X-Dragon Era

The Combat Dragon Academy's promotion assessment day had arrived once again, and within the huge combat arena, on the eastern stand, over a hundred second year students waited with sullen expressions. They were the ones who had finished last in the second year rankings the previous year, and they had to be there to accept challenges from those looking to move up from the first year. The victors would proceed to the second year, while the losers would be demoted to the first year.

On the western stand, after the conclusion of the first two rounds of tests, the top hundred students hurried over and went up to the western stand. Among the crowd, Xin Yun and Ming Xuan walked side by side, completely inconspicuous.

Sitting leisurely in the stand's chairs, Xin Yun smiled and said, "How about it? When do you plan to enter the arena?"

Facing Xin Yun's words, Ming Xuan took a deep breath, squinted slightly, and said with a smile, "When I enter isn't important; what's important is ending this quickly. I still need to go home and practice."

Hearing Ming Xuan's words, Xin Yun couldn't help but give a wry smile, shaking his head. Xin Yun spread his hands and said, "In that case, you go challenge first, I'll go second. Once the fight is over, we'll both leave together. While there's still daylight, let's have a battle for three hundred rounds outside the city, what do you say!"

Hearing Xin Yun's words, Ming Xuan's eyes lit up, and he nodded excitedly, "Great, let's do that... but naturally you should go first, and then I'll follow."

Smiling and nodding, Xin Yun didn't stand on ceremony and said indifferently, "Who goes first or last isn't important. Such battles are terribly mundane. It's just going through the motions."

As they were speaking, the instructor in charge of the third round began announcing the rules of the competition. As both Xin Yun and Ming Xuan had participated in the assessments before, they knew them quite well, even without listening.

Finally, after the instructor finished reading the rules, Xin Yun stood up first, walked to the exit, and announced loudly, "I'll be the first to challenge!" While speaking, Xin Yun reached out with his right hand and directly summoned Yinglong, which roared as it shot toward the center of the arena.

There wasn't much to say about Xin Yun's fight. It was all very bland—bland from start to finish. There were no flashy techniques, no earth-shattering exchanges, just a few simple attacks before his opponent fell defeated to the ground. From the outside, it wasn't that Xin Yun was too strong; it seemed more like the opponent was too weak.

However, to the discerning eye, such a battle meant something quite different. Defeating an enemy with a hundred heroic techniques was nowhere near as difficult as vanquishing them with a mere flick of a finger. Generally speaking, such an occurrence was only possible when one's strength far exceeded the opponent's!

Hurriedly concluding his own fight, Xin Yun returned to the stand with an impassive face, gave Ming Xuan a high-five at the exit, and then sat back down. This was Ming Xuan's first official appearance in this lifetime, and how could he not watch it closely!

Of course, Ming Xuan had undoubtedly made countless appearances before, but... that Ming Xuan wasn't the true Ming Xuan. Only now, now that Ming Xuan could make the Peacock Dragon spread its tail feathers, was he the real, incomparable Ming Xuan!

Riding his elegant Peacock Dragon, Ming Xuan arrived solemnly at the center of the combat arena. In that instant... the entire venue fell silent, for a good five or six seconds, before suddenly bursting into raucous laughter.

Standing atop the Peacock Dragon, Ming Xuan slowly closed his eyes, his body trembling slightly. To the others, this man must have been seething with anger. In the whole arena, only Xin Yun understood that Ming Xuan was not angry at all; he was excited! The trembling was due to being overly excited!

Naturally, Xin Yun's guess wasn't entirely accurate. In truth... the reason for Ming Xuan's trembling was only a small part due to excitement and agitation. The most important part was gratitude!

Although the battle had not yet begun, Ming Xuan knew that such a fight no longer held any significance for him now. Being a Gold two-star, he had to fight opponents around the Silver rank, which was inherently unfair!

If it had been before, it would have been acceptable; after all, he was weak. But now... with Ming Xuan's Peacock Dragon successfully displaying its feathers, everything had changed. The current Ming Xuan was terrifyingly powerful! Even if Xin Yun faced him, he would have to admit to a fight of three hundred rounds; dominating him was out of the question...

For Xin Yun, Ming Xuan's feelings were very complicated. It was an immensely complex emotion that combined the feelings of father, brother, benefactor, and more.

With his eyes closed, one scene after another flashed through Ming Xuan's mind. In his most difficult and darkest times, Xin Yun appeared and invited him to become a partner, to become the best of brothers! Stay updated with My Virtual Library Empire

Xin Yun was never someone who only talked big. In fact... he did a thousand times more than he said, no! Ten thousand times… even more!

Recalling a moment in the Shanshui City night market, Xin Yun risked his life to stand up for Ming Xuan and Mother Lan. In the end, he even nearly sacrificed Yi Luo Xiang's life. How could he forget such deep affection!

Nobody understood Xin Yun's feelings for Yi Luo Xiang better than him, a love not in the least weaker than his for his own mother. Yi Luo Xiang came close to death for his sake, yet even so, Xin Yun never complained a single word nor took credit in front of Ming Xuan. Honestly... even a biological father or brother could do no more for him.