian did not know what kind of power it was, he knew it must be related to the clouds covering the many steps.

Prince Adrian knew that many of the officials in these golden empires were legendary figures, which he could not discern from their silhouettes but rather from the cheers and shouts of the people on both sides of the street as they walked by.

Many legendary commanders from the Golden Empire, such as Chiron the dragonborn centaur, Sahar the dragonborn werewolf, Yugu the gnoll, Gibb the barbarian, Bathory the dragon, Rodnis the Raven King, Gilenes the Holy Warfighter, Rayleigh the War Lizardman, and others, have appeared here, regardless of where they were before.

The royal banners of the Golden Empire fluttered beside these legendary commanders like the tides of the sea.

Behind the officials of the Golden Empire followed delegations from the various kingdoms of the Northern Continent, and then envoys from other kingdoms.

The gathering of civilizations from hundreds of nations here, all climbing the steps together, are meant to enter the Dragon King's Court to pay homage to the Dragon Emperor who sits high on his crown. This made Prince Adrian sigh deeply.

"Those who are eagles will eventually take flight, and those who are dragons will eventually reign supreme!"

To Prince Adrian's surprise, the delegations from the various countries of the Southern Continent were placed last, while the Eastern civilization, which rarely appeared in public or at the political level, was placed ahead of the delegations from the Southern Continent.

These envoys from the Eastern lands surrounded a young prince and vigorously raised their royal banner.

That royal banner was extremely special because it was somewhat similar to the royal banner of the Dragon Empire, but what was depicted and engraved on this royal banner was a long-bodied dragon with four claws coiled up.

Prince Hezhe stood under his royal flag, nervously slowing his breathing. This young prince was still inexperienced, and if it weren't for the loyal guards and capable ministers by his side, this sixteen-year-old youth would probably be trembling and unable to control himself.

When Ryuto Go, the young man from the Golden Empire, traveled to various countries in the Eastern Continent to meet with invitations, he also visited the country where he was born.

At that time, the dragon Dongwu was no longer the young dragon that had been hunted and captured, but came carrying the will of the ruler of the dominant civilization of the northern continent and was given a grand welcome by this country.

Although the civilizations of the Eastern Continent rarely engage in cooperation with other continents and maintain closed borders, some daily economic and trade exchanges still exist, thus they have some understanding of the general situation in the world of Ekania.

However, the king of this kingdom still declined the invitation from Jiaolong Dongwu, and only received the envoy from the distant empire with great courtesy, but immediately blocked the news.

It was because he had heard that the Golden Empire had risen to prominence in the world of Ekania, wielding immense influence and possessing unparalleled strength, that Prince Hezhe secretly sought out the dragon Dongwu.

In this country, people fight and kill each other for the throne, resorting to any means necessary.

Successful people wield power, having the power of life and death, while failures are often met with death and disgrace.

Prince Hezhe therefore wanted to rely on the power of a foreign empire to reverse his declining fortunes in the struggle for the throne and seize power.

Unfortunately, the Golden Empire's policies toward other civilizations within the world of Ekania differed significantly from its policies toward civilizations outside the world.

Jiaolong Dongwu told Prince Hezhe that the Golden Empire would only eliminate enemies and maintain peaceful relations with friendly nations, but would never interfere in the internal affairs of other nations.

However, although the Golden Empire would not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, the dragon Dongwu told Prince Hezhe that as long as he became a friend of the Golden Empire, even if he failed to win the throne, the Golden Empire would spare Prince Hezhe's life out of personal friendship.

If one can survive political intrigues and conspiracies, wouldn't that mean being invincible?

Thus, Prince Hezhe risked his life to board a ship to the northern continent alone as a prince of a nation, leading his own forces to meet the Dragon Emperor of the Golden Empire as promised.

"There's no need to be nervous, Your Highness,"

An official with gray hair gently squeezed Prince Hezhe's already white hand, knowing that this solemn aura had instilled fear and awe in the young prince.

Not to mention the young prince, even I, at the advanced age of sixty-two, was utterly awestruck by the overwhelming power and prestige of the Golden Empire.

"Be open and honest; you represent our entire nation now!"

The area in front of the procession suddenly became empty, as the delegation of envoys ahead of them had already begun their journey.

The gray-haired official's gaze hardened, and he gestured for the standard-bearer to move closer to his prince.

"The sun should rise in the heavens, looking down upon all directions. The nation of Zhendong, come and pay homage!"

The resounding chants rose and fell, echoing all the way to the highest heavens.

Prince Adrian also took a deep breath, looked at the vast crowd in front of him, and straightened his back slightly.

The envoy from the Auschwitz Empire also began to puff out his chest, letting out a loud shout.

"The envoy of the Oakes Empire is on his way to pay homage to the great Dragon Emperor and the Kings of the Golden Empire!"

(End of this chapter)