90: Chapter 90 Crossing the Dragon Gate

"It's here!"

"It's the emissary from the Dragon Abyss Palace!"

"The assessment is about to begin!"

Low gasps finally erupted uncontrollably within the crowd.

Everyone's gaze—whether they were a Loose Cultivator, a scion of a noble family, or one of those mysterious lone wanderers—was locked onto the massive vortex of clouds in the sky and the corresponding patch of sea beneath it.

The next moment—

"Aooo—!!!"

A dragon roar that could pierce metal and crack stone, imbued with ancient majesty and boundless water vapor, suddenly erupted from the depths of the sea beneath the center of the vortex.

The sound wave was like a physical force, causing the sea surface within a radius of several miles to suddenly sink, forming a massive bowl-shaped depression.

Immediately after, the seawater exploded outward.

A colossal beast broke through the ten thousand acres of blue waves and appeared!

It was an Azure Water Flood Dragon over ten zhang in length!

Its entire body was covered in dense, diamond-shaped scales the size of a bowl, shimmering with a cyan metallic luster.

Its head looked like a dragon's but was not, and a straight, spear-like horn grew from its forehead, with threads of electricity coiling around its tip.

Its four sharp claws were like an eagle's, with webbing between the toes and a chilling glint on the tips.

Most striking were the cyan manes on its neck and spine, flowing like banners in the sea breeze, adding to its spirit and ferocity.

Azure Water Flood Dragon!

A powerful Essence Spirit with a thin Bloodline of a True Dragon flowing in its body. Upon reaching adulthood, its strength is comparable to a human at the Dragon Elephant Realm, and it is naturally close to the True Intent of the Water element; its combat power in the sea is doubled!

At this moment, this magnificent Azure Water Flood Dragon, after breaking through the water, hovered above the sea surface.

Its neck and body were wrapped in several dark iron chains as thick as an adult's arm, flashing with pale golden runes.

The other end of the chains extended to the sea behind it—where a magnificent, elegant white jade tower ship, built entirely from a strange, jade-white stone, was slowly emerging from the water!

The ship was about thirty zhang long and three stories high, with flying eaves and arched beams, carved rafters and painted pillars; it was so exquisite and gorgeous that it did not seem like an object of the mortal world.

The surface of the ship flowed with a warm jade luster, and profound Formation patterns appeared and disappeared faintly.

The bow was carved with a pattern of fairy mountains shrouded in clouds, while the stern featured a relief of a bright moon shining over a great river.

The entire ship did not seem like a tool for sailing the sea, but rather a combination of a massive, exquisite artwork and a Magic Treasure, containing supreme Dao rhymes!

An Azure Water Flood Dragon pulling a jade ship!

What a shocking sight!

The moment the Azure Water Flood Dragon appeared, its pressure as a top-tier Essence Spirit descended upon this sea area like an invisible mountain!

The originally calm sea became even smoother, like a mirror; even the slightest ripples disappeared, as if completely suppressed by an invisible force.

The hundreds of examinees gathered here, regardless of their cultivation level, felt their Qi and blood stagnate at this moment.

It was as if an invisible hand had gripped their hearts, making it difficult to breathe.

Those with cultivation below the Iron Bone Realm were even paler, their legs weak, almost collapsing to the ground!

Martial Artists at the Viscera Burning Realm also had grave expressions, forced to operate their Cultivation Technique at full strength just to barely resist this terrifying pressure originating from the level of life itself.

After the initial shock, everyone's gaze gathered on the bow of the white jade tower ship, filled with indescribable awe.

Standing there with hands behind his back was a figure.

A man who looked to be about forty years old, dressed as a Middle-aged Scholar.

He wore a simple white robe with silver trim; the style was simple, but he possessed an otherworldly aura.

His face was ordinary—not handsome, nor ugly—the kind that would be hard to recognize if thrown into a crowd.

But when he slowly raised his eyes and swept his gaze calmly over the hundreds of examinees waiting expectantly in the sea below—everyone, including the arrogant Zhao Yuanjing, the experienced Wu Huo, and the mysterious Blue-clothed Woman... everyone's heart felt as if it had been gripped by a cold, invisible hand in that instant!

It was as if by standing there, he had merged with the surrounding sky, sea, clouds, and even this space itself.

He was the sky, he was the sea, he was the Dominator of this world.

And they, these so-called Geniuses of the Viscera Burning Realm, noble scions, and Jianghu heroes, were nothing more than dust clinging to this world, breathing only by his "permission."

A sense of insignificance, powerlessness, and irresistible awe, originating from the depths of the Soul, soaked into everyone's marrow like ice water.

The last trace of color faded from Zhao Yuanjing's face.

The ivory bone folding fan he had been waving to show off his poise froze in mid-air, unable to move a fraction.

All his arrogance, scheming, and comparisons seemed so ridiculous and insignificant under the scrutiny of that gaze.

His guards at the Viscera Burning Realm were sweating profusely on their foreheads, involuntarily lowering their heads, not daring to make any contact with that gaze.

On a reef in the distance, Wu Huo buried his head deeply, his body trembling slightly, a stormy sea raging in his heart.

"Dragon Fetus Realm... it must be the Dragon Fetus Realm! Or maybe... even stronger!"

He had been hunted by a master of the Dragon Elephant Realm and remembered that level of pressure vividly.

But compared to this Middle-aged Scholar, the Dragon Elephant Realm expert who had hunted him was like a firefly compared to the bright moon!

The Blue-clothed Woman pressed her hand on her trembling sword, her eyes beneath her veil filled with the same shock and gravity.

The burly man carrying short halberds had blue veins bulging on his forehead, seemingly resisting that suffocating "momentum."

The young man dressed as a scholar closed the book in his hand, his expression more solemn than ever before.

The cold aura around the black-robed figure also retracted to the extreme, as if fearing to attract even the slightest attention from the person at the bow.

The entire Seven Star Reef sea area fell into a heart-stopping silence.

Only the faint sound of the sea breeze brushing against the cyan scales of the Azure Water Flood Dragon, and the barely audible gurgling of water as the white jade tower ship broke through the smooth sea surface.

In the face of that overwhelming, law-like majesty, all ambition, calculation, pride, and even the restlessness of life itself lost its color.

All living beings lost their color.

At the bow, the Middle-aged Scholar's gaze finally retracted slowly.

He did not speak.

He simply lifted his right hand gently, index and middle fingers together, and pointed into the void at the mirror-smooth sea below.

A point of clear, misty light bloomed from his fingertips and fell into the seawater.

The next moment—

"Splash—!"

Centered where the light fell, the sea within a radius of a thousand zhang suddenly boiled!

The seawater rose, and countless pillars of pale blue light ascended from the seabed...

Within a mere three breaths, a three-dimensional portal formed entirely of seawater and blue light suddenly appeared on the sea surface!

The portal was thirty zhang high and twenty zhang wide, with countless profound runes flowing on the door frame, and a continuously rotating azure vortex inside, deep and unfathomable, leading to who knows where.

Directly above the portal, two ancient seal script characters, condensed from pure water-spirit light, shone brightly— dragon gate!

The Middle-aged Scholar finished all this as if he were just brushing off a speck of dust.

He withdrew his hand, placed it behind his back again, and looked calmly at the hundreds of examinees who were too shocked by the sight to speak.

This time, his voice finally rang out.

It was not loud, but it clearly entered everyone's ears, as if echoing directly in the depths of their Soul:

"Token Holder, pass through this gate."

"Those who enter without a token, Divine Soul will be extinguished."