Chapter 1565: The Devil Inscription?
In Windfall Nation, the people bestowed with the title Imperial Highness were undoubtedly the princes of Windfall Nation's Emperor.
As a sixth-rate Saint Nation, the Windfall Nation, naturally, had very powerful backing. A seventh-rate force like the Moon Illumination Sect could hardly compare to it.
The Moon Illumination Sect only had a few Saint Stage powerhouses, and they were the weakest kind of Saint Stage powerhouses.
In a top sixth-rate force like Windfall Nation's Imperial family, there were several dozens of Saint Stage powerhouses at the very least and most of them were powerful Saint Stage powerhouses as well.
Duan Ling Tian did not destroy the bodies of the bandits and get rid of the evidence because he did not feel there was a need to.
In Duan Ling Tian's opinion, the group of bandits was just equivalent to an eighth-rate force. An eighth-rate force was not enough for him to take them seriously. Due to this reason, he was too lazy to spend more effort to destroy the bodies.
However, it did not cross Duan Ling Tian's mind that a mere Great Chief of an eighth-rate bandit group would actually have connections with a sixth-rate force, Windfall Nation's Imperial Family. If he had known about it, he would not have spared the efforts and would have destroyed the bodies.
Everyone would make a mistake at some point in their lives. Duan Ling Tian's mistake was underestimating his enemy.
Naturally, Duan Ling Tian was unaware of this as he made his way to the capital of Windfall Nation.
'With my speed, I should be able to reach the capital of Windfall Nation by tomorrow,' Duan Ling Tian thought to himself as he made his journey there on his flying sword.
Almost at the same time, at the hideaway of the bandits Duan Ling Tian had killed, the old man, also the Great Chief of the bandits, finally got his hands on Duan Ling Tian's portrait and was about to make his way to the capital of Windfall Nation.
Duan Ling Tian would be surprised if he had seen the portrait since it resembled him by 90%. If one were to see the portrait and then see him, they would definitely be able to tell it was him.
After a few days, the middle-aged scholar who was also the Second Chief had also calmed down a lot. Before the old man departed, he could not help but ask, "Big brother, the promise that Fourth Imperial Highness made to you was in exchange for the remaining of your life... D-Do you really want to use it to avenge Third Brother?"
"Second Brother, don't say such words again next time. I don't like listening to them," the old man said in a deep voice.
"Big brother, if Third Brother finds out in the nether world that you're doing this, he would definitely be very happy," the middle-aged scholar said.
"So what if he's happy? He's already dead like an extinguished lamp... Alright, that's enough. It's time for me to leave." The moment the old man's words left his mouth, he left.
Watching the old man's disappearing silhouette until it completely vanished before his eyes, the middle-aged man finally returned to his senses. He muttered to himself, "Big Brother, if I was the one who died, would you also use the promise the Fourth Imperial Highness had given you to avenge me?" He fell into a trance as he thought about this.
At the capital of Windfall Nation.
Although Duan Ling Tian had seen the grandeur of the Nine Sect Alliances' Han River City, he was still stunned by the capital of Windfall Nation.
Originally, in his opinion, the biggest city on Cloud Continent was just like a little village compared to Han River City.
However, after he arrived at the capital of Windfall Nation, he gained a deeper understanding of the proverb, 'There would always be a higher mountain'. Compared to Windfall Nation's capital, Han River City was just like a provincial little town. In regard to appearance or size, they could not be compared at all.
When Duan Ling Tian arrived in the capital of Windfall Nation, he kept a low profile and traveled by feet.
Naturally, this was because he had no other choice other than to be humble. When he approached the capital of Windfall Nation, he realized they had a Flight Prohibition Formation as well. This Flight Prohibition Formation was almost similar to the one in Moon Illumination Sect just that the area it covered was more vast and setting it up was even more difficult.
After Duan Ling Tian arrived at the capital of Windfall Nation, the first thing he did was walked into a restaurant.
Whether it was Cloud Continent or the Dao Martial Saint Land, the liveliest place and the place with the latest news were undoubtedly restaurants.
He did not blindly come to the capital of Windfall Nation, he had come with a purpose.
First, he wanted to see if Bai Li Hong had brought Feng Wu Dao and the others to Windfall Nation.
Second, he wanted to see if he could get some information about Xue Nai's background.
"This Xue Nai is really... Why didn't she tell me the name of her sect? Now that I want to find her, I don't even know from where to begin." Duan Ling Tian sighed.
The clues he could glean from Xue Nai were about those fifth-grade and fourth-grade Saint Stones and that her surname was Han.
Duan Ling Tian wanted to look for Xue Nai not because he wanted support although he could tell that she did not have as simple a background as it seemed. His purpose was to find his fiancée, Li Fei.
"As I suspected earlier, the sect behind Xue Nai must be a fifth-rate force or clan." After putting everything he knew together, Duan Ling Tian speculated on his own, "Han Clan. A family with the surname Han... I'll ask around in Windfall Nation."
As time went by, the dishes Duan Ling Tian had ordered were also sent to his table.
At the same time, the number of people in the restaurant had also increased. Naturally, the restaurant was bustling now that there were more people.
At this time, Duan Ling Tian had also heard of many rumors. All of them were mostly about some good-for-nothing rich kids of some families in the capital of Windfall Nation.
However, during this time, Duan Ling Tian was inwardly surprised as well. From what he could glean from the conversations around him, some of the clans in Windfall Nation's capital had strength on par with a seventh-rate force. These clans mostly had several Saint Stage powerhouses guarding them.
"The strength of these clans in the capital of Windfall Nation is not inferior to the Moon Illumination Sect." At this moment, Duan Ling Tian realized his perspective had broadened again.
Previously, when he was in the Nine Sect Alliances, the Moon Illumination Sect might not be the strongest sect, but it was still a force to be reckoned with.
However, the moment he reached the capital of Windfall Nation, he finally realized the Moon Illumination Sect was nothing here.
Just from the clans he heard the others mentioned earlier, there were already three clans whose strength was on par with the Moon Illumination Sect.
Moreover, in Windfall Nation, apart from the capital, it was apparent there were also many sixth-rate forces... Now that he was comparing the both of them, Duan Ling Tian suddenly realized how small the Nine Sect Alliances was. He felt he made the right choice coming here.
"Have you heard? The condition of the Great Young Master from Situ Clan seems to be getting worse... Apparently, he won't be able to live until the end of this month." A middle-aged man sitting at a table near Duan Ling Tian told the other middle-aged sitting at the same table. He had deliberately lowered his voice as though he was afraid someone would overhear him.
If Duan Ling Tian did not open the Saint Veins connected to both his ears, he would not have been able to hear it even though his cultivation base was at the Paramount Saint Rudiment Stage.
However, Duan Ling Tian could hear him very clearly right now.
"Situ Clan?" Duan Ling Tian's heart jolted. He learned more about the Situ Clan from the conversations of the customers in the restaurant.
The Situ Clan could be considered as a huge clan that ranked in the top in the capital of Windfall Nation. Moreover, it was related to the Windfall Nation's Imperial Family in innumerable ways. It was said that the younger sister of the current Clan Leader of Situ Clan was the highest-ranking imperial concubine and most loved imperial concubine of the current Emperor of Windfall Nation.
The other man also deliberately lowered his voice as he asked, "Situ Clan's Great Young Master? The one who's rumored to be bewitched previously?"
"That's right! That's him!" The former nodded. "Actually, he's pretty unlucky. Not long after His Majesty bestowed a Saint Weapon carved with a Four Star Saint Inscription to him, he was bewitched. I think he just doesn't have the fate to enjoy the gift His Majesty had bestowed him."
"How strange... There are so many Saint Inscription Masters who excel in refining pills in the Imperial Family but none of them knows what's wrong with him," the latter said.
"I heard that those Saint Inscription Masters who excel in refining pills from the Imperial Family have checked his body before and confirmed there's nothing wrong with his body. They couldn't find any abnormalities at all," the former replied again.
"Then I guess it must be God's punishment... However, I heard the Great Young Master of Situ Clan is very nice. He's different from those good-for-nothing rich kids so why is God punishing him?"
"As the saying goes, 'Nice guys finish'."
"What a pity!"
"I heard the Clan Leader of Situ Clan has just offered a reward... Whoever manages to treat Great Young Master Situ will be rewarded with a Four Star Divine Strider Talisman and a Four Star Golden Energy Talisman!"
"Even if he's able to take out a Four Star offensive Dao Talisman, I don't think anybody will be able to treat Great Young Master Situ."
"That's true! Put everything else aside, ever since Great Young Master Situ was bewitched, there's a black mark that resembles a spider in between his brows. Until now, nobody is able to recognize what it is."
...
Every word exchanged between the two middle-aged men entered Duan Ling Tian's ears.
"A black mark that resembles a spider?" When Duan Ling Tian heard the two men's words, he raised his eyebrows immediately when some information popped up in his mind. It was the information recorded in the Saint Token that contained the Strange Inscription Art given to him by his senior brother, Bai Li Hong.
"C-Could it be the Devil Inscription?" Duan Ling Tian was taken aback.
The Devil Inscription was also a type of the Saint Inscription. It was extremely rare.
In the Dao Martial Saint Land, usually, only Devil Cultivators who were also Saint Inscription Masters could master the Devil Inscription. The price was extremely high as well. Moreover, it was so rare that very few people in the Dao Martial Saint Land knew about it.
Besides, the requirement to inscribe a Devil Inscription was also exceptionally high.
The most important thing was, the Devil Inscription was unlike normal Saint Inscriptions. If one really wanted to categorize it, it would fall under the malignant category. It was a kind of Saint Inscription used to harm someone.
"Previously, they said the Great Young Master of Situ Clan has been bestowed a Saint Weapon from the Windfall Nation's Emperor before he met with this unfortunate incident... Besides, it's a Saint Weapon carved with a Four Star Saint Inscription! Don't tell me the Windfall Nation's Emperor wants him dead?" When Duan Ling Tian thought of this, he shook his head again. He did not think it was possible.
Since the sister of the Clan Leader of Situ Clan was an imperial concubine, then the Situ Clan's Great Young Master was the nephew of Windfall Nation's Emperor. There was no reason for the Emperor to harm him.