Dragon

Yang Chengzhi felt that if he truly wore this cloak to participate in the Dragon Ranking competition, he would definitely be the center of attention, but he would also definitely be treated like an idiot.

In fact, Yang Chengzhi didn't even need to feel it; seeing that Zhou Guanyu, standing behind Ma Feifei, and his sister were barely holding back their laughter, one could tell how unreliable this idea was.

Letting Yang Chengzhi wear the cloak to participate in the Dragon Ranking competition was an idea Ma Feifei came up with to complete a system main quest. Ma Feifei thought that once Yang Chengzhi shone in the Dragon Ranking competition, the words on his cloak would definitely attract attention; if Yang Chengzhi then subtly hinted that his cultivation growth was due to reading a book at the Mysterious Bookstore, who would worry about his bookstore not getting attention?

This was called the advertising effect.

"Is it that funny?" Ma Feifei looked up at Zhou Zhuling. He truly felt that after knowing her for so long, she no longer took him seriously.

When Ma Feifei looked at her like that, Zhou Zhuling quickly put on a serious expression, but her large eyes were almost squinted shut, and her long eyelashes fluttered, telling Ma Feifei that she was struggling to hold back.

Ma Feifei sighed, turned around, and said to Yang Chengzhi earnestly, "Brother Yang! I know it's a bit difficult for you to wear this cloak to participate in the Dragon Ranking competition. But do you know? The bookstore is almost unable to stay in business. If we don't attract some customers soon, this 'Mysterious Bookstore' will cease to exist."

"Furthermore, you have already stepped into the Spirit Ancestor realm. Putting aside other things, the bookstore should have contributed something, right? Now is a critical time for the bookstore's survival. Is it too much to ask for a small sacrifice from you so that the bookstore can continue to exist?"

Yes, Yang Chengzhi had broken through again, from Spirit Master Ninth Stage to Spirit Ancestor First Stage, without even encountering a bottleneck. Yang Chengzhi himself wouldn't believe it wasn't because of the Mysterious Bookstore.

"Is it that exaggerated~~" Yang Chengzhi muttered when he saw how serious Ma Feifei sounded. He had deeply experienced the magic of this bookstore. With just one book, he had improved several stages. This couldn't be described by common sense; it was a unique existence across the entire Azure Dragon Continent. Such a place could still fail to stay in business? It was like a joke.

Moreover, deep down, Yang Chengzhi didn't want this bookstore to be known by more people. He had even thought about how great it would be if he could own this bookstore.

The latter was definitely a pipe dream. Yang Chengzhi knew very well that the strength Ma Feifei displayed was not something a small fry like him could shake; however, Ma Feifei now asking him to go to the Dragon Ranking competition to promote the bookstore went against Yang Chengzhi's inner desires.

Everyone has selfish motives.

If everyone knew about this bookstore and came to read books to improve their cultivation, wouldn't his own advantage disappear? How could Yang Chengzhi bear that?

"Do you think I would joke about something like this?" Ma Feifei said with a serious expression. Although his words were slightly off, Ma Feifei wasn't lying to him. If the quest wasn't completed, who knew if the system would disappear? If the system truly disappeared, would these books still possess such magical power? Naturally, that would be impossible.

"Alright then~" Yang Chengzhi glanced at Ma Feifei and finally agreed. In fact, he had no way to refuse any of Ma Feifei's requests.

Seeing that Yang Chengzhi had accepted the cloak, Ma Feifei smiled and said, "I believe you will definitely make a stunning debut in this Dragon Ranking competition, so I'll trouble you to promote the bookstore at the appropriate time; of course, don't worry, I won't let you do this for nothing. When the bookstore's operations stabilize, I'll give you a surprise."

If you ask for help, you must offer benefits. Yang Chengzhi didn't owe him, and Ma Feifei was well aware of this.

Yang Chengzhi nodded. He had also thought about it. Since Ma Feifei wanted to promote the bookstore, and he couldn't stop it, he could only maintain a good relationship with Ma Feifei. Perhaps he would receive some preferential treatment in the future.

As the Zhenguan Academy's Dragon Ranking competition approached, the Chu State, from the government down to the common people, began to get busy.

For the academy, it might just be a test of strength for its students; but for the Chu State, each Dragon Ranking competition could help the country discover many talents. After all, the more accomplished the current young prodigies are, the further they will go in the future; Spirit Saints might even emerge from here. As for other countries, the Chu State's Dragon Ranking competition was like a microcosm of the Chu State's strength. Countries could infer the future trajectory of the Chu State's national destiny by observing the strength of the students in the competition.

Therefore, the Dragon Ranking competition was no longer just an internal competition within Zhenguan Academy, but a test of the Chu State's overall strength.

Across the vast lands of the Chu State, there were countless academies. The only one that could represent the Chu State was one of the Seven Great Academies of Azure Dragon, the only academy among the many academies in the Chu State with a Spirit Saint presiding over it: Zhenguan Academy!

Gathering the elites of the Chu State, converging at Zhenguan Academy.

Today was the day Ma Feifei and his group set off. Early in the morning, everyone arrived at the bookstore ahead of time.

Ma Feifei had already woken up. He had spent half the morning dividing the spoils with Yun Qingyang in the room before coming out, looking somewhat displeased.

"I don't know how this girl knew how much money I collected. Not a single Spirit Crystal was pocketed." Ma Feifei grumbled, touching the ninety Spirit Crystals in his bag.

Yun Qingyang followed behind him, a rare hint of a smile on her cool expression. She glanced proudly at Ma Feifei, as if saying: 'Little guy, you can't hide such a small trick from me?'

This made Ma Feifei quite annoyed.

"Is everyone ready? Then let's go." Ma Feifei glanced at Zhou Zhuling and the other two, noticing they were empty-handed. However, thinking they had their own spatial storage bags, he assumed their luggage was stored inside, unlike himself, who still had to carry a backpack.

Sighing, Ma Feifei felt he was doing terribly.

"Hey, it's starting," Ma Feifei said, glancing at Yun Qingyang.

Yun Qingyang looked at the courtyard and shook her head, saying, "The place is too small."

"This is small! This courtyard is over two hundred square meters!" Ma Feifei exclaimed. This space was enough to park a private jet, so was this dragon bigger than a plane?

Yun Qingyang nodded.

Ma Feifei shrugged helplessly and said, "Alright, then let's head out of town first."

The three people beside them watched Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang walk away. They exchanged glances, looking a bit confused, as they hadn't understood the conversation between Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang at all.

It wasn't until they followed Ma Feifei out of Dubian Town and onto a plain about ten miles away that they saw Yun Qingyang suddenly transform into a giant dragon, and only then did they understand the meaning of their previous conversation.

"This~!!!" Yang Chengzhi's eyes widened, his legs trembling slightly. He stared at the giant dragon in the sky in disbelief.

"It's actually a dragon." Zhou Zhuling looked at the giant dragon in the sky, her face turning pale. The dragon's might made her feel uncomfortable. With Zhou Guanyu's support, she barely managed to stay upright without falling.

Zhou Guanyu, who was supporting Zhou Zhuling, was also sweating profusely. He released his spiritual power to resist the dragon's might, and also had to divert some spiritual power to protect Zhou Zhuling, causing his spiritual power to be depleted too quickly, and his lips turned pale. However, the shock on his face was no less than anyone else's.

In contrast, Ma Feifei, who was in the center of it all, seemed unaffected. He looked up at the dragon, estimated to be over thirty meters long, in the sky, his eyes filled with curiosity.

This dragon was different from the dragons in ancient times in his world; it leaned more towards Western dragons. It had blue scales, exuded a cold aura, and had wings over ten meters long. It had no horns on its head, its mouth was slightly open, revealing a corner of sharp teeth, and its breath was frost, which solidified in the air and fell as ice cones.

Such a massive dragon circled above them, completely blocking the sky within their field of vision. The clear sky instantly turned gloomy. The dragon continuously emitted a cold aura, causing the temperature in the area to drop sharply. Everyone present had cultivation, yet they all felt a chill.

"So magnificent! Is this the splendor of an Ancient Frost Dragon!" Ma Feifei murmured, gazing at the Frost Dragon above.

Not only Ma Feifei, but the remaining three were no less surprised than him, and in some ways, even more so.

Since the ancient era of the Azure Dragon Continent, no dragon had appeared in thirty thousand years.

Like immortals, they only existed in legends.

Now, they saw a dragon appear; the shock was imaginable.

Therefore, even though the three were trembling under the dragon's might, they did not choose to leave the area. Instead, while desperately releasing spiritual power to resist the dragon's might, they gazed up at the dragon. They might be the first humans in thirty thousand years to witness a dragon's form again.

"Come up," Yun Qingyang's voice came from the dragon's slightly opened maw.

In an instant, everyone felt the dragon's might disappear from their bodies, leaving only the bone-chilling aura.

Whoosh~ The giant dragon gently flapped its wings and slowly descended. Its feet landed on the ground with a deafening BOOM.

It was no less than an explosion.

Immediately after, the dragon gently laid its wings on the ground, forming a staircase.

However, Zhou Zhuling and the other two exchanged glances, not daring to step on it. Finally, they all turned their gazes to Ma Feifei.

"What are you looking at me for? Go on up!" Ma Feifei, seeing a dragon for the first time, was also very excited. He called out and was the first to step onto the wing, walking up.

"So hard, so cold." Stepping on the wing, Ma Feifei felt as if he were stepping on the hardest, coldest stone in the world. Every step he took, his soles hurt, and the cold made him tremble.

"As expected of a descendant of the Ancient Frost Dragon. Just the dragon's might emanating from its body is probably enough to crush cultivators at the Spirit Ancestor realm." Ma Feifei exclaimed in awe.

Looking down at the dragon scales, each one as exquisite as if drawn, Ma Feifei couldn't help but bend down and touch one.

"So nice!" Ma Feifei felt the texture of the dragon scale and couldn't help but praise it.

Whoosh~ The wing suddenly flapped, and Ma Feifei was directly flung off.

Splat~ He fell.

"Holy crap!" Ma Feifei landed headfirst, stuffing his mouth with grass. He got up and sat on the ground, about to speak, when he felt a gust of wind blow past him. Immediately after, Yun Qingyang's dragon head appeared before him.

Whoosh~ The giant dragon head quietly looked at Ma Feifei. Its maw opened slightly, and the dragon breath it exhaled landed on Ma Feifei.

Ma Feifei looked at the dragon head, which was larger than himself, and awkwardly took the grass out of his mouth. He tossed it at Yun Qingyang's face and said, trembling, "Would you believe me if I said my hand had a mind of its own?"