Chapter 4040: A Magnificent Jade Palace

Duan Ling Tian felt slightly helpless and amused when he heard Han Di's reminder. Han Di was rather young, but he was like a long-winded old man at this moment. In any case, he felt that this arrangement was beneficial to him as well. He was not worried Han Di would trick him and deal a killing blow. He would be capable of handling it, and he did not think Han Di would be so foolish to do such a thing that would be disadvantageous to him. After all, if Han Di tricked him, the fight would only intensify, and they would risk getting injured.

"Alright." Duan Ling Tian nodded.

Duan Ling Tian moved as soon as Han Di moved. A spatial storm raged around his body immediately as a prominent divine sword appeared in his hand. He imbued the sword with his Divine Energy and the profundities from the law. When he drew close to Han Di, he displayed his Sword Dao as well.

Meanwhile, blood energy swirled around Han Di's body. He had also mobilized his Divine Energy, cast his law, and wield his prominent divine artifact.

The duo brushed past each other, and at the same time, their attacks swept out before quickly disappearing.

The duo stood across from each other and looked at each other.

Duan Ling Tian's expression was still calm, but a faint bitter smile could be seen on Han Di's face. He said, "I admit defeat!"

The words 'I admit defeat' were like a stone that stirred up a thousand waves at this time.

Everyone fell silent in shock.

At the same time, the high-ranking officials from the various forces looked at Duan Ling Tian with thoughtful expressions on their faces. The duo's attacks only appeared briefly so they had to watch carefully as well to see what was going on. If they did not, perhaps, they also would not understand why Han Di admitted defeat. Many of them shook their heads.

"I had no idea. I really didn't expect this..."

"When did Duan Ling Tian..." Zhen Ping Fan was shocked.

Ye Chen Feng and Liu Feng Gu were somewhat surprised as well.

The trio looked at Duan Ling Tian in the distance and felt like he was completely different from the person whom they knew. They had no idea he possessed such strength.

The Emperors of Gods from various forces sighed.

"Han Di is actually very strong. It's a pity he met someone even stronger..."

Meanwhile, the young disciples and the elders who had yet to become Emperors of Gods still did not understand what had happened.

"What happened?"

"Why did Han Di suddenly admit defeat?"

"Their attacks didn't even collide, right?"

However, the doubts of these people were soon resolved by the Emperors of Gods in their respective forces. Only then did they understand that Han Di and Duan Ling Tian quickly withdrew their attacks after unleashing them. Upon sensing the force of Duan Ling Tian's attack, Han Di knew he was no match for Duan Ling Tian so Han Di admitted defeat. With this, they only expended a little energy that would be recovered when it was their turn again later.

"Han Di thinks he's weaker than Duan Ling Tian?"

"Elder, if they really fought, would Han Di lose for sure?"

"Of course not, but his chances of losing are slightly higher. Fights are unpredictable, after all. Han Di might be able to turn the tide since he's not a weakling and the gap between their strength isn't that wide."

"Then, why did Han Di admit defeat so easily?"

"Han Di did not want to waste too much energy. He's worried that his performance later would be affected."

"I feel like Han Di lacks confidence!"

"I agree. He likely felt that he had a lower chance of defeating Duan Ling Tian so he decided to conserve his strength and admit defeat."

Everyone had different opinions after learning about what happened. Some thought that Han Di was smart, and some thought Han Di lacked the confidence to fight Duan Ling Tian. Some thought that if Han Di was courageous enough, he might not necessarily lose to Duan Ling Tian and would be able to maintain his rank at the top.

No matter what everyone's opinion was, the result of the fight had been determined; Han Di admitted defeat, and Duan Ling Tian won.

The duo exchanged tokens, and Duan Ling Tian rose to the first place.

Han Di said emotionally, "Brother Duan, you really live up to your reputation. You're not even 3,000 years old, but you possess such strength. I really can't wait to see how strong you'll be after a few thousand years."

Han Di was certain Duan Ling Tian would be terrifyingly strong after a few thousand years. At such a young age, Duan Ling Tian was already an intermediate Lord of Gods. Not only that, but Duan Ling Tian's strength even surpassed his even though he was an advanced Lord of Gods.

"Brother Han, you're overpraising me," Duan Ling Tian said modestly with a smile. Then, he nodded and bade farewell to Han Di before he left the battlefield.

When Duan Ling Tian and Han Di left the battlefield, everyone was looking at Duan Ling Tian. Now that they understood what had happened, they looked at him in shock, filled with complicated feelings.

"Duan Ling Tian is unreasonably strong!"

"He truly lives up to his reputation as the strongest person among the younger generation in the Eastern Ridge Mansion!"

"Previously, I only thought he obtained that title because there weren't many outstanding talents among the younger generation in the Eastern Ridge Mansion. However, that's clearly not the case. I truly underestimated him."

"He only became an intermediate Lord of Gods not long ago, right? Did he completely stabilize his cultivation base in such a short time? How did he do it?"

"Unbelievable! He's amazing!"

"He must have had a fortuitous encounter! Otherwise, it's impossible to completely stabilize his cultivation base in the realm of an intermediate Lord of Gods in such a short time even if he's highly talented and was given a lot of resources."

"I agree! He must have had a fortuitous encounter. He's not even 3,000 years old."

Once again, Duan Ling Tian was thrust into the limelight. Previously, many people paid attention to him because of what they had heard about him. However, now that they witnessed his strength, they were convinced of his strength, especially after listening to their elders' explanations.

...

While most people wore varying degrees of shocked expressions on their faces, Wanqi Hong's expression was very sour after he listened to the explanation of Wanqi Yu Ning, the Golden Seat Elder of the Wanqi clan.

'Damn it! He completely stabilized his cultivation base in the realm of an intermediate Lord of Gods?!'

Wanqi Hong was confident about defeating Duan Ling Tian this time because he had completely stabilized his cultivation base with the help of the Wanqi clan. Previously, he was already an advanced Lord of Gods for 100 years, hence, it was not a surprise that he was able to stabilize his cultivation base with the resources given to him by the Wanqi clan.

However, Duan Ling Tian had only broken through and become an intermediate Lord of Gods relatively recently, but he had already completely stabilized his cultivation base.

Back when Duan Ling Tian defeated him, neither of them had yet to completely stabilize their cultivation bases. He felt that he had the advantage during the Seven Mansions Feast because he had completely stabilized his cultivation base and he assumed Duan Ling Tian had yet to do so. As such, after finding out that Duan Ling Tian had completely stabilized his cultivation base, his confidence crumbled.

Back then, he was defeated when both of their cultivation bases were not stable. Now that both of their cultivation bases were stable, he was not sure if he could defeat Duan Ling Tian.

Wanqi Hong began to doubt himself, and his face gradually turned pale.

...

Meanwhile, Duan Ling Tian did not pay attention to changes in Wanqi Hong's expression at all. He was now answering Zhen Ping Fan's countless questions.

"Duan Ling Tian, when did you completely stabilize your cultivation base? How did you do it so quickly? How's this possible? How long has it been since you broke through? Did you have any secret fortuitous encounters that I don't know about? Don't worry, you can tell me. I won't tell the others! Moreover, it's not like I can rob you of your fortuituous encounters."

Zhen Ping Fan had many questions after seeing Duan Ling Tian's performance. He was shocked, amazed, and puzzled. He even felt embarrassed when he recalled how he had tried to comfort Duan Ling Tian and alleviate the pressure on Duan Ling Tian's shoulders by telling Duan Ling Tian not to worry about ranking in the top three. With such strength, it would be a waste if Duan Ling Tian did not aim to rank in the top three!

Zhen Ping Fan said confidently, "I really think you're going to rank in the top three! You might even rank first!"

Duan Ling Tian smiled and shook his head as he said, "Elder Zhen, didn't you tell me not to feel pressured? You told me that it was fine as long as I rank in the top ten, right?"

Zhen Ping Fan's expression froze before he decisively pushed the blame to Ye Chen Feng. "Hey, hey, I only followed Junior Uncle Ye's words!"

...

At this time, high up in the sky where no one could see.

A magnificent jade palace hovered in the air with mist swirling around it.

"Brother... He's already so strong?"

A beautiful girl looked down. With her exceptional eyesight, she saw the purple figure below. She could barely contain her joy and excitement.

An old woman sitting at a wooden table nearby looked at the girl and said with a smile, "Girl, with the speed of his progress, you'll be able to meet him soon."

A young woman and a middle-aged man stood behind the old woman. They were respectful and maintained the posture of a servant.