Chapter 153: The Divine Dragon Rises from the Sea

When the honorary elders discovered that Honghong was truly devoid of any airs and very easy to get along with, they quickly hit it off with her.

Prompted by a hint from Li Yunfei, Ji Caiyun hurried back to her quarters and fetched a basket of eggs she had freshly laid during this period, offering them as a sincere apology to Honghong.

Naturally, Honghong magnanimously forgave her! Following this incident, she logically became the big sister of this group of honorary elders.

Upstairs, Li Yunfei and Zhang Ziying watched this scene unfold, exchanging an understanding smile.

In the afternoon, the arriving high-ranking officials of the Zixiao gathered successively. Daoist Yuling, Celestial Master Zhang, Liu Suibin, He Ming, and his father He Zhidao all paid visits to Li Yunfei one after another.

These were all high-ranking Zixiao figures or their family members who shared close ties with him. The Qingcheng Sect alone held three positions as Venerable Elders, making its status within Zixiao undeniably weighty.

Daoist Yuling represented "Bing Fire" among the Ten Heavenly Stems, with the title "Venerable Rouzhao."
Celestial Master Zhang represented "Ren Water," with the title "Venerable Xuanjiyi."
Liu Suibin represented "Jia Wood," with the title "Venerable Yanfeng."
He Zhidao represented "Yi Wood," with the title "Venerable Zhanmeng."

Aside from these four, the other six were:
Daoist Sihang of Wudang, representing "Wu Earth," with the title "Venerable Zhuyong."
Master Yunxin of Shaolin, representing "Geng Metal," with the title "Venerable Shangzhang."
He Weiqi, leader of Emei, representing "Xin Metal," with the title "Venerable Chongguang."
Bai Yihai, leader of Kongtong, representing "Ji Earth," with the title "Venerable Tuwei."
Zhou Jinshen, leader of Kunlun, representing "Ding Fire," with the title "Venerable Qiangyu."
Zhenren Zheng Yuezhen of the Quanzhen Sect, representing "Gui Water," with the title "Venerable Zhaoyang."

This Venerable Zhaoyang was the only female among the Ten Heavenly Stems, hailing from the Kundao Courtyard of the Sanyuan Palace under the Quanzhen Sect. She was the foremost female martial artist in Great Xia, the leader of the female daoist practitioners, and a mid-stage Invincible Realm powerhouse.

The Quanzhen Sect and Quanzhen Dao were not the same concept. The Quanzhen Sect was founded by Patriarch Wang Chongyang, focusing primarily on the cultivation of the martial path.

Quanzhen Dao, on the other hand, was one of the two major Daoist sects of Great Xia. Those who practiced Quanzhen Dao were not necessarily members of the Quanzhen Sect, but members of the Quanzhen Sect strictly belonged to Quanzhen Dao.

Much like the distinction between Daoism as a religion and the Daoist sect as a philosophical lineage: members of the Daoist sect were not necessarily members of the Daoist religion, but members of the Daoist religion invariably belonged to the Daoist sect. It was simply the difference between an academic faction and a religious institution.

It was worth mentioning that Wang Zhiwu, the dean of the Xiangshan Island Practitioners' Academy, had also arrived. During this period, his cultivation had reached the peak of the True Intent Realm, making him the "Xu Dog Elder" among the Twelve Earthly Branches.

Besides him, there were two other newly appointed Earthly Branch Elders this time. One was Xie Liuyun, the senior brother of the Chunyang Sect, who became the "Yin Tiger Elder"—whereas Li Yusheng, the leader of the Chunyang Sect, lagged behind.

It seemed that someone suitable to be a sect leader was not necessarily the person with the highest cultivation.

The other newcomer was Master Chengxin, a Buddhist cultivator from Jinshan Temple, who became the "Hai Pig Elder."

His cultivation had attained the peak of the Dust-Clearing Realm, equivalent to the peak of the Yin Spirit realm for Daoist cultivators and the peak of the True Intent realm for martial artists.

The next step for him would be condensing a relic, entering the Relic Realm, which was equivalent to the Golden Core stage and the Invincible Realm.

Buddhism likewise made a distinction between cultivators and martial monks.

Buddhist cultivators were led by White Horse Temple in Luo County, Jinshan Temple in Kuaiji County, Hanshan Temple in Suzhou, and Lingyin Temple in Lin'an.

Martial monks, conversely, revered Northern Shaolin Temple on Mount Song, Southern Shaolin Temple in Minzhong County, Qingliang Temple on Mount Wutai, and Great Xiangguo Temple in Dang County.

Up until now, apart from his encounter with Buddhist cultivators from Hanshan Temple and Lingyin Temple at the ancient battlefield of Xia, Li Yunfei had not yet interacted with other members of the Buddhist lineage.

The martial monk factions of Great Xia Buddhism far surpassed the Buddhist cultivators in strength. After all, the heritage of the martial monks had never been broken, and they had continued to hone various supreme techniques even during the era of depleted spiritual energy.

The moment spiritual energy revived and they were able to manifest true Buddhist strength, their realms rapidly advanced.

Buddhist cultivators, however, had long confined themselves to studying Buddhist philosophy. Unlike Daoist cultivators who delved into qigong and guidance techniques, their starting pace was slower, causing them to essentially lose at the starting line.

Aside from the three newly appointed elders, Li Yunfei, and He Ming, there were two pre-existing elders among the Twelve Earthly Branches.

One was Fang Shuyu, a descendant of the Shenxiao Sect of the Maoshan School, who served as the "You Rooster Elder" and was also a woman.
The other was Daoist Lu Jingxiu of the Lingbao Sect of the Zaoge School, who served as the "Chou Ox Elder."

Thus, there were already seven Earthly Branch Elders. Currently, their titles were assigned based on age, unless they encountered cases of identical age or multiples, in which case they would be adjusted sequentially.

Fortunately, none of the current seven elders had overlapping ages, and the "Mao Rabbit Elder" position that Li Yunfei had set his sights on for Zhang Ziying remained unoccupied.

...

Zixiao Headquarters, Administrative Building, Ziwei’s Office.

Guo Qilin walked briskly into the office, holding a mobile phone that was currently engaged in a call, and said to Ziwei, "We have a call from the comrades at the Guangzhou Branch, reporting an important situation."

Having finished signing a document, Ziwei laid down his pen, took the phone, placed it to his ear, and said, "I am Ziwei, please go ahead."

A steady voice came through the earpiece: "Reporting, Comrade Ziwei, I am Huang Zhengjun, the interim head of the Guangzhou Branch. Since Department Head Cao has gone to headquarters to attend the meeting, I am currently acting in charge of the Guangzhou Branch's operations."

"Half an hour ago, a celestial phenomenon occurred in the waters of Jizhaowan in the southern part of Hepu County. The sky above the sea suddenly churned with wind and clouds, accompanied by lightning, thunder, torrential rain, and raging waves on the sea."

"Three minutes ago, a dragon's roar resonated across Hepu County as a divine dragon of a completely golden hue flew out from the sea."

Ziwei’s expression tightened. He abruptly stood up and asked in a deep voice, "What did you say? A divine dragon? Are you certain?"

Huang Zhengjun’s voice carried an irrepressible excitement: "I am extremely certain. When the phenomenon occurred, I personally led people to the scene. This is something I witnessed with my own eyes, and many commoners in Hepu County also bore witness to it."

"It is unquestionably a divine dragon of our Great Xia, and specifically a five-clawed golden dragon, by no means those giant lizards of the West."

A piercing gleam flashed in Ziwei’s eyes as he asked, "What is the current status of that divine dragon?"

Huang Zhengjun replied, "After emerging from the sea, the divine dragon circled in the sky a few times and then flew straight north at an extremely high speed. We do not have any Great Golden Core cultivators here, so we couldn't keep up with it."

"However, wherever the divine dragon passed, clouds naturally formed and rain poured continuously. For now, it can be confirmed that it is flying directly northward in a straight line."

As the saying goes, wind follows the tiger and clouds follow the dragon; where the tiger walks there must be wind, and where the dragon emerges there must be rain. Huang Zhengjun's words undoubtedly further verified the authenticity of the divine dragon.

Ziwei spoke at a rapid pace, "I understand. If it is as you say, the branches along this path will certainly have reports coming in. That will be all for now!"

"Yes."

Sure enough, not long after Ziwei hung up the phone, another call came in, followed by a continuous stream of calls, all reporting the exact same matter: a divine dragon soaring through the skies within their territories.

Starting from Guangzhou as the starting point, the dragon passed through Xiangzhou, traversed Ezhou, crossed Zhongzhou, and reached Jizhou. In less than two short hours, it was already approaching the capital.

The meeting time was imminent, but Ziwei could no longer spare the time for it. He dispatched Guo Qilin to inform the other high-ranking officials of the situation while he himself soared into the sky, heading south to meet the entity.

...

Located over two hundred meters behind the Zixiao Administrative Building was an assembly hall. The hall featured over a thousand seats arranged on an incline, designed to allow those in the back a clear view of the podium at the front.

Desks were placed in front of the seats, and nameplates sat upon the desks in the first few rows so that the high-ranking officials could take their designated seats.

On the podium, there were a total of forty-six seats arranged in a U-shape across two rows.

The center of the front row was naturally Ziwei's seat; the ten seats to his left were reserved for the Heavenly Stem Venerables, and the twelve seats to his right belonged to the Earthly Branch Elders.

The row behind them was arranged for the assistants of these twenty-three Zixiao high-ranking officials. The task of these assistants was to take meeting minutes.

Of course, this was merely a formality; it would make no difference even if they failed to write a single word.

After all, everyone present was a high-level cultivator with remarkable achievements, and photographic memory was a basic skill. Where would they ever need meeting minutes?

Currently, there were only seven Earthly Branch Elders, leaving five vacant seats on the right side—five empty positions that served as an incentive for all Zixiao practitioners to diligently pursue their cultivation.

There was no hierarchy of superior or inferior among the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches; the seating arrangement followed their titles sequentially: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao... Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding.

Li Yunfei sat in the fifth position on the right, which belonged to the Chen Dragon Elder. Ahead of him were the Chou Ox Elder Lu Jingxiu and the Yin Tiger Elder Xie Liuyun, while the positions for Zi Rat and Mao Rabbit remained vacant.

In the seating area below, the named seats in the front rows were reserved for the heads of the provincial branches, the commanders of the seven combat legions, and representatives of the Zixiao Huang Group of awakened ones.

Further back, there were no assigned names, and attendees could sit wherever they pleased—typically occupied by county office heads.

The administrative units stationed locally by the Zixiao Sect were organized as branches at the provincial level, administrative offices at the county level, and service stations at the township level.

Great Xia possessed a total of thirty-four provinces and six hundred and sixty-one cities, meaning the total number of attendees was fewer than eight hundred, making the thousand seats in the assembly hall more than sufficient.

With less than five minutes remaining before the meeting’s scheduled start at three o'clock, all the participating Zixiao high-ranking officials had already taken their seats, yet Ziwei was nowhere to be seen.

Just as everyone was exchanging baffled whispers, Guo Qilin walked briskly into the venue and came to a halt at the side of the podium.

Seeing Guo Qilin appear, the crowd in the hall quickly quieted down.

There were no microphones on the podium, but anyone who could enter this assembly hall possessed a cultivation of at least the Yin Spirit or True Intent realm, meaning there was naturally no issue of failing to hear a voice clearly.

Channeling her spiritual energy quietly, Guo Qilin's crisp voice rang through the hall: "Esteemed leaders, shortly before the scheduled start of the meeting, Comrade Ziwei received an important report."

"He has already departed to handle the matter, and the meeting is temporarily delayed. Please wait briefly in the meeting room; I believe Comrade Ziwei will have instructions shortly."

The crowd looked at one another in dismay. What kind of report could possibly cause Ziwei to set aside a high-level meeting and head out to handle it personally?

Meanwhile, the heads of the Guangzhou, Xiangzhou, Ezhou, Zhongzhou, and Jizhou branches did not display expressions of confusion, clearly having already received reports from their subordinates.

Yet, because the true nature of this matter remained uncertain, they had temporarily refrained from disclosing it to others.

Li Yunfei looked at Guo Qilin and asked, "Secretary Guo, would it be convenient to share what is happening?"

All gazes turned toward Guo Qilin. Seeing her nod, she replied, "Certainly. Although this matter is of great importance, it is not classified as top secret."

"Roughly two hours ago, Comrade Ziwei received a report from our comrades at the Guangzhou Branch: a divine dragon emerged from the sea in the waters of Guangzhou and is currently flying toward the capital."

A divine dragon?

A single stone stirred a thousand ripples, and an uproar erupted throughout the assembly hall.

To the people of Great Xia, a entity like a divine dragon was something known solely through myths and legends; no one had ever witnessed a genuinely existing divine dragon.

The so-called "falling dragon" incidents over the past century had mostly been groundless hypes and sensationalism.

Yet now, they were hearing factual accounts of a divine dragon emerging from the sea, and Ziwei had even gone to handle it personally.

Could it be that the divine dragons slumbering within the myths and legends of Great Xia had truly manifested into the world due to the revival of spiritual energy?

The crowd grew excited.

Li Yunfei, however, turned his head with a peculiar expression to look at Zhang Ziying, who was also gazing back at him at that moment.

Zhang Ziying whispered, "Do you suppose... could it be him?"

Li Yunfei nodded slightly and said, "There is a very high probability, because the body of water closest to the place where we crossed paths is Guangzhou."

Just as Li Yunfei finished speaking, the mobile phone in Guo Qilin's hand rang. After answering the call, she looked at Li Yunfei and said, "Elder Chen Dragon, Comrade Ziwei invites you to go and rendezvous with him."

Li Yunfei’s spirits lifted, and he exchanged a smile with Zhang Ziying. He could now basically confirm that the so-called divine dragon was none other than the checkered keelback snake he had personally bestowed with an imperial-style sanction.

"Where is Ziwei right now?"

"Above Tianchi Mountain, roughly 150 kilometers to the southwest."

"Very well, I'm heading over immediately."

Li Yunfei reassured Zhang Ziying to wait for him patiently here, exchanged brief farewells with the other Venerable Elders around him, and then stood up, stepped out of the assembly hall, and soared directly into the sky. Unleashing the Shenxiao Sect's movement technique, the "Thunderlight Escapement," he shot toward the southwest like a streak of lightning.

Ziwei had previously given him a special talisman to avoid triggering the headquarters' grand protective array, allowing him to fly in and out of Miaofeng Mountain at will.