Xu Xing seemed to have already known that Dragon King wished to take her as a disciple. When Ye Chen arrived at the core elder palace and informed her, she didn't show much surprise and merely gave a light nod. Instead, she asked, "Your news has been going around everywhere outside during these six months. Are you alright?"
Ye Chen smiled and said, "What can happen to me? Instead, it's you who doesn't seem to care about becoming Dragon King's disciple."
"Actually, I've talked to Dragon King."
"You've met Dragon King?"
Xu Jing shook her head, "No, it was only a sound transmission. He said that if I wish to know about my past, I must go to the Dragon God Celestial Palace. Perhaps, he is the only one who knows about my past, and he himself is currently not sure."
"Past!"
Hearing her words, Ye Chen fell into contemplation. During all these years, he had never heard Xu Jing mention the affairs of her clan, and he himself never asked her either. It seemed like her past was not simple at all. It could actually attract Dragon King's attention.
"If I were to tell you that my memory before the age of ten is a blank slate, would you believe me?" Xu King suddenly said.
Ye Chen was flabbergasted. How was this possible? Either her head was injured which caused her to lose her memories, or someone wiped her memories. Both of the possibilities were exceedingly small, and this was precisely the crux of the issue.
"I only know that when I woke up, I had an appearance of a ten year old. I don't remember anything before that, and neither do I know who my father and mother are. Later on, my foster parents discovered me and brought me back to the Xu family. As their daughter, I adopted the name Xu Jing."
"Can you remember a little now?"
Xu Jing said irresolutely, "I can remember disjointed bits. But, I can't piece them together, as they're too broken. Forget it! Since senior Dragon King said he might know some of my past, then I'll know sooner or later and piece my memories together as well."
"Right."
Ye Chen nodded. Dragon King was one of the oldest Kings of the continent. He certainly knew a lot of things. Even Battle King was far inferior to him in this regard.
On the second day, people from the Dragon God Celestial Palace arrived.
They were three people, led by a Sea of Soul realm expert. He was in his thirties and had a pair of sharp eyes. His pupils were vertical slits, seeming more like a beast's rather than a human's. Although he had restrained his aura, in Ye Chen's perception, each movement of his seemed to be setting off frightening waves that wished to drown the Sky Cloud sect.
"Frightening! Although, still not as good as Sect Leader Long… Sect Leader Long seemed to be shrouded in a fog, rendering people unable to see through her depths."
Ye Chen shifted his gaze on the two youngsters beside him.
One was a male, and the other a female. Both of them were around twenty-four or twenty-five years old. From their auras, it was evident that both were at the peak late Astral Reaching realm. Moreover, their bodies emitted a powerful grandeur. Of course, a powerful grandeur didn't imply that their strength was high. It was the same as emperors of the secular world. Their strength would not necessarily be the greatest, but the position of an emperor would allow their grandeur to soar. Those who were as strong or stronger than the emperors would unwittingly lower their heads due to the effect of this grandeur.
Generally speaking, people with powerful grandeurs had a powerful soul and will. Of course, it was also related to one's surroundings. The proverb 'To rather be a chicken's head than a phoenix tail' is rather apt here. In other words, it was a kind of feeling to be above others.
"The Fifth rank sect Dragon God Celestial Palace is extraordinary as expected. Two random youngsters they sent have auras surpassing Sikong Sheng. It doesn't pale even in comparison with Feng Yanrou. If Xu Jing becomes the Dragon King's disciple, her future success will be assured."
With a deep breath, Ye Chen stepped forward and greeted them, "I'm Sky Cloud Sect's supreme elder, Ye Chen… And you are…?"
"You are Ye Chen?" The male youngster stared right at Ye Chen.
"Right."
"Pretty good! No wonder senior sister Long is so optimistic about you."
The male youngster's intentions were not to look down on Ye Chen, but his words gave a kind of wise and all-knowing feeling. It already seemed to have become his habit. They indistinctly carried the arrogance stemmed from superiority.
"Don't mind him. He always speaks like this regardless of whoever he is talking with." The girl said.
Ye Chen smiled faintly, "No worries, I won't."
"We both are teacher's disciple, and our teacher is the venerable Dragon King of True Spirit Continent. This is my third senior brother Fang Hai. As for us two, since we haven't entered the Sea of Soul realm yet, we're only teacher's disciples without any ranking. I'm Li Ying, and he is Luo Jie."
Li Ying made the introductions.
"Senior brother Fang Hai, there isn't a problem for me using such an address, right?"
Although Ye Chen was not a disciple of Dragon King, there was no problem in addressing this Sea of Soul realm expert as senior brother. After all, Xu Jing would become the Dragon King's follower in the future. In any case, he and Xu Jing had already become contemporary disciples.
Fang Hai, who had a youthful appearance despite being in his thirties, smiled faintly, "Of course, there is no problem. Teacher once told me that the chances of you entering Life and Death realm are much higher than mine. I wasn't convinced at that time, but on seeing you now in person, I'm totally convinced. I can even hear the sword cries from your body. This is a sign of extremely strong sword will."
Fang Hai himself was a sword artist. Therefore, he could sense the sword intent concealed deep within Ye Chen.
"For teacher to not take you in is certainly within his calculations. For now, I, as the third disciple of the teacher, must tell you that South Rudra Region is merely a tiny place. True Spirit Continent is divided into four sectors; east, west, south, and north. South Rudra region is merely a tiny region within the south sector. Being the most outstanding in South Rudra region doesn't amount to anything. Outside, there are as many geniuses as there are stars in the sky. Each day, numerous stars rise and even more fall. If you wish to spread the brilliance of your star, you have a long road ahead of you. In my several years of travels with master, I've met countless geniuses, among which, some were even more frightening than me. For instance, there were several young figures that even made master exclaim in wonder. I'm sure you will meet them in the future. So, don't slack and disappoint teacher."
It was not hard to see Fang Hai's reverence for Dragon King. Since Dragon King looked favorably on Ye Chen, he took Ye Chen as someone close and earnestly advised him.
"Many thanks for senior brother Fang Hai's concern. Ye Chen will keep it in mind." Ye Chen could indistinctly feel his sword dao, a vast, ocean-like sword dao.
"Oh right! Senior brother Fang Hai, Sect Leader Long has already left for the Floating Mountain. It would be fine, right?"
Ye Chen asked suddenly.
Fang Hai smiled, "That's second senior sister, alright? It's fine. Back in the day, Cang King helped Yu King, and after Cang King's death, Yu King agreed to help Sikong family with three matters. Now, Sikong Ba must be contacting Yu King's direct disciples. Unfortunately for him, among the six disciples of Yu King, only the eldest can suppress second senior sister. Moreover, Yu King is aware of master's movements in South Rudra region. The dispatched disciple will only act as a mediator. There is no chance of a battle. Second senior sister is also aware of this."
"So, that's how it is!"
Ye Chen nodded.
Fang Hai shifted his gaze to Xu Jing behind Ye Chen and said, "This is junior sister? Aside from cultivation, there seems to something else special about you."
"I primarily cultivate strength." Xu Jing said indifferently.
"Strength, so that's how it is. Just like teacher."
Fang Hai's words were quite a surprise to Ye Chen. One of the oldest King of True Spirit Continent actually specialized in strength. The knowledge he obtained from Battle King didn't contain such a thing at all.
"Let's not delay. Junior sister, come to Dragon God Celestial Palace with us."
Fang Hai said.
Xu Jing glanced at Ye Chen, who let out a faint smile, "Go on. We'll see each other again soon enough."
"That's not certain. Under the instructions of master, our progress is not something you can imagine. If you don't double your efforts, you'll be phased out."
Luo Jie indifferently said.
"Junior brother Luo, please watch your words. We'll be on our way then, Ye Chen." Fang Hai waved his hand, enveloping Lou Jie, Li Ying, and Xu Jing within a Sea of Soul realm Zhen Yuan. Then, he flew off while cleaving the air at a speed ten times that of sound. In a blink of an eye, he disappeared into the horizon.
Once the four of them left, Cloud Dreamer said, "They're headed towards Rudra Sect. That place should have a conveyor gate built in. I should have guessed it earlier."
"Conveyor Gate!"
Ye Chen was not unfamiliar with this word. He himself had experienced conveyor gates several times. Before such a means of travel that spanned through the void, he no longer found himself exclaiming in wonder every time. However, building a conveyor was no easy feat. First of all, the constructor had to be a Life and Death King, and the material needed to extremely sturdy, which could endure the backlash of the space itself. As for the energy source, it was not ordinary either. It had to be the extremely rare supreme grade spirit stones. Supreme grade spirit stones were exceptionally precious to Life and Death Kings. It was impossible for them to squander them on Conveyor Gates.
"Dragon King is Dragon King indeed. In the face of the aptitude of those children, I'm afraid that only you, Ye Chen, would be able to stand neck-to-neck. It's said that apart from five Sea of Soul realm disciples, Dragon King had numerous Astral Reaching disciples. I wonder what kind of geniuses Dragon God Celestial Palace has."
Thunder Freer lamented.
Ye Chen asked with a smile, "Seniors, isn't Sky Cloud Sect developing quite well during these past few years?"
"Thanks to you, Sky Cloud Sect is becoming more prosperous every day. Within a few years, we'll have a huge influx of peak Clasping Yuan and Astral Reaching martial artists." As the topic shifted to the growth of Sky Cloud Sect, Cloud Dreamer and Thunder Freer's faces beamed with smiles.
"It's fine then. I'm thinking of making a trip back home, then leaving South Rudra region. Sky Cloud Sect will be in the care of you two."
"You can leave without any worries! You should be careful as well while being all alone outside."
"I know."
Floating Mountain Sect…
A light beam flew out.
"Ye Chen, I've settled the root of your problem. From now on, you are on your own." Long Biyi muttered to herself.
Shua!
The light beam flickered and soon disappeared.
Floating Mountain Palace Hall…
A young man in his thirties with a thunder like gaze said, "Alright Sikong Ba, teacher is already aware of this matter. In the future, there is no need to provoke Dragon King's people, and neither can you afford to do that. The dao of a king is to cultivate oneself. I can see that Sikong Sheng's potential is pretty good. He does have some hope of entering the Life and Death realm. It'd be best if you don't poke your fingers in other matters, lest you ruin the ten thousand years old foundation of Floating Mountain Sect. Right, this conveyor gate can still be used two more times. After that, it would crumble automatically. Don't waste teacher's repayment so casually. After two more times, teacher wouldn't look after you people."
Stepping forward, the young man stepped into the whirlpool of the conveyor gate.
Once the young man left, disappointment appeared on Sikong Ba's face before he commanded, "Notify everybody…The gratitude and grudges between Floating Mountain and Ye Chen are henceforth settled, and nobody is allowed to provoke Sky Cloud Sect, Ye family, or the Rudra Sect. The offenders will all be killed without exception!"
This conclusion was completely out of Sikong Ba's expectations. The expert behind Ye Chen was actually the second disciple of Dragon King, and also a direct descendant. Not to mention Floating Mountain was a sixth grade sect, even if it were a fifth grade sect and had a Life and Death King among their ranks, they still wouldn't have been comparable to Dragon God Celestial Palace. Dragon King was, after all, one of the strongest Life and Death Kings under the Void Emperor, and also one of the oldest.