Chapter 54: Welcome to Canaan Academy

On the broad central square of the city, nine massive flying magical beasts stood side by side, looking from afar like a row of small fighter jets.

Instructor Xiwen stood at the very front of the crowd, occasionally standing on her tiptoes to gaze toward the Xiao family estate.

Finally, under her eager anticipation, the figure she had been longing for appeared in her line of sight, quickly approaching.

"Instructor Xiwen, I hope I'm not late?"

"No, we scheduled our departure for the Si hour, and there is still quite a while left. I just felt uneasy not seeing you here."

The female instructor replied with a smile.

These days, she felt precisely like a lucky person who had suddenly won a massive lottery. Until she actually cashed out the prize, her mind simply could not settle down, feeling as though she were living in a dream.

"Since you've arrived as well, everyone is here. Shall we set off directly?"

Glancing at Xun'er and Qing Lin behind Chen Xiao, the female instructor asked, seemingly forgetting that she was the instructor.

Chen Xiao nodded, then turned to look at the two young women behind him.

"Xun'er, Qing Lin, see you at Canaan Academy."

Words of farewell had already been spoken and needed no repetition.

Xun'er nodded gently, waving a hand in goodbye while perfectly concealing her subtle emotions.

Qing Lin's reluctance to part, however, was plain for everyone to see. She waved her small hands incessantly, the Twin-Headed Fire-Spitting Snake hidden inside her sleeve nearly having its brains shaken loose. It crawled out along her arm, hissing at Chen Xiao with its forked tongue to express its dissatisfaction.

Seeing this, Qing Lin reacted swiftly, grabbed the two little heads of the fire snake, and shoved it back into her left sleeve.

Chen Xiao chuckled softly, no longer hesitating as he strode toward the crowd.

"For this recruitment, a total of forty-nine students have passed the assessment. Together with the senior students of the recruitment team and myself, there are sixty-two people in total. Form your groups freely, seven people to a group. Now, mount the griffins and get ready to set off!"

As Instructor Xiwen finished speaking, the crowd sprang into action. Those who were familiar with one another formed groups, while the rest randomly selected a griffin and leapt up.

Their movements were quite dashing, but unfortunately, the backs of the griffins were also rather slippery.

For a moment, quite a few people made fools of themselves and ended up blushing before they even saw their crushes.

Having these examples before them, the people behind exercised much more caution and finally avoided making any public spectacles.

Chen Xiao had no acquaintances among the group and was just about to move when Instructor Xiwen stopped him.

"You're coming with us."

Once all the new students had mounted the griffins, the senior students finally made their move.

Chen Xiao and Instructor Xiwen stayed at the very back. With a slight push of their feet, they sprang upward and landed steadily on the back of a griffin without the slightest stumble, as if walking on flat ground.

Sharing this griffin were also the four female students Chen Xiao had met seven days ago.

Seeing Chen Xiao land beside them, all four curled the corners of their lips into smiles, sizing him up with remarkably bold gazes.

"Little Brother Chen Xiao truly lives up to his name as a Dou Ling, able to stand completely motionless the very first time stepping onto a griffin's back."

"Xuedai, are you disappointed? Just now I saw you roll up your sleeves ready to play the savior."

"Cao Sui, you flirtatious fox, stop spreading rumors, or you'll see if I don't deduct your credits when we get back to the academy!"

"I'm just afraid you don't have the guts!"

Listening to the banter between the two, the other two female students burst into endless laughter, continuously egging them on.

Such a scene left Chen Xiao speechless.

Those who knew better would realize they were from Canaan Academy; those who didn't might think this was a recruitment drive for a hedonistic sect.

"Pay them no mind. These cowards only have the courage to take advantage with their words. You'll get used to it."

Instructor Xiwen cast a helpless, reproachful glare at the four of them before turning serious and shouting aloud.

"Sit tight, everyone."

"Set off!"

As her voice fell, the nine griffins flapped their massive wings simultaneously. In an instant, a fierce gale surged, kicking up clouds of dust that blinded countless onlookers.

When the spectators opened their eyes again, they saw that the nine griffins had already soared into the high skies, forming a 'V'-shaped formation as they sped toward the distant horizon.

The rushing wind played a song beside their ears, Wutan City grew smaller and smaller in their field of vision, and mountain ranges rolled past beneath their feet like green waves...

Overlooking the rapidly passing scenery below, Chen Xiao remained silent.

He had lived in this land below for twelve years, and now he was finally heading to a broader stage.

"Gama Empire, Wutan City, I will return!"

Chen Xiao was certain of this.

It wasn't because he felt any deep attachment to the Gama Empire, but simply because he still had matters here that he needed to come back and finish in the future.

For instance, the matter concerning the Little Fairy Doctor.

And for another instance, the remnant map of the Lotus Demonic Flame in his possession still needed to realize its proper value.

"If all goes well, our journey will require a consecutive month of travel to reach the academy. During the flight, it's difficult to settle your mind for cultivation. If you find it boring, you can give it a try—it's very effective for training your mental state. Once you can enter a meditative cultivation state undisturbed even on the back of a griffin, you should be able to steady your mind and enter meditation anywhere in the future."

Instructor Xiwen's voice reached Chen Xiao's ears, accompanied by the howling wind.

Chen Xiao nodded slightly. He genuinely hadn't thought of this method for training one's mental state.

However, the novelty of riding a flying magical beast had not yet worn off, so Chen Xiao was not in a hurry to try it.

This novelty lasted only half a day before Chen Xiao lost interest. Glancing at the scenery rushing by in a blur made it completely impossible to appreciate any proper views.

A fleeting glance was worse than not looking at all!

Without further ado, Chen Xiao crossed his legs, closed his eyes, formed cultivation hand seals, and attempted to cultivate.

At first, the roaring wind whistling past his ears made it difficult to calm his mind, causing the time it took for Chen Xiao to complete a major circulation of his cultivation technique to increase significantly, resulting in extremely poor training efficiency.

However, as time passed and he continuously adapted day by day, he eventually reached a point where he could enter a complete state of cultivation, entirely unaffected, just like the senior students.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to take medicinal baths during the flight; otherwise, Chen Xiao was confident he could take a major step toward the five-star Dou Ling realm.

Immersed in cultivation, one's sense of time easily becomes blurred.

It wasn't until this day that Instructor Xiwen's relaxed voice rang out.

"It seems our luck is quite good. We didn't run into a black sandstorm in this Black Domain Plain."

A man's reputation precedes him, just as a tree's shadow does. Under the banner of Canaan Academy, many empires in the Northwest region would avoid making enemies with the recruitment team. However, the journey there and back still held two major risks.

The first was the unpredictable black sandstorms that could appear at any time across this Black Domain Plain.

This was a natural disaster.

The second was certain high-and-mighty powerhouses within the Black Horn Region who opposed Canaan Academy.

If they were to encounter such individuals, the entire recruitment team could be wiped out.

This was a man-made catastrophe.

Precisely because of this, Instructor Xiwen let out a breath of relief only after successfully traversing the Black Domain Plain and entering the territory of the Black Horn Region without incident.

Natural disasters could not be predicted, but man-made catastrophes offered plenty of room for maneuvering.

This was not Instructor Xiwen's first time leading a team, and she was very experienced in how to avoid the notoriously vicious powerhouses of the Black Horn Region.

Under her guidance, the griffin team made a brief stop at a small town on the edge of the Black Horn Region, where a grim-faced middle-aged man at the Dou Shi level hurried over.

Instructor Xiwen leapt down from her griffin to greet him, whispered with him in low tones for a moment, and then returned with a satisfied expression.

"The powerhouses with the worst reputations in the Black Horn Region are not active outside right now. Our trip is secure!"

Beneath her uninhibited personality lay a meticulous mind.

Many team-leading instructors often said she was overly cautious, but this female instructor believed that caution is the parent of safety. Spending a little extra effort in exchange for a safe journey was a guaranteed profit with no losses!

The griffin team took flight once more, heading all the way north.

Chen Xiao continued his cultivation. After an unknown passage of time, feeling the wind beside his ears grow gentle, he finally opened his eyes.

Looking out into the distance, he could see a solemn and majestic towering gateway—built from unknown materials—standing quietly and glittering in the afterglow of the setting sun.

"Everyone, welcome to Canaan Academy!"