Hordes of people were making their way out of the mountains. Some felt lively, while others were drained of energy; almost all of them, however, had discussed the topic of the demon boa as they traveled.
The instructors had already made a decision. Those who claimed to have witnessed the demon boa must have been mistaken. After all, demons in cultivation may have a similar appearance as a dragon.
Ye Futian saw a familiar figure making her way down the mountain road. Although Feng Qingxue’s bright red clothing was covered with a thin layer of dust, her beautiful face remained clean and radiant. She seemed to be in a good mood, chatting with Murong Qiu, who remained at her side.
After seeing Feng Qingxue and Murong Qiu together, many people peeked unconsciously at Ye Futian. Their actions confused Ye Futian.
When Feng Qingxue noticed this, she could not help but take a look at him herself. However, when her eyes landed on him, she quickly looked away, not wanting to make eye contact. Her conversation with Murong Qiu halted.
Beside her, Murong Qiu took notice of her sudden quietness. His eyes followed the descent of road and found Ye Futian a distance ahead of them. Even his side profile oozed with pride; his smiling eyes showed his carefree nature. After a quick glance, Murong Qiu looked away.
Ye Futian paid little to no attention to his classmates. Turning to Yu Sheng, he asked, “Do you think the academy would keep it from us if it was a dragon?”
Yu Sheng stayed quiet for a little bit, then nodded slightly. “Yes.”
“Let’s go check it out before they place the entire mountain on lockdown.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Ye Futian’s legs carried him up the mountain in a sprint once again.
Bystanders stopped to take everything in. Feng Qingxue stood in shock. She stared as he made his way up, getting closer to her. Did her actions finally break him?
She continued to stare as he came closer, her lips twitched. Just as she was about to speak, he breezed right past her. So, he wasn’t coming for her.
Yu Sheng brushed past Feng Qingxue and Murong Qiu, but not without a chilling glance.
“What are they doing?” It seemed that everyone else had thought the same as Feng Qingxue, but they were all mistaken. Why were the two of them going back up into the mountains at a time like this?
“Is he crazy? He didn’t want to go before, but now that a demon boa had been sighted, and everyone had to be evacuated, he wants to go back up?”
People were unable to understand Ye Futian’s logic, but even Ye Futian did not know what he was doing. However, this was a dragon they were talking about, a creature from the legends. If it was beneficial to observe animals under the Freedom Meditation, what would happen if it was a dragon?
Yu Sheng wanted to know what dragons looked like, too.
The main road leading to the top of the mountain was blocked off, senior brothers of the Qingzhou Academy stood guard at the blockade. Only people leaving the mountains were allowed to pass through. It was good that Ye Futian and Yu Sheng were prepared for this. They took a small side road far from the main, a shortcut of sorts.
They passed by several blockades on their way up, but these obstacles only heightened their curiosity and at the same time confirmed their suspicions of a cover-up.
“We can’t keep wandering blindly, which direction should we head in?” Yu Sheng had enough of sneaking around in the mountain forest.
“We should go where there the largest amount of people is being evacuated,” Ye Futian said with determination. Yu Sheng immediately understood, they began to travel towards the most heavily regulated area.
Time passed little by little, the sun had descended and the night had come, making it easier for the two to continue unnoticed.
“There seem to be fewer and fewer people around. We must be in the center of the lockdown zone. Let’s test out our luck and wait here.” Ye Futian leaned his back against a nearby tree, resting his tired eyes. The sky got darker; the area had a strange silence. No demon activity was detected.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning brightened up the night sky, casting a light on the tightly knit forest. Presently, everyone on guard in this area looked up with a solemn look on all their faces.
Was it here?
Thunder rumbled, flashes of lightning appeared more and more frequently. Ye Futian felt excited, but also nervous at this strange sight.
“A Dragon, it’s really a dragon!” a voice rang out from somewhere in the area.
Ye Futian jumped up from the ground he was sitting on, eyes locked on the sky ahead of him. There, he saw it, a dragon dancing in the night sky. This creature, a couple thousand feet long, disappeared into thin air and reappeared in a different location. The rumblings got louder and louder. The whole area was engulfed in lightning and thunder.
“Dragon….” Yu Sheng stared at the sky. It was impossible to put into words what he was feeling.
From above came multiple figures, their aura brighter than anything else. A simple look at their silhouettes was enough to let people know that they were individuals with extreme power. They must be the best of the best.
Another figure appeared in midair. This person looked to be middle-aged, and was extremely handsome. In his presence, the men from before retreated slightly. It was obvious that this man was greatly respected.
“That is not a dragon.” The middle-aged man watched the creature in the sky with his hands resting behind his back. His first words sent shivers down everyone’s spines.
“It only looks and acts like a dragon. This creature was purposely released here,” the man continued, “to create a creature that replicates a dragon so perfectly, they must have been in contact with a real dragon. How could this be and why have they come to Mount Tianyao?”
“So that’s why it hasn’t caused any harm since its appearance. If it were a real dragon, we’d all be goners,” said one of the men in the group.
“Even though it’s not real, we still don’t know what its appearance at Qingzhou Academy means.” The middle-aged man floated in midair, looked down at the group of youths, all of them had come from a different direction. “You guys have quite some guts.”
Below him, were Ye Futian and Yu Sheng. It turned out they were not the only ones who didn’t leave the mountain, others were probably curious about this legendary creature as well.
“These rascals.” Someone in the group of men scolded the youngsters. How dare they break in during a lockdown?
Ye Futian thought of nothing but the dragon in the sky. He kept recalling the movements of the dragon.
The Freedom Meditation was in progress, lightning and thunder went off within his Life Palace, a dragon appeared as well.
Thunder Spiritual Qi rushed to gather around Ye Futian as the lightning coursed through his body, his consciousness was faltering. In his eyes, only the mystical dragon existed.
Every scene was engraved deep in his mind.
A flash of lightning abruptly struck him between his eyes. The image of the dragon bored into him.
The fearful vibrations of thunder took over Ye Futian’s entire body, causing him to growl deeply at the sheer power. He was no longer able to break free from this state, every movement of the dragon was engraved deeply in his mind.
Upon the sight of the magnificent dragon approaching him, Ye Futian shuddered slightly, but was unable to move away.
“Watch out!” Yu Sheng shouted when he felt something amiss, but it was too late. The dragon charged at Ye Futian at a crazed speed and entered his body through the spot in between his eyes. Ye Futian let out an ear-splitting scream with the thundering pain, it was as if a real dragon had entered his mind.
“Boom!” His mind shook and his consciousness scattered.
“You’ve finally…grown up.” A voice sounded in his mind, his body fell straight back. The anomalies in the area disappeared.
“What’s this?” The group of men wanted to know. Their eyes focused on Ye Futian’s fallen body. “What just happened?”
“What an unlucky guy. It looks like he was attacked by the fake dragon,” someone said.
“That was so gutsy, let’s check to see if there’s anything wrong with him,” said someone else.
“He’s fine.” The handsome, middle-aged man spoke. By Ye Futian’s side, Yu Sheng looked up to the man and heard him say, “Entrust him to me for now, I’ll bring him back and have him examined.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. However, Yu Sheng had something to say about this, “Elder, may I come along?”
“Don’t worry; nothing will happen to him. I’m just going to be at the academy,” said the middle-aged man. There was something strange about his eyes that made people willing to trust him and thus, Yu Sheng nodded. “Please take care of him, Elder.”
……
When Ye Futian finally awoke, he did not feel a single shred of pain, which he thought was strange.
His consciousness slipped into his Life Palace. Just as he thought, above the Word Tree was an area of lightning and thunder. A dragon flew around the sky, a truly majestic sight.
“I can’t believe it actually came into my Life Palace.” He was shaken up. After fainting, he could hear something, but he couldn’t recall what it was.
He had already fainted twice since officially beginning to develop. When he thought of how unlucky he was, he could only smile bitterly. If he could benefit from it somehow though, he wouldn’t mind fainting a couple more times.
As if he could feel that something was out of place, he shot up and realized that the clothes he was wearing were not his own. It was also obvious to him that he was not in his own dorm.
Standing up, Ye Futian pushed open the door, and was able to see that he was in a quiet, elegant residence. Ahead was a pavilion, and quietly seated there was a young lady. It looked like she was drawing, beside her was a middle-aged male, sipping on tea. It was such a peaceful scene.
With a light foot, Ye Futian made his way to the pavilion. His gaze fell on the young lady’s drawing. She was using a special type of paper, and she wasn’t drawing; she was continuously inscribing lines and streaks. From those inscribings seeped a bit of Spiritual Qi.
“This, it’s an amulet.” Ye Futian was shocked. This young girl in front of him knew how to inscribe scrolls?
Then wouldn’t that make her an Inscriber? That’s so awesome!
“Have you seen one before?” The middle-aged man put down his teacup and looked towards Ye Futian.
“Not in person, I’ve only seen them in books,” Ye Futain replied. “A shield is inscribed on the scroll paper with Metal Spiritual Qi. This must be a defense spell.”
“You can see it?” The middle-aged man was surprised.
“Yeah.” Ye Futian nodded. Through Freedom Meditation, his ability to perceive Spiritual Qi had improved greatly.
The man smiled and asked, “Do you want to learn?”
“Yes!” He nodded again and immediately bowed to pay his respects. “Disciple, Ye Futian, would like to pay formal respects to Master.”
He worked fast.
Ye Futian understood the importance of being an Inscriber. It was a more rare occupation than being a Sorcerer. It was also a high-status occupation. An Inscriber also had to be a gifted Sorcerer.
“You’re as shameless as they all say.” The young girl put down the pen in her hand and looked at Ye Futian.
Ye Futain didn’t care, he just smiled. Seeing her amazing looks, he said, “Hey, beautiful. So we meet again.”