Chapter 1848: Dragon Academy

“Haha, of course, first find a place to break into the Hua Xuan Realm, then continue to trouble the Emperor Palace!”

Upon hearing Yun Xiao’s inquiry, Situ Nan did not hesitate much, and his carefree attitude made Yun Xiao’s mood improve somewhat, so he didn’t overly persuade him.

Everyone has their own opportunities and fate. Yun Xiao meeting Situ Nan today is a matter of destiny for them. Considering his past relationship with the Situ family, it’s only natural for him to lend a hand at a crucial moment.

However, Yun Xiao had no intention of joining forces with Situ Nan. After knowing that the warrant for his arrest had been issued by Emperor Canglong, he was not prepared to maintain this image any longer.

The hatred Yun Xiao harbors towards Emperor Canglong Palace is much more intense than Situ Nan’s. The latter is merely a descendant of the Situ family and hasn’t personally experienced the massacre of his clan in the past.

But Yun Xiao is different. As the Long Xiao Battle God in his previous life, he was killed by Emperor Canglong and his wife working together, and the betrayal of his wife and brothers might have been even harder to accept than the bullet he took to his chest.

Now, reborn as Yun Xiao, he hasn’t even reached the Holy Vein Three Realms and can only rival cultivators who have just entered the Hua Xuan Realm.

If Emperor Canglong Palace decides to stop at nothing to take Yun Xiao’s life, the entire Nine-layered Dragon Cloud would be difficult to move within. Before avenging his great vendetta, Yun Xiao wouldn’t let himself fall into a perilous situation he couldn’t match.

The heavier the hatred one holds, the more cautious one’s actions are. Because of these obsessions, Yun Xiao traveled from the Western Regions to the Northern Domain, and then to the northeastern outer areas, as they say, ‘shoot one shot and change places.’

Therefore, Yun Xiao couldn’t stay in one place too long. The encounter with Situ Nan might just be an accident in his life. Maybe they will meet again someday, but it’s not something to consider right now.

“What about you, Brother Yun Xiao? Aren’t you going to continue hunting the guys from the Emperor Palace?”

While Yun Xiao was deep in thought, Situ Nan suddenly spoke up, questioning him. To him, Yun Xiao seemed like a person with a common goal, someone he might be able to fight alongside.

“I have some things to take care of, so I bid farewell!”

Situ Nan’s words brought Yun Xiao back to his senses, then he cupped his hands without saying much more and disappeared into the dark night.

“Just left like that?”

Looking at the already vanished figure, Situ Nan suddenly felt some melancholy. Although he had only known Yun Xiao for a day, this night’s continuous battles made him feel as though they had been old friends for a long time.

Nowadays, Emperor Canglong Palace is at its zenith. Finding someone with such a like-minded spirit has become exceedingly difficult for Situ Nan. Often, he didn’t dare to express even a hint of hostility towards Emperor Canglong Palace.

He seldom encountered someone who also viewed Emperor Canglong Palace as a nemesis, yet he hadn’t expected such a mysterious figure to disappear after helping him annihilate the Red Rock City Emperor Palace.

“Wasn’t I just a bystander in today’s destruction of the Red Rock City Emperor Palace?”

With his gaze drawn back from the distant dark night sky, Situ Nan glanced at the corpses strewn on the ground and suddenly felt reflective, considering he had just watched Yun Xiao’s performance throughout today’s events.

Indeed, it was the case. Situ Nan was trapped upon arrival, and under the Heaven and Earth Net, he thought he would never leave the Emperor Palace alive.

At the brink of life and death, Yun Xiao suddenly appeared, transforming the scene into what it is now. Not a single powerful elder of the Emperor Palace escaped, even the early-stage Fan Yulin of the Hua Xuan Realm met a tragic end.

Although Situ Nan did not cause these events, the destruction of the Red Rock City Emperor Palace will undoubtedly account him responsible as the Emperor Palace Hunter.

In the days that followed, the news of the Red Rock City Emperor Palace’s annihilation spread across all directions like the wind, and the death of Inspection Hall Steward Fan Yulin couldn’t be kept a secret.

It seemed as though a hidden force was intentionally guiding events. Not long after, everyone knew the story, shocking countless cultivators.

In the minds of the cultivators from cities around Red Rock City, the Emperor Palace had always been an elevated presence, and the Inspection Hall Steward from the Emperor Palace Headquarters was unreachable, banned from forming associations.

Now, however, Red Rock City’s Emperor Palace was completely uprooted, even the steward from the Emperor Palace Headquarters was not spared, causing considerable shock among people.

With the destruction of Red Rock City’s Emperor Palace, many thought of that terrifying Emperor Palace Hunter, especially since the Emperor Palace in the eastern Thick Earth City was also annihilated in a very short period.

“Could that Emperor Palace Hunter be a super expert of the Holy Vein Three Realms?”

The cultivators around Red Rock City started to speculate wildly, but they couldn’t help it because they all knew that to become a steward of the Inspection Hall headquarters, one would need to have at least reached the Hua Xuan Realm Early Stage.

Furthermore, with the Thick Earth City’s Emperor Palace wiped out, how could Red Rock City not take precautions? Even so, all of them, including Fan Yulin, were still completely annihilated. What does this imply? The answer is almost obvious.

If it was not a Holy Vein Three Realms expert who had reached the Hua Xuan level, how could Fan Yulin have been defeated? It might not have even been a Hua Xuan Realm Early Stage.

This news spread around Red Rock City, causing panic in the nearby cities, especially those with Emperor Palaces. They were worried that the Emperor Palace Hunter might attack them any day.

Even though these Emperor Palaces had Inspection Hall stewards sent by headquarters to guard them, their strength was comparable to Fan Yulin. Seeing the Red Rock City incident as a precedent, they had no confidence in withstanding an attack.

During this period, messages were sent from the Northeast of the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud Outer Domain to the Canglong Emperor Palace Headquarters like snowflakes, all requesting reinforcements from more powerful cultivators.

But after some time, it seemed as if the Emperor Palace Hunter had vanished without a trace, with no news of him from any city.

This made all the well-prepared city Emperor Palaces feel like they had punched into cotton, but they didn’t dare relax, wondering if it might be a trick by the Emperor Palace Hunter.

The entire Northeast of the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud Outer Domain was thrown into panic by the Emperor Palace Hunter’s might, and when these messages reached the Canglong Emperor Palace Headquarters, someone finally lost their composure.

……

Canglong Emperor Palace Headquarters!

Here stands a renowned palace within the Canglong Emperor Palace Headquarters, called the “Dragon Academy”. This so-called Dragon Academy is actually a place for the younger generation of the Emperor Palace to learn and cultivate their skills.

The Dragon Academy’s status within the Canglong Emperor Palace is only second to the Dragon Emperor Palace where Emperor Canglong resides and the Phoenix Palace where Lu Qinwan lives, ranking slightly higher than the Inspection Hall and Law Enforcement Hall.

Though the younger generation in this Dragon Academy are far behind the old generation experts, they are the future of the Canglong Emperor Palace, the hope for its continuation for millennia, and no one dares to neglect them.

Of course, the main reason for this is that the Palace Master of the Dragon Academy is appointed by Emperor Canglong. Even though he might only visit a few times a year, the title alone ensures that the status of the Dragon Academy will never waver.

On this day at the Dragon Academy, the systematic training had been completed, and the morning Meridian Techniques practice had just concluded. After the academy teachers left, only some of the younger generation remained.

“Hey, Brother Mo Han, have you heard the news?”

In one corner, a round-faced chubby youth with a fawning glint in his eyes was smiling as he spoke to a tall young man beside him.

“Are you talking about… the Xuanyuan Platform Meeting?”

Upon hearing this, the young man named Mo Han turned his head and immediately realized what the chubby youth meant, a gleam involuntarily flashed in his eyes.

“Yes, I wonder who our Dragon Academy will send to participate in the Xuanyuan Platform Meeting this time?”

Though the chubby one was asking, his words implied a hint, causing the gleam in Mo Han’s eyes to grow even more intense.

The so-called Xuanyuan Platform Meeting is a special gathering aimed at the younger generation across the continent of the Dragon Cloud East Domain, held every three years. Each time, batches of Nine-layered Dragon Cloud talents from various places converge on the Xuanyuan Platform in the East Domain.

The origin of the Xuanyuan Platform Meeting is unknown, but it is said that the Xuanyuan Platform was opened by an ancient great power, a supreme stone platform with relic patterns left by that power, offering a great opportunity for cultivators.

Especially after a young talent who participated in the Xuanyuan Platform Meeting accidentally acquired a trace of Dragon Energy on the platform, it caused a sensation across the continent.

Initially, the Xuanyuan Platform Meeting was not limited to the younger generation; many older experts also wanted to try their luck. However, the rules were modified by the Canglong Emperor Palace later.

For nearly a century now, the Xuanyuan Platform Meeting has only been open to participants under the age of thirty from the younger generation. At other times, it is guarded by Emperor Palace experts, and outsiders are not allowed to enter casually.

As a result, even though the Emperor Palace cultivators guarding the Xuanyuan Platform might not be very strong, with the backing of the Canglong Emperor Palace, no one would dare to provoke them lightly. It’s a hornet’s nest, and the consequences of provoking it are unbearable.

The chubby youth posed this question because, every three years during the Xuanyuan Platform period, the Canglong Emperor Palace sends a young genius to participate, with a different talent sent each time.