After the Second Palace Master left, Xiao Chen remained on the Heavenly Dragon statue’s head by himself.
The moon looked hazy, reflecting Xiao Chen’s current emotions. What he just experienced was too great a shock.
The strength of a Heavenly Dragon went without a doubt.
However, even a strong Heavenly Dragon lost to the current Dragon Emperor, suffering inhumane torture.
Xiao Chen knew that anyone from the Dragon Race had the right to compete for the position of Dragon Emperor.
For any generation of Dragon Emperor, the Dragon Emperor could remain in power for only five hundred years.
This was similar to how a dynasty’s emperor had no chance of being allowed to continue holding power. Otherwise, with the Dragon Emperor’s cultivation, there would be no need to change emperors for at least ten thousand years.
For the empires, a long-reigning emperor would not be a good thing.
If one bloodline suppressed the other bloodlines, not even giving them hope, conflicts would accumulate over time and inevitably erupt.
Furthermore, it would not be beneficial, either. Without competition, the Golden Dragon bloodline would eventually go into decline, no matter how much resources it had.
However, while it was said that all Dragon Race cultivators were qualified, the Dragon Emperor position had never ended up in the hands of a Dragon Race cultivator from the Heavenly Dragon Palace.
All the Dragon Emperors came from the Six Colored Divine Dragons. The True Dragons and mixed-blood dragons of the Heavenly Dragon Palace simply could not compete with Divine Dragon cultivators, who had the advantage of resources and stronger bloodlines.
Although the Heavenly Dragon Palace had many people, they were all lower-class.
Xiao Chen closed his eyes and stopped thinking about this. It was still something far away.
After seeing the sealed Heavenly Dragon, who still exuded a soul-shocking air, Xiao Chen realized that he remained far too weak.
As for fighting for the Dragon Emperor position, Xiao Chen felt that he would have to return to the Kunlun Realm to see advice from the Dragon Horse and the other seniors if he had the chance.
Right now, Xiao Chen only focused on the Supreme Dragon Fist incantation that the Heavenly Dragon sang at the end.
Compared to the Supreme Dragon Fist that Xiao Chen previously learned, the perfected Supreme Dragon Fist was like a brand-new Fist Technique.
That person’s current mental state was markedly different from twenty-five years ago.
His understanding of supreme was simply not the same.
The ken and style of that cultivator now were much superior to what they had been twenty-five years ago.
In the past, that cultivator only cared about being unrivaled. Later, he thought about leaving a move for the generations to come, one that involved the Space-Time Dao and would eventually suppress space and time.
Clearly, Xiao Chen could not hope to comprehend all of it.
Furthermore, while that person was strong as a Heavenly Dragon, those were his comprehensions and not Xiao Chen’s.
Right now, Xiao Chen only thought about absorbing as much as he could, then altering the Supreme Dragon Fist, to make it even more suitable for himself and reduce the drawbacks.
When Xiao Chen retrieved the secret manual, he had already sensed the overwhelming resentment.
The Second Palace Master brought Xiao Chen to meet the Heavenly Dragon with this consideration in mind. He was indeed concerned about Xiao Chen and did not want Xiao Chen to lose himself in the Supreme Dragon Fist.
The horizon was now dyed red. The sun peered through the clouds, the sunlight scattering on the entire Heavenly Dragon Palace.
As Xiao Chen sat cross-legged on top of the Heavenly Dragon statue, he was the first to receive the baptism of the morning sun.
However, Xiao Chen was currently immersed in his gains from the previous night and had not opened his eyes yet.
Under the light of the morning sun, the Spiritual Energy waterfall under the head of the Heavenly Dragon statue gave off a myriad of colors.
At this moment, the air felt incredibly fresh.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
When the sun just rose, the other three heaven-class core disciples—Yi Xin, Li Luo, and Jue Yun—rushed over to this Profound Dragon Platform.
The three exchanged simple greetings before sitting cross-legged and closing their eyes to cultivate quietly at this place under the Heavenly Dragon statue where the Spiritual Energy was abundant and the clouds and mist seemed ethereal.
The early morning was the golden time of the day; everyone’s mind, spirit, and energy were all at their peak.
It was clear that these three were hardworking. They did not waste the best time of the morning.
The three had been maintaining this routine ever since becoming heaven-class core disciples; they were quite self-disciplined.
Soon, there was the sound of a few others arriving.
It was the people who obtained reserve qualifications to become heaven-class core disciples—Xiao Jinyu, Zhang Ye, Yi Qianyun, Qin Yan, and Fang Tianyi.
All the disciples of the Heavenly Dragon Palace considered the Profound Dragon Platform a holy land. To some degree, they all dreamed of being able to cultivate at this place someday.
Although it was not as convenient for the reserve heaven-class core disciples to come to the main peak, they were still allowed to cultivate here.
The five felt very curious. They all held reverence in their hearts as they sized up the place.
“What pure air! The Spiritual Energy here is unimaginably abundant.”
Yi Qianyun took in a deep breath as he stood on the peak. He could deeply feel all this as he looked at the rising sun in the east.
The others stood in front of the Spiritual Energy waterfall and tried to scoop some up with their hands.
Before the light of the rising sun, the Spiritual Energy waterfall gave off colorful light, looking very beautiful.
These people felt a coolness in their hands. They all showed smiles. Yi Qianyun discovered that the spiritual mist turned into clear spiritual water.
Then, he directly drank the water in his hand.
Yi Qianyun’s body immediately felt refreshed. His internal organs underwent a cleansing. He exclaimed excitedly, “What refreshing spiritual water! To think that Spiritual Energy could actually turn into a waterfall! This is simply inconceivable.”
When one looked down, the Spiritual Energy waterfall formed a winding stream like a dragon coiling around the main peak.
The five found it hard to conceal their joy. Even Zhang Ye, whose expression had been tense all this time, was affected by this beautiful scenery reminiscent of a paradise; he showed a warm smile.
Just at this moment, the group felt a gaze, so they turned their heads.
The gazes came from Li Luo, Yi Xin, and Jue Yun. They all opened their eyes at the same time and looked at the five calmly.
This startled the five, and they hurriedly apologized respectfully, “Senior Brother Yi Xin, Senior Brother Jue Yun, Senior Sister Li Luo, sorry for interrupting your cultivation.”
Interrupting someone’s cultivation was extremely rude. In severe cases, it might even provoke a huge battle.
However, the three heaven-class core disciples merely smiled faintly, not showing any disapproval of the five.
Li Luo, the only female among the three heaven-class core disciples, smiled and said, “It’s fine. Your emotions being affected on your first visit to the Profound Dragon Platform is unavoidable. Back then, we were the same.”
Xiao Jinyu and the others heaved a sigh of relief. When they thought back to their earlier actions, they felt extremely embarrassed.
After all, they were all Holy Venerates. Some of them came from large, rich clans. Nevertheless, they ended up behaving so childishly.
To ease the awkwardness, Xiao Jinyu asked, “Senior Sister, are the three of you the only heaven-class core disciples of the Heavenly Dragon Palace?”
Li Luo replied, “Of course not. Even if only one heaven-class core disciple is chosen in every selection, there will be more than three heaven-class core disciples in the Heavenly Dragon Palace. It is just that some of them already went to Ancestor Dragon City and some went adventuring outside.”
“Senior Brothers, Senior Sister, why do you all not go out and adventure?” Yi Qianyun asked out of curiosity. It was rather strange that the heaven-class core disciples always remained on the main peak to cultivate.
Li Luo did not answer. Instead, Jue Yun smiled bitterly. “We also want to. However, the sect has rules for that. Before meeting the requirements, we cannot take even a step out of the sect after becoming heaven-class core disciples. You are all the same now. Even if something happens outside, you are not allowed to go out without the three Palace Masters’ permission.”
The moment Jue Yun said this, the five’s expressions changed. This meant that they were effectively trapped in the Heavenly Dragon Palace.
Compared to when they were core disciples, they had even less freedom.
“What is the requirement?” Zhang Ye asked, his expression regaining its usual coldness.
Li Luo pointed at the Heavenly Dragon head above the tall cliffside and said, “It’s very simple: fly up and stand on top of the Heavenly Dragon. After doing that, you can leave.”
What a strange requirement.
The five showed puzzled expressions as they looked up. They felt confused. What was the point of such a strange requirement?
Suddenly, Xiao Jinyu’s expression changed. He said, “There is someone up there!”
Li Luo took a look and said, “It’s Xiao Chen. He arrived long ago and was probably there the whole night.”
The expressions of Xiao Jinyu, Yi Qianyun, and the others changed slightly. They immediately felt a huge disappointment.
Their joy at becoming reserve heaven-class core disciples and entering the Profound Dragon Platform diminished significantly.
Then, the five startled to their senses. It turned out that other people had already entered the Profound Dragon Platform and even reached the top of the Heavenly Dragon statue, which these three heaven-class core disciples had yet to reach.
“It is just twenty or thirty kilometers tall. Could it be that I cannot go up with my middle-stage Holy Venerate cultivation?”
Yi Qianyun snorted coldly, feeling unconvinced. Suddenly, he raised his aura to its limit and turned into a gust of strong wind, charging into the clouds.
“Be careful!”
Before Li Luo and the others could stop Yi Qianyun, he already charged up one-third of the height.
“Haha! It turns out that it is only so-so.”
Although Yi Qianyun felt some pressure, he discovered that it was tolerable. He could still go higher.
The instant Yi Qianyun raised his head, he discovered that the clouds and mist had scattered at some point, revealing the Heavenly Dragon’s head.
Now, Yi Qianyun could clearly see Xiao Chen, previously a blurry figure hidden by the clouds and mist.
However, before Yi Qianyun could think, the Heavenly Dragon statue seemed to come to life.
The Heavenly Dragon statue roared ferociously, and the Heavenly Dragon’s Dragon Might descended from above.
“Pu ci!”
Yi Qianyun vomited a mouthful of blood. He could not resist at all, getting knocked away and falling towards the bottom of the cliff.
The expressions of Li Luo and the others changed slightly. After one fell off the cliff, it would be somewhat hard to get back up.
Furthermore, Yi Qianyun was injured. If no Elder helped, he would be in some danger.