"Boom!"
A thunderous crash rang across the sky. Yun Shan and Yun Yun both looked toward the disturbance in the distance. The strange phenomenon had appeared over the former site of the Misty Cloud Sect.
This only strengthened Yun Shan's resolve. Yun Yun was his disciple, but it would be easy enough to put that relationship aside. A Dou Sheng Expert had settled in the Jia Ma Empire—an unparalleled opportunity. Even the scraps such an expert casually tossed aside could benefit him immensely. The Mittel Family had been willing to send Ya Fei away. Yun Yun, who had both beauty and strength, was in no way inferior to Ya Fei!
"Yun Yun, seeing that phenomenon in the distance, surely you have some thoughts?" Yun Shan asked obliquely.
"Thoughts? No. Saint Qinglian is a Dou Sheng, so it's only natural that something like this would happen. That day, with only a thought, he safely ushered hundreds of Misty Cloud Sect disciples out of the sect. I still remember that power to this day." Yun Yun bowed respectfully, a trace of confusion in her eyes. She couldn't help feeling that her master was hinting at something, speaking in riddles.
"Exactly. Your strength is already at five-star Dou Wang, and soon there'll be nothing more I can teach you. In my opinion, talent is one thing, but for a cultivator, opportunity matters most. Having a Dou Sheng Expert arrive in the Jia Ma Empire is a great opportunity for us, but the Snake-People Tribe has already taken the lead. So I'm thinking..." Yun Shan glanced cautiously at Yun Yun, then steeled himself and said decisively, "I'm thinking of sending you to the mountain gate to become Saint Qinglian's disciple. I can only hope he'll grant you an opportunity."
Yun Yun froze.
She never would have imagined it would come to this...
She had never considered leaving the Misty Cloud Sect and joining another school. Her pretty face filled with confusion. She wanted to refuse, but deep down, she knew her master had come to this decision because of the people of the Snake-People Tribe.
The Jia Ma Empire and the Snake-People Tribe were bitter enemies. The Imperial Family and the Misty Cloud Sect were the loudest in their opposition. Back then, to prevent the Snake-People Tribe from entering the cities, they and the great clans had fought a protracted battle against them. It had ended with the deaths of three Snake-People Dou Wang experts.
It was no exaggeration to say that if the Snake-People gained the upper hand, the first targets would likely be the Imperial Family and the Misty Cloud Sect...
Yun Shan saw that Yun Yun had hesitated for a long time without a word. His face troubled, he continued earnestly, "You surely understand that if the Snake-People Tribe were to..."
"Master, I understand. You don't have to say any more. I'm willing..." Her pretty face filled with determination and resolve. Yun Yun knew that, put nicely, this was becoming someone's disciple; put bluntly, it was selling herself. But her feelings for the Misty Cloud Sect left her no choice. It had been her home since childhood. If her sacrifice could benefit the Misty Cloud Sect, then it was worth doing.
Yun Shan paused. His usually headstrong disciple was showing a courage and resolve he had never expected. He looked somewhat uncertain, unsure whether this was the right thing to do. All he could say was, "Then get your things in order... In a couple of days, I'll take you there myself." He couldn't bring himself to call himself her master. He cherished Yun Yun and believed she would make a fine sect leader, but Zhang Nian's arrival had upset the balance. Those who sought great things could not afford to be bound by trivial concerns.
At that moment, Zhang Nian was waiting in the living room, aware of what was happening on the mountain. Medusa had presumably swallowed the Ninth-grade Pill, and now all that remained was for the system to respond.
Countless people across the Jia Ma Empire stood watching in anticipation. A wisp of white light descended from the sky, bearing a sacred, inviolable presence. It pierced the thick clouds and slowly entered the barrier.
Within the mountain gate, the white light fell straight toward Medusa. As it entered the white energy barrier, dazzling light flashed, and the room was instantly swallowed by radiance.
A pleasant notification rang in Zhang Nian's ears.
[ Ding! Medusa has awakened the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python bloodline... ] [ Current bloodline: Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python (Hidden: Nine-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python) ] [ Ding! Medusa's bloodline is evolving... ] [ Ding! Successfully evolved into the Nine-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python... ] [ Ding! Thousandfold return in progress... Congratulations, Host, you have obtained the Heavenly Derivation Saint Physique ]
As the electronic notification ended, an energy mass of interwoven blue and white appeared out of thin air, enveloping Zhang Nian. At the same time, a ray of rosy light descended from the sky directly above the room.
"Roar~"
"Cry~"
A high-pitched dragon's roar echoed through the mountain range, shaking the surroundings. The phantom image of a blue-and-white dragon surged from within the barrier and into the sky, where it coiled overhead. A phoenix apparition circled and flew beside it. The two phantoms circled the rosy light as if escorting something.
Had Zhang Nian seen this, he would surely have blurted out four words: "dragon and phoenix in harmony."
"This..."
The dragon and phoenix cries rang out, and Jia Xingtian felt his mind shake. His body toppled backward against his will. He wasn't the only one affected. Cultivators throughout the Imperial Capital were disturbed to varying degrees by the cries, and some nearby even fell to the ground bleeding from their eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
"Disaster! The guardian beast is acting strangely!"
A guard hurried over, hands clamped over his ears. He knelt and reported the situation at once.
"Don't panic. Take your time and explain." The strange feeling in Jia Xingtian's chest had faded, but at the guard's report, he couldn't help growing tense. The Jia Ma Imperial Family's guardian beast was a Tier 6 Magical Beast, after all.
After faltering for a moment, the guard gathered his courage and said, "The guardian beast has prostrated itself on the ground, trembling all over. It seems to be facing the former site of the Misty Cloud Sect..."
Jia Xingtian furrowed his brows. Coupled with the dragon's roar he had just heard, he already had his answer...
The Imperial Family's guardian beast was a Tier 6 Magical Beast, the Nether Sea Flood Dragon Beast. For it to behave this way, the true form behind that dragon's roar had to surpass it in both strength and bloodline...
As expected of a Dou Sheng Expert... Even the slightest disturbance he casually created could shake the entire Imperial Capital.
Even more astonishing was the question of what manner of thing could be escorted by the legendary dragon and phoenix. The more one thought about it, the more terrifying it became...
The situation inside the barrier, however, was much better. Perhaps thanks to Zhang Nian's protection, Ya Fei and the servants weren't suffering too badly. Little Zi Yan, on the other hand, gazed up at the sky and felt her bloodline involuntarily stirring, making her want to prostrate herself.
"Roar~"
"Cry~"
Another dragon and phoenix cry rang out. Surrounded by the dragon and phoenix phantoms, a rainbow glow carried a large mass of milky-white energy past in a flash, then plunged straight into the house below. Zi Yan could no longer withstand the pull of her bloodline and fell to the ground with a thud, prostrating herself.
A few days later, the great powers of the Jia Ma Empire learned of something even more terrifying. When the phenomenon erupted at Saint Qinglian's mountain gate, every Magical Beast throughout the Jia Ma Empire had bowed toward it, and they had remained that way for half a day. Naturally, this led people to wonder what manner of being the apparition they had seen that day could be...and what kind of divine treasure the mass of milky-white energy within the rosy light beneath it might be...
Before you continue