Chapter 1470: Three-Star Saint Inscription
Horizontal Lightning Slash!
It was the only offensive technique in the Human Rank Prominent Saint Grade Martial Tactic that He Zhong had cultivated. In fact, he had perfected it to the fourth stage, the Proficient Stage.
Right now, as he cast his movement technique, the Horizontal Stride, he soon arrived before Duan Ling Tian in just the blink of an eye. The three-foot blade that was as narrow as a twig charged towards Duan Ling Tian like a sharp thorn.
Horizontal Lightning Slash!
This attack was extremely speedy; it was so fast that it caused a sharp swishing to resonate in the air.
This swishing seemed to be able to pierce through everything, causing the crowd watching from the side to turn horrified right away too.
Of course, some of the outer court disciples whose cultivation bases were much lower could not even hear this sharp swishing sound at all.
Gargantuan Taishan!
In the face of this attack from He Zhong, Duan Ling Tian took out his Thousand Mass Sword and activated the Thousand Mass Saint Inscription. As he swept his sword out, it was like he had hoisted a mountain up and thrown it outward to head towards He Zhong's assault striking out forward.
"You've overestimated yourself!" In the face of this scene, He Zhong smirked. The True Energy from the sword in his hand pulsated like green electrical snakes that were wriggling around as it gave off a sense of pressure.
The moment this aura appeared, Duan Ling Tian's face turned grave right away.
This gush of aura gave him an invincible feeling.
Just like the sword in He Zhong's hand, it had suddenly undergone an earth-shattering transformation at this moment and turned to become invincible.
Rumble!
The Thousand Mass Sword sliced through the sky and brought along with it a series of thundering noises that charged towards He Zhong's Horizontal Lightning Slice.
He Zhong's Horizontal Lightning Slice, on the other hand, had traveled in a horizontal line from the beginning till the end, having no intention to dodge at all as it charged straight toward the Thousand Mass Sword that Duan Ling Tian hoisted up and crashed down. In the face of the broadsword that swept out at it boldly, it had no fear at all.
Finally, the sword in He Zhong's hand pierced Duan Ling Tian's Thousand Mass Sword.
Just as the corner of Duan Ling Tian's mouth smirked when he thought that his sword could send He Zhong and his sword flying away, a shocking scene took place in front of him.
The sneer by the corner of his mouth froze right away.
In confusion, he could see that the sword in He Zhong's hand seemed to be really capable of destroying all strongholds. As the Thousand Mass Sword in his hand was hoisted up and smashed out, Zheng He's sword had pierced through the True Energy he covered his Thousand Mass Sword with and went through the sword as well.
After piercing through the Thousand Mass Sword, the twig-like, narrow, three-foot blade pounded at him as though it had transformed into a poisonous snake.
It was so fast that it was completely atrocious.
Strange Pupil!
Within the time it would take for a lightning strike, Duan Ling Tian's Spiritual Energy swept out speedily and gushed into his left eye to activate his Strange Pupil.
At that instant, the speed of He Zhong's sword started to decrease its speed in the field of vision of his left eye.
Seizing the chance in the span of lightning, he quickly dodged to the side in a split second but still, he was still a step too late. He Zhong's sword brushed past his arm and tore his robe as fresh blood spurted out right away.
It pierced into his body deeply at once.
The piercing, heart-rending pain immediately shot up to Duan Ling Tian's consciousness through his nerves, causing him to gasp right away.
In the next instant, he quickly retreated backward.
He Zhong, on the other hand, did not seize this chance to chase him. With an overbearing manner, he looked down at Duan Ling Tian from the top with eyes that were filled with mockery. "Duan Ling Tian, you're not that impressive, are you?"
"What kind of Saint Inscription is that? It could actually pierce through the Thousand Mass Sword... No matter what, the Thousand Mass Sword is still an Earth Rank Primitive Saint Weapon!" The moment Duan Ling Tian recalled the scene just now, his heart was still filled with lingering fear. When he looked at the sword in He Zhong's hand, hints of dread could be seen in his eyes.
Not only had the sword ignored the impact force of the Thousand Mass Sword, but it had also even pierced through his True Energy and the Thousand Mass Sword to attack towards him.
The Thousand Mass Sword still had a hole as proof of the assault.
"The Thousand Mass Sword has actually been pierced through! Don't tell me that it's the Penetration Saint Inscription?!" An inner court disciple gasped and exclaimed out loud.
The Penetration Saint Inscription?
The moment his words left his mouth, the entire scene burst into a commotion right away.
"The sword in Senior Brother He Zhong's hand has actually been inscribed with a Three-Star Saint Inscription, the Penetration Saint Inscription?"
"As far as I know, there aren't many Saint Weapons that are inscribed with the Three-Star Saint Inscription, even in the Merit Pavilion... It would only appear once in a while. Besides, usually, when it appears, it'd be taken by the inner court elder right away."
"In the sect, higher-ranking officials like the inner court elders and above would usually have the wealth to buy a Saint Weapon that's inscribed with the Three-Star Saint Inscription!"
"The price of the Saint Weapon that's inscribed with the Three-Star Saint Inscription usually starts from one million Merit Points!"
...
The group of people watching by the side buried their heads in a discussion. The gazes that they looked at He Zhong were filled with wonder.
"Eh? That sword seems to be kinda familiar..." Somehow, looking at the sword in He Zhong's hand, an inner court disciple frowned as though he was trying to remember something.
The next instant, his eyes shone brightly as he cried out loud, "I remember now! That's the sword of our Elder Liu Huan from the inner court! I was once in luck to see Elder Liu Huan using this sword before... A Saint Weapon that's inscribed with the Three-Star Saint Inscription will never have a duplicate in the Moon Illumination Sect. It's obvious that the sword in He Zhong's hand is none other than the one that belongs to Elder Liu Huan."
"Elder Liu Huan's sword? I've never heard of He Zhong having any relationship with Elder Liu Huan at all... How come he has Elder Liu Huan's sword with him?" Many inner court disciples gaped at He Zhong in surprise.
"Perhaps He Zhong has been secretly taken by Elder Liu Huan as his direct disciple. As far as I know, the higher-ranking officials in the sect like to take talented disciples from the outer court in secretly. Only when these outer court disciples have entered the inner court, then their identities will be revealed," an inner court disciple chimed in.
"I've heard of this before. It looks like He Zhong must've been secretly trained by Elder Liu Huan," another inner court disciple added.
"Liu Huan?" The eyes of the spectators lit up right away the moment they heard the discussion between the group of inner court disciples.
"Has Elder Liu Huan already made his move? Unfortunately, this isn't a Death Duel." Huang Cheng, the outer court elder, who was at the scene from the start and concealed himself by the side watching the battle, smiled coldly. "However, even if it's not a Death Duel, with the enmity between Elder Liu Huan and Fang Hui, the City Governor of Mound Hill City, he would never let go of Duan Ling Tian this easily."
The enmity between Liu Huan and Fang Hui was not a secret in the Moon Illumination Sect.
Therefore, after knowing that Duan Ling Tian had come from Mound Hill City, Huang Cheng had been waiting to see him face his doom.
Huang Cheng was none other than the outer court elder who had lost 300,000 over Merit Points to Duan Ling Tian over a month ago. In this one month or so, he had been watching Duan Ling Tian and as long as he dared to leave the sect, he planned to instantly kill him right away.
Unfortunately, all this time that he had been watching Duan Ling Tian, he had never once left the sect to train at all.
"Elder Liu Huan?" Deng Wei, the outer court deacon, had also grinned. "Now that Elder Liu Huan's men have started to make their move, Duan Ling Tian will be crippled, if he doesn't die! With He Zhong's position in the outer court, he'll only suffer a punishment that's neither too light nor too heavy even if he cripples Duan Ling Tian."
Even though Duan Ling Tian was a talented Martial Cultivator, he would no longer be worthy to the Moon Illumination Sect if he was crippled.
However, He Zhong, on the other hand, would still be very valuable, so without a doubt, the Moon Illumination Sect would not punish him that severely.
Of course, if He Zhong dared to kill Duan Ling Tian, then it would be hard for him to escape death too.
That was because it was the rule of the Moon Illumination Sect. If there was anybody who still lived even after they had killed, the Moon Illumination Sect's prestige would be compromised and nobody would give a damn about the sect rules anymore in the future.
"Duan Ling Tian..." Ye Man was also present at the scene with anticipation glowing in his eyes.
He had also learned about the fact that Duan Ling Tian was from Mound Hill City and about the enmity between the inner court's Elder Liu Huan in these three months that he had entered the Moon Illumination Sect.
Therefore, he also felt that He Zhong would not let Duan Ling Tian go this easily.
Unlike before, Ye Man now itched for Duan Ling Tian to be crippled so that it would be easy for him to kill him once and for all.
"Three-Star Saint Inscription, the Penetration Saint Inscription? Liu Huan's sword?" Duan Ling Tian's turned slightly grave. It had never crossed his mind that Liu Huan would actually lend his sword to He Zhong for the sake of going against him.
However, the force of this Three-Star Saint Inscription had still baffled him.
The last time when he went to the Merit Pavilion, he did not come across any Saint Weapon that was inscribed with a Three-Star Saint Inscription before. Otherwise, he would have bought one for himself.
Horizontal Stride!
Horizontal Lightning Slice!
He Zhong, who heard how the onlooking inner court disciples spilled the origins of the sword in his hand, had also made his move again at that moment. When he made his move this time, the target of the sword in his hand was Duan Ling Tian's right hand that was holding on to the Thousand Mass Sword. It was as though he wanted to cut off Duan Ling Tian's right arm in just one slice.
In the face of He Zhong's atrociousness, Duan Ling Tian turned grave completely at once.
Instantly, he activated his Strange Pupil right away.
A steady flow of Spiritual Energy continued to accumulate in Duan Ling Tian's left eye, causing a tiny whirlpool to appear in his left eye. The speed of the whirlpool twirling kept increasing and in the end, it had almost reached its limit.
At this time, he had no choice but to use his Strange Pupil.
As the person ranked the third in the outer sect, He Zhong's strength was originally powerful. Adding on with the sword that was inscribed with the Three-Star Saint Inscription, the Penetration Saint Inscription, Duan Ling Tian had no way of blocking it at all.
The Strange Pupil was activated — Spatial Manipulation!
In that split second, the sword in He Zhong's hand was also shifted to one side, away from Duan Ling Tian's right arm.
Just as Duan Ling Tian breathed a sigh of relief, he was shocked to find that the gaze that He Zhong was looking at him with seemed to have a hint of revelation in it. However, there was no hint of panic at all as though he had long known that this would happen.
"Has he already known about it?" Duan Ling Tian's heart gave a jolt as an ominous premonition rose in his heart.
"Duan Ling Tian, Feng Fan must have died under your Spiritual Secret Tacti, did he not? Your Spiritual Secret Tactic is indeed remarkable to the point that you can actually move the Horizontal Lightning Slice that I exerted with my entire strength away... However, it's time for all of this to end now." He Zhong's True Energy Voice Transmission pierced into his eardrums, resonating with the impending feeling that haunted Duan Ling Tian.
In the next instant, Duan Ling Tian realized that a yellow paper that was densely inscribed with a series of complicated markings had appeared in He Zhong's other hand.
"It's a Dao Talisman!" When the crowd recognized that it was a Dao Talisman, so did Duan Ling Tian.
Just as the Dao Talisman was blasted toward Duan Ling Tian's side by inertia, He Zhong, who was glaring deadly at Duan Ling Tian, suddenly shouted out loudly, "Appear!"