''Let's go.''
Shun Long ignored the curious gazes of the disciples around him, as he led Liu Mei and the rest to sit towards an empty spot in the courtyard.
No matter what, since the Grand Elder had promised that he would take them to the King's Palace, this was something for the Grand Elder himself to solve.
Of course, only the 10 strongest outer court disciples who had yet to breakthrough to the Dao King realm would be allowed to enter the King's Palace in the past, but this didn't matter to Shun Long.
The Grand Elder had already promised that he would let them all enter the King's Palace, but even if that couldn't be done, Shun Long was still confident that everyone from his group could easily enter the top 10 among the other outer court disciples.
At the same time, as he looked around him, Shun Long could see the wariness and shock in the eyes of some of the 10 yellow-robed outer court disciples.
After all, everyone could now sense that Shun Long and the rest had already reached the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul!
''How is this possible? Weren't they all just rank 7 Nascent Soul rookies, just a year ago?! How can they reach the peak of rank 9 in just one year?''
''As long as they are not here for the King's Palace, it will be fine.''
Many of those disciples didn't hide their hostility as they stared at Shun Long and his group.
Naturally, none of them was willing to give up their spot to enter the King's Palace!
And yet, although they were clearly hostile, all 10 of them were somewhat wary of the young man who was leading this group.
They all knew that a year ago, Shun Long was already strong enough to defeat Qiu Yun who was a peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage beast tamer, while Shun Long's own cultivation was only at the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul back then.
Now that he had broken through to the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul, none of them knew how strong Shun Long really was, but none of them felt confident fighting against him!
Even Jiang Chen and the others were monsters of their own!
''Hah, I wonder if those brats will have to compete with each other for these 10 spots! This will be interesting!''
One of the blue-robed young men said as he looked at the scene in front of him with an amused look on his face.
At the same time, Shun Long also looked at those 10 blue-robed young men and women.
In the Holy sect, only the inner court disciples would wear blue-colored sect robes.
It was unknown if it was intentional or not, but barely half an hour had passed since Shun Long's group had arrived, before a group of 10 white-robed Elders appeared in the sky above the Grand Elder's courtyard.
Every single one of these white-robed Elders was emitting the aura of a Dao Emperor, making it obvious that they were all inner-court Elders.
At the same time that those Elders arrived, a gigantic bird that resembled an eagle blotted out the sky above the courtyard, as it attracted everyone's attention.
Shun Long could see an old man with long white hair standing on the eagle's back, looking at the disciples in the courtyard below him with an amiable smile on his face.
''Greetings to the Grand Elder!'' The 10 blue-robed inner court disciples called out simultaneously, as they bowed towards the Grand Elder on the giant eagle's back.
The Grand Elder waved his hand, indicating that there was no need for them to stand on ceremony, as the giant bird descended on the courtyard below.
With just a glance, Shun Long could immediately recognize the magic beast that the Grand Elder was riding on.
It was an early rank 7 'Darkness Eagle'.
It was a relatively powerful flying magic beast, that very few other early rank 7 magic beasts could harm.
After all, the 'Darkness Eagle's' defense was ranked at the top among early rank 7 magic beasts, while its flying speed was even comparable to some of the weaker middle rank 7 magic beasts.
Although it wasn't comparable to a peak rank 7 magic beast like the 'Hellfire crow' which Bai Liuxian had been riding on when she came to the Holy sect a year ago, it was still a rare early rank 7 magic beast that could easily kill most early-stage Dao Emperors without much trouble.
The Grand Elder's eyes scanned the disciples around him, before his gaze landed on Shun Long's group.
The shocked expression on his face soon turned into a brilliant smile as he said in a voice full of praise
''Brats, you really managed to reach the peak of the Nascent Soul in just a year! Hahaha! This old man is really surprised.''
Shun Long smiled as he looked at the Grand Elder but he didn't offer any explanation.
He knew that the Grand Elder would most likely come to the conclusion that they had consumed some rare pills to do so, but Shun Long didn't mind.
It was only natural to come to this conclusion, since, even with an immortal-grade cultivation technique like the 'Ice Kingdom' that Shun Long had given to the Grand Elder, it would still be impossible to advance so rapidly in just a single year.
As the Darkness Eagle landed on the courtyard, the Grand Elder looked around him, before his gaze landed on the 10 inner court Elders in the sky, as he said calmly
''Since everyone is here, let's leave now. There isn't much time until the opening of the King's Palace!''
As he finished speaking, the Grand Elder patted the Darkness Eagle's back, making the enormous magic beast spread its wings.
The eagle's size was more than enough for 50 people to sit comfortably on it.
And yet, the inner court Elders in the sky seemed somewhat hesitant as they looked at Shun Long's group, before one of them looked at the Grand Elder and said
''Grand Elder, this...''
''Hmm?'' The Grand Elder frowned as he looked at the old man who had just spoken, before he seemed to have realized what was going on.
Waving his hand, the Grand Elder then answered
''Don't worry. I personally invited those kids. Each of you will take care of a single outer court disciple and one inner court disciple. As for those 5, I will take care of them myself!''
The old man who had just spoken was shocked when he heard this, as he looked at the Grand Elder and asked in a voice filled with surprise
''What? Grand Elder, you are also coming with us?''
Among the Elders in the sky, this old man was among the highest in seniority, only second to Xingyi's master, Mao Jing!
However, Mao Jing wouldn't question why Shun Long's group was here in the first place.
Any hatred that she had for Shun Long for beating up her personal disciple outside of the Refinement Hall had long since vanished the moment she learned that the Grand Elder intended to take Shun Long as his personal disciple.
Mao Jing had seen the Grand Elder handing his personal token to Shun Long and understood immediately that Shun Long was being viewed extremely favorably by the Grand Elder.
The Grand Elder nodded his head in response, before the inner court Elders all sat on the 'Darkness Eagle's' back one by one, no longer questioning the Grand Elder's decision.
The Grand Elder patted the spot next to him and looked at Shun Long and the rest, indicating for them to come sit next to him.
Looks of jealousy could be seen on the faces of the inner court disciples as they stared at Shun Long's group, before they sat on top of the eagle as well.
A few moments later, once everyone had sat on the 'Darkness Eagle's' back, a yellow-robed young woman asked in a curious voice
''Grand Elder, are we going to fly all the way to the King's Palace? I heard that the King's Palace is close to the center of the central region.''
The Grand Elder smiled and shook his head, before he answered with a slight smile
''Fly there? Even with this 'Darkness Eagle', it would still take more than a year for us to reach the King's Palace this way!''
As soon as the Grand Elder finished speaking, his entire courtyard started to tremble, almost as if an earthquake had suddenly hit it, before countless runes and patterns started to emerge from the ground beneath the 'Darkness Eagle's' feet.
In the blink of an eye, those runes and patterns had covered the entire courtyard, making the courtyard resemble a single, enormous formation.
A moment later, Shun Long's body suddenly shuddered as he could sense the space in front of him ripple violently, looking like it was about to be torn apart.
At the same time, the power from the mysterious formation below the 'Darkness Eagle' seemed to have come together, tearing open a gigantic space tear more than 300 meters long.
The enormous space tear appeared right in front of the 'Darkness Eagle', instantly swallowing the early rank 7 magic beast whole.
In the next moment, Shun Long could feel the familiar feeling of spatial fluctuations enveloping his body, before his figure disappeared from the Grand Elder's courtyard.
Author's note: 6/10
I couldn't finish the mass release earlier, so the next 4 chapters will come later today.
