Chapter 265: We Are Unconvinced!
Li Baizhan was persuaded. He bowed deeply to the Old Dragon King. "Master, your disciple was shortsighted. You are right! Power itself has no alignment; only the wielder gives it the label of good or evil. I will be sure to guide Cheng Yuan properly and help him become a pillar of the Dragon Country!"
"I will teach you how to perceive Merit. From now on, observe Cheng Yuan closely. If his Merit suddenly plummets, you must inform me at once. We absolutely cannot let him fall completely to the demonic path."
"Yes, Master!"
While they were talking, Li Baizhan’s comms crackled to life. He answered it, and Yang Qianhuan’s voice came through. "Senior Brother, Cheng Yuan is getting his wounds bandaged. How does Master want to handle him?"
"Why would we handle our Junior Brother? Second Brother, are you trying to rebel? Junior Brother is now the Young Master of the Xuanyuan Sect. He’s our Young Master."
"Senior Brother, be serious. Junior Brother has Demonic Qi on him. He might be one of the Demon God’s Descendants. We must handle this with caution."
"That’s not Demonic Qi on our Junior Brother. It’s a higher form of power—Celestial Witch Power."
Yang Qianhuan breathed a small sigh of relief. "Celestial Witch Power, you say? That’s better. The Celestial Witches aren’t direct enemies of our Xuanyuan Sect. What did Master say?"
"Master said we shouldn’t carry the prejudices of the Ancient Era into the present. It doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice."
"Understood. As long as Cheng Yuan doesn’t harm the interests of the Dragon Country or kill innocent people, he will always be our Junior Brother."
"That’s more or less it. Master has ordered us to fully support our Junior Brother."
"Got it."
「...」
Li Baizhan and the Old Dragon King briefly discussed Cheng Yuan’s position. Then, Li Baizhan took his leave to visit Cheng Yuan in the infirmary.
It had to be said.
Cheng Yuan’s Ancestral Witch True Body was truly domineering. He had been badly burned, but in just ten-odd minutes, the dead skin had already sloughed off, and the newly exposed skin was almost completely healed.
Li Baizhan and Yang Qianhuan were already a bit numb to it all!
In the span of a single night, Cheng Yuan had shocked them multiple times. They were starting to question their own reality.
’Is this even a human’s recovery speed?’
The Ancestral Witch True Body truly lived up to its name as one of the Three Great Ancient Sacred Bodies!
"Junior Brother, Master just said he’s preparing to appoint you as the Young Marshal of our Dragon Flame. The preliminary plan is to announce it tomorrow. What are your thoughts?"
Cheng Yuan thought about it seriously before replying, "Can we do it sooner? Announce the appointment in an hour!"
"Of course. Qianhuan, have the warriors assemble on the training grounds in one hour."
"Yes, sir!"
Li Baizhan led Cheng Yuan to the training grounds ahead of the others.
Cheng Yuan immediately set up an Alchemy Furnace on the training grounds and began practicing Alchemy. He wanted to give the warriors a small gift.
In one hour, Cheng Yuan refined two batches of Pills, producing over thirty Qi Enhancement Pills in total. This terrified Li Baizhan!
’What kind of efficiency is this?’
’What kind of success rate is this?’
’Even Master can’t do this, can he?’
If Li Baizhan knew that all of these were Three Patterns Qi Enhancement Pills, his jaw would have hit the floor.
An hour later, the warriors were assembled.
Over two hundred Grandmasters gathered together, emanating a shockingly powerful force!
The warriors looked at the dais with curiosity. ’Who is the young man standing next to the Dragon Lord?’
’He’s only at the Divine Realm Peak, yet he can stand beside the Dragon Lord? What’s his background?’
’He must be some rich young master from a big family, here to get some easy credentials.’
Cheng Yuan looked at the warriors with equal curiosity and couldn’t help but marvel.
Dragon Flame was truly worthy of being the Dragon Country’s strongest individual combat unit. There were over two hundred Grandmasters and more than ten Martial Kings!
With the Dragon Lord and Dragon Head on top of that, this was a force that could sweep through half the Ancient Martial Realm!
The Dragon Lord got straight to the point. His voice was heavy as he said, "Warriors of the Celestial Dragon Camp, this is Cheng Yuan, the Young Marshal newly appointed by the Old Dragon King! From this day forward, Cheng Yuan is your supreme commander! All of you will obey Cheng Yuan’s orders!!"
UPROAR!
The training grounds instantly erupted!
The warriors were straightforward and loudly voiced their displeasure.
"Dragon Lord! We protest! We don’t care if he’s the Young Marshal or not! We don’t care if he has connections and is here to pad his resume! But he cannot be the leader of our Celestial Dragon Camp!"
"Why should a wet-behind-the-ears brat be the leader of the Celestial Dragon Camp? I’d rather die than be led by him!"
"Please retract the order, Dragon Lord! Please, Old Dragon King, retract the order! If this kid wants to pad his resume, fine, let him go be the leader of those greenhorn recruits in the Young Dragon Camp!"
...
Li Baizhan and Yang Qianhuan didn’t stop the warriors from acting out. They had been through this themselves. If Cheng Yuan couldn’t even handle this small test, he wasn’t worthy of being the Young Marshal of Dragon Flame.
The two of them watched Cheng Yuan with faint smiles, wondering how he would respond.
The moment Cheng Yuan saw their mischievous smiles, he knew this was another test for him.
Cheng Yuan took a few steps forward to the edge of the dais. Looking down at the warriors below, he said in a low voice, "It seems none of you are convinced?"
Cheng Yuan’s voice wasn’t loud, but it instantly cut through the clamor of the training grounds and reached everyone’s ears clearly.
The crowd roared back, "That’s right! We are not convinced!!"
The corners of Cheng Yuan’s mouth curled up slightly. "Pick your strongest, and have him come up here to face me!"
A series of angry roars rose from below.
"I, Pei Jian, Captain of the Celestial Dragon Camp’s First Squad, will test your skills!"
"Pei Jian, you have the nerve to call yourself the strongest? Have you forgotten when I beat you senseless? I, Wang Tianyu, Captain of the Celestial Dragon Camp’s Third Squad, will test your skills!"
"You’re all more shameless than the last! I, Nie Zhongtian, haven’t even spoken. How dare you claim to be the strongest in the Celestial Dragon Camp?"
...
In an instant, the crowd below descended into chaos. The squad captains were all arguing, none willing to back down. It looked like an all-out brawl was about to erupt.
Cheng Yuan was at a loss for words. ’These warriors are so straightforward, it’s almost cute.’
Cheng Yuan didn’t have time to dawdle with the warriors. He roared, "Stop arguing! This Young Marshal is in a hurry! You can all come at me together!"
SWOOSH!
Cheng Yuan suddenly leaped from the dais, heading straight for Nie Zhongtian, who had been shouting the loudest.
Nie Zhongtian was a Martial King Middle Stage expert, one of the top three fighters in the Celestial Dragon Camp. All the warriors thought Cheng Yuan was insane—he was only at the Divine Realm Peak!
Worried about injuring Cheng Yuan, Nie Zhongtian only used thirty percent of his strength to face the attack. And then, disaster struck for him!
All they heard was a loud THUD!
Nie Zhongtian was sent flying like a bowling pin, knocking over a dozen warriors before he finally came to a stop!
The entire training ground fell so silent you could hear a pin drop!
Every warrior stared at Cheng Yuan in utter shock, completely unable to comprehend how he had just one-shotted Nie Zhongtian!
’This is impossible!’
Nie Zhongtian’s face was flushed crimson. He roared in fury, "Kid, you dare sneak-attack me? I wasn’t using my full strength just now! Take this!!"
Nie Zhongtian sprang to his feet and charged toward Cheng Yuan like a berserk bear in human form!