Chapter 1230
While Duan Ling Tian was cultivating, he did not forget to raise his Fused and Sword Profundity.
Now that he was interrupted suddenly and broken out of his intense concentration, it was no surprise that he was pissed.
Because of this, the moment when he regained his senses and opened his eyes, Duan Ling Tian's face darkened instantly.
"Get out!" A boisterous voice rang impatiently from outside the thatched cottage. With a slam, the door was kicked open.
A chilly glimmer flashed across Duan Ling Tian's eyes as he sat cross-legged in the air. He gradually descended and stood on the floor before walking out of the thatched cottage slowly.
After he exited, in just one glance, he saw the sole person standing outside the thatched cottage.
It was a brawny man with a sturdy body but a wretched and ugly face. The man had a pair of triangular eyes that were glaring at him with an icy, sharp light gleaming in them.
"Boy, I really must admire you... Just a mere First Level Void Interpretation Stage martial artist and you still dare to join the Selection of the Martial Emperor's disciples and followers." The ugly, muscular man had nothing but mockery for him.
"Oh?" Upon hearing him, Duan Ling Tian frowned right away.
Not many people knew about the fact that he was a First Level Void Interpretation Stage martial artist. At that rundown place, only two people knew about it.
At once, Duan Ling Tian cast a glance at his surroundings. He noticed most of the occupants walking out of the thatched houses. All of them were looking at the commotion happening at his place right then.
Soon, he recognized two people among those who were watching the commotion. They were the Third Level Martial Monarchs who Qiao Zhong had brought there together with him. They were also the only two people there who knew about his identity.
One of the men was looking at him in pity, while the other was watching him with a face full of derision.
"This man is here looking for trouble with me... Are you the ones who instigated it?" Duan Ling Tian glared coldly at the latter and asked in a deep voice.
It was needless to speculate because he knew that the stocky man had come looking for him after somebody had leaked his identity on purpose.
Upon hearing him, the man, who was looking at Duan Ling Tian mockingly, admitted straightforwardly, "So what if it's me?"
"Duan Ling Tian, the thatched houses here are all already full with people... This brother just arrived and he has no place to stay. By right, you, who are only the Void Interpretation Stage martial artist, should clear out the thatched cottage for him." As he spoke, the ridicule in his expression became even more apparent.
He particularly emphasized the five words "Void Interpretation Stage martial artist".
"Boy, since I've made a breakthrough to the Martial Monarch Stage, I've yet to cast any attack on a Void Interpretation Stage martial artist before. Today, let me have a taste of what crushing an ant to its death with just one finger feels like!" The ugly, brawny man slowly grinned. His wretched face twisted with a crooked smile that was even uglier than a crying expression.
At the same time, he took a stride forward towards Duan Ling Tian.
Boom!
At that instant, his Origin Energy transformed into milky-white flames that soared up as it emitted a vast, heavy aura, causing the surrounding air to vibrate as it set off a series of faint detonations.
As 3,000 silhouettes of ancient horned dragons appeared above the brawny man's head, he thrust out a palm and swept downwards towards Duan Ling Tian like a fanned leaf in full fury.
Using just his Origin Energy, he managed to mobilize the Heaven and Earth Energy together to form 3,000 silhouettes of ancient horned dragons.
That was an indicator of him being on the Second Level Martial Monarch Stage.
The onlookers thought to themselves, "He's going to die!"
"He's only at the First Level Void Interpretation, yet he still dares to join the Selection of the Martial Emperor's disciples and followers? Isn't he afraid of dying?"
...
In the sky, two old men were hovering right there.
Looking at how the brawny man made his move towards Duan Ling Tian, one of the old men told the other, "Qiao Zhong, it looks like he won't be able to make it to the Selection of the Martial Emperor's disciples and followers in three months."
The other old man was none other than Qiao Zhong, the person who had brought Duan Ling Tian there.
The moment Qiao Zhong heard his companion, he replied nonchalantly, "That's his decision."
Then, losing their interest, the two old men retracted their gazes. In their opinions, there was no suspense in whatever was going to happen next.
They had no doubt that Duan Ling Tian would definitely be killed by the muscular man who possessed a Second Level Martial Monarch Stage cultivation base.
Boom!
In the next second, a loud sound reverberated. Everyone's ears echoed with a deafening noise.
The two men shifted their gazes towards the bottom again.
"T-This..." They froze almost at the same time as a shocked expression crept upon their faces tacitly.
What they saw completely went beyond their imaginations.
The person, who they thought would have died, did not die. Instead, the person who should have triumphed had succumbed to death! To be more precise, he had transformed into a bloody mist that enveloped the entire sky. He had died without even leaving a corpse for burial.
As the ugly man transformed into a widespread bloody mist, Duan Ling Tian stood in the same spot and spat out a single word nonchalantly in a calm tone, "Idiot!"
At that moment, everyone present could see that although the brawny man had exploded into a bloody mist at only just a foot away from the purple-clad young man, not the slightest trace of blood could be seen at all on the latter.
"H-He's a Void Interpretation Stage martial artist? You must be joking!"
"That guy on the Second Level Martial Monarch Stage didn't even have the time to react before he perished by his hand."
"Did you see his moves clearly?"
"I only saw a residual image that disappeared the moment it appeared."
...
A commotion broke out on the spot.
The way the group of people viewed Duan Ling Tian had changed by 180 degrees. They were filled with respect and fear.
"How is this even possible?!" The Third Level Martial Monarch Stage martial artist who had betrayed Duan Ling Tian turned pale. He could not believe all this to be true.
The very person who had demonstrated a cultivation base of First Level Void Interpretation Stage just three months ago could now kill a Second Level Martial Monarch in just one blow!
In addition to that, the speed at which he launched his assault was so fast that he could barely catch any trace at all.
Soon, the Third Level Martial Monarch narrowed his eyes. Before he could even make out what was happening, a familiar figure had already appeared in front of him.
"D-Duan..." Opening his mouth, he tried to speak, but he did not have the opportunity to finish his sentence at all for Duan Ling Tian had already made his move and killed him.
In just the blink of an eye, Duan Ling Tian had already exterminated two people, making everyone regard him as the Killing God. Each of them was looking at him with dread.
"I'm lucky that I didn't scheme against him like that idiot did." As the other man who arrived with Duan Ling Tian previously gasped in horror, he secretly rejoiced at the same time.
"The guy who's just been killed spread the fake news, saying that the purple-clad young man was a First Level Void Interoperation Stage martial artist... It must've never crossed his mind that not only had he caused the death of somebody else, but he also expedited his own death too!"
"If such a powerhouse is already on the First Level Void Interpretation Stage, then wouldn't I be even worse than the Void Prying Stage?"
"Judging from his strength, he shouldn't belong here with us at all."
...
The group of people buried their heads in a heated discussion as they peered at Duan Ling Tian with terror.
These people had either arrived there before Duan Ling Tian or after him.
However, they all had one similarity — all of them were martial artists below the Fourth Level Martial Monarch Stage.
In the sky, the old man dressed in a green robe was looking at Qiao Zhong peculiarly as he asked, "Qiao Zhong, are you sure that he's only a Void Interpretation Stage martial artist?"
"Impossible!" Qiao Zhong ignored the green-robed old man. He stared at the purple-colored figure with bafflement and disbelief.
Three months ago, the cultivation base that this purple-clad young man demonstrated was at the First Level Void Interpretation Stage. He had witnessed it with his own eyes and did not think that it was fake.
However, now that the purple-clad young man had made his move, he demonstrated a strength that was nowhere below the Fifth or Sixth Level Martial Monarch Stage. He had also witnessed this with his own eyes, so it must be true as well.
For this very reason, he was confused.
What exactly could have accelerated a First Level Void Interpretation Stage martial artist's strength to such a horrifying level three months later?
"D-Duan Ling Tian." Suddenly, a Voice Transmission entered Duan Ling Tian's ears.
The moment Duan Ling Tian heard this, he immediately turned to look in the direction of the voice. He soon noticed that the person who was interacting with him through the Voice Transmission was the other person who had arrived together with him and Qiao Zhong.
"Anything?" Duan Ling Tian asked through his Voice Transmission.
"Duan Ling Tian, with your strength, you could've completely defeated everyone at that pavilion behind the staircase and taken that pavilion for yourself. The environment there is much better than here," resonated the Voice Transmission again.
"The pavilion?" Upon hearing this, Duan Ling Tian looked at the higher section of the other side of the staircase. There stood another stone platform and there was an exquisite pavilion sitting atop the stone platform.
When he first arrived, he had already seen the pavilion.
At that time, he thought that the residence belonged to Qiao Zhong and another Martial Emperor's disciple of Ling Xuan Peak. For this reason, he had not given it much thought anymore.
However, somebody had just told him that he could have actually defeated the people inside the pavilion and wrested that pavilion as his own?
"From the very start, we were wrong... That pavilion was a residence for us to stay too. However, the strongest among us is qualified to stay there," continued the person who reminded Duan Ling Tian as if he read the question in his mind.
Even though Duan Ling Tian did not gather his Heaven and Earth energy to become the Heaven and Earth Phenomenon earlier during his two attacks, he could see that Duan Ling Tian's strength was far from that of the person who had taken the pavilion for himself. No matter how strong that person was, he was only on the Third Level Martial Monarch Stage.
That person did not necessarily possess the strength to kill the two men in just one blow as Duan Ling Tian had done.
Right at this moment, Qiao Zhong's words seemed to echo in Duan Ling Tian's ears again, "If you really find it dirty, you can change your accommodation as you see fits."
That day, Duan Ling Tian had wondered why Qiao Zhong would have uttered such peculiar words.
Now, he finally understood.
"Looks like there's a show for us to watch."
"That guy has taken that pavilion for himself for two entire months... It's time he moved his nest away."
...
Many people noticed Duan Ling Tian looking at the pavilion above the stone platform behind the staircase. They could guess what he was thinking about and at once, they were consumed with excitement and anticipation.
Under the watchful eyes of the others, Duan Ling Tian was prepared to make his move.
"So, it's you who killed my brother." A cold voice resonated from the sky, halting him in his tracks as he looked towards the direction of the voice.
In the air, three figures were descending from the sky. The leader was a middle-aged man in a green robe who was glaring at him with sharply.