The gray-clad man's palm seemed to have transformed into a Five Fingers Mountain to suppress Duan Ling Tian.
The strength of a Perfection Mortal Shedding Stage being was completely revealed!
In order to regain his freedom, he had no reservations.
Seeing that the palm was about to fall on his body, the little whirlpool in Duan Ling Tian's left pupil rapidly spun. It was getting faster and faster.
In an instant, the remaining spiritual energy Duan Ling Tian had was also exhausted by that little whirlpool.
Strange Pupil!
Spatial Manipulation!
In that split second, the gray-clad man's palm which was almost on Duan Ling Tian swayed away strangely and grazed past Duan Ling Tian's body.
Vast energy stirred the air and set off a series of thunderous air explosions.
"How's that possible?!" Simultaneously, the gray-clad man's expression changed dramatically.
However, at that second, he was dragged away by his full-forced attack and was completely exposed in front of Duan Ling Tian.
In a split second, the True Energy within Duan Ling Tian's Qi Sea surged out unreservedly and instantly gathered on his right hand through the 32 Saint Veins.
At the same time, he fully drew the Sun Shooting Bow and then released the bowstring.
Qiang!
Weng!
A solid True Energy light blade flew out and slit across the gray-clad man's throat and severed his head from his body before he even had time to recall his True Energy and utilize a defensive move.
Thump!
The man's head fell to the ground while blood sprayed from his body and splattered on the ground.
Duan Ling Tian followed the momentum and shifted aside whilst the gray-clad man's body was thrown forward by the inertia of his palm attack.
A Perfection Mortal Shedding Stage bandit was slaughtered just like that.
Silence.
The scene was dead silent. One might even hear the sound of a needle being thrown to the ground.
"That… That…" The hidden man in silver, one of the 36 Guardians, stared at the scene before him woodenly. He took a while to recover from the shock.
When Duan Ling Tian had asked him not to intervene, he thought that he was being arrogant.
When he saw him almost being killed especially when he did not react in time because of Duan Ling Tian's previous words, he thought that he would be killed by the Perfection Mortal Shedding Stage bandit.
Who would have thought that the bandit would suddenly turn his palm and hit Duan Ling Tian's side as if he had been possessed at the very last minute?
At that moment, he also did not notice how did the bandit's palm change its direction.
In his line of sight, the bandit's hand seemed to disappear into thin air and materialize beside Duan Ling Tian simultaneously, seemingly avoiding his target.
He could not figure out what had gone wrong.
After that, he observed Duan Ling Tian decisively taking advantage of the split second to kill the bandit when the latter missed his shot and had not gotten the time to defend himself.
As a Peak Perfection Mortal Shedding Stage being, he clearly knew that the turning point of this battle was when the bandit missed his attack.
Accordingly, his palm would have been sufficient to kill Duan Ling Tian.
At that crucial moment, Duan Ling Tian strangely avoided it.
Duan Ling Tian only killed him because of that fluke.
"Unless… Duan Ling Tian knew that that would happen?" His heart skipped a beat when he thought of Duan Ling Tian's Voice Transmission which asked him not to intervene. An unbelievable thought rose in his head. 'That… Unless that was his plan all along!'
He did not dare to continue that trail of thoughts.
If it really was Duan Ling Tian's plan, how terrifying was he?
In that instant, there was greed in the depths of the silver-clad man's eyes.
'If it really was Duan Ling Tian's move… Does it mean that I'd be able to fight a Paramount Mortal Shedding Stage powerhouse with my cultivation base of Perfection Mortal Shedding Stage if I obtain such powers?'
Thinking of that, he became very excited. 'At that time, I, the Heavenly Dark Guardian wouldn't be weaker than most of those who rank the top ten!'
The Heavenly Dark Guardian ranked No. 18 amongst the 36 Guardians of the City Governor's Estate of Mound Hill City. His cultivation base was at the Peak Perfection Mortal Shedding Stage.
"Hmm?" Duan Ling Tian, whose spiritual energy was almost exhausted, seemed pale. At the same time, he was more alert about his surroundings. He sensed a burning gaze on him.
Currently, he had completely depleted his spiritual energy and it had affected his strength to a certain extent. He might not even match an ordinary Mastery Mortal Shedding Stage martial cultivator now.
'Is that one of the 36 Guardians?' Duan Ling Tian started to be on guard.
Hu!
After the Heavenly Dark Guardian appeared, Duan Ling Tian became even warier when he saw the subtle glint of greed in the depths of his opponent's eyes. 'Greed? What does he want?'
'Unless… Does he have an inkling of what went wrong earlier? Is he conspiring against me?' Duan Ling Tian's heart sank when he thought of that.
As the Heavenly Dark Guardian advanced quietly, Duan Ling Tian took a few steps backward.
"Eh?" At that moment, a soft noise sounded from the sky which caused the Heavenly Dark Guardian to slightly falter. It also stopped Duan Ling Tian from walking.
After looking upwards, Duan Ling Tian saw the Heavenly Leader Guardian who was standing in the air and he instantly sighed a breath of relief.
"Heavenly Leader Guardian!"
He knew that since the leader of the 36 Guardians, the Heavenly Leader Guardian was here, the silver-clad man in front of him certainly would not dare to act as he had before.
However, Duan Ling Tian knew that the Heavenly Leader Guardian only temporarily solved his crisis.
It was not so easily suppressed when the other party had greed on his mind.
"Eldest Brother!" The Heavenly Dark Guardian respectfully bowed to the Heavenly Leader Guardian.
"Heavenly Dark Guardian?" The Heavenly Leader Guardian stepped downward and instantly landed by the side of Duan Ling Tian and the Heavenly Dark Guardian. He looked towards the Heavenly Dark Guardian and asked with a frown, "Did you kill this Perfection Mortal Shedding Stage bandit?"
"No." The Heavenly Dark Guardian shook his head and then looked towards Duan Ling Tian and admitted, "He killed him."
The Heavenly Dark Guardian!
Duan Ling Tian learned about the middle-aged man in silver's name when the Heavenly Leader Guardian appeared and greeted him.
'Heavenly Dark Guardian… They were named after the 36 Heavenly Stars. The Heavenly Dark Guardian seems to be ranked the eighteenth,' Duan Ling Tian thought secretly.
"Duan Ling Tian?"
At the same time, through the heads-up from the Heavenly Dark Guardian, the Heavenly Leader Guardian looked towards Duan Ling Tian with a surprised expression. "You killed this Perfection Mortal Shedding Stage bandit?"
"Yes." Duan Ling Tian nodded. Noticing the Heavenly Leader Guardian's surprise, Duan Ling Tian added, "He had been battling with the others and used up a lot of his strength. I managed to kill him by sheer luck."
Sheer luck?
After listening to Duan Ling Tian, the Heavenly Leader Guardian did not seem to believe him as he stared intently at Duan Ling Tian.
Moments later, the Heavenly Leader Guardian said, "The test has ended. You may leave now."
"Ended? So quickly?" Duan Ling Tian was stunned.
"There was only one Perfection Mortal Shedding Stage bandit hidden at the end of the valley. The rest of the bandits were all killed."
The Heavenly Leader Guardian said, "Hence, there aren't any more bandits in the valley. There's no reason for you to stay here."
Duan Ling Tian understood now. When he left with the Heavenly Leader Guardian, he clearly felt the burning gaze of the Heavenly Dark Guardian, who was following behind them, landing on him from time to time.
'I think I should refrain from utilizing the Strange Pupil in front of the others if I can. Otherwise, it'll cause me trouble sooner or later." Duan Ling Tian's heart sank as he secretly vowed to himself.
He guessed that it was the last palm attack from the Perfection Mortal Shedding Stage bandit which was shifted that revealed the oddities and led to the Heavenly Dark Guardian's discovery.
The Heavenly Dark Guardian must have thought that he was using a special move and lusted for it.
'From now on, I've to be careful in the City Governor's Estate. The Heavenly Dark Guardian didn't get the opportunity to attack me today, but he'll surely find a chance in the future!' It was not hard for Duan Ling Tian to guess that.
Maybe the Heavenly Dark Guardian would not kill him at first, but he would surely ask him to hand over the Spatial Manipulation move.
Even though he knew that the Spatial Manipulation was an ability from the Strange Pupil which was inimitable, the Heavenly Dark Guardian did not know that!
'At that point, I'm afraid I'd have to worry for my life if I can't hand it over,' Duan Ling Tian thought to himself.
Under the guidance of the Heavenly Leader Guardian, Duan Ling Tian left the valley and rejoined the world outside the valley.
"Where's everyone?" When Duan Ling Tian rejoined the outside world, he realized that there was no one around. Everyone including the other 36 Guardians had left.
"The Master City Governor has brought them back to Mound Hill City," the Heavenly Leader Guardian said as if he saw through Duan Ling Tian's doubts.
"Now, you'll follow me back to Mound Hill City. I'll report the results of this test to the Master City Governor then." After he called out to Duan Ling Tian, the Heavenly Leader Guardian took the lead and stepped into the air as he headed back.
Duan Ling Tian followed him closely.
Behind Duan Ling Tian, the Heavenly Dark Guardian could control the air and he flew with them as well. Obviously, he was prepared to head back to the City Governor's Estate of Mound Hill City along with the Heavenly Leader Guardian and Duan Ling Tian.
At the City Governor's Estate of Mound Hill City, in the meeting chamber.
"Master City Governor!" Suddenly, a loud but respectful voice rang from outside and caught the attention of everyone who was in the meeting chamber.
The City Governor of Mound Hill City was seated on top of the meeting chamber in an imposing manner.
Beneath him, there were eleven young men and one young woman standing. It was the eleven of the Thirteen Gangsters who had just come back recently and an ordinary Latent Dragon Camp member, Zhu Lang.
"Come in!" The City Governor of Mound Hill City commanded faintly after hearing the voice from outside.
"Lord Heavenly Leader Guardian!" Many people greeted respectfully when they saw the figure who walked into the meeting chamber first.
Soon after that, they noticed a purple figure which was closely following behind the Heavenly Leader Guardian.
It was Duan Ling Tian who ranked No. 6 among the Latent Dragon Camp's Thirteen Gangsters.
"Duan Ling Tian!" Smiles appeared on Guo Li and Zhu Lang's faces when they saw him.
Naturally, some people were delighted about Duan Ling Tian's appearance while some were upset. For instance, Zheng Jian, Hou Lin, and Zhang Ji Long were pissed off when they saw Duan Ling Tian since all three of them bore an indissoluble hatred against him.
"Master City Governor, the final results and placing of today's test are out." The Heavenly Leader Guardian walked into the meeting chamber and reported the results to the City Governor.
"Announceit." In this rare instance, the City Governor of Mound Hill City's eyes lit up.