Flight Journey

Once everyone was ready, Xiao Ling spoke to Vice Dean Hu Gan. "Vice Dean, it's fine if I ride our Rayquaza, right?"

Hu Gan could not help twitching at the corner of his mouth. "Of course. As long as you don't cause any trouble."

He had originally wanted to show off his Dou Qi Wings before these students, but this kid had stolen all the spotlight. Shaking his head, he stopped dwelling on such nonsense.

Hu Gan and the few old men beside him swept their gazes over the open ground. Once they saw that everyone had mounted the Griffin Beasts, they exchanged glances and nodded slightly. With a wave of Hu Gan's hand, he and the three old men flashed into the air. Their shoulders trembled, and four pairs of dazzling Dou Qi Wings extended from their backs. With a slight flap of their wings, they hovered motionlessly in midair amid the many envious gazes below.

Being able to condense Dou Qi Wings and fly freely had always been the dream of countless cultivators.

"We will personally escort you along this journey." Looking down at the clearing below, Hu Gan smiled and waved his hand. The riders atop the Griffin Beasts let out sharp whistles. At once, the Griffin Beasts violently beat their wings, their massive forms slowly rising into the air as the shadows they cast upon the ground grew smaller and smaller.

Xiao Ling patted Rayquaza on the back. The telepathically linked Rayquaza let out a long cry and followed behind the group.

As they flew higher and higher, the figures below became smaller and smaller. In the end, they were almost like ants. From such a height, they could overlook nearly every corner of Jia Nan Academy.

Under the azure sky, ten enormous Griffin Beasts flapped their wings as they sped toward the academy's seemingly endless back mountains. Outside the Griffin Beasts, Hu Gan and the three old men formed a square formation, enclosing the entire Griffin Beast squad. Vigorous Dou Qi emerged around their bodies, and no matter how fiercely the winds raged, they could not move them in the slightest. Behind them, a majestic Rayquaza followed closely, its agile form soaring through the clouds like the ruler of the sky.

The vast forest sea was filled with all kinds of Magical Beasts. Every so often, Magical Beasts radiating savage auras would burst out from the woods and roar at the Griffin Beast squad in the sky. Occasionally, some Flying Magical Beasts would give chase as well. Yet whenever these Magical Beasts came within a hundred meters of the formation, the formidable aura erupting from Hu Gan and the other three would frighten them into retreat.

Of course, that was not always the case. Magical Beasts were packed densely throughout these endless mountains, and there were naturally some terrifyingly powerful ones among them. Thus, half an hour after the flying formation entered Jia Nan Academy's back mountains, powerful Magical Beasts began ignoring the oppressive auras of Hu Gan's group and charging directly at the Griffin Beast squad. At that point, Hu Gan and the three old men began displaying their awe-inspiring strength. Every wave of their hands sent torrents of vigorous energy streaking across the sky like lightning. Then, with only a muffled boom, those rather massive Magical Beasts exploded into blood that rained down from the sky.

Throughout the journey, savage Magical Beasts of every kind surged at them one after another, yet not a single one managed to break through the blockade of Hu Gan's group of four.

Xiao Ling also intended to cultivate Rayquaza's combat experience. He had it fire several energy blasts, reducing some low-level Magical Beasts directly to dust.

As his Soul Perception spread out, Xiao Ling clearly sensed the auras of fifth-tier Magical Beasts below, hidden within the dense forest. They were Magical Beasts at the Dou Wang level. However, Magical Beasts of that level already possessed intelligence no weaker than that of humans, so they naturally recognized Hu Gan's group's strength. Unlike the weaker Magical Beasts, they did not recklessly attack the Griffin Beast squad without regard for their lives. Fortunately, these high-level Magical Beasts knew caution. Otherwise, even with four Dou Huang experts such as Hu Gan escorting them, this Griffin Beast squad likely could not have reached its destination unscathed.

They flew onward amid a trail of blood mist. Hu Gan's group of four were like sharp awls, forcibly tearing a path through the overwhelming horde of Magical Beasts. The strength of Dou Huang experts was truly terrifying.

After this nearly barbaric charge had continued for almost an hour, Hu Gan led everyone down onto an endless grassland. While the others were still wondering why, Xiao Ling had already guessed that the Space Gate to the Inner Academy was about to open.

Hu Gan first had everyone descend to the ground. Then, under their watchful eyes, he slowly walked about ten steps forward and stopped. With a wave of his hand, a stream of energy shot from his palm toward the space before him. An eerie sight then appeared. When that energy passed through a certain patch of empty air, it created ripples like those on water. The ripples rapidly trembled, and at last, a pale Silver Gate seven or eight zhang tall appeared out of thin air!

Everyone was startled by the strange Silver Gate that had appeared before them. Clearly, they had not expected such an ordinary-looking place to conceal such a mystery.

Before everyone's eyes, the Silver Gate slowly opened with a crisp sound. Beyond it was, as always, a dense forest, seemingly no different from the woodland before them.

"Follow me." With a wave of his hand, Hu Gan took the lead in walking through the Silver Gate. Dozens of students followed closely behind, their faces filled with curiosity.

Those who entered the Silver Gate seemed to have entered another space, vanishing into thin air just like that.

After canceling Rayquaza's Mega Evolution and returning it to his sleeve, Xiao Ling also stepped toward the Silver Gate. The moment he passed through it, he felt as though he had entered an entirely new world. The sensation was rather wondrous.

After everyone, including the ten Griffin Beasts, had entered the Silver Gate, it slowly closed. A ring of silver energy ripples spread outward, and the Silver Gate gradually faded away until it vanished completely. At that moment, the area had once again become an utterly ordinary forest entrance.

Xiao Ling swept his gaze forward, only to discover that the scene before him was still the same forest as before.

However, two old men and several middle-aged men had appeared at the forest entrance at some point. Behind them stood nearly forty young people. Xiao Ling's gaze swept across them and found that each wore a badge on their chest engraved with a tower-like emblem.

One of the old men spoke. "Old Hu, you're always this punctual. How are this year's new students?"

Pointing toward where Xiao Ling stood, Hu Gan stroked his beard and said with great satisfaction, "This year's batch has the highest talent I've ever seen. Not to mention the several High-level Great Dou Shi, this kid Xiao Ling is already a Four-star Great Dou Master. His nine-year-old cousin is also a five-star Dou Shi. Compared to Xiao Ling's talent at that age, she is no less gifted."

Upon hearing this, the two elders swept their somewhat astonished gazes over the group before nodding slightly. "We never expected there to be so many geniuses this year besides Xiao Ling. The Inner Academy is about to become interesting."

Seeing the two elders looking their way, Xiao Ling stepped forward, bowed, and greeted them. "Elder Su, Elder Qing, please take good care of this junior after I enter the Inner Academy!"

At this, both elders stroked their beards and smiled kindly, but neither replied. They would certainly look after a genius whom the academy was focusing on nurturing, but they could not say so openly. Even if everyone could see it, stating it outright would change the nature of things.

Xiao Ling was tactful enough not to pursue the subject. He returned to Xiao Xun'er and the others, then spoke quietly. "Get yourselves into peak condition. Those Senior Students ahead are our targets later. They aren't very strong, so we can handle them however we want."

Everyone nodded in succession and began sitting cross-legged to adjust their conditions.