"All clan members may participate. Two elders will be selected from among the elders, while the rest will be chosen from the clan members!"
"First, we will select the Thirty-Three Dragon Guards, then the Nine Dragon Generals, and finally the Left and Right Dragon Lords!"
"Only the top nine among the Thirty-Three Dragon Guards can become Dragon Generals, and only the top two among the Dragon Generals can become Dragon Lords!"
"As for vacancies among the Dragon Guards, we will continue selecting from the clan!"
"Clan members can also become new Dragon Protector Guards by challenging existing members!"
After Chu Jingyue announced the news,
All martial artists in the Chu family erupted in excitement!
This ensured the Dragon Protector Guards would gather the strongest members of the Chu family!
"Haha, the Dragon Protector Guards? I, Chu Zhan, must become one of them!"
If Chu Xiuran and others hadn't already entered the Heart Refining Pagoda,
They would have joined Chu Zhan in shouting their determination to participate!
In the following days,
The Chu family began intense selections for the Dragon Protector Guards!
Just as the Qian Region had calmed down after the Martial Saint's death a few days earlier,
Another terrifying event occurred that shocked everyone -
Over a dozen Martial Saints simultaneously descended upon the Qian Region.
This horrifying development plunged all martial artists in the Qian Region into complete silence. Everyone stayed indoors, afraid to go out lest they accidentally offend these powerful Martial Saints!
At the Beast Taming Sect,
Every member from top to bottom trembled in fear,
As over a dozen Martial Saints descended upon their sect simultaneously,
Their overwhelming pressure making it impossible for anyone to raise their heads.
Their uniforms all bore the skull emblem of Hell's Gate,
With pale flames manifesting between their eyebrows.
"So you still haven't found any clues?"
One of them asked coldly.
"Reporting to the Saint Envoy, the target's strength is unfathomable with no traces left behind. We've searched the entire Qian Region but found no sign of them!"
Du Laiyuan bowed deeply, sweat dripping from his forehead as he spoke softly.
"Could he possibly be a Martial Emperor?"
"It seems you haven't been searching seriously at all. If not for the Beast Taming Sect's usefulness as dogs in the Qian Region, you'd have been wiped out already!"
Facing their insults,
Du Laiyuan didn't dare utter a word of protest.
They truly had the power to back their threats!
"Decades ago, a Saint-grade faction's ancestor attempted to break through to Martial Emperor without our permission - we executed him!"
"Moreover, it's been nearly ten thousand years since anyone dared attack our Hell's Gate members!"
"Haha, let's see what kind of powerful figure could emerge from this insignificant Qian Region!" The most update n0vels are published on novèlfire.net
"You Beast Taming Sect needn't concern yourselves with this matter - just guard our gates properly. As for the one who killed our sect member, we'll skin him alive and pull out his bones as an example to all!"
Du Laiyuan quickly flattered: "With the Saint Envoys taking action, surely that thief cannot escape your grasp!"
"Haha, of course not!"
The dozen Martial Saints then vanished from the Beast Taming Sect,
Though one of them smirked and abducted a fair-skinned, beautiful female elder before leaving.
Du Laiyuan didn't dare show anger,
Instead praying silently that the female elder could satisfy the Saint Envoy's desires -
After all, wasn't this an opportunity for her as well?
The entire Qian Region was on edge,
But Qingyang City's Chu family remained completely unaffected,
Continuing their activities as usual!
Selections for the Dragon Protector Guards proceeded normally,
Great Elder Chu Hongtu and Seventh Elder Chu Jianchen emerged victorious,
Becoming two of the Thirty-Three Dragon Guards.
Among the clan members,
Chu Zhan became one with his overwhelming combat power.
All 44 Dragon Protector Guards had been basically determined.
"Though you've become Dragon Protector Guards, don't slack off!"
"From now on, elections will be held every six months. If defeated then, you'll have to leave the Dragon Protector Guards!"
"Of course, if you can defeat your superiors, you may rise to become Dragon Generals or even Dragon Lords!"
Chu Jingyue addressed the group.
Some Chu family members were training in the Nine Heavens Mountain Range,
Others tempering themselves in the Heart Refining Pagoda -
Among them were no shortage of powerful individuals,
Like Chu Xiuran, Chu Shan, and Chu Liuying, all Martial King-level existences!
There would undoubtedly be fierce competition!
A tremendous explosion shook Qingyang City,
Making the entire city tremble.
"Someone is attacking Qingyang City's protective formation?"
Chu Jingyue was startled,
Immediately leaving the spatial world.
Outside Qingyang City,
A Martial Saint frowned at the city before him.
"A Saint-grade formation and a spatial world entrance? How could such things exist here?"
Hell's Gate Martial Saint Kui Jie frowned deeply.
The dozen Martial Saints had dispersed across the Qian Region -
As long as their target hadn't left,
They would dig three feet underground if necessary to find whoever dared provoke Hell's Gate!
Kui Jie had come to the Nine Heavens Mountain Range area,
Where the powerful Yunxiao Sect once flourished.
One of their ancestors had somehow bypassed Hell's Gate's surveillance to break through to Martial Emperor,
Though they eventually killed him with multiple Martial Emperors' combined forces,
They never discovered how he achieved Martial Emperor without alerting them!
Now he found a spatial world entrance in this city!
He had intended to force out any powerful figures with a single palm strike,
Only to trigger a Saint-grade formation
That even he couldn't break!
"Impossible! Creating spatial worlds is something only Martial Emperors can do - how could there be Martial Emperor-level power here?"
Suddenly remembering the Yunxiao Sect's Martial Emperor,
His heart shook violently!
This city lay right at the foot of the Nine Heavens Mountain Range -
Had someone obtained that Martial Emperor's secret legacy?
Or worse, had someone already broken through to Martial Emperor?
Hence creating this spatial world?
"If true, I alone probably can't handle them!"
Kui Jie immediately sent messages to the other Martial Saints in Qian Region.
Charging in recklessly
Would only mean certain death!
Inside Qingyang City,
Chu Jingyue and several elders reached the city walls,
Spotting Kui Jie outside.
The terrifying aura he emitted made their hearts tremble.
"What kind of powerful being is this? Why attack our Qingyang City without reason?"
Chu Jingyue wondered.
"Perhaps related to the Martial Saint's death in Cangyun City,"
Chu Jianchen suggested.
"Recently the entire Qian Region has been tense. Our intelligence network reports many Martial Saints from the same faction have arrived."
"So they're here to trouble our Chu family!"
"A Martial Saint! We'll need the Beast God's intervention again!"
Chu Jingyue grew anxious,
Feeling they still couldn't contribute meaningfully against such enemies
Or share the Beast God's burdens!
Over a dozen Martial Saints descended outside Qingyang City,
Their terrifying auras surging,
Spatial fissures spreading around them,
Holy light shining down
Like gods descending to the mortal realm!