Chapter 369: Eastern Domain Sacred Land, Red Blazing Crow King
"The Eastern Domain Sacred Land is a place where crouching tigers and hidden dragons dwell, where heroes emerge in succession, and sacred gates stand in abundance. There, if you do not become a saint, you are ultimately nothing but an ant."
Lei Jing sighed again, saying, "So, when you go to the Eastern Domain Sacred Land this time, you must keep a low profile. Because entering the Holy Academy will be far more difficult than you imagine. Of course, you all have great fortune, having obtained a drop of dragon blood from Senior Golden Dragon. With this alone, you have a significant chance of entering the Holy Academy."
Lei Jing's words were quite clear.
What he meant was: if you hadn't obtained that drop of dragon blood from the Golden Dragon, you think you could enter the Holy Academy?
Dream on!
Recently, Duanmu Xingling, Si Xingkong, and Chang Qiqi had all been refining the dragon blood, each making tremendous progress. Just sitting there, a faint dragon aura emanated from their bodies, dragon patterns grew on their bones, and even their spiritual temperament underwent earth-shaking changes.
Though they couldn't yet be called "dragons among men," they could already be considered "rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns."
Those unaware might think they were outstanding heirs trained by some sacred clan.
Zhang Ruochen's progress was, of course, even greater. However, his spiritual power was strong enough to perfectly conceal his own aura, giving him a plain, unadorned feeling of returning to simplicity.
Even Lei Jing couldn't discern his true strength.
The Eastern Domain was indeed vast, seemingly boundless. Even at the speed of the Dragon Eagle, after flying for half a month, they had only just reached the edge of the Eastern Domain Sacred Land.
They were still quite far from their destination, the Eastern Domain Sacred City.
The so-called "Eastern Domain Sacred Land" occupied seventy percent of the Eastern Domain's territory. It was the most prosperous region, filled with spiritual mountains and numerous sects. Humanity had lived and multiplied on this land for countless millennia, leaving behind many sacred relics.
The group continued refining the dragon blood, all wanting to enhance their strength as much as possible before the Holy Academy examination.
Zhang Ruochen was practicing the five Yang-attributed sword waves from the "Ten Meridian Sword Waves." With his current spiritual power, learning martial techniques was naturally quite fast.
After the past half month of training, he had already mastered the Sun Meridian Sword Wave, Grand Void Meridian Sword Wave, Middle Surge Meridian Sword Wave, and Heavenly Pool Meridian Sword Wave to the Great Perfection stage.
Now, only the Lesser Marsh Meridian Sword Wave remained at the Minor Perfection stage.
Although the Ten Meridian Sword Waves were only a Spirit-grade top-tier martial technique, mastering all ten meridians to Great Perfection would connect the ten fingers, greatly increasing power and transforming it into a Ghost-grade lower-tier martial technique.
Even a Fish-Dragon realm martial artist who could master a Ghost-grade lower-tier technique would immediately become an expert within the Fish-Dragon realm.
For Earth Extreme realm and Heavenly Extreme realm martial artists to learn a Ghost-grade lower-tier technique was as difficult as reaching the heavens.
Of course, there were exceptions, like Di Yi or the Seven Evil Star Envoys. But such prodigies were extremely rare throughout the entire Eastern Domain.
The Dragon Eagle flew for about another three days, fully entering the Eastern Domain Sacred Land.
At dusk, a crimson sea of fire appeared at the horizon, its colors magnificent, evoking a breathtaking beauty.
At first, no one thought much of it, assuming it was just the sunset glow.
But as they drew closer, the fire's colors grew more vivid, and they could even see lightning and thunder within the flames.
Waves of true qi, like water surges, rolled toward the Dragon Eagle.
These true qi waves carried immense heat. Fortunately, Lei Jing released his true qi in time to block their impact.
Lei Jing's eyes widened, and he stood up abruptly, saying, "Everyone be careful. Ahead, human martial artists are battling savage beasts."
Without needing Lei Jing's warning, everyone stood up, already seeing the scene within the sea of fire.
In the center of the flames floated a silver ship, even larger than the Red Spider Giant Ship, clearly another top-tier True Martial Treasure of the flying type.
Thousands of three-legged fire crows surrounded the silver ship, continuously assaulting its defensive formation, producing booming sounds.
"Those are third-rank upper-level savage beasts, 'Red Blazing Crows.' Appearing in such numbers—thousands at once—is terrifying!" Chang Qiqi's face turned pale.
A third-rank upper-level savage beast's combat power was roughly equivalent to an Earth Extreme realm Great Perfection martial artist.
Thousands of third-rank upper-level savage beasts meant thousands of Earth Extreme realm Great Perfection martial artists. One could imagine how terrifying a beast horde that was.
No wonder the sky for hundreds of miles had been scorched red, and even the ground had become a blazing fire plain.
Red Blazing Crows possessed the bloodline of the ancient divine bird, the Golden Crow.
So, even though the Red Blazing Crow was only a third-rank savage beast, with its divine bird bloodline, it could evolve and grow through diligent cultivation, potentially becoming a fourth-rank, fifth-rank, or even sixth-rank or seventh-rank savage beast.
The descendants of divine beasts and divine birds had no upper limit to their growth, possessing infinite potential.
Of course, very few savage beasts could evolve and advance—perhaps one in ten thousand. The higher the advancement, the greater the difficulty.
"Whoosh!"
Just then, a golden light broke through the clouds.
A blazing sun appeared in the sky.
Though it was already dusk, suddenly the sun shone brightly, as if time had reversed, returning to noon.
The martial artists on the silver ship were all astonished. A young student exclaimed, "Look! There are two suns in the sky! One is about to set below the horizon, and the other is hanging right above our heads."
"How can such a strange phenomenon occur?"
On the same silver ship, an old man in a golden martial robe looked up, his face changing dramatically. "That's not a sun. It's a Red Blazing Crow King, already at the fifth-rank upper-level savage beast level."
The golden-robed old man appeared to be in his sixties, with white hair and a youthful complexion, prominent cheekbones, and a fierce demeanor.
His name was He Yunlou, and his cultivation had reached the Fish-Dragon realm.
Originally, even facing thousands of Red Blazing Crows, with He Yunlou's strength and the Silver Moon Ship's defensive formation, he could have handled it.
But the appearance of the Red Blazing Crow King made his heart sink.
He knew very well that the Silver Moon Ship's defensive formation couldn't withstand the Red Blazing Crow King. Once the formation was breached, with his strength, fighting the Red Blazing Crow King?
He estimated he could withstand at most three strikes before being crushed to death by the Crow King.
The gap was too great.
What should he do now?
He Yunlou's heart was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. He was escorting thirty-seven prodigies from the Nanyun Commandery Martial Market Academy to the Eastern Domain Sacred City for the Holy Academy examination.
When leaving Nanyun Commandery, he had assured the Academy Master that he would safely deliver these talented youths to the Holy Academy.
No one expected to encounter a large flock of Red Blazing Crows on the way, and even provoke the Red Blazing Crow King.
With his strength, even if he couldn't defeat the Crow King, he was confident he could escape safely.
But what about the thirty-seven carefully nurtured geniuses of the Martial Market Academy? Each had extraordinary backgrounds, from major families and large sects. They weren't just ordinary academy students.
If they all died here, even if He Yunlou escaped, he would face severe punishment—at best, half his cultivation would be crippled; at worst, he'd face life imprisonment.
"Why is my luck so bad?"
Sweat beaded on He Yunlou's forehead as he racked his brain for a solution.
But every plan he could think of was rendered useless by the Red Blazing Crow King's absolute power.
He had thought this was just a simple mission—escorting a few dozen geniuses to the Eastern Domain Sacred City. With the Martial Market Bank's influence, who would dare provoke them? What danger could there be?
Yet, he had to run into a Red Blazing Crow King.
Just then, the golden "sun" above the Silver Moon Ship descended from the sky, emitting a piercing cry.
If one looked closely, they would see a massive golden fire crow within the golden fireball, almost identical to the legendary divine bird, the Golden Crow.
The Red Blazing Crow King attacked.
Its golden giant claw struck the Silver Moon Ship's defensive light shield, denting it deeply.
Ripples spread across the light shield.
The collision of the two forces created a rain of golden fire, scattering in all directions.
"Boom!"
After only three breaths, the Silver Moon Ship's defensive light shield shattered, fully exposing the ship.
"Caw! Caw!"
Thousands of Red Blazing Crows immediately grew excited, swarming in to attack the Martial Market Academy students on the ship.
"Bang! Bang!"
The students on the Silver Moon Ship were all at the Heavenly Extreme realm, with profound cultivation and outstanding talent. But they couldn't withstand the sheer number of Red Blazing Crows.
Besides the Crow King and thousands of Red Blazing Crows, there were also a fair number of fourth-rank savage beast-level Red Blazing Crows, each comparable to a Heavenly Extreme realm martial artist.
The talented students fell into despair.
Some of the proud daughters of heaven, lacking combat experience, were so frightened their faces turned pale, involuntarily moving closer to the strongest young man among them.
That young man was named Zi Hansha. He appeared to be in his twenties, with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, very handsome. Even facing the Red Blazing Crows, he didn't frown, actively engaging them.
He was the number one expert of the younger generation at the Nanyun Commandery Martial Market Academy, also the senior brother, who had once broken into the top 100 of the "Earth Ranking."
Of course, he had long broken through to the Heavenly Extreme realm, and his current cultivation was even more unfathomable.
Most of the proud daughters of heaven regarded him as an idol, admiring his strength. When danger came, they naturally gravitated toward him, hoping for his protection.
Now, Elder He was entangled with the Red Blazing Crow King, unable to help. They could only pin their hopes of survival on Senior Brother Zi Hansha.
Just as the Silver Moon Ship's protective light shield was breached, Lei Jing finally saw the Martial Market Academy emblem on the ship. He said, "They're from the Martial Market Academy. Zhang Ruochen, come with me to rescue them and lend a hand."
With that, Lei Jing's robe billowed as he executed the "Flying Across the Heavenly River" movement technique, leaping ahead toward the distant sea of fire, directly attacking the Red Blazing Crow King.
Then, Zhang Ruochen executed the "Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow" movement technique, his true qi erupting to form a flying dragon phantom as he charged toward the Silver Moon Ship.