Chapter 455 - 237: To the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect! A Stir in Cangzhou Prefecture! The Inner Sect Competition Begins

「The next morning. Xuanwu Plaza, Capital City.」

The groups from the major sects were gathered here, waiting to depart.

Although the Celestial Strategy Guard selection was held in the Capital City, the Three Top Sects were not located within its walls.

The Prajna Zen Sect, for instance, was situated atop Golden Lotus Mountain in Fanzhou, in the southwest of Great Chu. Bathed in the light of the Buddha, it was a renowned Buddhist pure land.

The Haotian Sword Sect was located in the east, atop the treacherous Jueyun Mountain in Yunzhou. It was said that Sword Qi perpetually pierced the heavens there, and the snow never melted.

As for the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect, which Jiang Che was about to join, it was hidden deep within the Celestial Secret Mountain Range in the southern state of Lingzhou. Shrouded in clouds, its location a mystery, it was the most enigmatic and ethereal of them all.

At that moment, the members of the Cangyun Sect were gathered around Jiang Che.

"Che’er, the journey to Lingzhou is long. Be careful."

Xu Qingshan gazed at his most prized disciple, his eyes filled with reluctance to part, yet also with deep expectation. "It won’t be like our Sect over there. Geniuses are as common as clouds. Remember to keep a low profile, but... don’t let anyone bully you!"

"If you’re ever wronged, or if you get homesick, just write back to us. As long as this old master of yours is still around, the Cangyun Sect will always be your home!"

Jiang Che’s heart ached as he looked at the growing number of white hairs on his master’s head. He knelt solemnly and performed three heavy, respectful kowtows.

"I will take your teachings to heart, Master! You... take care of yourself!"

Afterward, Wang Zhenhai, Shi Poyue, and his other sect brothers also came forward to say their goodbyes.

Since they had not been selected and would not be participating in the Outer Sect selection, they would soon be returning to Cangzhou Prefecture with the two directors.

Meanwhile, Gu Qingxuan was also saying farewell to her master, Yue Lingfeng.

"Time to go." Seeing that it was getting late, Jiang Che turned and strode toward the assembly point for the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect.

The new disciples who had passed the selection were already assembled there.

Standing at the very front was none other than Qin Wuya, clad in gold with a proud and aloof expression.

When he saw Jiang Che approach, Qin Wuya’s gaze flickered. He said nothing, merely shifting slightly to the side to make a spot for him.

Jiang Che didn’t stand on ceremony, walking straight over to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

Though they had once been rivals, they both hailed from Cangzhou and were now joining the Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect together. In this unfamiliar, top-tier sect, they were natural allies.

"Is everyone here?"

Daoist Wu Wei’s gaze swept over the thirty-three young, inexperienced faces before him, and he nodded in satisfaction.

"Since all are present, then... let’s be off."

"Elder, are we just going to walk? Or will there be carriages?" a disciple from a minor clan couldn’t help but ask.

Lingzhou was thousands upon thousands of miles away from the Capital City.

Even though they were all masters of the True Master Realm, traveling on foot alone would still take a great deal of time.

"Carriages?"

Daoist Wu Wei chuckled at the question but offered no explanation. Instead, he took out a strange, pitch-black whistle from his robes, forged from some unknown metal.

As everyone watched in confusion, he brought the whistle to his lips and blew a sharp, sudden blast.

SHREEEEE!!!

This was no ordinary whistle. Imbued with immense True Qi, it transformed into a visible ripple of sound that instantly pierced the clouds!

The next moment.

The weather turned in an instant!

A fierce wind suddenly tore across the once-clear sky!

"What is this..."

Just as everyone stared in shocked confusion,

ROOOOAR!!!

A dragon’s cry suddenly thundered from the horizon!

The sound was powerful enough to pierce metal and shatter stone, causing the disciples’ Qi and Blood to churn violently!

Everyone instinctively looked up.

There, at the edge of the distant horizon, a mass of cyan mist was rapidly approaching at an unbelievable speed!

A colossal dark shape flickered in and out of sight within the roiling mist.

In the blink of an eye, the shadow was already upon them, hovering overhead!

WHOOM!!!

An overwhelmingly terrifying and suffocating ferocious pressure crashed down like a mountain!

It was...

A Flood Dragon, over a hundred meters long, covered entirely in cyan scales, with a single horn on its head and four claws beneath its belly!

It coiled in midair, its massive body blotting out the sun as its shadow completely enveloped everyone below!

Its pair of enormous, lantern-like golden pupils gazed down upon the disciples below, cold and majestic.

This was...

A terrifying Exotic Beast at the peak of the Seventh Layer of the True Master Realm!

"A F-Flood Dragon?!"

"My god! To think such a divine creature truly exists in this world!"

The disciples below stared up at the massive Flood Dragon, each one of them utterly aghast.

A flicker of deep shock also crossed Jiang Che’s eyes.

He had seen the dozens-of-meters-long Nine Nether Poison Flood Dragon in the Abyss of Ten Thousand Poisons, so the existence of a Flood Dragon was not new to him. As a result, he didn’t lose his composure like the others.

But the terrifying might of this hundred-meter-long behemoth circling in the sky was still beyond anything he had ever imagined.

’So this is the true power of a top-tier sect...’

’A single mount, summoned so casually, has the power to sweep across the entire Cangzhou Prefecture!’

’It seems I made the right choice!’

Just as everyone was awed into silence by the Flood Dragon’s ferocious might, the beast, at a signal from Daoist Wu Wei, slowly lowered its body. It hovered several dozen feet off the ground, its broad back like a flat, cyan plaza.

"This is my Riding Beast. His name is Cyan Netherworld."

Daoist Wu Wei put away his whistle. Seeing the awed looks on everyone’s faces, he smugly stroked his beard and chuckled.

"Climb aboard! With it to carry us, we’ll reach Celestial Secret Mountain in no time!"

As if waking from a dream, the disciples suppressed the mix of excitement and fear in their hearts, executed their body techniques, and leaped one after another onto the Flood Dragon’s broad back.

The Flood Dragon’s back was extremely wide. Even with over thirty people seated on it, it still felt spacious enough to run around on.