Chapter 2 The 9 Great Experts

Xin Yun's admiration for the Peacock King stemmed from the legend of his own experiences. In fact... among the Nine Great Experts, there were three whom he admired the most, namely the most dazzling dragon—Peacock King Ming Xuan, the most beautiful dragon—Flash Butterfly Yi Luo Xiang, and the cruelest dragon—Demon Queen Yan Qingying. The reason for his admiration was largely that, like Xin Yun, they all came from grassroots backgrounds.

Yi Luo Xiang needs no mention, born in a small village, the daughter of a common hunter, her ascent to where she stands today is inseparable from her efforts and natural talent.

As for the Peacock King, his background was even more tragic, born into a single-parent family. His father died in battle before his birth, and it was his mother who raised him.

But that wasn't the most outrageous part. As a child, this guy was really weak, so weak that he was constantly bullied. His dragon was extremely feeble, almost completely lacking any offensive or defensive capabilities, and... this situation persisted for many years.

Indeed, the reason the Peacock King eventually achieved his current status was because of the bullying he endured. Since his dragon was so weak, to avoid further bullying and to regain his dignity and respect, he trained frantically. Sadly, his early life was destined for mediocrity. No matter how hard he tried, he could not gain what he deserved, such as dignity, such as respect…

But, effort is always rewarded, and eventually... his dragon awakened, and it was immensely powerful. Coupled with the terrifying abilities he'd trained so hard to acquire, he went from a rookie whom everybody looked down upon to the third-ranked among the Nine Great Experts. If not for his lowly origins and his rapid rise, who would dare to compete with him for the first place!

Miracle, legend, these words are the epitome of the Peacock King. His grassroots origin made him the person Xin Yun admired most. As for those who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, no matter their achievements, Xin Yun couldn't care less to admire them. Moreover, everyone knew that given more time, he would eventually become the top expert—that was certain.

Apart from Yi Luo Xiang and the Peacock King, the third person Xin Yun admired was the Phantom Witch Queen. Her background couldn't be any lower—in Earth terms, that means a brothel!

As an orphan who lost her parents, her childhood was filled with hardship. At a very young age, she sold herself to a brothel. Although she could not entertain clients, she still had to undergo extensive professional training. However, she was fortunate; just as she was about to debut as a courtesan, she was noticed by someone from the Demon Dragon Clan, purchased, and taken away.

But, misfortune did not end there, nor did her suffering. Normally, people in this world could summon their dragons at the age of eight, but she could not. Even at the age of nine, she was still unable to summon her dragon and was deemed to have been abandoned by the dragons, losing all utility value.

That's the way it is, once you lose your utility value, you're useless. Subsequently... she was sold off by the Demon Dragon Clan, to serve as a maid dedicated to dressing others, utterly losing her freedom, all of it!

However, what nobody expected was that, a year later, when she turned ten, she somehow managed to summon her dragon—a Phantom Spider Dragon. After that, she advanced rapidly, eventually becoming the seventh-ranked among the Nine Great Experts.

What's regrettable is that the girl's life has been so hard. Though now possessing formidable strength, everything about her is still controlled by others. First it was the brothel, then the Demon Dragon Clan. Their brainwashing was too successful, too complete. Loyalty has become her best trait; even now that she has an indestructible, super-strong power, she has never betrayed her benefactors.

At this point, Xin Yun couldn't help but laugh. The Demon Dragon Clan must be regretting so much their intestines were green—they never imagined that they had let go of such a formidable presence, letting someone else benefit from their mistake. But then, who could be blamed? Who would have thought that a girl, who couldn't summon her own dragon at eight, would manage to do so at ten?

Shaking his head, Xin Yun was about to sigh when a series of intense energy fluctuations came from the core area. Startled, he looked up to see that the Nine Great Experts had already entered the battle state.

"Peacock Screen—unfold!" Along with the Peacock King's roar, the Peacock Dragon folded its wings, and behind it... the dreamlike Peacock Screen slowly unfolded, with nine colors soaring into the sky.

"Wings—Spread!" Yi Luo Xiang was not falling behind either. Her flash butterfly wings slowly unfurled, casting beautiful ripples of light across them that caused everyone in their path to be as if inebriated or entranced.

"Sky Net—Deploy!" The Phantom Witch Queen also unleashed her power, creating a spiderweb pattern eerily reminiscent of the Eight Trigrams Array which vanished as soon as it appeared. At the same time, the figure of the Phantom Witch Queen also disappeared from everyone's sight and perception.

Of course, it wasn't just these three who were in action; the other six of the Nine Great Experts were also busy, each activating their strongest battle forms. However... Xin Yun was only paying attention to these three. For Xin Yun, who had come from Earth, these three were his most admired superstars. He paid great attention to everything about them, down to their birthdays, experiences, preferences, and personalities, understanding them as thoroughly as a dedicated fan.

Looking at the mesmerizing scene unfolding before him, Xin Yun sighed softly. In this life... he could never dream of having such a glorious day. Although his dragon was not weak, but still...

As he was contemplating, the whole world suddenly came to a standstill. It was as if the Nine Great Experts had agreed upon a signal, for they simultaneously launched their strongest attacks. In a flash... red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet lights burst forth, the dazzling display hiding the heavens and the earth.

The Nine Great Experts, with nine attacks, fired at the same time in one ten-thousandth of a second, all of them striking a single point. They intended to determine their relative strengths through this direct confrontation and decide their respective places among each other.

In fact, the reason they all gathered was to compete for these places. The "places" were not about the ranking of the Nine Great Experts, but about the qualification to participate in an event.

According to legend, when the Creator God opened heaven and earth and then perished, his three souls fled away while his seven spirits transformed into seven Dragon Balls. Each Dragon Ball contained a Power of Laws, and whosoever possessed one held sway over a power of this universe, becoming a god in this world!

Of course, of course, "Dragon Ball" here was simply a name. In fact, they were just seven things that contained the Power of Laws and didn't actually have specific names. To be precise, they were the Seven Spirits Pearls of the Creator God!

Now, the time of the Dragon Balls emerging was not far off, and thus... the Nine Great Experts met here to determine the final rankings. Those ranked in the top seven would have the right to claim a Dragon Ball for themselves.

Some might think this competition for places is meaningless, but that's not the case. Remember, there are only seven Dragon Balls, but there are nine experts. If you count those like Xin Yun, they are innumerable. Since the emergence of the Dragon Balls followed no set pattern, to prevent others from gaining an advantage and to ensure that they could secure a Dragon Ball, the only method was to select seven top experts and unite them. They would then completely monopolize the region where the Dragon Balls would appear, denying anyone outside the seven experts a chance to approach that area.

"Boom!" Amid the loud roar, the nine attacks collided at one point, creating a vibrant energy sphere. Thus, each expert's strength was directly felt upon contact, leaving nothing hidden. Who was stronger and who was weaker became blatantly obvious, and no deception was possible.

As Xin Yun was silently marveling at the sight, that colorful sphere of light suddenly rippled violently... and the energy sphere, containing the full might of the Nine Great Experts, exploded. The destructive wave that followed the explosion swept across everything in its path, reducing all the dragons to ash.

Watching the devastating energy wave that could annihilate everything, Xin Yun's complexion instantly turned ashen. Something was not right today; there had to be a conspiracy. Under such a massive explosion, no one present today could escape unscathed. Although the immortal Nine Great Experts wouldn't die, they would surely be gravely injured and severely weakened, unable to recover without centuries or millennia. If someone were to take this opportunity to attack the Dragon Clan, then... even if the Dragon Clan wasn't destroyed, it would likely be...

As these thoughts crossed his mind, the fierce wave of annihilation swept over him. In a flash of blinding white, Xin Yun felt darkness encroach his vision, losing all consciousness in an instant...

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