Although enraged by what Zheng Jian said, Hou Lin and Zhang Ji Long did not dare to do anything. All they could do was to take it without saying anything, the reason being that they knew they were no match for Zheng Jian.
Compared to Hou Lin and Zhang Ji Long, Duan Ling Tian responded differently hearing what Zheng Jian said. "Bastard? Could he beat me in two to three hits?" His face turned gravely solemn while a ferocious gleam sparkled in his eyes.
Just when he turned around and looked at Zheng Jian with a plan to fight back, a loud scream sounded.
"How dare you!?" The City Governor of Mound Hill City's voice boomed like thunder which seemed to rock the entire assembly hall. At that same time, it stunned Duan Ling Tian as well.
Bang!
Before Duan Ling Tian managed to look at the City Governor of Mound Hill City, he saw Zheng Jian's body shudder and shoot out towards the pillar in the assembly hall like an arrow leaving its bow.
The pillar shook a little bit as dust fell from it.
Subsequently, Zheng Jian fell onto the ground along the pillar while spitting mouthfuls of blood continuously. He looked terrible.
"Master City Governor! Zheng Jian is sorry… Zheng Jian is sorry!" Ignoring his injuries, Zheng Jian knelt onto the ground before the City Governor of Mound Hill City while reeling.
"How dare you, Zheng Jian!? How dare you be so rude to Master City Governor?" The Heavenly Leader Guardian looked aghast too.
"You're sorry? Do you even know what you did wrong?" The City Governor of Mound Hill City scoffed and said.
"I was wrong to spout nonsense before Master City Governor," Zheng Jian said in his shaky voice while keeping his head on the ground.
Hearing what Zheng Jian said, the City Governor of Mound Hill City glared icily at him and said calmly, "You'll be dead if you repeat the same mistake again."
Despite the calm outlook, there was clearly the will to kill in his tone.
"Thank you, Master City Governor!" Zheng Jian thanked him immediately.
He stood up and consumed a Healing Medicinal Pill. The way he looked at Duan Ling Tian again was filled with coldness and resentment.
At that very moment, he could not suppress the rage in him.
He did not dare to blame the City Governor of Mound Hill City, so he directed it at Duan Ling Tian instead, "Duan Ling Tian, if not for you, I wouldn't have agitated Master City Governor… It's all your fault!"
"If I had the opportunity, I'll kill you! I'll definitely kill you!" Zheng Jian thought in his head and almost screamed out loud.
Although he had no idea what Zheng Jiang was thinking about, seeing Zheng Jian's eyes that were filled with the will to kill, Duan Ling Tian figured that murder was on Zheng Jian's mind.
"Zheng Jian." At that moment, a gleam with the will to kill flashed in his eyes too.
"Duan Ling Tian, you haven't answered my question. Is my speculation right?" The City Governor of Mound Hill City turned to Duan Ling Tian again. The frigidity on his face was nowhere to be seen; it was replaced by a smile instead as he asked.
That made Zheng Jian look even more terrible.
"Master City Governor, I'm not a descendant of human and Saint Beast," Duan Ling Tian replied honestly.
"You're not?" The City Governor of Mound Hill City frowned and said while looking lost, "That's not right… How could you have the ability to defeat people whose level is higher than yours if you're not a descendant of a human and a Saint Beast?"
"Or perhaps… Are you a human formed from a Saint Beast?" The City Governor of Mound Hill City eyes lit up as he mumbled softly to himself.
Although the City Governor of Mound Hill City was mumbling softly, the assembly hall was so quiet that almost everyone present heard what he said.
Duan Ling Tian was put in the limelight once again.
"Human formed from a Saint Beast?" Hearing the Governor's theory that getting more and more ridiculous, Duan Ling Tian could not help but force a smile. "Master City Governor, not only am I not a descendant of human and Saint Beast, but I'm not human formed from a Saint Beast. I'm a pure human Martial Cultivator."
"Impossible!" The City Governor of Mound Hill City exclaimed affirmatively while shaking his head, "If you're a pure human Martial Cultivator, it's impossible for you to have such an overpowering ability to beat people whose level is higher than yours."
"That's right… How's that possible?"
"It seems like Duan Ling Tian's really hiding his identity."
"I bet no matter how well he's going to explain himself, he's not going to hide the truth any longer."
…
Many of them whispered among themselves.
"Master City Governor," Duan Ling Tian said while looking at the City Governor of Mound Hill City, "I know there's something called the Body Verification Stone in Dao Martial Saint Land. Although the Body Verification Stone doesn't help in fighting, it can verify if a person is formed from a Saint Beast or is a descendant of a human and a Saint Beast."
Body Verification Stone!
The City Governor of Mound Hill City frowned upon hearing what Duan Ling Tian said. "Although the Body Verification Stone isn't something incredible whereby even a Saint Inscription Master would be able to carve it, we don't have such a thing in Mound Hill City."
What the City Governor of Mound Hill City said created an uproar again.
"Duan Ling Tian's devious. He asked for it anyway knowing there's no Body Verification Stone in our Mound Hill City."
"I think he did this on purpose."
"Does he really think that we'd believe he's a pure human if he mentioned the Body Verification Stone?"
…
Many of them whispered among themselves again.
This time, even Guo Li could not help but look skeptical as she looked at Duan Ling Tian again.
After all, the ability with which he managed to defeat people whose level was higher than him was simply unimaginable.
She did not believe he was a pure human Martial Cultivator either.
Throughout the long history of Dao Martial Saint Land, she had never heard of such a human Martial Cultivator before.
Even the legendary powerhouse who had 81 Saint Veins open possessed the ability to defeat people whose level was higher than him after breaking through to the Saint Rudiment Stage.
"Then, there's nothing that I can do about it," Duan Ling Tian shrugged and said like a thug, "Also, whether I'm a human Martial Cultivator or not, I think that's not going to affect me."
Just when most of them thought the matter was coming to an end, the circumstances turned around.
"Master City Governor, I heard that Ninth Brother obtained a Body Verification Stone half a month ago. He wanted to auction it off at the Rare Treasure Pavilion, but he thought it wouldn't be sold at an ideal price, so he kept it with him," The Heavenly Leader Guardian said to the City Governor of Mound Hill City.
"The Heavenly Hero Guardian? He has the Body Verification Stone?" The City Governor of Mound Hill City's eyes lit up. "You, go get the Heavenly Hero Guardian now."
The Heavenly Hero Guardian was the Ninth Brother the Heavenly Leader Guardian mentioned.
He ranked No. 9 among the 36 Guardians in the City Governor of Mound Hill City's Estate. People called him the Heavenly Hero Guardian, but he was publicly known as Lin Qing Rong.
"Yes," the Heavenly Leader Guardian replied and left.
Meanwhile, many of them began to take pleasure in Duan Ling Tian's misery. "It seems like this Duan Ling Tian's plan has backfired."
However, Duan Ling Tian was calm as he faced the mockery. He was so cool that he would remain the same even if Mount Tai were to collapse before him.
The City Governor of Mound Hill City noticed Duan Ling Tian's calmness.
He could not help but have doubts.
Was Duan Ling Tian really not afraid of getting himself tested with the Body Verification Stone? Or was he trying to mystify this and unwilling to give up until the very last second?
Su Qi, who stood behind the City Governor of Mound Hill City, had doubts in his eyes too.
"Master City Governor!" Not long later, the Heavenly Leader Guardian returned bringing another person with him. It was the Heavenly Hero Guardian who ranked No. 6 among the 36 Guardians, Lin Qing Rong.
Lin Qing Rong bowed respectfully toward the City Governor of Mound Hill City.
"Heavenly Hero Guardian, I heard from the Heavenly Leader Guardian that you've obtained a Body Verification Stone earlier." The City Governor of Mound Hill City commented.
"Yes, Master City Governor." Lin Qing Rong nodded.
"Can I borrow it?" The City Governor of Mound Hill City asked.
"Of course!" Lin Qing Rong nodded immediately and subsequently lifted his arm. A tiny, crystal-clear stone appeared in his hand, appearing like an irregular crystal.
He then handed the tiny stone over to the City Governor of Mound Hill City.
"Is this the Body Verification Stone?" Duan Ling Tian looked at the tiny stone that Lin Qing Rong handed over to the Governor. Although he had heard about the existence of the Body Verification Stone, he had never seen one before.
It was his first time seeing it today.
The Body Verification Stone was similar to the Demon Revelation Mirror on the Cloud Continent, but there was a difference between them.
As the Body Verification Stone was handed over to the City Governor of Mound Hill City, apart from Lin Qing Rong, everyone had their eyes fixed on it. They wanted to see if Duan Ling Tian was trying to mislead them earlier.
Lin Qing Rong was the only one who gaped at Duan Ling Tian in bewilderment.
On the way to the assembly hall, he heard from the Heavenly Leader Guardian that Duan Ling Tian was just on the Early Mortal Shedding Stage when he had brought him here back then.
He had no idea that Duan Ling Tian had already broken through to the Intermediate Mortal Shedding Stage now and defeated two Mastery Mortal Shedding Stage Martial Cultivators consecutively.
He did not believe it in the beginning, but he had to since the Heavenly Leader Guardian told him that the Master City Governor and himself had witnessed it themselves.
Now, he knew the purpose of the Governor borrowing the Body Verification Stone from him. It was to verify if Duan Ling Tian was a pure human Martial Cultivator.
Fwah!
Right at that moment, a soft ring that drew Lin Qing Rong's attention as well was heard.
The Governor of Mound City held the Body Verification Stone in his hand while exerting True Energy into it, causing the Saint Inscription on it to flash. As the Saint Inscription shone, a dazzling glow rose.
Not long later, a barrier that seemed like a mirror appeared in the air with a silhouette reflected in it.
It was Duan Ling Tian's silhouette.
However, his reflection remained the same in the mirror.
One must know that if a person was formed from a Saint Beast, the mirror image barrier formed from the Body Verification Stone would show the Saint Beast's true form in it.
If the person was a descendant of a human and a Saint Beast, a Saint Beast's silhouette would appear behind the person when the mirror image barrier was pointed at him.
However, none of those happened.
The Governor was the first to react. Although the result from the Body Verification Stone was out, he was still surprised as he asked, "You… really are human?"
"Duan Ling Tian's a pure human Martial Cultivator?"
"Is there something wrong with the Body Verification Stone?"
"It shouldn't be."
…
As the Heavenly Leader Guardian, the Heavenly Hero Guardian and Su Qi snapped back to reality, everyone else gasped one after another and could not help but lower their voice as they discussed among one another.
With Zheng Jian as a warning, they did not dare to be rude before the Governor of Mound City.
"What? Master City Governor, you still don't believe me up until now?" Duan Ling Tian did not expect the Governor to ask such a question now.
He was a little speechless at the moment.