Chapter 1639: A Change of the Tides
Soon after, the Devilseal Tablet arrived before King Qian. The black light surrounding it also began to fade away. Then, the Devilseal Tablet returned to its simple appearance and landed in King Qian's outstretched hands.
King Qian was filled with excitement when the Devilseal Tablet dropped into his hands.
At this moment, everyone, apart from Duan Ling Tian, had their attention on King Qian. To be more precise, their attention was on the Devilseal Tablet.
Since the Devilseal Tablet appeared, it was destined to be at the center of attention.
Whoosh!
When everyone's eyes, including Lin Dong, was trained on the Devilseal Tablet in King Qian's hands, the sound of sword whistling in the air sounded before it quickly faded away. Only the Saint Stage powerhouses present on the scene could hear it clearly. This included Lin Dong as well.
"Shit!" As soon as Lin Dong heard the sound of sword whistling in the air, he knew what was going on. He could feel a terrifying aura directed at him. The aura was filled with killing intent, causing horror to dawn on his face. This was also destined to be the last expression he had on his face.
When the group of Saint Stage powerhouses turned their heads, they only saw a sword ray disappearing into the horizon.
Meanwhile, Lin Dong had been cut into two.
As for Lin Dong's opponent, Duan Ling Tian, he still maintained the pose of wielding a sword. However, he had put away the sword he was using before this. It was replaced by a three-foot-long blade that was formed from True Energy. Its aura was piercing as it continued to shoot out sword rays.
"T-This..." The group of Saint Stage powerhouses who had regained their senses was confused when they saw Lin Dong had died just like that. They did not expect something like that would happen.
Did Lin Dong who had already broken through to the Saint Stage just get killed by Duan Ling Tian's sword in just one move?
"Lin Dong's attention was on the Devilseal Tablet, that provided Duan Ling Tian with a chance to kill him with a sneak attack, right?" Many of the Saint Stage powerhouses' hearts jolted as they speculated among themselves.
However, this speculation was soon rejected.
Even if it was a sneak attack, it was impossible for a non-Saint Stage Martial Cultivator to harm a Saint Stage powerhouse even if that Saint Stage powerhouse had just made a breakthrough.
There was a huge chasm between a non-Saint Stage powerhouse and a Saint Stage powerhouse. Both of them were in two different leagues.
Due to this reason, it was impossible for Duan Ling Tian to kill Lin Dong even if it was a sneak attack. However, the truth was staring at them in their eyes. They had no choice but to believe this.
Only the group of Saint Stage powerhouses paid attention to this. As for the others, their attention was still on the Devilseal Tablet in King Qian's hands. The temptation of the Devilseal Tablet was just too strong, they did not even realize that Lin Dong had been killed.
Naturally, this was because they did not hear the sound of sword whistling in the air that disappeared as soon as it appeared.
The group of Saint Stage powerhouses was baffled. They all looked at Duan Ling Tian in shock before they remembered the Devilseal Tablet. In just an instant, their attention was back on King Qian.
Between Lin Dong's death and the Devilseal Tablet, it was obvious the latter was more interesting to them.
The two old men who had returned to King Qian's side said to him, "Fourth Imperial Highness, Lin Dong is dead."
"WHAT?!" King Qian jolted when he heard the two old men's words. As though a bucket of cold water was poured on him, he instantly regained his senses.
He looked at the spot in the sky where he had last seen Lin Dong. However, there was only a faint blood mist left in the sky. Lin Dong, on the other hand, had disappeared without a trace.
"What's going on? Who killed him?" King Qian was completely baffled by this.
Naturally, it did not cross his mind that Duan Ling Tian had killed him. After all, Duan Ling Tian was merely a Saint Rudiment Stage Martial Cultivator. It was impossible for him to pose a threat to Lin Dong.
At this moment, the others began to notice that something was amiss.
"Where's Lin Dong?"
"Why is Lin Dong gone?"
Many people were confused. They looked left and right, but they could not see Lin Dong at all.
If they descended from the sky to the ground, they would see two halves of Lin Dong's corpse that was in a bloody mess.
Although the group of Saint Stage powerhouses knew what happened, they did not bother to explain since all their attention was on the Devilseal Tablet in King Qian's hands. Due to this reason, the people remained clueless for a long time.
However, they did not care much about Lin Dong's disappearance. They were more interested in the Devilseal Tablet. However,
Bai Li Hong, on the other hand, seemed as though he knew what happened, but he still asked Duan Ling Tian through Voice Transmission, "Junior Brother, Lin Dong..."
"Don't worry, Senior Brother. Lin Dong is dead. He no longer a threat to me," Duan Ling Tian replied through Voice Transmission.
"Did you use that sword?" Bai Li Hong asked. Apart from that sword, he could not think of any other way his junior brother could have killed Lin Dong who had broken through to the Saint Stage.
"Yes." Duan Ling Tian nodded.
"You're not exposed, right?" Bai Li Hong asked again.
"No." Duan Ling Tian shook his head before explaining, "At that moment when I made my move, all of their attention was on the Devilseal Tablet in King Qian's hands. Nobody paid me any attention. When they realized what happened, I've already put the sword away."
Upon hearing that, Bai Li Hong sighed in relief before he asked, "Junior Brother, don't tell me you're really are going to give the Devilseal Tablet to King Qian?"
"Impossible! Just watch, Senior Brother," Duan Ling Tian said through Voice Transmission. His tone was filled with mirth.
Bai Li Hong was shocked when he heard this. He instantly turned to look at the Devilseal Tablet in King Qian's hand.
Since everyone on the scene had their eyes on the Devilseal Tablet in King Qian's hands, he was aware of the danger it posed. With just a thought, he tried to put the Devilseal Tablet into his Spatial Ring.
As soon as he thought about it, the Devilseal Tablet in his hands disappeared immediately. Naturally, he thought the Devilseal Tablet had already been stored in the Spatial Ring.
He instantly motioned to the two old men behind him. "Let's return to King Qian's estate!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around to leave.
However, would he be able to leave just because he wanted to?
"Four Brother, as the saying goes, 'Those who have seen it should also get a share.' Don't tell me you plan on keeping the Devilseal Tablet all to yourself?" King Rong said calmly as the two remaining Saint Stage powerhouses behind him blocked King Qian's path. It was as though he had no intention of letting King Qian go if he did not share it with him.
King Rong's heart was still aching over the loss of his Saint Stage Devil Cultivator. If he let King Qian take the Devilseal Tablet away, he would have lost a Saint Stage powerhouse for nothing.
It was only natural he felt unwilling. Even if he did not lose a Saint Stage powerhouse, he still would not let go of a Super Saint Weapon like the Devilseal Tablet.
King Qian's expression turned glum immediately when he saw King Rong's men blocking his path. King Qian's face turned glum right away. He did not even bother to address him as Second Brother when he said, "King Rong, the Devilseal Tablet has been given to me by Duan Ling Tian. What does it have to do with you?"
"Hurmph!" King Rong snorted and ignored his words.
No matter what, he must have a part of the Devilseal Tablet. Even if he could not have it all to himself, he would not let King Qian own it. today.
Naturally, he knew what would happen if one possessed the Devilseal Tablet.
If King Qian obtained the Devilseal Tablet, he would be like a tiger that had grown a pair of wings.
As King Qian's rival, naturally, he would not let King Qian become a winged tiger. Due to this reason, there was no way he would let King Qian leave with the Devilseal Tablet.
Apart from the men from King Rong's estate, the Saint Stage powerhouses from other sects also had a covetous look in their eyes when they looked at the Devilseal Tablet. However, faced with the might of King Qian's estate and King Rong's estate, they could only stand at the side as they watched the show, feeling helpless.
At this moment, some of the Saint Stage powerhouses finally revealed Duan Ling Tian was the one who killed Lin Dong as they watched the show.
A commotion instantly broke out.
Duan Ling Tian managed to kill Lin Dong with a sneak attack with just a slash of his sword?
Although a sneak attack was not something to be proud of, the fact that a non-Saint Stage powerhouse killed a Saint Stage powerhouse through a sneak attack, even if the Saint Stage powerhouse had just recently made a breakthrough, shocked everyone.
Everyone's attention instantly shifted to Duan Ling Tian.
"Duan Ling Tian killed Lin Dong?"
"What a change in the tide! When Duan Ling Tian displayed his speed that was faster than Lin Dong, I thought Lin Dong would die. However, when Lin Dong broke through to the Saint Stage, I thought Duan Ling Tian would die. I didn't expect the one to die in the end would be Lin Dong!"
"Earlier, Lin Dong's attention must be on the Devilseal Tablet just like us. Due to this reason, he did not put his guards up against Duan Ling Tian. Otherwise, Duan Ling Tian wouldn't have been successful with his sneak attack!"
"Humph! Although the term 'sneak attack' doesn't sound too good, just how many Saint Rudiment Stage Martial Cultivators in the Dao Martial Saint Land could kill a Saint Stage powerhouse with a sneak attack? At the very least, I've never heard of anyone who could do that!"
"That's right! Even if Duan Ling Tian killed him with a sneak attack, he should still feel proud! After all, he killed a Saint Stage powerhouse even though his cultivation base is only at the Saint Rudiment Stage!"
...
Originally, sneak attacks were a despicable thing. However, when it was applied to a fight between a non-Saint Stage powerhouse and a Saint Stage powerhouse, nobody would find it despicable, especially when the latter was killed by the former. Moreover, their battle had been a Death Duel all along.
Lin Dong was killed because he was not paying attention. He was just seeking death, he could not blame other people at all.
"Master Duan killed Lin Dong?" Among the group of people from the Situ Clan, apart from Situ Hao and Situ Hou who had long discovered Duan Ling Tian had killed Lin Dong, Situ Hang was shocked by the news he just heard. He did not expect such a great reversal in the situation.
In fact, he had lost all hope before this.
"Haha... Duan Ling Tian's really great! So what if Lin Dong broke through to the Saint Stage? He was still killed by Duan Ling Tian in the end!" Chen Shao Shuai laughed proudly as though he was the one who killed Lin Dong, not Duan Ling Tian.
"H-How could this happen?" Among the group of people in King Qian's estate, Ye Mu Bai continued shaking his head. He could not accept the fact the Duan Ling Tian had killed Lin Dong.