'Is it possible that they're planning to rob and kill me?' Duan Ling Tian thought to himself, but he was, naturally, not worried. It would do those people good if they left him alone. If they provoked him, he would devour all their Innate Spiritual Roots. Duan Ling Tian's Innate Spiritual Root was very close to turning into an indigo one after all!
"Elder Huo, what are these people's cultivation bases like?" Duan Ling Tian asked Elder Huo for his help to probe these people's cultivation bases for his own safety. They had been staring at him sinisterly for a while now.
Elder Huo replied to Duan Ling Tian immediately, "They're all at the Quintessential Saint Stage… There's nothing to worry about!"
"Quintessential Saint Stage cultivators?" Duan Ling Tian said with a laugh when he heard Elder Huo's words, "Do I look so weak that even weaklings at the Quintessential Saint Stage dare to target me?"
It was fortunate that these people who were keeping an eye on Duan Ling Tian were not aware of his thoughts. Otherwise, they would have been infuriated.
Although Quintessential Saint Stage cultivators were not at the top of the food chain in Dao Martial Saint Land, they were still considered to be above average. However, to Duan Ling Tian, they were only weaklings. It seemed like Duan Ling Tian had forgotten he was merely at the peak of the Exemplary Saint Stage. Any Quintessential Saint Stage cultivator would not pay much attention to him when they discovered what his cultivation base was. It was only natural for them to assume he was a regular cultivator at the Exemplary Saint Stage.
Shou!
Duan Ling Tian no longer worried about those people who were keeping an eye on him when he found they were only cultivators at the Quintessential Saint Stage Cultivators. Following that, he instantly left Welcome Inn. If Elder Huo had told him those people posed a threat to him, he would have extended his stay in Welcome Inn.
'If I can't defeat you, I'll just avoid you. Although it's important to improve my Innate Spiritual Root, it's even more important to preserve my life!'
...
When Duan Ling Tian left Welcome Inn…
"Leaving! He's leaving!"
"You and your team will continue tailing him. My team and I will return to the alliance to report this matter to our leader!"
"Alright!"
The group of people who were spying on Duan Ling Tian split into groups of twos. One group continued to follow after him while the other group headed in the opposite direction. It was clear these people were from the Ground Ax Alliance! The other group who was headed in the opposite direction was making their way back to the Ground Ax Alliance's estate to inform their leader that their target had left Welcome Inn. They did not dare to slack since their leader had emphasized on the importance of their target.
'Huh? Not all of them came along…' Soon after, Duan Ling Tian noticed that the people who were following had split into two groups. Not all of them had followed him. This made him feel suspicious. He only snorted before he flew out of Sin City. Although he did not travel faster than the speed on an ordinary cultivator at the peak of the Exemplary Saint Stage, he left Sin City quite quickly.
"He has left Sin City!" The members from the Ground Ax Alliance exclaimed when they saw Duan Ling Tian leaving Sin City.
"Should we continue following him?"
"Of course! Leader has given the order to follow him closely once he leaves the inn. Naturally, we'll have to follow him even if he leaves Sin City!"
"Judging by his speed, I think his cultivation base is at the Exemplary Saint Stage at most… I don't understand why leader places such great importance on him and is even willing to give out such great rewards just for this person."
"In my opinion, leader is going to arrive soon."
The people from the Ground Ax Alliance discussed among themselves as the continued to follow Duan Ling Tian even after he left Sin City. Naturally, they maintained a certain distance from Duan Ling Tian to avoid alerting him. However, they were unaware that Duan Ling Tian was already aware of their presence.
Duan Ling Tian moved north after he left Sin City. When he saw a mountainous forest with a complex terrain, he thought it was a suitable place to carry out his plan. "This is a good place."
Duan Ling Tian had planned this before he left Sin City. He planned to make the people who were following to show themselves. At that time, he would interrogate them about their intention of following him. If it was proven they were following him with ill intent, he would not hesitate to devour their Innate Spiritual Roots.
Duan Ling Tian began to descend as he approached the mountainous forest.
Shou!
Duan Ling Tian abruptly descended into the mountainous forest, completely disappearing from the sight of the members from the Ground Ax Alliance.
"Why did he come here?"
"Is it possible there's something valuable here?"
"C-could it be the treasure vault from the powerhouse at the Ninth Form of the Saint Celestial Stage?"
The members from the Ground Ax Alliance began to discuss among themselves when they saw Duan Ling Tian disappearing into the mountainous forest. Their eyes shone brightly when they discussed the possibilities of him being here and the importance their leader had placed on him. They believed there had to be a special reason for their leader to order them to follow a cultivator who was only at the Exemplary Saint Stage.
"Our Ground Ax Alliance will hit the jackpot if it's truly the treasure vault left behind by the powerhouse of Ninth Form of the Saint Celestial Stage!"
The eyes of the people from the Ground Ax Alliance member shone even more brightly as they continued to think about it. Although they knew they would not be able to partake in a share of the treasures the powerhouse at the Ninth Form of the Saint Celestial Stage had left behind, there was no doubt their leader would greatly reward them.
"He has already entered the mountain forest… We should keep up! We don't want to lose him now!" One of the members of the Ground Ax Alliance suddenly reminded.
"Yes! We should hurry in case we lose track of him!"
Shou! Shou! Shou! Shou! Shou!
In just a blink of an eye, everyone from the Ground Ax Alliance who had been following Duan Ling Tian descended into the mountainous forest as well. However, they were surprised when they landed since they seemed to have lost track of Duan Ling Tian. They did not seem him at all. It was as though he had vanished into thin air after entering the mountainous forest
"He has disappeared?"
"We were just right behind him before he entered the forest. How did he disappear so quickly?"
"He shouldn't have been able to disappear so quickly based on his speed!"
The people from the Ground Ax Alliance were shocked. They found the entire matter baffling. After all, it was impossible for an ordinary cultivator at the Exemplary Saint Stage, or even if he was at the peak of the Exemplary Saint Stage, to disappear from their sight so quickly without leaving a trace!
"What happened? Did we really lose him?"
"If leader finds out we lost him, we're going to be severely punished based on the importance placed on him!"
"Being punished is the least of our worries! I'm more worried the Ground Ax Alliance will miss the chance to obtain the treasures left behind by the powerhouse at the Ninth Form of the Saint Celestial Stage!"
The members of the Ground Ax Alliance became anxious and worried when they discovered they had lost Duan Ling Tian.
"Should we split up and search for him?" One of the Ground Ax Alliance's members suggested.
"That's a good idea. There are nine of us here. We'll split into groups of threes. We'll search in the north, east, and west directions respectively to look for that purple-clad young man. What do you think?" Another Ground Ax Alliance's member began to plan. The other eight members agreed to his plans.
"There's no need to search for me. I'm right here!" A cold voice rang in the air just as the members from the Ground Ax Alliance were about to leave.
All of the members from the Ground Ax Alliance clearly heard the voice, causing them to turn to look at the owner of the voice. Their eyes widened in shock when they saw a person materializing out of thin air.
"That's amazingly fast," one of the Ground Ax Alliance members said. Naturally, they were not stupid to think he had really appeared out of thin air. Due to this reason, they were instantly wary.
The strongest among them were only a few people at the peak of the Quintessential Saint Stage while the remaining ones were at the Intermediate and Mastery Quintessential Saint Stage.
Not a single one of them was aware when the purple-clad young man had appeared.
'Saint Celestial stage powerhouse!'
The nine members of the Ground Ax Alliance all shared the same thought. Their expressions changed immediately!
The person they had been tailing was a Saint Celestial Stage powerhouse! They had assumed that Duan Ling Tian was an Exemplary Saint Stage cultivator based on his speed. However, it seemed like Duan Ling Tian had intentionally misled them. It was entirely possible that he had noticed their presence since earlier and had planned to lure them out.
"All of you are from the Ground Ax Alliance?" Duan Ling Tian asked. He had been hiding close by earlier so he heard their conversations.