"Look! It's the fellas from Luo Jiang City!" Xiong Hu's eyes were sharp and he pointed out loudly when he noticed them.
Duan Ling Tian and the other two of them looked towards Xiong Hu's line of sight and saw the five of them from Luo Jiang City standing far away. Their City Governor Luo Yi was the leader of the pack.
Luo Yi seemed to notice them watching him, so he turned around. He squinted when he noticed that it was them looking. Soon, a cunning grin appeared at the edge of his lips.
Fang Hui saw that grin which caused his heart to drop.
He knew Luo Yi well enough that he was not someone to underestimate. He must be plotting against his three disciples to be grinning like this.
"Please be cautious when the three of you get into the sect. Although killing is prohibited in the sect, there are millions of ways for people to harm all of you," Fang Hui reminded Duan Ling Tian and the other two after inhaling a deep breath.
The three of them nodded.
"Yo! Isn't that Duan Ling Tian?" Suddenly, a voice came from far away and was getting closer and closer.
When Duan Ling Tian turned around skeptically, he realized that a young man had already arrived before him. It was a young man in black robes whose face seemed cool while an eerie aura lingered all over his body.
His aura made people feel uncomfortable.
After taking a good look at the young man before him for a while, Duan Ling Tian asked feeling unsure, "Are you… Ye Man?"
The young man was vastly different from the young man from his memories.
Therefore, he was not sure if he was the person he thought.
"It seems like your memory's not that shabby after all, for you to remember me, Ye Man. What? Isn't Guo Li here?" Ye Man's lips curved into a spooky grin while a horrifying, cold gleam shone in his eyes.
Ye Man was one of the first human Martial Cultivators Duan Ling Tian had met when he arrived near Dao Martial Saint Land back then. He had been with Guo Li and Lin Qing Rong at that time.
He was also the most outstanding disciple of the Ye Clan in Fuyu Town whereby his cultivation base only lost out to Guo Li among the younger generation in the town.
Initially, Lin Qing Rong was going to bring Guo Li and Ye Man back to the City Governor's Estate of Mound Hill City.
However, appearing halfway, Duan Ling Tian had gotten Ye Man disqualified from Lin Qing Rong's list since he had a limited quota and had to follow the rules of picking the winner over the loser.
Never had Duan Ling Tian thought he would see Ye Man here.
One must know that Ye Man's ability was lower than Guo Li's.
Where did he get his confidence from?
Curiously, Duan Ling Tian activated his Divine Eye. One glance was all it took to make his heart pump fast.
'How is this possible!? Ye Man… has already broken through to the Paramount Mortal Shedding Stage!" Duan Ling Tian was filled with shock and disbelief.
He remembered that Guo Li and Ye Man were both Martial Cultivators on the Intermediate Mortal Shedding Stage when they had met a year ago.
Today, even Guo Li was only on the Mastery Mortal Shedding Stage. Meanwhile, how could Ye Man, whose talent was below Guo Li's, have broken through to the Paramount Mortal Shedding Stage?
'This Ye Man doesn't seem like he's just broken through to the Paramount Mortal Shedding Stage… I'm afraid his ability surpasses even Xiao Zhui from Luo Jiang City! Even Su Qi might not be a match for him.' Truth be told, Duan Ling Tian was a little terrified.
If he were to fight the current Ye Man out of nowhere, he did not dare to say he had the confidence to do that.
It was hard for Duan Ling Tian to imagine that the person who he had defeated in a single blow a year ago would have the ability to scare him a year later.
What exactly happened to Ye Man throughout the past year?
"Eh? Does he know Guo Li?" Xiong Hu was a little surprised. "Duan Ling Tian, is he a friend of yours and Guo Li's?"
"Yes, we're old friends… Old friends who haven't seen each other for a long time, especially Duan Ling Tian. I've missed him a lot throughout the year that we parted ways." Ye Man smiled a little eerily, giving one goosebumps.
At that moment, even Xiong Hu noticed that something was off.
Fang Hui looked at Ye Man with the slightest fear and asked while frowning at the moment, "A Devil Cultivator?"
Devil Cultivator?
What Fang Hui said made Ling Yun and Xiong Hu's expressions change slightly.
Duan Ling Tian, on the other hand, only revealed a flash of surprise on his face. He realized that there was a commotion happening within the Devilseal Tablet when he exerted his conscious into his Spatial Ring. The tablet seemed to have detected something.
At that moment, Duan Ling Tian was sure of that Ye Man had gone on the path of Devil Dao and become a Devil Cultivator.
Everything made sense now.
A Devil Cultivator's cultivation speed was beyond logic.
At that very second, the fear Duan Ling Tian had for Ye Man disappeared.
It was no joke!
With his current cultivation base, he might be able to put a Paramount Saint Rudiment Stage Devil Cultivator to an end with the help of the Devilseal Tablet, let alone a Paramount Mortal Shedding Stage Devil Cultivator!
"I supposed this is City Governor Fang from Mound Hill City?" Ye Man looked pointedly at Fang Hui and grinned. "City Governor Fang, your underling Lin Qing Rong let me go a year ago… I wouldn't be who I am today if Lin Qing Rong hadn't let me go back then.
"That's why I've made up my mind to take good care of your Mound Hill City people after getting into the Moon Illumination Sect." Ye Man's eyes were observing Xiong Hu and Ling Yun in an amusing manner as he spoke. It caused Xiong Hu's expression to change while Ling Yun looked serious.
Devil Cultivators always had a rapid cultivation speed and they were known for their tyrannical character.
Even they were afraid of him.
Moreover, they could feel that the Devil Cultivator before them had a powerful ability that they were no match for.
Fang Hui, on the other hand, was frowning.
He felt Ye Man's ill intentions at that moment.
"Since we know each other, I'll take good care of you too," Duan Ling Tian glanced at Ye Man calmly and said with a wry smile.
Fang Hui and the other two could not help but be stunned by Duan Ling Tian's response.
"You'll take care of me?" Ye Man was amazed at first and subsequently, he smiled. His smile was even more frightful now. "I'll be anticipating it then. Unfortunately, Guo Li isn't here. It'd be perfect if she were."
Ye Man ignored Duan Ling Tian after he was done speaking and left, pivoting around.
Although he could not wait to tear Duan Ling Tian into a million pieces, he knew it was not the best time to do anything to him. Otherwise, he might be disqualified from participating in the entrance assessment of the Moon Illumination Sect.
Furthermore, the City Governor of Mound Hill City was there. It was hard for him to kill Duan Ling Tian at that moment.
Therefore, he did not rush things.
Would Duan Ling Tian not be a piece of meat on his chopping board where he could cut him however he wanted when they got into the Moon Illumination Sect?
Xiong Hu felt like a cloud of haze had lifted when Ye Man left. He could not help but ask Duan Ling Tian while looking at him, "Senior Brother Duan, how do you and Guo Li know this Devil Cultivator?"
"It happened a year ago…" Duan Ling Tian told him everything about meeting Lin Qing Rong, Guo Li, and Ye Man a year ago. He even told him the details of their relationship without holding back.
"You mean that Ye Man wasn't a Devil Cultivator back then?" Fang Hui asked while frowning.
"Definitely not." Duan Ling Tian shook his head. "He was like a completely different person compared to a year ago! I couldn't recognize him at first when I saw him just now. The changes are too drastic."
"It seems like he's gotten into Devil Dao which caused his cultivation base to skyrocket," Xiong Hu commented while looking petrified, "But does the Moon Illumination Sect take Devil Cultivators?"
At that moment, not only Xiong Hu but even Duan Ling Tian and Ling Yun were also gawking at Fang Hui.
They were curious about that too.
"The sect doesn't usually reject Devil Cultivators as long as they aren't outrageous. There are actually quite a few Devil Cultivators in the sect," Fang Hui said.
Soon, Fang Hui snapped back to his senses and said through True Energy Voice Transmission, "Duan Ling Tian, although Ye Man was no match for you a year ago, since he's a Devil Cultivator now, you can't judge him using logic! His abilities might've surpassed yours now.
"If you see him again, avoid him as much as you can. Never fight him forcefully," Fang Hui reminded patiently, "I have a feeling that his ability's even more powerful than Xiao Zhui's from Luo Jiang City."
Although he did not use the Spiritual Secret Tactic to check Ye Man's cultivation base, Feng Hui could roughly estimate Ye Man's cultivation base judging from the aura on his body.
"He's on the Saint Rudiment Stage?" Xiong Hu exclaimed.
"If he isn't on the Saint Rudiment Stage, he should be on the Paramount Mortal Shedding Stage! However, if he's a Devil Cultivator, it's a piece of cake for him to get to the Saint Rudiment Stage," Fang Hui said while shaking his head. His judgment and wisdom were revealed as he spoke.
"But his ability's even more powerful than Xiao Zhui's from Luo Jiang City," Fang Hui looked serious as he conversed further.
"Is he that powerful?" Xiong Hu inhaled sharply while Ling Yun looked terrified.
Duan Ling Tian was the only one who looked calm. It was as if he would behave the same even if Mount Tai were to collapse before him.
To him, whether Ye Man was a Paramount Mortal Shedding Stage or a Saint Rudiment Devil Cultivator, there was no difference since he would be crushed to smithereens when Duan Ling Tian activated the Devilseal Tablet.
"Duan Ling Tian, please don't be reckless," reminded Fang Hui while frowning when he saw that Duan Ling Tian was so calm. He thought that Duan Ling Tian was underestimating his foe.
"Everyone, please be quiet." Suddenly, an old voice rang out. It contained True Energy which took over the noisy ambiance. The scene regained its silence temporarily. It was so quiet that they could hear if a needle were to drop on the ground.
At the same time, everyone including Duan Ling Tian was looking at the old man standing on the vast stone platform.
He was surrounded by the two middle-aged men like a celebrity.
"Welcome to all of you who are participating in our Moon Illumination Sect's entrance assessment! I won't beat around the bush. I'll be announcing the assessment's rules, I'll make it short." The old man proceeded to speak after hushing the crowd, "Our Moon Illumination Sect's entrance assessment is divided into two sections. The first section will involve us performing the Spiritual Secret Tactic to check on the participants' age and cultivation base.
"Geniuses below 40 with a cultivation base on the Perfection Mortal Shedding Stage and above will pass the first section of the assessment immediately.
"Those below 40 who are on the Mastery Mortal Shedding Stage can skip the second section of the assessment and pass directly to become our outer court disciple of the Moon Illumination Sect!"