Yuan felt his heart skip a beat when he saw this dragon, and he exclaimed in an excited voice, "Is that a real dragon?!"
Even though this dragon wasn’t as intimidating as the Great One, it was still an exciting sight to see a real dragon.
However, Elder Shan chuckled and said, "No, you silly. Do you remember when Elder Xuan said there are flying treasures that resemble magical beasts but aren’t actually real? That dragon is one of those flying treasures. There’s no way anyone would be able to tame a mighty dragon and ride them like a flying treasure."
"Is that so... but it looks so realistic," Yuan mumbled in a somewhat disappointed voice.
"You can tell whether it’s real or not by its aura." Elder Shan then said.
"Oh, you’re right... I cannot sense any aura coming from it." Yuan realized.
Feng Yuxiang’s voice suddenly resounded in Yuan’s head, "Once I am able to transform back to my phoenix form, I’ll let the Young Master ride me as much as he wants! Who needs dragons when you have a phoenix! We’re both Divine Beasts, anyway."
A smile appeared on Yuan’s face, and he mumbled, "Thank you, Feng Feng."
Seconds later, Long Yijun caught up to them, and he said, "We’re going to take the teleportation device at Bright Needle City to the Northern Continent, where the Mystic Realm will take place. It’s going to take a couple of hours before we arrive at the city so you can relax until then."
"Yes, Sect Master!" They responded.
Sometime later, Elder Shan opened her mouth and spoke, "Disciple Yuan, since we have plenty of time, why don’t you tell me a little more about you and your Dao Companion here? How’d you two meet?"
Yuan nodded and said, "Her parents worked for my parents, so we’ve known each other since we were kids."
"Oh, childhood friends, huh? What a lovely relationship already." Elder Shan chuckled.
Then she looked at Meixiu and said, "I’m very interested in what kind of woman could captivate someone like Disciple Yuan’s heart. Of course, if you don’t want to show your face, that’s fine as well."
’Captivate Yuan’s heart?’ Meixiu found Elder Shan’s choice of words to be weird, but she didn’t think too much about it and nodded her head before removing her Crimson Mask to show Elder Shan her face.
"I see..." Elder Shan nodded her head as though she realized something, not feeling the slightest shock that Meixiu was a beauty, as it was only natural for someone as talented as Yuan to have a beauty by his side. In fact, it would be weird if Yuan’s Dao Companion wasn’t a beauty.
"Anyway, you’re certainly one lucky lady, becoming his Dao Companion at such a young age. You have no idea how many people will be envious of you in the near future." Elder Shan said.
"T-Thank you...?" Meixiu said in a hesitant voice since she wasn’t exactly sure what Elder Shan was talking about.
Sometime later, Yuan asked, "Senior Shan, since you’re a Spirit Master as well, can you use Qi Manifestation?"
"Qi Manifestation? Only Spirit Grandmasters can do that!" Elder Shan quickly said.
"Really? But I heard that some Spirit Masters are able to use Qi Manifestation."
Elder Shan shook her head and said, "Maybe if they’re a heaven-defying genius or have some unique physique, but under normal circumstances, one cannot use Qi Manifestation before they become a Spirit Grandmaster. Well, I can release my Qi outside to a certain extent, but that’s not true Qi Manifestation."
After a moment of silence, she continued, "Well, if it’s you, who can use Divine Sense before reaching Spirit Master, maybe you can use Qi Manifestation before you become a Spirit Grandmaster. Though, you’ll probably still need to be around peak Spirit Master before you can do it."
"Do you want to try it now?" Elder Shan suddenly asked.
"Really? How do I try?"
Elder Shan extended her hand and said, "Now gather your spiritual energy in your hand and imagine it leaving your hand and touching my hand."
Yuan nodded and followed her instructions, lifting his hand and gathering his spiritual energy in his hand.
He then imagined it leaving his hand, almost like he’d grown a second hand.
However, he gave up a moment later when he couldn’t release the spiritual energy, and it was like there was an invisible wall preventing him from doing so.
"Don’t worry, if it was so easy, every Spirit Master would be able to do it." Elder Shan said to him afterward.
Yuan nodded and said, "I’m going to continue trying."
"Go ahead. Just don’t exhaust yourself. Qi Manifestation also requires a lot of energy to maintain." Elder Shan said to him.
A few moments later, Xiao Hua’s voice resounded inside his head, "Brother Yuan, Qi Manifestation is very similar to Divine Sense. Just practice like you would with Divine Sense."
’Now that you mention it, they are very similar!’ Yuan realized this fact and immediately started trying to release his spiritual energy like he does with Divine Sense.
After an hour of practicing, Yuan finally managed to produce some results! Although it was only very slightly, he’d managed to extend his spiritual energy a few inches outside his body!
When Elder Shan saw this, her eyes widened with shock.
"D-Did you just...?" Elder Shan mumbled in a dazed voice.
"I think I am getting a hang of it." Yuan nodded.
"Unbelievable... To think you’d actually manage to release your spiritual energy outside of your body, even if it’s just a little, and you’d just entered Spirit Master. I am a little ashamed of myself now..." Elder Shan sighed.
Thus, Yuan continued to practice his Qi Manifestation for the next few hours until they arrived at Bright Needle City.
However, instead of descending outside the city like one normally would, Long Yijun led them directly inside the city, only descending once they were directly above the teleportation device.
Of course, nobody complained when they saw this, and the workers there even welcomed them with bright smiles on their faces.