Chapter 335

Central Continent’s sects promote by discipleship rather than blood. Immortal Crane Sect ranks its members from outer disciple up through inner, elite, and legacy disciple; sect elders hold at least rank four cultivation, the sect leader rank five, and the supreme elders rank six, with even rank seven among them. Its three-year small examination chooses inner disciples, the eight-year middle examination chooses elite disciples, and the fifteen-year large examination can raise a disciple to legacy disciple. Because the sect recruits without regard to birthplace, it has no C grade aptitudes; B grade is common, and A grade, Fang Zheng’s own rank, is also common among so many geniuses. ^{ch. 335}

The sect leader tells Fang Zheng, kneeling before him, that his rank four cultivation now qualifies him for sect elder, but that he must complete many missions first to prove his loyalty, and hands him a mission for himself and several elite disciples. Worn out from controlling his crane group and spending every trump card against Sun Yuan Hua, Fang Zheng sleeps for two days and two nights before a knock wakes him. ^{ch. 335}

A group of fellow elite disciples, mostly rank three with a few at rank four, greets him warmly, impressed that he commands ten thousand cranes even if not yet perfectly. One of them explains their mission: months earlier, the inheritance of Fairy Bai Hu, a righteous path rank six Gu Immortal who holds the Hu Immortal blessed land, appeared on Tian Ti mountain, and Gu Immortals from across the world now surround it. To avoid open conflict, the great sects’ lords have agreed to send elite disciples to compete for it fairly instead, and Immortal Crane Sect’s group must cooperate with rivals from Heavenly Lotus Sect, Spirit Butterfly Valley, Ancient Soul Sect, Heaven’s Envy Sect, and the rest of Central Continent’s ten great sects while staying united among themselves. Fang Zheng lights up at the prospect. ^{ch. 335}

Huo Tan mountain in the southern border is a dormant volcano about three kilometers tall, its flat peak holding a magma-filled crater that trails smoke, and its slopes covered in charcoal stone, a long, low-heat, smokeless fuel commonly used in Shang clan city’s fifth inner city. Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing have been crossing it for several days on their way from Shang Liang mountain to San Cha mountain. ^{ch. 335}

Two demonic Gu Masters, the assassins Jiao Huang and Meng Tu, are watching them from hiding, having taken a contract for their deaths that promises a reward, credited to Shang clan, of ten thousand primeval stones and a yellow pair token. Jiao Huang, older and warier, worries the two rank four targets outmatch their own rank three peak stage, but Meng Tu argues they have killed a rank four Gu Master before. Jiao Huang warns him never to bring up that kill again: the victim, Xiao Fu Lu, was the grandson of Xiao clan’s supreme elder, and killing him already earned them a Gu Immortal’s enmity. Meng Tu shrugs off the risk, reminding Jiao Huang they have spent several days preparing a trap for the pair. ^{ch. 335}

The ground shakes, and a lava crocodile group, led by a thousand beast king the size of three elephants, breaks out of the earth around Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing. Deep red scales cover its body, a metallic-sheened tail over ten meters long trails behind it, and two volcano-like lumps on its back breathe out black smoke. It senses that Fang Yuan, though outwardly the same rank four initial stage as Bai Ning Bing, actually carries rank four middle stage primeval essence, and marks him as the greater danger. It opens its mouth, and over a thousand lava crocodiles close around the pair. Fang Yuan laughs off the danger and calls on Bai Ning Bing to help him kill the crocodile king, and she agrees, her battle intent rising. Years earlier, fresh out of Qing Mao mountain, they had fled a lava crocodile king rather than fight one; both now hold rank four cultivation, and face this one instead. ^{ch. 335}