Chapter 1229: A Difference of Heaven and Earth

There were only three people who remained behind, including Duan Ling Tian.

They were all below the Fourth Level Martial Monarch Stage, so their accommodation for the next six months was entirely different from the other two groups of people.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The trio followed the old man and headed towards the other side of Ling Xuan Peak.

"In the next six months, another Martial Emperor's disciple of Ling Xuan Peak and I will protect you. I'm Qiao Zhong, a Martial Emperor's disciple of Ling Xuan Peak," the old man introduced to them.

A Martial Emperor's disciple!

Upon hearing Qiao Zhong's words, other than Duan Ling Tian who remained calm from the very beginning, the other two were slightly taken aback.

However, the moment they recalled what Qiao Zhong had said earlier, they exchanged glances with each other and were rendered speechless.

"Protect?"

As the Martial Emperor's cultivation place, outsiders were not usually allowed at Ling Xuan Peak, so how could there be anyone that could pose as a threat to them?

Nobody could harm them, so there was no need for protection at all.

"The word 'protect' is inaccurate. 'Monitoring' is more like it," the two of them thought to themselves.

Not long ago, Qiao Zhong had announced that whoever who came to join the Selection of the Martial Emperor's disciples and followers at Ling Xuan Peak was not allowed to withdraw at the last minute. One must go through at least one round of the Selection of the Martial Emperor's disciples and followers.

Qiao Zhong spoke again, "Introduce yourselves."

The two of men could not help but be stunned again. They believed that Qiao Zhong had some other intention of asking them to introduce themselves.

It was far beneath Qiao Zhong's dignity to learn the names of unimportant people like them.

Right then, the reason Qiao Zhong had asked for their names was pretty obvious. He actually wanted to know the name of the other purple-clad young man.

As expected, after the two men introduced themselves, Qiao Zhong merely nodded his head indifferently, not giving a damn at all.

His gaze quickly landed on Duan Ling Tian who had yet to speak before he asked coolly, "What's your name?"

"Duan Ling Tian." From the beginning till the end, Duan Ling Tian never lifted up his head to look at Qiao Zhong at all.

Qiao Zhong was a little infuriated. How dare this boy who was only on the First Level Void Interpretation act so unbridled in front of him?

"Hmph! A good name, but it's a pity that you've made the wrong choice," Qiao Zhong snorted.

Upon hearing Qiao Zhong's words, Duan Ling Tian ignored him completely, turning a deaf ear to him.

The other two agreed with Qiao Zhong as well. They did not think Duan Ling Tian would be able to survive the next six months and at once, there was a hint of pity in their eyes.

Soon, Qiao Zhong brought them to the middle of the mountain on the other side of Ling Xuan Peak.

There were two spacious stone platforms separated by a long staircase.

On top of the platforms stood a multi-story pavilion that was surrounded by a layer of white mist. It was like a magnificent jade palace in a paradise.

The white mist surrounding the pavilion gathered from all over the place.

"An Origin Drawing Formation." Frowning, Duan Ling Tian could see that there was an Inscription Formation on the pavilion above the stone platform in just one glance.

This Inscription Formation gathered all of the Origin Energy that arose from the supreme and high-grade Origin Stones and transformed into a great cultivation site.

Cultivating in this pavilion would yield twice the results with just half the effort.

However, this was only for an ordinary martial artist.

To Duan Ling Tian, even if the Origin Drawing Formation gathered the Origin Energy that came from the supreme grade Origin Stone, it still would not be of much help to him.

At that moment, his cultivation base was advancing at a tremendous pace; it was not something an ordinary person could match.

Even if the Origin Energy originated from the supreme grade Origin Stones, it would only be adding brilliance to an already perfect state. To him, it was not worth mentioning at all.

"That stone platform that has the pavilion situated atop it has an Origin Drawing Formation. This Origin Drawing Formation was personally set up by the Martial Emperor Stage Inscription Formation who our Ling Xuan Peak's Lord Martial Emperor invited over." While Duan Ling Tian was studying the pavilion, Qiao Zhong started to introduce it as well, "When you cultivate on top of it, your cultivation base will make progress at an extremely fast rate. It's no inferior to absorbing the supreme grade Origin Stone directly as you cultivate."

Gasps filled the air.

Upon hearing Qiao Zhong's words, the other two men could not help but inhale a deep breath. They gazed at the pavilion in the distance, their eyes filled with a burning heat.

"As for the other stone platform..." With the shift of Qiao Zhong's gaze, the three of them shifted their gaze to the platform below the staircase as well.

Compared to the stone platform above, this stone platform was much worse. In other words, it was so abominable!

Juxtaposed to the stone platform above, it was a complete difference between heaven and earth.

On this stone platform, there stood many thatched cottages that were casually built from weeds and wood. These thatched cottages were scattered around the stone platform and appeared to be very miserable and shabby.

"All of you, go and randomly find a thatched cottage to stay in. In the next six months, you're not allowed to leave within a 1,000-meter radius from this place. Otherwise, you'll be regarded as fleeing and the consequences will be none other than death!" Zhong Qiao warned in a harsh tone.

"Don't take your chances at all!" Qiao Zhong's gaze landed particularly on Duan Ling Tian before he continued, "In the next six months, this place will be guarded by another Martial Emperor's disciple from Ling Xuan Peak and me. Usually, one of us will pick more people up while the other will stay here to guard."

"Lord Qiao Zhong, are w-we gonna stay in these t-thatched cottages?" The other two stared at the thatched cottages in front of them in horror and could not help but frown with a look of apparent disgust on their faces.

"Why? Do you find them dirty?" Qiao Zhong sneered. "If you really find them dirty, you can change your accommodation environment as you see fits. On top of that, I want to warn you about something."

He paused for a moment before continuing again, "Killing is allowed here. Even if the weaker ones die, we won't give a damn at all!"

As he spoke, he looked at Duan Ling Tian again.

The other two men appeared nasty as they turned to look at Duan Ling Tian in unison too.

For a moment, their mood was lifted.

Compared to the purple-clad young man, they were no doubt much safer. After all, they were both on the Third Level Martial Monarch Stage.

The strongest martial artist there was a Third Level Martial Monarch anyway.

"Go!" After Qiao Zhong spat out a single word, he left and disappeared without a trace.

At once, Duan Ling Tian and the other two descended.

"Little Brother Duan, you're too rash... Given your strength now, you might not even be able to survive here for the next six months." One of the men looked at Duan Ling Tian and sighed.

"Take your ego down a notch and live properly. That way, you might still be able to live slightly longer. If I were you, I'd find a thatched cottage to stay and never leave it at all up until the day the Selection of the Martial Emperor's disciples and followers starts." The other man snorted. The gaze that he looked at Duan Ling Tian with was filled with mockery. He was taunting him for overestimating himself too much.

Noticing Duan Ling Tian's silence, they soon lost interest and did not comment anymore.

Quickly, the trio landed on the stone platform scattered with the thatched cottages.

"It stinks!" The moment they got near, the other two frowned right away. Disgust was written all over their faces.

Duan Ling Tian also picked up the stench that rushed towards them. The foul odor came from the thatched cottages in front of them. To be more precise, it came from the weeds above the thatched cottages. These weeds had the droppings of various birds stuck in between them and were extremely pungent.

"Compared to here, the pavilion above that stone platform is basically heaven!" The other two looked towards the stone platform that had a staircase leading up to it in unison. There stood a residence, a cultivation place that one would crave for in their dreams.

"However, that must be the residence of Ling Xuan Peak's Martial Emperor's disciple who is responsible for watching over us," one of the men speculated.

"I think so too." The other man nodded.

"We need to stay at this disgusting place for six months? Are you kidding me?" They looked at the thatched cottages in front and sighed.

"Let's not stay in the thatched cottage! Let's cultivate at those rocks somewhere far away. Or perhaps we could just hover in the air cross-legged and cultivate," one of them suggested.

"That's a great idea!" The other person's eyes lit up right away.

"Do you think that you're the only one who thought of this idea?" Right then, Duan Ling Tian finally spoke up. "Look at the shoe imprints in front of the doors of these thatched cottages. It's apparent that many people are living inside. Do you think they would've stayed inside willingly?"

Just as the two were taken aback, a familiar voice entered their ears clearly.

"Those who don't have the intention to battle or to kill but are still wandering around to hang out ten meters away from the residence will die!" They could tell that it was Qiao Zhong's voice.

Although Qiao Zhong's words were short, his meaning was apparent.

They had to either battle or kill somebody, or just stay ten meters within the thatched cottage obediently and enjoy the distinct smell of the thatched cottage.

Upon hearing Qiao Zhong's words, the other two men beside Duan Ling Tian turned pale right away, Hastily, they each found an unoccupied thatched cottage and entered, burying themselves inside completely.

Duan Ling Tian also found a thatched cottage and walked into it.

The thatched cottage was completely empty. If he wanted to cultivate, he would have to hover in the air cross-legged to cultivate.

The odor in the thatched cottage became even stronger. However, it did not seem to bother him at all to the point that even he found it strange too. "How odd. The smell doesn't actually bother me at all..."

What Duan Ling Tian did not know was that in the memory which he lost, there was a part of his memory that belonged to his past reincarnation when he was still on Earth.

During his past reincarnation, he was the strongest Weapons Specialist on Earth. Throughout his life of being in the Special Forces as a mercenary, he had gone through countless hardships on an arduous journey. He had been through worse environments before.

To himself in the past reincarnation, this rank odor from the thatched cottage was nothing.

Even though he had now lost that part of his memory, he could still accept the odor by instinct and was not truly repulsed by it.

Hovering cross-legged in the air, Duan Ling Tian gradually shut his eyes, clearing his eyes as he meditated.

Nine Dragons War Sovereign Technique — The Seventh Form!

Currently, his cultivation base was only at the First Level Void Interpretation Stage, so he could only cultivate the Seventh Form of the Nine Dragons War Sovereign Technique in the meantime. Only until he had made a breakthrough to the Void Transformation Stage would he be able to cultivate the Eighth Form.

To him, the Void Transformation Stage was not far away.

Bang!

Duan Ling Tian did not know how long he had been cultivating for. It was only when a long bang resonated and the door of his thatched cottage was kicked open that he finally regained his senses.