Joining the Yinglong Guard

Ji An's arrival quickly attracted several cultivators who took the initiative to strike up a conversation. He was neither humble nor arrogant, and in his casual replies, he also managed to get to know a few like-minded fellow cultivators.

As time went by, the surviving cultivators gradually returned from various parts of the Prison Mountain Great Marsh. Surprisingly, none of the disciples from the top-tier powers were missing. This high survival rate also indirectly confirmed the huge gap between them and the independent cultivators and disciples from small sects.

Before long, all the surviving trial participants had arrived.

Seeing this, the thin old man guarding the teleportation array stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Of this batch, only thirty of you have returned alive. If you have brought back the head of the Myriad Phenomena Demon, then you have completed the trial. Follow me into the teleportation array and return to the Red Dragon Mountain Range."

Thirty cultivators followed instructions and stepped into the teleportation array. As the array patterns swirled, a dazzling light suddenly shone, engulfing the figures of the group.

Two million miles away, the Red Dragon Mountain Range.

The massive tower-shaped Teleportation Array suddenly shone brightly, and with a soft "whoosh," Ji An and the other thirty people appeared within the array.

"Such speed!" Ji An looked around. Even though this was the second time he had experienced it, the teleportation array's ability to traverse millions of miles still impressed him. "However, if my Heaven and Earth Great Dao advances further, I might be able to achieve such spatial travel!"

"Wait here, the Yinglong Guards will come to meet you shortly," the leader of the ten plain-looking old men guarding the formation said in a deep voice.

Ji An and the others followed his instructions and stepped out of the array base, standing quietly to the side, none daring to make the slightest move.

Not long after, the clouds and mist surged in the distance, and a giant ship broke through the waves, carrying a powerful wave of air, and landed steadily on the flat ground at the top of the mountain. The ship gently opened its side, and a woman dressed in pink was the first to leap down, her figure Yao Rao and her charm captivating; dozens of women followed in succession, each with unparalleled beauty and graceful figure, their flowing clothes making them seem like fairies descending to earth, instantly brightening the scenery of the entire mountain.

"It's Daoist Yu Lan." Ji An recognized her immediately, judging from the scene before him. She was the Primordial Spirit expert from the original story who was in charge of receiving the newly Yinglong Guards. "It seems she's been in charge of this matter for the past few years."

Before Ji An could think further, the woman in pink at the head of the group nodded slightly, and only spoke slowly after everyone's gazes converged on her, "Everyone."

Her voice was soft and alluring, possessing an almost instinctive charm that caused many Myriad Wanxiang Adept Persons to tremble slightly, even though she was Primordial Spirit Daoist and deliberately restrained it.

"Congratulations on your return alive. You may call me Daoist Yu Lan." Her skin was faintly visible beneath the pink veil, her smile alluring, yet her words were icy cold. "Now, bring out the heads of the Myriad Phenomena for me to verify one by one. If you fail to achieve your goal, it would be best to step forward voluntarily, saving me the trouble."

Silence fell over the crowd, and no one stepped forward. Everyone moved to an open space to the side and took out the heads of the Myriad Phenomena they had hunted.

The bodies of great demons are completely different from those of humans. Humans are naturally weak and vulnerable, and without cultivating Godfiend Body Refinement, they are utterly defenseless. Great demons, on the other hand, mostly possess innate supernatural powers and have naturally strong bodies. Although they are far inferior to true gods and demons, they are somewhere between "Human Race" and "gods and demons." Many Demon Race even refine their strongest parts into natal magic weapons, which is enough to show the extraordinary nature of their bodies.

Just like the Green Blade King who was killed by Ji An, he refined his arms into natal magic weapons, which allowed him to unleash attack power comparable to the late stage of Myriad Phenomena Realm with his mid-stage cultivation. Therefore, one can easily distinguish whether a demon is at the Myriad Phenomena Realm just by the aura and hardness of its head.

Daoist Yu Lan released his Divine Consciousness, scanning each demon head. He withdrew his Divine Sense in a single breath and nodded gently. "Very good, all are heads of the Myriad Phenomena Great Demon. You have all met the standard. Come aboard with me."

Everyone followed and boarded the giant ship.

"Strange, why does her seductive technique have no effect on me at all?" Ji An wondered to himself. It wasn't that he was indifferent to women, but faced with the deliberate seduction of a Primordial Spirit expert like Daoist Yu Lan, he didn't even have the slightest mental fluctuation. On the other hand, among the thirty people traveling with him, apart from the female disciple from the Hundred Flowers Immortal Realm who remained calm, the other Myriad Phenomena female cultivators all had blushes on their faces, and some Myriad Wanxiang Adept even had burning eyes, barely maintaining their composure only thanks to their years of honed Dao Heart.

Daoist Yu Lan's gaze swept over the crowd, a meaningful smile playing on his lips. This smile caused many cultivators' hearts to race, and they quickly closed their eyes, no longer daring to look.

"What a perverse sense of humor," Ji An sighed inwardly. Given Daoist Yu Lan's status, she naturally knew she shouldn't actually do anything to the newly promoted Yinglong Guard, yet she still deliberately released her alluring power, clearly finding pleasure in it.

The giant ship flew smoothly through the clouds and mist. With a wave of his hand, Daoist Yu Lan released thirty beautifully bound books that floated before the crowd.

"Congratulations, you have officially become Yinglong Guard." Her voice regained its cool tone. "From this day forward, you will possess the privileges of the Yinglong Guard, and you will also bear the corresponding responsibilities. This book details the rules of the Yinglong Guard; please study it carefully."

Ji An opened the book. Even though he already knew the general content from the original work, he still read it carefully. What was recorded in the original work was only the core part related to Ji Ning. Many details could only be truly understood by seeing them with one's own eyes.

The privileges of the Yinglong Guard are comparable to those of the Emperor's personal guards in the Great Xia Emperor. They represent the face of the Xia Emperor and act with extreme arrogance. While the sons of feudal lords can only run rampant within their own fiefdoms and those of their allies, the Yinglong Guard can move freely throughout the entire Great Xia Emperor, and even feudal lords have to give them some face. Of course, Ji An also understands that this is not just one of those ancient families that even the Xia Emperor has to be wary of, and the Yinglong Guard is definitely not someone that can be provoked at will.

The responsibilities of the Yinglong Guards are similar to those of sect disciples, centered on "merit points" and divided according to rank:

One-Clawed Yinglong Guard: Complete one basic merit task every ten years (the base for a single task is 1 merit);

Two-Clawed Yinglong Guard: Accumulate 100 merit points every 100 years (regular tasks are sufficient to achieve this);

Three-Clawed Yinglong Guard: Accumulate 10,000 merit points every thousand years (requires completion of core high merit point tasks).

Four-Clawed Yinglong Guard: Accumulate 1,000,000 merit points every 10,000 years (only core classified missions can achieve this);

Five-Clawed Yinglong Guard: The pinnacle of the Yinglong Guard system, wielding the power to command the entire army, with a status comparable to a regional lord.

This is the most basic requirement, and also the responsibility that the Yinglong Guards must shoulder. Don't think that the tasks of the Two-Clawed Yinglong Guards are simple. You should know that Ji An only gained twenty or thirty merits from his trial of slaying the Myriad Phenomena Demon. For newly promoted One-Clawed Yinglong Guards like them, completing a simple task of hunting down a sinner in the Violet Palace Mansion within ten years is already enough to meet the standard. As for the Loose Immortal- level Yinglong Guards, they only need to complete one task once every thousand or even tens of thousands of years, which is relatively easy for them.

But clearly, no one would be satisfied with the minimum requirements. They joined the Yinglong Guard not for a comfortable life, but for the abundant secret techniques, supernatural powers, magical treasures, and rare items—all of which required merit points to exchange for. More importantly, many top-tier inheritances had level restrictions. For example, Two-Clawed Yinglong Guards could access supernatural powers, and Three-Clawed Yinglong Guards could exchange for magical treasures. The combat strength threshold for Two-Clawed Yinglong Guard was already comparable to an ordinary Primordial Spirit Daoist, three-clawed was comparable to a Loose Immortal, four-clawed was a top-tier Loose Immortal, and five-clawed was a Heavenly Immortal.

"If any of you are willing to join the Yinglong Guard Inner Guard, our Yinglong Guard will spare no effort in nurturing you." Daoist Yu Lan's gaze swept over the crowd, his tone enticing. "You can take your time to consider this matter. As long as you live, the doors of the Yinglong Guard Inner Guard will always be open to you."

Everyone remained silent.

Some are unwilling to give up their freedom for resources; cultivators pursue a carefree life, and the more talented they are, the less they want to be bound. Others haven't yet witnessed the true strength of the Yinglong Guard Inner Guards and dare not make a hasty decision. Ji An clearly belongs to the former. As that legendary powerhouse said, "You can take everything away from me, but you cannot take away my Dao heart and my freedom."

An hour later, the thirty newly recruited Yinglong Guards, having received their "Yinglong Guard Tokens," arrived before a magnificent palace, its walls adorned with carved railings and painted beams, under the guidance of Daoist Yu Lan. The palace stood about a hundred feet tall and covered an area of nearly a thousand feet. Its roof was covered with glazed tiles, which shone brightly in the sunlight, resembling a fairyland pavilion.

"This is the Daoist Repository Palace," Daoist Yu Lan introduced with a smile. "The hall contains countless methods, secret techniques, and miscellaneous scriptures. Only officially Yinglong Guards are allowed to enter and consult them. Go in and take a look; it will give you a better understanding of the Yinglong Guard's resources."

Ji An followed the others into the hall. As soon as he entered, he was shocked by the scene before him. The scale of this Daoist Repository Palace far exceeded any book collection he had ever seen in his two lives. The bookshelves stretched endlessly, and the air was filled with a faint fragrance of ink and spiritual energy.

He wasted no time and headed straight for the Qi Refining Methods area. Based on his understanding of the exchange conditions, he skipped over the lower-level texts and went straight to the deepest Immortal Rank Methods area.

"Pure Yang Rank Qi Refining Method? It actually surpasses the Immortal Rank?"

"Two to three thousand catties of Essence Liquid are needed to lay the foundation for the Violet Palace? Such a foundation is simply unimaginably profound!"

"Terrifying!"

Exclamations rose and fell around him, but Ji An shook his head slightly in agreement Yinglong Guards ' move was clearly a deliberate attempt to place the Pure Yang Rank technique in the most conspicuous position to lure them into joining the Inner Guard.

Qi Refining methods are divided into five levels: Human Rank, Earth Rank, Heaven Rank, Immortal Rank, and Pure Yang Rank. The better the method, the higher the probability of breaking through to the Void-Returning Earth Immortal realm. In fact, Human Rank methods are not even enough to support cultivation to the Myriad Phenomena Realm. This is also why Ji An has never spent time cultivating Qi Refining methods. Rather than wasting energy on low-level methods, it is better to focus on refining the "Crimsonbright Nine Heavens Diagram," a Godfiend Body Refinement technique.

He casually flipped through several Immortal Rank Qi Refining methods and quickly found one that suited him—the "Golden Origin Scripture," an immortal -Immortal Rank Qi Refining method belonging to the metal element.

Logically speaking, due to his cultivation of the "Crimsonbright Nine Heavens Diagram," the fire and water elemental Qi Refining methods should be most suitable for him. However, since comprehending the True Meaning of the Dao "Sharp Metal" Dao, Ji An has discovered that his talent in the metal elemental Grand Dao far exceeds his expectations, and the choice of Qi Refining method can just make up for this.

"One-Clawed Yinglong Guard requires 10,000 merits to redeem—" Ji An looked at the redemption requirements next to the book and silently calculated in his heart, "With my current strength, as long as I accept missions as soon as possible, and with the breakthrough in the realm of the Crimsonbright Nine Heavens Diagram, I should be able to collect enough merits in a few years."

It should be noted that the myriad Myriad Phenomena hunted in these three months, if converted into merit for the Yinglong Guard, would amount to hundreds. As long as the "Crimsonbright Nine Heavens Diagram" breaks through to the tenth level, even if his comprehension of the Dao does not improve, he is confident that he will possess combat power comparable to the Primordial Spirit Daoist, and at that time, the speed at which he acquires merit will only be faster.

Such speed is far beyond what ordinary Yinglong Guards can achieve—ordinary Yinglong Guards often need to fight on the brink of death for decades, or even centuries, to accumulate ten thousand merits.

The group lingered in the Daoist Repository Palace, quickly taking in the entire complex: eighty-nine kinds of supernatural powers, sixty-one kinds of Divine Sense techniques, one hundred and two forbidden techniques, and countless rare treasures and precious materials listed in the catalog. Even just the catalog was enough to amaze them. With the Xia Emperor's resources, he certainly wouldn't try to fool people with fake information.

As the trip to the Daoist Repository Palace drew to a close, Daoist Yu Lan looked at the crowd and spoke again, "What do you all think of the foundation of my Yinglong Guard? By joining the Inner Guard, one can rise to the top in one step and obtain the most advanced resources and inheritances."

Ji An stood quietly in the crowd, his heart filled with curiosity. Having witnessed firsthand the difference between the Inner Guards and ordinary Yinglong Guards, he wondered how many could resist the temptation. To choose a Heaven and Earth of freedom or to give up freedom for a shortcut—there has never been a standard answer throughout history.

However, not a single one of the thirty people stepped forward voluntarily.

Seeing this, Daoist Yu Lan was not angry, but a hint of regret flashed in his eyes, and his gaze subconsciously fell on Ji An, who was standing in the corner.

From the moment she received the assignment, she had been instructed by her superior to try and persuade this cultivator of the "Crimsonbright Nine Heavens Diagram." Just now, she had even deliberately amplified her charm techniques, but she hadn't expected that the other party would be completely unaffected, and that his Dao heart was far more steadfast than she had anticipated.

"As expected of someone at the Violet Palace Realm, their comprehension of the Dao is already close to that of geniuses like us," Daoist Yu Lan sighed inwardly.

Ji An's strength had already been revealed to be quite evident. According to Yinglong Guard's calculations, he had at least comprehended the Dao Domain, and at a very profound level. He had even mastered a powerful divine ability, otherwise he would not have been able to kill a great demon in the mid-stage of the Myriad Phenomena Realm (Ji An handed over the head of the Green Blade King).