"Not only did the Mystic Realm finish earlier than anticipated, but everything else is also a mess. We’ll have a lot of work on our hands once the news spreads." Elder Shan said with a bittersweet smile.
And she continued, "At least we got first place."
Long Yijun shook his head and said, "Do you really think people will accept the results? Even if they won’t say it to our faces, there will be plenty of people who think we don’t deserve this rank, especially when the results are so... questionable."
"That is true... Ten million points... I would also question it if I was in their shoes." Elder Shan agreed.
"What can we do at this point?" She then asked.
"We can only prove to the world that we’re worthy of this position." Long Yijun spoke with a dignified expression on his face.
"How do we do that?" Elder Shan asked.
"First, we’re going to up the requirements to join the Dragon Essence Temple. Although we held a disciple examination recently, we will hold another one while the heat is still at its peak. Furthermore, while some people will question us, there will also be plenty of people who will admire us." Long Yijun said.
The elders there nodded with solemn looks on their faces. The Dragon Essence Temple will no longer be the same starting today.
Once they were prepared, Long Yijun and the other high-ranking sect elders gathered all of the disciples in the Dragon Essence Temple in one spot.
Of course, Yuan and the other two Mystic Realm participants were exempted from this gathering.
An hour later, every available disciple in the sect, regardless if they were busy or not, gathered at the Summit Peak, one of the most spacious areas in the sect.
Over thirty thousand disciples gathered at the place with the majority of them being Outer Court disciples, and they were standing the furthest away from the stage where Long Yijun and the other elders were standing whilst the Inner Court and Core Disciples got the best seats in the front.
"Ahem!"
After clearing his throat, Long Yijun spoke in a loud and clear voice, "You must be wondering why I have returned to the sect so quickly and why I had gathered all of you here today."
"The Mystic Realm had ended earlier than anticipated— it was an unprecedented event."
"Secondly, I am here to announce the results of the Mystic Realm, and I am happy to declare that our Dragon Essence Temple has finally managed to take first place again after so many years!"
"Oooooh!"
"First place?!"
"Hell yeah!"
The thousands of disciples there immediately erupted with cheering from excitement.
"And in order to celebrate, we will be giving every single disciple extra allowances for the next ten years!" Long Yijun announced, causing the excitement to skyrocket.
After all, more allowances mean more resources, and more resources meant they get to cultivate just a little bit faster!
"In three days, I will introduce the three disciples that helped us achieve this feat, so make sure you’re ready by then."
After giving a small speech, Long Yijun handed the stage to the sect elders and disappeared from the scene to prepare for other things.
Meanwhile, inside Yuan’s living quarters, Yuan said to the others, "You guys can come out now."
A second later, Feng Yuxiang came out of his chest and Xiao Hua came out of his necklace. Finally, Lan Yingying unwrapped herself from Yuan’s wrist and transformed back into a human.
Once everyone was present, Yuan said, "Let’s introduce each other now."
"I will go first." Feng Yuxiang said, and she continued, "My name is Feng Yuxiang, I used to work as a store owner in the Golden Phoenix Bazaar, and I am now a proud servant for the Young Master. Oh, I am also a Divine Beast— a Phoenix."
"A Phoenix...?" Lan Yingying raised her eyebrows. This is her first time meeting another Divine Beast besides her grandfather and father.
Meixiu went next.
"I am called Meixiu, and I am something like a caretaker for Yuan. We’ve also known each other since childhood."
"Xiao Hua." Xiao Hua gave a brief introduction.
"Nice to meet all of you. My name is Lan Yingying, and I am a native of the Mystic Realm. Just like Miss Feng, I am a Divine Beast— a Divine Serpent, to be exact." Lan Yingying then introduced herself.
"A Divine Serpent, huh? What kind of serpent are you?" Feng Yuxiang asked her.
"I’m not exactly sure..." Lan Yingying said.
"Do you have any special abilities, then?"
"I can summon these white flames called Sacred Fire," she said.
"White flames? I have never heard of that ability before." Feng Yuxiang shook her head.
"How did you meet Brother Yuan?" Xiao Hua suddenly asked with an intensive gaze.
"I met him by chance at my previous Lord’s tablet..." Lan Yingying said.
"Allow me to explain," Yuan said, and he proceeded to explain his whole experience in the Mystic Realm to them until he reached the Mystic Pagoda.
"Unbelievable... To think you had to fight so many demons in the Mystic Realm." Feng Yuxiang mumbled in a dazed voice.
Although Meixiu told her about Yuan killing a demon, she didn’t know he had to fight so many of them.
"Where did you learn the demon sealing technique anyway, Young Master?" Feng Yuxiang then asked.
"I learned it at some technique store," he said.
"Technique store...?" Xiao Hua recalled the mysterious technique store that had a Spirit King greeting guests at the door.
"Anyways, after arriving at the Mystic Pagoda, we went to the highest floor, where we found a teleport formation that suddenly teleported us to this mythical place called Ancient Dragon City."
Yuan said as he continued with his story.
He then proceeded to recall everything that had happened in the Ancient Dragon City and how he managed to obtain a dragon’s blood essence.
"Blood Essence from the Dragon Ancestor?!" Feng Yuxiang exclaimed in a shocked manner after hearing about it, looking completely baffled.