Calling it a dragon head wouldn’t be accurate—it was more like a flood dragon’s. This was the head of a flood dragon, with only two short, straight horns on top of its skull. Its eyes didn’t protrude much, and its snout remained flattened, retaining some serpentine features.
It slowly extended its head, revealing the twin claws beneath its belly. More than half of its body remained coiled in the vortex below, yet what emerged towered dozens of feet high. It looked as though an entire building had suddenly risen from the water, looming over the crowd. The sheer sight carried an immense sense of oppression, to say nothing of the terrifying dragon might radiating from its form.
According to the script, this old flood dragon was a Mystic Venerable, commonly addressed as the Jiao Venerable. Both its strength and status placed it at the pinnacle.
The Jiao Venerable’s vertical pupils fixed unblinkingly on the candidates on the water’s surface and the supervising instructors hovering in the air. His gaze quickly locked onto Yan Zhen.
“Dragon aura…”
An ancient, booming voice emanated from the Jiao Venerable’s mouth, causing everyone’s ears to ring. Those in the lead group—Qi Yu Xuan and Chu Nan—were hit hardest. They couldn’t help but clap their hands over their ears and drop to one knee on their boat. Even Huangfu Wenqing felt a wave of dizziness wash over her mind and had to steady her spiritual sea. As for Yan Zhen, he countered the dragon might with his Evil Spirit Dragon Breath Flame.
The Jiao Venerable was, after all, just a flood dragon. The dragon might it exuded wasn’t as pure as what Yan Zhen could muster. He sized Yan Zhen up and down, as if trying to discern his origins.
“Who are you?”
Yan Zhen put on an expression of lingering shock and clasped his fists in salute.
“I’m Yan Zhen. Greetings, Senior Jiao Venerable.”
“Yan… You’re not from the God Race. Do you possess a treasure of the Dragon Clan?”
“No.”
“Then where does the dragon might on your body come from?”
“Are you referring to this, Senior?”
Yan Zhen made no attempt to hide it. With a flip of his palm, he summoned the Evil Spirit Dragon Breath Flame outright.
The Jiao Venerable’s eyes widened, and he let out a startled cry.
“Dragon Extreme Flame!”
In his agitation, his massive dragon body shook the air, sending visible ripples through space. The sight made everyone’s scalps crawl.
The Jiao Venerable immediately sealed off the space around them and expelled everyone else, leaving only Yan Zhen behind.
“Is it the Fire Dragon?”
He slowly lowered his house-sized flood dragon head, drawing close to examine the flame in Yan Zhen’s hand.
“No! The gray-black hue, the sinister aura—this is the Evil Spirit Dragon Breath Flame!”
At those words, the Jiao Venerable jerked his head back, displaying extreme wariness.
The Evil Spirit Dragon Breath Flame was born from a true dragon’s corpse, and it held a Mystic restraint over dragonkin, especially half-dragons like him. One misstep, and he could end up as a Fire Slave under its control.
“The Evil Spirit Dragon Breath Flame, ranked thirteenth on the Extreme Flame List—a treasure even Half-Saints struggle to subdue. How did it end up in the hands of a mere Mystic Master like you?”
Yan Zhen blinked, then spoke with feigned bashfulness.
“Just a stroke of luck.”
“It seems you must have a great master guiding you from the shadows. Otherwise, no amount of luck would let a lone Mystic Scholar refine the Evil Spirit Dragon Breath Flame.”
“…”
“Very well. How you obtained the Evil Spirit Dragon Breath Flame is none of This Venerable’s concern. But a Dragon Extreme Flame would be of great use to This Venerable.” The Jiao Venerable’s voice rumbled like thunder. “Rest assured, This Venerable only wants a wisp of flame, and won’t take it for nothing.”
With that, the Jiao Venerable opened his massive maw and exhaled a glowing treasure pearl that floated into Yan Zhen’s hand.
“This is the Lizhu Pearl. It can bring the dead back to life and mend flesh on bleached bones. Even if you’re on the brink of death, holding this pearl in your mouth will keep you clinging to one last breath.”
Yan Zhen examined the Lizhu Pearl, hesitating slightly.
“What’s this? Not enough? The Evil Spirit Dragon Breath Flame is exceedingly rare, true, but This Venerable only wants a single wisp. Trading it for the Lizhu Pearl is no loss for you at all. What more do you want?”
“Ahem, it’s like this, Senior Jiao Venerable. Could you perhaps give this junior one more dragon scale? I have a use for it.”
“Just one? That’s no trouble.” The Jiao Venerable plucked a dragon scale from his own body and sent it drifting into Yan Zhen’s hand. “Is that sufficient now?”
“My thanks, Senior Jiao Venerable. Here’s the wisp of flame you need.”
Yan Zhen stowed the dragon scale and Lizhu Pearl away. From his Fire Seed, he separated a strand of flame and offered it up politely with both hands.
The Jiao Venerable snapped it up in his mouth, then withdrew back into the vortex.
“This Venerable owes you a favor. If you have need, come to the Dragon Gate River. This Venerable will protect you once.”
Yan Zhen clasped his fists once more in salute. Then the spatial seal dissolved, the vortex vanished, and even the waves calmed to stillness.
“Yan Zhen! Are you alright?” Huangfu Wenqing steered her boat over, scanning him from head to toe. “Did that flood dragon do anything to you?”
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Yan Zhen flashed a carefree smile. “I just made a trade with Senior Jiao Venerable, that’s all.”
“A trade?”
“Never mind that—where’d everyone else go?”
“They’re up ahead. When the space sealed off, they all slipped away.”
“Damn… We’d better hurry too. Time’s almost up.”
The two quickly rowed their boat onward, pushing at full speed to catch the main group.
They’d been first and second; now they were dead last.
Qi Yu Xuan, Chu Nan, and the others were giving it everything they had, nearly reaching the finish line—the dock on the opposite shore.
At this distance, the two of them had no chance of catching up.
The key was that the one-cup-of-tea time limit was about to expire.
“Ten seconds left!” Despite his lingering trepidation, the supervising instructor doggedly fulfilled his duty and began counting down. “Ten, nine, eight…”
“Less than ten seconds now. We won’t make it, Yan Zhen—we’ll be eliminated! We have to fly across!”
“You’re right. Huh? You… you can fly?”
“I cultivate Wind Mystic Power. This distance is no issue. What about you?”
“Uh, no problem for me either.”
The two shared a tacit smile, then kicked off in unison. The ferry beneath their feet shattered with a boom, transforming into starlight and a whirlwind that shot into the sky like lightning, racing forward.
In an instant, they overtook the group ahead and landed with a crash on the dock.
The starlight hit the ground first, followed by the whirlwind.
As they touched down, a chaotic gust swept across the dock.
Then the starlight faded, and the whirlwind dispersed, revealing the figures of a handsome youth and a beautiful young woman standing side by side. They looked like a picture-perfect couple, perfectly matched.
The spectating Inner Academy students were dumbfounded. What kind of movement technique was that? It let Mystic Master Realm cultivators fly over a hundred feet?
Even experts like Yu Die, Ling Fei, and Wen Canglan from the top of the General Star List were taken aback.
Normally, Mystic Masters could only glide by borrowing force. Only those at the Mystic General Realm or higher could truly fly on mystic power.
To fly at the Mystic Master Realm meant mastering a Flying Body Technique—one that demanded exceptional talent and mystic power. Not just anyone could pull it off.
The supervising instructor paused for a beat before announcing,
“Time’s up. The Special Exam is over. Those who crossed the line pass; those who didn’t are eliminated…”
Qi Yu Xuan, Chu Nan, and the others, who had just reached the finish, felt their hearts sink.
They were eliminated too?
That would mean only Yan Zhen and Huangfu Wenqing passed?
No one could accept that. If the Jiao Venerable hadn’t awakened and delayed them, they would’ve arrived long ago.
“Wait.” Elder Yu Yan spoke up. “An unexpected incident occurred during this Special Exam. Therefore, all candidates who hadn’t been eliminated before the Jiao Venerable appeared will be deemed to have passed.”
