Chapter 3797: A Reunion After 30 Years
“What?! You managed to become an inner disciple of the Flying Dragon Sect?!” Ding Yan was so shocked that he stopped moving immediately. Hints of disbelief could be seen in his eyes.
Over the past 30 years, Ding Yan had been in closed-door cultivation and comprehending the law of fire in a chamber of laws. He had only emerged from his closed-door cultivation yesterday to partic.i.p.ate in the Latent Dragon Grand Contest. When he was registering as an inner disciple, he had heard about Duan Ling Tian’s amazing display of strength during the qualifying test three days ago. Initially, he thought it was just someone with the same name. After all, although the Duan Ling Tian he knew was outstanding, he did not think it was possible for Duan Ling Tian to improve so much in just 30 years. However, as he continued to listen to the discussion about Duan Ling Tian, he was convinced that the Duan Ling Tian those people discussed was indeed his friend.
Ding Yan heard about how Duan Ling Tian had left the Hidden Fog Sect and joined the Linghu clan as a Revered Elder. Most shockingly, not only did Duan Ling Tian become an intermediate King of G.o.ds, but since 20 years ago, Duan Ling Tian was already capable of refining G.o.d-grade Limit Divine Pills and was comparable to a lord-rank divine alchemist. He was understandably shocked.
After Ding Yan left Skywind City’s Hidden Fog Academy, his spatial ring had been given to another person for safekeeping before he entered closed-door cultivation to prepare for the Latent Dragon Grand Contest. As soon as he emerged from his closed-door cultivation, he had planned to reach out to Duan Ling Tian and Hou Qing Ning after the Latent Dragon Grand Contest ended. Who knew he would find out that Duan Ling Tian was in the Flying Dragon Sect as well. Hence, he quickly sent a message to Duan Ling Tian. However, he really did not expect to receive a message from Hou Qing Ning as well. More shockingly, Hou Qing Ning was now an inner disciple of the Flying Dragon Sect. He could tell Hou Qing Ning was not lying.
Ding Yan was not surprised about Duan Ling Tian due to Duan Ling Tian’s innate talent and comprehension skills. However, it was surprising to him that Hou Qing Ning managed to become an inner disciple of the Flying Dragon Sect since Hou Qing Ning’s innate talent and comprehension skills were weaker than his in the past.
In the past, Hou Qing Ning was only slightly stronger than Ding Yan due to the resources he received as the Young Master of the king-rank Ten Thousand Leaves Sect. Ding Yan, who was alone, naturally did not have the best resources. Even then, Ding Yan’s innate talent and comprehension skills were higher than Ding Yan.
In fact, Ding Yan had been given a chance to enter the Flying Dragon Sect previously, but he had refused to do so. Then, his elder came to look for him in Skywind City’s Hidden Fog Academy and forcibly took him away. With his return, he enjoyed the cultivation resources that he lacked while he was alone in the Hidden Fog Academy.
At that time, Hou Qing Ning had intended to inform Duan Ling Tian and Hou Qing Ning about this, but his spatial ring had been taken away by the elder before he could do so.
Back in the present, Hou Qing Ning said, slightly displeased, “Hey, what do you mean by that? Where are you? Duan Ling Tian said you’re in the Flying Dragon Sect. We’re at the venue of the Latent Dragon Grand Contest, the Flaming Dragon Arena. Hurry up and come over so I can show you my cultivation now. I’m now a King of G.o.ds!”
Upon seeing how arrogant Hou Qing Ning was, Duan Ling Tian was filled with the urge to punch Hou Qing Ning.
Meanwhile, Ding Yan, who was still shocked, said, “Wait for me. I’ll be there in fewer than a dozen breaths.”
After that, Ding Yan turned into a ball of flames as he streaked across the sky like a meteor toward the Flaming Dragon Arena at the peak of Fire Dragon Mountain.
In fact, the Latent Dragon Grand Contest would not be held in the Flaming Dragon Arena since the bricks used to build it would not withstand the fights. To be precise, the Latent Dragon Grand Contest would be held in the sky above the Flaming Dragon Arena.
…
“He said he’ll arrive in fewer than a dozen breaths,” Hou Qing Ning said to Duan Ling Tian.
Duan Ling Tian nodded with a smile. He was really curious about the reason Ding Yan was in the Flying Dragon Sect. If Ding Yan had partic.i.p.ated in the qualifying test, he would have definitely seen Ding Yan. Moreover, even if he failed to see Ding Yan, with his eye-catching performance during the qualifying test, Ding Yan should have seen him.
‘Maybe he was nearby and heard I was in the Flying Dragon Sect. That’s also likely why he’s unaware that Hou Qing Ning is also here,’ Duan Ling Tian speculated inwardly.
“Revered Elder Duan, what are both of you talking about?” Murong Yin Yue looked at the duo in confusion.
“A friend of ours is coming to see us,” Duan Ling Tian said with a smile.
A dozen breaths later.
“There he is!” Hou Qing Ning cried out.
Duan Ling Tian looked over and saw the tall and burly Ding Yan. Ding Yan was about 2 meters tall so it was easy to find him in a sea of crowds.
Duan Ling Tian could tell Ding Yan had become more reserved now and had matured a lot.
Ding Yan’s eyes lit up as soon as he saw the duo and hurriedly flew toward them. In just a moment, he landed in front of Duan Ling Tian and Hou Qing Ning.
Finally, the trio was reunited after 30 years.
“Hou Qing Ning! You’re really an inner disciple of the Flying Dragon Sect!” Ding Yan exclaimed when he saw the inner disciple’s ident.i.ty token hanging at Hou Qing Ning’s waist. His expression was one of shock and disbelief.
Similarly, Hou Qing Ning’s eyes fell on the similar ident.i.ty token hanging at Ding Yan’s waist. He stammered, “Y-you, you’re also an inner disciple of the Flying Dragon Sect?! This doesn’t make sense. Your ident.i.ty token seems to be from our batch as well…”
A frown could be seen on Hou Qing Ning’s face at the end of his words.
Duan Ling Tian looked at Ding Yan’s ident.i.ty token as well, and he discovered a special marking on it. The marking by the Flying Dragon Sect would last for a month to indicate their status as new inner disciples and it could not be faked. The markings were on the ident.i.ty tokens of all partic.i.p.ants of the Latent Dragon Grand Contest.
“Ding Yan, what happened?” Duan Ling Tian asked curiously.
“I’ll explain everything to you later,” Ding Yan smiled. Then, he looked at Murong Yin Yue before he asked, “Who’s this?”
“This is Murong Yin Yue, the Third Young Miss of the Murong clan,” Duan Ling Tian said. Then, he continued saying through Voice Transmission, “They like each other. I’m sure we’ll be drinking at their wedding banquet soon.”
Ding Yan’s eyes brightened upon hearing this. Then, he smiled at Murong Yin Yue and said, “Nice to meet you, Third Miss Murong. I’m Ding Yan, a friend of Duan Ling Tian and Hou Qing Ning.”
“Nice to meet you,” Murong Yin Yue responded. She was embarra.s.sed when she saw Ding Yan’s eyes darting back and forth between her and Hou Qing Ning. She knew Duan Ling Tian must have said something to Ding Yan. Otherwise, why would Ding Yan look at them in this manner? It was not like she was holding onto Hou Qing Ning’s arm now.
“Oh? So you still remember that we’re friends?” Hou Qing Ning said with feigned anger, “You left without a word. Not only that, no matter how many times we contacted you, you didn’t respond at all. If it weren’t for your intact Soul Pearl, we would’ve thought that you died. Don’t you think you owe us an explanation?”
Ding Yan smiled sheepishly as he said, “I had no choice. I wanted to bid farewell to both of you, but before I could send either of you a message, my spatial ring was confiscated. I only got it back yesterday.”
It seemed like one of Duan Ling Tian and Hou Qing Ning’s speculations was right.
“Who confiscated your spatial ring?” Hou Qing Ning asked.
Before Ding Yan could reply, Hou Qing Ning added, “Moreover, why are you in the Flying Dragon Sect, and why’s your ident.i.ty token similar to ours?”