Chapter 334

The world of Gu divides into five regions. To the east lies Eastern Sea, its waters dotted with islands; to the west, Western Desert, mostly barren yellow sand; to the north, the grassland of Northern Plains; and to the south, the mountainous Southern Border. At their center sits Central Continent, over fifty million kilometers wide, rich in primeval energy, and stronger overall than any of the other four. ^{ch. 334}

Fei He mountain rises above a sea of clouds in the south of Central Continent. It is home to more than ten thousand cranes. The Gu Masters there belong to Immortal Crane Sect, one of Central Continent’s ten great sects. ^{ch. 334}

In the sect’s eight-year middle examination final, two disciples near twenty years old fight evenly: Sun Yuan Hua, who had topped the previous three-year small examination, and Fang Zheng, a previously unremarkable disciple whose sudden strength stuns the watching crowd. Fang Zheng summons an ironbeak flying crane group almost ten thousand strong. Sun Yuan Hua answers with a far smaller group of illusion lightning cranes, blue-tipped and crackling with static lightning. Lord Sky Crane warns Fang Zheng, in his mind, that these cranes are fierce lone fighters no ordinary crane can match. Sun Yuan Hua then leaps into melee himself, using a Gu to strike like lightning and force Fang Zheng onto the defensive. With his attention split, Fang Zheng’s huge crane group loses cohesion, while the smaller illusion lightning cranes, though outnumbered, cut through many of them. The ironbeak flying cranes hold several hundred beast kings, several thousand beast kings, and even a myriad beast king. The illusion lightning cranes hold only three hundred beast kings and one injured thousand beast king. An elder judges the two fighters even, and says the crane battle alone will decide the match. ^{ch. 334}

Sun Yuan Hua taunts that it is still too early to beat him, the same words Fang Zheng’s older brother Fang Yuan once told him when the two fought in the arena at Gu Yue village on Qing Mao mountain. The memory drives him: he means to stand before Fang Yuan and defeat him, and to avenge his clan, his uncle and aunt, his clan leader, and Lord Qing Shu. He pushes through the pain and refocuses. His ironbeak flying cranes surge and devour the illusion lightning crane group. Fang Zheng wins the eight-year middle examination and becomes an elite disciple of Immortal Crane Sect. ^{ch. 334}