Chapter 826: The Final Battle
On Cloud Continent, there were many 'Demons' that had taken human form after breaking through to the Void Transformation Stage that chose to live in seclusion because of being tired from all the fighting and killing.
After they went into seclusion, these Demons might even unite with ordinary humans and live to the ends of their lives.
As far as Pei An was concerned, Duan Ling Tian's father or mother was probably a Demon that had chosen to live in seclusion in a tiny Kingdom.
"What a pity." Pei An sighed.
"Master, what're you feeling regretful for?" Zhang Yan was stunned.
"I presume you know the reason I brought you here... Duan Ling Tian is so close with Sword 13, so he'll surely leave with Sword 13," said Pei An.
"Don't worry, Master, even if our Emotion Severing Sect doesn't have the addition of Duan Ling Tian, I'll surely obtain a Profundity Fragment you require from that place!" Zhang Yan's gaze was firm, and he emitted a strong confidence.
Profundity Fragment!
Pei An's emotionless face revealed a rare and slight ripple when he heard Zhang Yan.
He was only a single step through the threshold away from the Martial Monarch Stage, whereas this last step caused him to be unable to breakthrough to the Martial Monarch Stage for a long time.
There were many martial artists like him on Cloud Continent, and it was even to the extent that some martial artists that were even younger than him and had cultivated to this state were unable to break through to the Martial Monarch Stage in their entire lifetimes.
All of this was because they were unable to comprehend Profundity.
Profundity was the permit to step into the Martial Monarch Stage, and so long as one didn't comprehend Profundity, one would be unable to become a Martial Monarch Stage expert.
"Senior Brother, you said he's a Variant?" Hui Jing had a serious expression as he looked at Hui Ming who was by his side and asked.
Hui Ming nodded. "Besides this, I'm unable to think of anything else... Moreover, there are only two possibilities why he was capable of possessing such a cultivation and ability at such an age."
"The first, he's a Variant. The second, he obtained extremely great fortuitous encounters. But a fortuitous encounter capable of allowing him to possess this cultivation and ability at such an age isn't something easily obtainable." Hui Ming spoke with a serious expression.
"A Variant?" The young monk standing behind Hui Ming stared at Duan Ling Tian with a burning gaze as battle intent arose on him.
"Hmm?" Duan Ling Tian noticed the fierce gaze of the young monk at the first possible moment, and after he met the young monk's gaze, he was shocked in his heart. "Looks like besides praying and abstaining from meat, the monks of this world similarly possess the heart of the strong that's unconvinced of the strength of others!"
"Benefactor Duan, if there's an opportunity in the future, then this monk wants to battle you!" A clear voice transmission pierced into Duan Ling Tian's ears, and it was precisely the voice of the young monk.
"Anytime!" Duan Ling Tian replied via voice transmission and didn't lose in terms of confidence displayed.
After Duan Ling Tian defeat Ta Mu, it was Qi Feng's turn.
Presently, Qi Feng was the possessor of the number 2 token.
The opponents he could choose were Zi Shang and Qin Kong. In the end, he chose Qin Hong, the possessor of the number 3 token.
Qin Kong and Qi Feng were old rivals, and after he stood in confrontation with Qi Feng, he spoke bravely. "Qi Feng, I'll surely defeat you this time!"
Qi Feng seemed to be extremely calm when facing Qin Kong's arrogance.
Both of them were fourth level Void Interpretation Stage martial artists, and they had similarly comprehended fourth level Void Interpretation Concept and possessed grade three spirit weapons with an equal amplification ability.
As for the other lower level Void Initiation Concepts, they were more or less equal.
All in all, it could be summarized with two words — On par!
When both of them fought with their full strengths, their strength was equivalent, and they competed in combat experience and comprehension of martial skills. Of course, there were also some slight differences amongst them.
Both of them fought like a raging flame, and it drew the gazes of everyone.
As he gazed at the two figures that intersected each other ceaselessly and listened to the waves of sounds of the air exploding, Duan Ling Tian's eyes slightly narrowed as he muttered to himself. "Looks like it wasn't luck that allowed Qi Feng to defeat Qin Kong repeatedly in the past."
Duan Ling Tian was able to discern that even though the two of them seemed to be on par on the surface, yet Qi Feng was more sided towards being steady and possessing extreme patience.
As for Qin Kong, along with the passage of time, he became more and more irritable, and in the end, he even started to reveal some tiny flaws.
In a battle between experts, even a tiny flaw would usually become the key to one's defeat.
Qi Feng exemplified this point very well.
Bang!
At the instant Qin Kong revealed a tiny flaw, Qi Feng attacked swiftly and utilized Qin Kong's flaw to crush Qin Kong in one go.
In the end, Qi Feng held the bow with one hand and the other condensed arrows, and two arrows condensed into form from material Wind Concept tore through the sky and carried a deafening and piercing howl as it easily penetrated Qin Kong's shoulders.
"Why is it like this?" Qin Kong abruptly stopped moving, and he was slightly in low spirits as he looked at the fresh blood that ceaselessly poured out form the bloody holes on his shoulders.
He had lost!
Lost again!
At this instant, Qin Kong was like a zombie as he allowed the blood to spray out of the holes on his shoulders, yet didn't utilize Origin Energy to stop the bleeding.
Only when the representative of the Darqin Dynasty moved over to take Qin Kong away did Qin Kong's injuries get stopped, yet Qin Kong still hadn't returned to his senses.
"Qi Feng is calm, patient, and resolute... I hope he isn't an Inscription Master." Duan Ling Tian took a deep breath. Up until now, there wasn't a single young genius from the ten Dynasties that he could take seriously, and it included Ta Mu and Qin Kong.
Yet now, not only had Qi Feng caused his expression to become serious, he seemed to sense a trace of a dangerous aura from Qi Feng.
This feeling was extremely bizarre, yet exceedingly clear.
The fourth round of the selections continued.
Ta Mu challenged Zi Shang, and the outcome was obvious, Ta Mu lost miserably.
In next to no time, it was Duan Ling Tian's turn once again. Duan Ling Tian challenged Qin Kong and the illusory space created by his soul skill, Thousand Illusions, enveloped Qin Kong, and he easily defeated him.
Qin Kong followed in the footsteps of Ta Mu.
"If you have the balls then don't use that shady ability!" After Duan Ling Tian withdrew his soul skill, Qin Kong wiped off the blood on the corners of his mouth, and then he spoke hatefully to Duan Ling Tian.
Duan Ling Tian couldn't help but laugh when he heard Qin Kong's naïve words.
The surrounding crowd of people started laughing as well.
"Qin Kong is a fourth level Void Interpretation Stage martial artist at any rate, yet he actually spoke such naïve words... Laughable!"
"Yeah, Duan Ling Tian didn't rely on an external source of strength and relied on his own ability, so why can he exert his full strength, yet Duan Ling Tian can't?"
...
Waves of ridicule entered into Qin Kong's ears, causing his expression to become livid, and he glared hatefully at Duan Ling Tian before returning to the group from the Darqin Dynasty.
Subsequently, Qi Feng entered the arena.
Qi Feng challenged Ta Mu and Ta Mu admitted defeat.
Qin Kong ascended the arena and challenged Ta Mu, causing Ta Mu to admit defeat.
No matter if it was Qi Feng or Qin Kong, Ta Mu had always been observing their strengths seriously, and it was precisely because of this that he was extremely clear of the distance between him and the two of them.
"Hmph! Hmph! Once I learn my Master's ability, I'll fight both of you again, and I'll surely beat the sh*t out of the both of you!" Even though Ta Mu had admitted defeat, he was extremely optimistic, and he grunted twice before glancing with a flattering gaze at the violet clothed young man in the distance, Duan Ling Tian.
But unfortunately, Duan Ling Tian utterly didn't take a glance at him.
But even then, Ta Mu still wasn't the slightest bit dejected, and he seemed as if he'd firmly affirmed Duan Ling Tian as his Master.
In next to no time, under Ning Can's intentional arrangement, Ta Mu, Qin Kong, and Qi Feng successively fought against Zi Shang.
Zi Shang executed his secret technique, causing a black colored flame brand to appear between his brows, and his strength increased to the sixth level of the Void Interpretation Stage. After that, he easily defeated Ta Mu, and Qin Kong, whereas, Qi Feng was defeated by him in three moves.
For a time, Zi Shang once again obtained the number 2 token that belonged to him.
Even though he'd admitted defeat before Feng Tian Wu, yet Feng Tian Wu was unable to go against Ta Mu, Qin Kong, and Qi Feng, and they'd successively lost at Zi Shang's hands.
So, Zi Shang once again seized the number 2 token that belonged to him with this advantage.
As for Su Li, he was similarly unable to go against Ta Mu, Qin Kong, and Qi Feng, so he refused Duan Ling Tian's good intentions of lending the Devilseal Tablet to him to defeat Zi Shang.
Even if he was able to defeat Zi Shang, he would still be unable to shake Zi Shang's status as the possessor of the number 2 token in the end.
For a time, besides Duan Ling Tian who still hadn't fought Qi Feng, the ranking of the top ten of the Martial Competition of the Ten Dynasties was as follows.
The possessor of the number 1 token, Duan Ling Tian.
Number 2, Zi Shang.
Number 3, Qi Feng.
Number 4, Qin Kong.
Number 5, Ta Mu.
Number 6, Su Li.
Number 7, Feng Tian Wu.
Number 8, Ye Ling.
Number 9, Ou Chen.
Number 10, Zhang Shou Yong.
According to convention, Duan Ling Tian ought to have fought Qi Feng long ago.
However, Ning Can had suddenly interfered earlier and allowed Duan Ling Tian to temporarily take a rest and allow the others to decide on their specific rankings before allowing Duan Ling Tian to fight Qi Feng.
Ning Can's actions caused Duan Ling Tian to smell the slight smell of a plot.
Even the surrounding crowd of spectators vaguely felt that something was amiss.
"Why did Vice Fort Master Ning do this? Even Zi Shang, Qin Kong, and Ta Mu lost at Duan Ling Tian's hands, could it be that he thinks Qi Feng can threaten Duan Ling Tian?"
"If it's up to me, this was simply an unnecessary action!"
"Even though Qi Feng's strength is formidable indeed, yet Duan Ling Tian's unfathomable ability is something that even Qin Kong and Ta Mu were unable to avoid... Qi Feng is probably not a match for Duan Ling Tian."
...
The surrounding crowd of people discussed animatedly, and they didn't feel that Qi Feng was unable to defeat Duan Ling Tian.
"Big Brother Duan, I keep having the feeling that something is slightly amiss." Before Duan Ling Tian ascended the arena, Feng Tian Wu's beautiful brows knit together and spoke to Duan Ling Tian with slight fear.
"Don't worry." Actually, how could Duan Ling Tian not have a feeling like this?
But he knew that he had to fight this battle.
Whirlwind!
Under the gazes of anticipation of Feng Tian Wu and others, Duan Ling Tian seemed to have transformed into a gale that instantly arrived at the central area of the sky above the combat arena.
Qi Feng had been waiting there since long ago.
For a time, both of them stood facing each other in confrontation.
"Duan Ling Tian so long as you defeat me or even kill me... Then the first in the martial competition is yours!" Qi Feng stared fixedly at Duan Ling Tian, and his focused and fierce gaze seemed to be able to see through everything.
Meanwhile, Duan Ling Tian couldn't help but exclaim with admiration in his heart.
As expected of someone that plays with bows and arrows, Qi Feng's gaze is focused and fierce, and it's not something an ordinary person can compare to.
"Qi Feng, if I'm not wrong, you...ought to be an Inscription Master, right?" Duan Ling Tian didn't answer Qi Feng out loud, and he instead asked a question like this via voice transmission.