After a moment, Duan Ling Tian shifted his gaze to the middle-aged man standing next to Dongfang Yan Nian. With just a glance at the identity token at his waist, he discovered that the middle-aged man was also a White Dragon Elder like Dongfan Yan Nian.
As for the old man who stood in front of the two White Dragon Elder, his identity token was carved with a life-like dragon and was inlaid with something that looked like black hade.
‘Black Dragon Elder!’ Duan Ling Tian’s eyes widened imperceptibly when he saw the old man’s jade token. With this, it was easy to guess that the moderator for the Latent Dragon Grand Contest was the Black Dragon Elder called Lan Yu Shan.
Previously, when Duan Ling Tian chatted with Xue Hai Chuan and Dongfang Yan Nian, he had heard about Lan Yu Shang in passing. At that time, he learned that Dongfang Yan Nian was in charge of the inner disciples’ entrance examination while another White Dragon Elder was in charge of the outer disciples’ entrance examination. Their superior, the one in charge of everything to do with the qualifying test and entrance examinations, was Lan Yu Shan.
As soon as the trio appeared, they stirred up a commotion and became the focus of everyone’s attention. Many of the new inner and outer disciples recognized the trio at once.
“That’s Elder Dongfang!”
“That’s Elder Hou Ji Fang who was in charge of the outer disciples’ entrance examinations.”
Hou Ji Fang was the other White Dragon Elder standing next to Dongfang Yan Nian at this moment.
Soon, someone with keen eyesight saw the identity token at Lan Yu Shan’s waist. “He’s, he’s a Black Dragon Elder?!”
The old man standing in the lead had a medium build and an ordinary appearance. His thick long hair was draped across his back. His expression was calm; it was neither happy nor sad.
At this time, an inner disciple who came to watch the show turned around and said to the new inner and outer disciples, “Considering you’re new to this place, let me introduce you to that person. He’s Elder Lan Yu Shan, one of the Black Dragon Elders of the Flying Dragon Sect. He’s an advanced Lord of Gods.”
Only new inner and outer disciples could participate in the Latent Dragon Grand Contest, but older inner disciples could come to watch the show at the Flaming Dragon Arena. Unfortunately, older outer disciples were prohibited from coming to the Flaming Dragon Arena.
The Flaming Dragon Arena was in the depths of Fire Dragon Mountain.
Outer disciples were only allowed outside most of these places unless they had just joined the Flying Dragon Sect. If they violated this rule, they would be severely punished.
For this reason, most of the people present were new inner and outer disciples of the Flying Dragon Sect. No outer disciples could watch, and very few inner elders came to watch.
As for the elders, there were even fewer of them present.
All in all, there were only a few hundred people present. Compared to the thousands of hopefuls who came to participate in the Latent Dragon Grand Contest, the number of spectators was rather pitiful.
Many people were shocked when they learned that Lan Yu Shan was a Black Dragon Elder. For most of them, it was their first time seeing an advanced Lord of Gods. Hence, it was not surprising that they were all staring at him unblinkingly.
“The Flying Dragon Sect is indeed amazing. I’ve just joined the sect, but I already met an advanced Lord of Gods!”
“So this is what an advanced Lord of Gods is like!”
“This old man is an advanced Lord of Gods? So he’s among the strongest among all Lords of Gods!”
“In the Flying Dragon Sect, the White Dragon Elders have higher status than inner elders. However, the status of Black Dragon Elders is even higher than that of a White Dragon Elder.
“Those who can become advanced Lords of Gods have survived many once-in-1,000-years Heavenly Tribulations. This shows how powerful they are.”
“I wonder if I’d be able to become an advanced Lord of Gods in the future like Elder Lan after joining the Flying Dragon Sect…”
Lan Yu Shan’s arrival brought about a momentary silence before a commotion erupted.
Not only were the disciples of the Flying Dragon Sect in awe, but even the elders from various forces were in awe.
At this moment, a man standing near the trio from the Flying Dragon Sect bowed slightly and said, “Greetings, Elder Lan. I’m Hua Chun Ming, the Sect Leader of the Eastern Oriental Sect.”
Although Hua Chun Ming was the sect leader of a rather powerful lord-rank force, he still showed respect to Lan Yu Shan, who was a Black Dragon Elder. After all, not only did Lan Yu Shan have higher status, but Lan Yu Shan was much stronger than him as well.
With Hua Chun Ming taking the lead, the elders from various forces began to greet Lan Yu Shan one after another.
After a while, Lan Yun Shan raised his hand, gesturing for everyone to keep quiet. Then, he said in a casual tone, “Let’s skip the small talk. I’m sure most of you are already aware of the Latent Dragon Grand Contest’s rules so I won’t repeat them. I’ll activate a Formation and form ten battle rings. Those whose names appear will go into the battle rings. You only have one minute to enter the battle ring. Otherwise, you’d be automatically disqualified.”
When everyone had just joined the Flying Dragon Sect three days ago, they had already been told about the Latent Dragon Grand Contest’s rules.
The first round of the Latent Dragon Grand Contest was to select the 100 strongest outer disciples who would join the inner disciples during the second round. If any of the outer disciples managed to rank in the top 200, they would be promoted to an inner disciple. Conversely, inner disciples who ranked at the bottom would be demoted to an outer disciple. Naturally, if the inner disciple was unwilling to become an outer disciple, he or she could choose to leave the Flying Dragon Sect.
“Three days ago, more than 300 people passed the inner disciples’ entrance examinations, and more than 800 people passed the outer disciples’ entrance examinations,” Hou Qing Ning, who was standing next to Duan Ling Tian, said in a hushed voice, “This means only 100 out of 800 outer disciples will qualify for the next round. It seems like the first round won’t end so soon.”
At the same time, Lan Yu Shan waved his hand, activating the Formation. Subsequently, ten square battle rings appeared in the air above the Flaming Dragon Arena. With that, he said in a clear voice without beating around the bush, “The Latent Dragon Grand Contest begins now!”
To Duan Ling Tian and the others, the Latent Dragon Grand Contest was a serious event. However, to a Black Dragon Elder of the Flying Dragon Sect, it was just child’s play.
The battle rings were located quite far from each other, and each of them was suffused with light of different colors, making it easier to tell them apart.
At this time, two names appeared in each of the ten battle rings.
At the same time, ten figures flew out and moved to stand at each of the battle rings. Based on their identity tokens, they were inner elders of the Flying Dragon Sect.
Kuang Tian Zheng, who had once visited Duan Ling Tian in the Linghu clan to kill him, was among the ten inner elders. Due to his connection with Vice Sect Leader Xue of the Flying Dragon Sect, he was naturally unlike the ordinary inner elders of the Flying Dragon Sect.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
At this moment, twenty outer disciples flew toward the battle rings that were flashing with their names. The identity token they carried had a special mark as well, indicating their eligibility to participate in the Latent Dragon Grand Contest.
At this moment, Duan Ling Tian turned to look at Hou Qing Ning and saw a trace of unease on Hou Qing Ning’s calm face. He asked through Voice Transmission, “What’s wrong? Are you worried you’d rank at the bottom and would be demoted to an outer disciple?”
As stated, inner disciples ranked below the 100th place would be demoted to outer disciples.
Upon hearing Duan Ling Tian’s words, Hou Qing Ning smiled awkwardly as he replied, “I’m slightly worried…”
Duan Ling Tian moved to stand closer to Hou Qing Ning before he passed Hou Qing Ning a ring that he held in his left hand. “Take this.”
“What’s this?” Hou Qing Ning was surprised and confused.
“It’s nothing. It’s just a prominent divine artifact,” Duan Ling Tian said in a relaxed manner.
“A prominent divine artifact?” Hou Qing Ning’s expression changed as soon as he heard Duan Ling Tian’s words. In just an instant, he felt that the spatial ring in his hand was as heavy as a dumbbell.
“Duan Ling Tian, this is too precious. I…”
Duan Ling Tian felt rather speechless by Hou Qing Ning’s line of thoughts. He hurriedly interjected, “I’m only lending it to you! You didn’t think I’d give it to you, right?”
Hou Qing Ning’s face flushed red from embarrassment immediately. When he finally calmed down, he said jokingly, “Although I’m a little disappointed, I still want to thank you.”
At this time, Hou Qing Ning did not reject Duan Ling Tian’s help anymore even if he thought Duan Ling Tian only had one prominent divine artifact. After all, the Latent Dragon Grand Contest was rather fair. The inner elders would not pit powerful participants so early. Moreover, with Duan Ling Tian’s strength, he did not even need a prominent divine artifact to win. If Duan Ling Tian needed a prominent divine artifact to defeat his opponent, chances were he would be eliminated by the opponent even if he had a prominent divine artifact.
“You’re disappointed? You’re really shameless!” Duan Ling Tian said teasingly.
Following that, Duan Ling Tian looked at Murong Yin Yue and spoke to her through Voice Transmission.