Chapter 32

In the southern sea, on the deepest phoenix tree of the Zhuque Academy, the sacred beast with crimson wings opened its eyes and gazed toward the east, where the sun was rising.

"Has it returned?"

In the western sea, on the sword hill where countless ancient swords intersected, a lonely girl knelt before the sword hill, listening to the voice of the white-gold mercury sword.

Amidst the sword shadows, the figure of the western sacred beast, the soul of the Baihu Academy and the supreme ruler of slaughter, appeared faintly.

"Take the Heavenly Sword there and find the one chosen by the Qinglong inheritance."

In the northern sea, beneath a ten-thousand-year-old deep pond, lines of contradictory and intricate text appeared on the mottled turtle shell. This was the first heavenly book of the seas and mountains, the Heluo Heavenly Book, calculating the future.

However, the usually infallible先天八卦神算 (先天八卦神算 can be translated as "innate eight trigram divine calculation") failed this time. It was as if something had interfered with the Heluo Heavenly Book's calculations, dragging the future of the seas and mountains into an unpredictable trajectory.

"Clouds rise in the east, the divine mechanism is unfathomable. Go to the east and help me find the one chosen by the Qinglong inheritance, and see why the Qinglong has awakened prematurely." A line of ancient text appeared on the Heluo Heavenly Book on the turtle shell, issuing an order to the girl performing the ritual before the turtle shell.

"As you command." The girl, who had been guarding the Xuanwu shrine for generations, stood up and walked out of the ancient temple where she was supposed to stay for her entire life.

Similar scenes appeared in all the holy places and spiritual mountains of the seas and mountains. The moment the spirit of the Qinglong appeared, all the ancient beings sensed the long-lost aura.

Impulsive, domineering, and invincible, the power of the Qinglong, the ruler of the east among the four sacred beasts, represents "the King," the strength of the leader of the four sacred beasts.

Those who inherit the Qinglong inheritance are all the kings of their era, the legends standing at the pinnacle of the seas and mountains.

The Qinglong inheritance, like the Qinglong Academy's motto, is "all laws converge into one," meaning that regardless of race or background, there is a chance to inherit the power of the Qinglong.

Among the four major inheritances of the four academies of the seas and mountains, the "Zhuque inheritance" of the southern Zhuque Academy has always been inherited only by the demon race, the "Baihu inheritance" of the Baihu Academy is only open to sword cultivators who specialize in slaughter, and the "Xuanwu inheritance" of the Xuanwu Academy is a private inheritance passed down through a certain family.

Only the "Qinglong inheritance" is open to everyone, regardless of race or background. In the past, humans, demons, and even a person from the Netherworld Path have inherited the Qinglong inheritance.

This is because the Qinglong inheritance seeks an inheritor who values not the physical body or cultivation techniques, but the "spirit," the core will and creativity of all intelligent beings.

As long as one possesses the "spirit," even a person from the Netherworld Path can have the chance to obtain the power of the Qinglong.

"Will," "belief," and "creativity"—the inheritor chosen by the Qinglong must possess these three elements, which are the necessary qualities of a "king."

From another perspective, the Qinglong has always chosen only one type of person as its host throughout history: the "king."

Every time the Qinglong inheritance appears, it signifies the birth of a king.

The Qinglong's cry symbolizes the omen of a king.

"Lord Qinglong, why..." In the Qinglong Academy, all the teachers and vice-principals were in chaos. The sudden awakening of the Qinglong's power made the entire Qinglong Academy boil.

This was supposed to happen more than a decade later. According to the calculations of the Heluo Heavenly Book of the Xuanwu Academy, which has a good relationship with the Qinglong Academy, the king who would inherit the Qinglong's power would not be qualified to come for another decade.

However, things had clearly changed dramatically. No one understood better than they did what the Qinglong's cry represented.

It was a phenomenon that only occurred when a "king" capable of awakening the Qinglong was chosen, and this "king" was a more suitable candidate than the few future kings they had been paying attention to.

Who could it be? Who was more favored by Lord Qinglong than the few future kings they had been watching, to the point that the Qinglong's cry was directly manifested?

This meant that the Qinglong inheritance had fully awakened, and within three years at the latest, the oldest Qinglong inheritance of the four academies would choose an inheritor, the new "king" of the seas and mountains.

Although it was no longer possible for the "king" chosen by the Qinglong to directly command the world as in the past, the entire eastern sea would undoubtedly, as in the past, fall under the command of this "king." This was the mission of the Qinglong Academy and the original reason for the existence of the Qinglong Immortal Sect.

The Qinglong Academy is the manager and actual ruler of the eastern sea. Unlike the other three seas, this rule has never wavered, even during the era when the sword immortal Xuanyuan Hong ruled over the seas and mountains, the Qinglong Academy was the only exception.

This was because this was where the Heavenly Sword Xuanyuan Hong studied, and even Xuanyuan Hong himself had received the favor of the Qinglong. Therefore, even when the Xuanyuan family was almost the sole ruler of the seas and mountains before their ascension to immortality, they did not interfere with the operations of the Qinglong Academy.

The "king" of the Qinglong Academy is the ruler of the east, a rule that the seas and mountains have acknowledged for millions of years.

When the Qinglong cried, the entire seas and mountains were shaken.

"A Fei, you are going to apply to the Qinglong Academy, right?" Staring at the coiling shadow of the Qinglong, the master of Mount Huang, Huang Tianwu, had a flame of "ambition" burning in his eyes.

"Yes, I want to become a true immortal sorcerer." Huang Fei looked up at the huge dragon shadow, and an unprecedented strength suddenly surged in his obese body.

Who could not be filled with anticipation and enthusiasm at the sight of such a miracle?

That was the Qinglong inheritance, the oldest, most powerful, and the only royal inheritance among the four sacred beasts of the seas and mountains.

Anyone, any race, has a chance. Each generation's choice of the Qinglong inheritance can cause earth-shattering changes in the major forces of the seas and mountains.

"Good, then you and your few older brothers should compete. Whoever, by whatever means, obtains the Qinglong inheritance will be the next master of Mount Huang." Huang Tianwu, for the first time, seriously regarded his unaccomplished youngest son and made a promise to him.

"Princess indeed has extraordinary fortune. The Qinglong's cry appeared as soon as she arrived at the Qinglong Academy. Perhaps this inheritance is opened for the princess." As the Black Fox Elder who had personally experienced the luck of the Golden-Haired Jade-Faced Nine-Tailed Fox, Qing Qiu Xuanying's eyes became even more determined after seeing the Qinglong's shadow.

He was more certain than anyone that this Qinglong's cry was related to his family's Golden-Haired Jade-Faced Nine-Tailed Fox princess.

The Golden-Haired Jade-Faced Nine-Tailed Fox was the hope of the demon fox race, a miracle that could change the fate of the world. For Qing Qiu Xuanying, this was not a legend but a true "faith."

For Qing Qiu Jiuyue, he would spare no effort to protect her and would not let the incident of the Netherworld Seed happen again.

"Qinglong, so big." Qing Qiu Jiuyue looked curiously at the huge dragon shadow dancing in the sky, completely unaware of the fanatical expression on the handsome face of her family's Black Fox Elder.

Around the Qinglong Mountains, on hundreds of floating mountains, countless people were looking at the huge dragon shadow in the sky with the same fanatical expressions.

Because it was the only public inheritance, the appearance of the Qinglong inheritance when it opened was not a secret. Almost everyone quickly knew what the huge green dragon shadow represented.

The future immortal sorcerers who came to apply to the Qinglong Academy, the aspiring immortal sorcerers in the Qinglong Academy, and people who happened to pass by from other parts of the seas and mountains all looked at the dragon shadow with excited eyes.

Then, at some point, someone began to kneel. These were the ordinary people living in the eastern sea, who believed in the Qinglong.

"Lord Qinglong!"

"It's Lord Qinglong!"

"Lord Qinglong has appeared!"

With the first, there was a second, a third... soon, countless ordinary people living in the eastern sea knelt on the ground, offering the highest and most devout prayers to the green dragon shadow in the sky.

For those living in the eastern sea, the Qinglong was their deity, a living god. The successive inheritors of the Qinglong were also regarded as "sons of the gods" and ascended to the throne of the east without effort.

People from other seas, although they did not kneel like those in the eastern sea, still pressed their hands to their chests to show respect to the leader of the four sacred beasts.

The four sacred beasts guarding the four directions of the seas and mountains are revered ancient lives by all the people of the seas and mountains.

Among the four sacred beasts, the Qinglong, Baihu, and Xuanwu have all fallen in battles from ancient times to the present. Only the Zhuque, which can be reborn from the ashes, still exists, but each time it is reborn from the egg, it is a new one, not the original.

It can be said that because of the protection of the four sacred beasts, the creatures of the seas and mountains have overcome one fatal crisis after another and ultimately ushered in the prosperous era of immortal techniques.

Even now, when the bloodline power is gradually weakening, the inheritance of the four sacred beasts still represents the supreme divine power, and among them, the Qinglong inheritance is the only recognized royal inheritance.

Mei Xue also pressed her hand to her chest and expressed her respect to the ancient Qinglong shadow.

Looking at the huge shadow that almost covered the sky, Mei Xue seemed to see the past, present, and future of the Qinglong Mountains. This was the resting place of the Qinglong, the leader of the four sacred beasts, and the oldest holy land of the four seas.

And this was the place she needed to conquer.

She looked at the ancient and weathered dragon shadow and, whether it was an illusion or not, she felt that the huge dragon shadow was also looking at her—or at something beside her.

Then, the Qinglong shadow let out a long roar that shook the seas and mountains, spiraling down from the sky to the Qinglong Mountains.

From its body, countless green light points scattered, turning into light orbs and flying in all directions. Many of them landed on the surrounding young men and women, and even more flew to other parts of the seas and mountains.

The oldest life in the seas and mountains declared the opening of the path to kingship in this way.