Chapter 1443: Coming Out Of The Closed-Door Cultivation! Challenge Accepted!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the stone house district of the outer court. Xiao Zhui’s expression darkened after he heard the news about Ye Man. “d.a.m.n it! Other than that freak Duan Ling Tian, there’s someone else stronger than me in this district controlled by the Moon Illumination Sect!”
When he was still in Luo Jiang City, he was at least the strongest young powerhouse in the peripheral area… However, he had suffered continuous setbacks the moment he arrived at the Moon Illumination Sect.
First, Duan Ling Tian had defeated him before the Moon Illumination Sect’s entrance exam even began, causing him to feel displeased.
After he entered the Moon Illumination Sect, the displeasure in his heart vanished instantly when he realized that Duan Ling Tian’s strength had far surpa.s.sed his imagination.
What a joke!
When Duan Ling Tian had first entered the Moon Illumination Sect, he had defeated two famous people in the outer court one after another. His strength was not something he could compare to.
He had no regrets being defeated by someone like that.
However, this Ye Man had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and indirectly suppressed him. This elicited a feeling of dissatisfaction in his heart that was stronger than before.
“Hurmph! Wait until I break through to the Saint Rudiment Stage and become an inner court disciple. I’ll be able to ask to see Elder Liu Huan then… I believe he’ll take care of me for my master’s sake.” Xiao Zhui snorted. “At that time, you, Ye Man, will be underneath my shoes! As for Duan Ling Tian, it’s uncertain if he’ll even be able to make it into the inner court alive.”
The moment Xiao Zhui thought of Duan Ling Tian, a cold smile appeared on his face even though he still felt dread in his heart.
Somebody had issued a death duel invitation to Duan Ling Tian… When he found out about this matter, the first thing that appeared in his mind was Elder Liu Huan’s men finally made their move.
Xiao Zhui was the disciple of Luo Yi, the City Governor of Luo Jiang City, and Luo Yi was Liu Huan’s follower when he was still an inner court disciple… Due to this reason, Xiao Zhui knew about the enmity between Liu Huan and Fang Hui, the City Governor of Mound Hill City.
“Duan Ling Tian, you really don’t know how to differentiate cheese from chalk… How dare you reject Elder Liu Huan’s offer!” Xiao Zhui sneered.
He had said such words because he felt that Elder Liu Huan must have wanted to take Duan Ling Tian as a disciple but had been rejected. Due to this reason, he must be trying to disrupt Duan Ling Tian’s plan.
He did not know that from the beginning until the end, Liu Huan had not heard anything about Duan Ling Tian at all. In fact, he was completely unaware of his existence.
Liu Huan had not left his mansion and was focused on training Su Qi, the disciple he had taken a liking to, in the mansion.
As for his other direct disciple, Zhou Qi, he seemed to have forgotten all about him.
In the middle of the night. Inside the house of an independent courtyard, two young men stood across each other.
“Senior Brother Qi, even if Duan Ling Tian doesn’t accept my death duel invitation, I’ll still cripple him! My master will definitely be able to keep me safe from the consequences.” Feng Fan smiled as he looked at Zhou Qi. “If he dares to accept my death duel invitation… Well, the day he accepts the invitation will also be the day he dies!”
“Junior Brother Fan, I feel grateful to you.” Zhou Qi expressed his grat.i.tude by cupping both of his hands in front of his chest.
Although Feng Fan was an outer court disciple, Zhou Qi did not look down on him at all.
It was not just because he was a powerhouse ranked in the Earth Ranking, but it was mostly because Feng Fan’s master was also an inner court elder in the Moon Illumination Sect… In fact, Feng Fan’s master’s position was even higher than his own master, Liu Huan, in the inner court. Even his master, Liu Huan, had to address him as Senior Brother when they meet.
Naturally, not many people in the Moon Illumination Sect knew that Feng Fan had an inner court elder as a master. In fact, no one in the outer court knew about this at all.
Even the outer court elders and deacons did not know there was a highly respected inner court elder supporting Feng Fan. If they found out about this, they would understand why Feng Fan had declined to become their disciple.
What a joke!
He already had an inner court elder who was well respected in the sect as his master. How could he possibly take a liking to the outer court elders, let alone the outer court deacons whose position was just slightly higher than ordinary inner court disciples?
As for the reason Feng Fan’s master did not expose Feng Fan’s ident.i.ty to the public, it was to train him.
“Senior Brother Qi, is there a need for you to thank me? When I was training outside previously, I would’ve died if you didn’t lend me a helping hand. I’m indebted to you for saving my life. This is just a small matter, and I only need to lift one finger. It’s not worth mentioning at all.” Feng Fan shook his head in reply.
Upon hearing Feng Fan’s words, a fake smile appeared on Zhou Qi’s face. “No matter what, I’ll have to buy you drinks after this matter is dealt with!”
“Haha… I’ll wait for your invitation then.” Feng Fan laughed loudly.
After chatting idly for a while, Zhou Qi finally bid goodbye to Feng Fan and left. Under the cover of the night, he quietly left the outer court and returned to his master, Liu Huan’s mansion in the inner court.
“I can’t believe my spontaneous plan last time would come in handy during a critical moment… That Fang Fen still feels indebted to me until now.” When Zhou Qi returned to his own little courtyard, a prideful expression could be seen on his face.
At that time, he saw Feng Fan training outside and had purposely lured a fierce beast over to attack Feng Fan. When his life was hanging by a thread, Zhou Qi killed the ferocious beast and rescued him.
Due to this reason, Feng Fan felt indebted to him and regarded him as his life savior.
Until now, Feng Fan remained unaware of the fact that Zhou Qi was the one who had deliberately lured the ferocious beast over to him.
“Now that Feng Fan’s going to make a move, this Duan Ling Tian will definitely be crippled even if he doesn’t die! At that time, even if master finds out about him, he’ll get angry and punish me at the most. However, Duan Ling Tian will never be master’s disciple and sit on my head!” In Zhou Qi’s opinion, this trade was worth it.
However, Zhou Qi seemed to a.s.sume Duan Ling Tian would definitely agree to become Elder Liu Huan’s direct disciple if he was asked. It did not cross his mind that Duan Ling Tian might reject his master since he was only thinking from his own point of view. He would not have rejected it if he was Duan Ling Tian.
Moreover, if the Sect Leader of Moon Illumination Sect wanted to take him as a disciple, he would definitely betray his master without any hesitation and go to the Sect Leader of Moon Illumination Sect.
To him, whoever would benefit him most would be his boss.
Time continued to pa.s.s quietly.
When a radiant and contented Duan Ling Tian opened the door and walked out, two months had already pa.s.sed since he had entered the Moon Illumination Sect.
“Huh? Another duel invitation?” When Duan Ling Tian opened the room door, he heard a faint sound. He casually reached out and grabbed the special paper that was falling to the ground.
“Look! Senior Brother Duan Ling Tian finally came out from his closed-door cultivation!”
“He finally came out of his cultivation! I’ve waited here for 20 days already!
“Tsk, you only waited for 20 days? I’ve waited for 22 days okay?!”
“So what if you waited for 22 days? I’ve been waiting here since the day Senior Brother Feng Fan issued the duel invitation!”
…
Duan Ling Tian merely skimmed through the special paper in his hands to confirm it was a duel invitation. Before he had time to read it properly, he heard the commotion outside.
“It seems like newly opened Saint Veins are connected to the ears… My hearing seems to be several times better than before. They’re so far away, but I can still hear their discussion from here.” Duan Ling Tian’s eyes brightened immediately. A small excited smile appeared on his face immediately.
“Oh?” However, the smile on the corner of Duan Ling Tian’s mouth froze soon after. Not only that, but he even furrowed his brows.
This was because he heard the outer court disciples mentioned the words ‘Death duel invitation’ through his remarkable hearing. It seemed like they were talking about the duel invitation in his hands.
“Death duel invitation?” When Duan Ling Tian opened the duel invitation again, he finally noticed it was a death duel invitation.
There were three fingerprints on it.
“Feng Fan?” When he saw the name of the person who had issued the death duel invitation, his frown deepened. “Is he Liu Huan’s man?”
Duan Ling Tian finally learned about the matter through the discussion of the group of outer court disciples standing outside.
“Feng Fan is an outer court disciple who’s ranked fifth in the outer court? He’s even ranked 99th in the Earth Ranking? In terms of strength, he’s comparable to someone at the Early Saint Rudiment Stage?” Duan Ling Tian finally gained some information about the person who had issued him a challenge.
“I can’t believe there’s someone like that among Liu Huan’s men.” Duan Ling Tian smirked as his eyes gleamed coldly.
In the next instant, he walked out of the independent courtyard and revealed himself to the group of outer court disciples. Everybody’s eyes were trained on him.
Under the watchful eyes of the others, Duan Ling Tian picked up the death duel invitation.
“S-Senior Brother Duan Ling Tian i-is trying to tear the duel invitation?”
“As I expected, Senior Brother Duan Ling Tian doesn’t dare to accept the invitation!”
“That’s a death duel invitation after all. Would you dare to accept it if it were you? Moreover, with Senior Brother Duan Ling Tian’s age, naturally, he would not dare to look for trouble with someone in the Earth Ranking like Senior Brother Feng Fan.”
…
Many outer court disciples whispered to one another. All of them thought Duan Ling Tian was going to tear and reject the death duel invitation that Feng Fan issued him.
Due to the new Saint Veins he had opened up that were connected to his ears, Duan Ling Tian could hear the whispers of the group of the outer court disciples outside even though he had yet to cultivate his hearing to the Clairaudience stage.
“Reject?” Duan Ling Tian snorted in his heart.
Maybe he would reject it if this happened a month ago.
However, right now…
In the next instant, the outer court disciples whispering to one another were stunned when they saw Duan Ling Tian’s action.
They were dumbfounded when they saw Duan Ling Tian placing his fingerprint on the death duel invitation instead of tearing it up. His movement was as smooth as flowing water.
The death duel invitation was valid now that it had the fingerprints of the challenger, the one who was challenged, and the two outer court elders.