1456 A Loose Tongue

"Why? Well, just because I want to..." Duan Ling Tian replied indifferently, causing Deng Wei to almost throw up blood.

"You…" Deng Wei was furious. He was about to speak again when he was interrupted by Duan Ling Tian.

Duan Ling Tian looked around him and said to the crowd, "Everyone! This Deng Wei wishes me dead even though I defeated his nephew fair and square and blames me for his failure to enter the sect. That day, after he placed his bet, he even provoked me through Voice Transmission saying that he'll inform his nephew about my death… If you were me, would you return him his Merit Points?" Duan Ling Tian's voice that contained the True Energy spread out and was heard by everyone present on the scene.

"Of course not!"

"No wonder. I was wondering why Senior Brother Duan Ling Tian deliberately made things difficult for Deacon Deng. As it turns out, there's a reason behind it."

"Hurmph! Deacon Deng is really shameless. He still has the nerve to ask Duan Ling Tian why he excluded him. Why didn't he think about how he wishes Duan Ling Tian is dead! What a joke!"

…

The group of outer court disciples was filled with contempt for Deng Wei, completely forgetting that they had also wished for Feng Fan to win prior to this.

If Feng Fan had won, Duan Ling Tian would have died.

"No wonder! I was wondering why you took out 150,000 Merit Points, Deng Wei! As it turns out, you have enmity with Duan Ling Tian," one of the outer court deacons chimed in as he looked at Deng Wei.

"Deng Wei, the fact that your nephew is defeated by Duan Ling Tian during the entrance exam means that your nephew has no fate with our sect… How can you blame this on Duan Ling Tian?"

"That's right! No matter how much you want to shield your nephew's shortcoming, you still have to be reasonable, Deng Wei."

The other outer court deacons said in support of Duan Ling Tian. It angered Deng Wei so much that his face turned green and white.

In the end, Deng Wei realized he would only further embarrass himself if he continued to stay here. He snorted coldly and cast a hate-filled glance at Duan Ling Tian before he flew away similar to Zhou Qi and Huang Cheng, disappearing before everyone's eyes.

"Everyone! I'll see you tomorrow." After Duan Ling Tian bade farewell to the crowd, he returned to his independent courtyard.

The group of people on the training field, particularly those outer court deacons and disciples who had bet with Duan Ling Tian, found his silhouette to be extremely charming no matter how they looked at him.

"Duan Ling Tian!" Ye Man turned pale after he had witnessed Duan Ling Tian's strength.

From the moment when Duan Ling Tian killed Feng Fan, Duan Ling Tian seemed to have transformed into a huge mountain in his eyes that seemed insurmountable.

"It seems like my defeat in his hands two months ago is completely justified." Xiao Zhui who came from the City Governor's Estate of Luo Jiang City smiled wryly. He was sincerely convinced by Duan Ling Tian's strength and no longer dared to seek revenge.

After Duan Ling Tian returned to the independent courtyard, he smiled wryly. "Am I too generous?"

The bets that he had received amounted to about three million Merit Points. 360,000 Merit Points were from Huang Cheng, and 150,000 Merit Points were from Deng Wei. There was no need for him to return them the Merit Points.

After subtracting these from the three million Merit Points, he would still have 2.49 million Merit Points.

Duan Ling Tian had loosened his tongue and said that he would return half of these Merit Points… In this case, he would only have less than 1.25 million Merit Points. Adding back Huang Cheng and Deng Wei's Merit Points, he would be left with roughly 1.75 million Merit Points.

"Even if I don't return Huang Cheng and Deng Wei's Merit Points, I'll have to return the 1.25 million Merit Points." Now that he had calculated it carefully, he felt he had been too wasteful.

"It's fine. 1.75 million Merit Points should be more than enough for me to spend as I like… This Merit Points can only be used in the Moon Illumination Sect and the 18 City Governors' estates anyway. They are completely useless outside." It was exactly because of this that Duan Ling Tian decided to return half of the Merit Points the outer court deacons and disciples had bet.

Although it was only half, it was more than enough for him to buy their hearts.

After he entered his house and closed the door, Duan Ling Tian entered the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda.

He did not cultivate, but he took out the Thousand Mass Sword that belonged to Feng Fan instead and began to study it. To be more precise, he was studying the Saint Inscription on the Thousand Mass Sword.

The Saint Inscription on the Thousand Mass Sword was a Two Star Saint Inscription. It was called the Thousand Mass Saint Inscription. Once it was activated, it would imbue the sword with terrifying strength. It was so powerful that it was almost unstoppable.

Duan Ling Tian had personally experienced its formidable force. When he recalled it, he still felt a lingering fear.

'It's a good thing I possess the Strange Pupil. Otherwise, I would have died today!' Duan Ling Tian thought to himself.

After studying the Thousand Mass Saint Inscription, Duan Ling Tian began to feel dizzy and heavy as exhaustion enveloped his body.

The tiny amount of Spiritual Energy he had recovered was depleted once again.

'It looks like I can only study it after I recover my Spiritual Energy,' Duan Ling Tian thought to himself with the last bit of his consciousness. In the next instant, he was already lying on the second floor of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda, deep in slumber.

In the inner court district of Moon Illumination Sect.

"Master!" Zhou Qi immediately looked for his master, Liu Huan, as soon as he entered the mansion.

"What's the matter? Why are you so anxious?" Liu Huan was a medium-built middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance. His eyes seemed like endless shifting clouds as he wore a grave expression on his face. He exuded an evil aura as he stood there.

Liu Huan frowned when he saw Zhou Qi in a rush. "You need to learn from your Junior Brother Su Qi. You're so old now, and yet, you're not composed at all."

"Master, it's not that I'm not composed, but there's an urgent matter." Zhou Qi smiled wryly.

"Speak," Liu Huan said indifferently.

"Master, Junior Brother Feng Fan is dead," Zhou Qi replied.

"What?!" Upon hearing Zhou Qi's words, Liu Huan raised his brows. The shock was written on his face. "What happened?"

"Feng Fan issued a death duel invitation to an outer court disciple who had just entered the sect two months ago… In the end, Junior Brother Feng Fan was no match for that outer court disciple and is killed by him." After Zhou Qi finished speaking, he faked a sympathetic sigh and said, "What a short-lived genius!"

"An outer court disciple who just entered the sect two months ago?" Liu Huan's eyes narrowed. "What kind of person is he? He has the ability to kill Feng Fan?"

Feng Fan was an Earth Ranking's powerhouse in the Nine Sect Alliances. Although he was only ranked at the bottom of the Earth Ranking, he was still a Martial Cultivator who stood at the peak of the Paramount Mortal Shedding Stage in the Nine Sect Alliances. His strength stood above others. However, such a person had just been killed!

The person who killed him turned out to be an outer court disciple who had just entered the sect two months ago.

"Is he also an Earth Ranking's powerhouse?" Liu Huan asked in a deep voice.

"No." Zhou Qi shook his head. "He's not a powerhouse from the Earth Ranking. He's just an unimportant and unknown person before he entered the sect."

"No matter what, he's destined to have a short life since he killed Feng Fan!" Liu Huan snorted coldly before he was hit by a pang of realization. He muttered underneath his breath in his deep voice, "Elder Zhao is in closed-door cultivation now so it's very likely that he won't be coming out so soon. If we can get rid of that person who killed Feng Fan, we'll be able to do him a favor!"

"I think so too." Zhou Qi nodded.

"Other than parroting ideas, what else do you know?" Liu Huan sneered. He did not believe Zhou Qi would be able to come up with such an idea on his own.

"Master, I'm not just parroting the idea… In truth, even if Junior Brother Feng Fan was not killed by that person, I would've done everything in my power to get rid of him! I just didn't expect him to kill Junior Brother Feng Fan before I can kill him." Zhou Qi smiled wryly, but when he reached the end of his sentence, his eyes shone with killing intent.

"What? You have enmity with that person?" Liu Huan frowned before he was hit by a pang of realization. His expression turned horrified immediately. "Zhou Qi! Don't tell me that you added fuel to the fire and instigated Feng Fan to issue the death duel invitation to that person?"

"No, I didn't." Zhou Qi quickly shook his head in denial.

He knew very well if he had admitted it, he would suffer great misfortune.

He sneered inwardly. 'Not only did I add fuel to the fire, but I even asked Feng Fan to kill that Duan Ling Tian! It's a pity that he was so useless that he died in Duan Ling Tian's hands in the end!"

He only dared to think of such words. He did not have the courage to say them out loud.

"You really didn't?" Liu Huan asked again.

"Master, I really didn't. If you don't believe in me, I can swear an oath," Zhou Qi answered shamelessly. He knew that Liu Huan would not ask him to swear an oath, that was why he dared to say such words.

One must admit that Zhou Qi's method of making a concession in order to advance was really effective since Liu Huan no longer suspected him. "Do you know why Feng Fan had enmity with that person?"

"I heard Junior Brother Feng Fan mentioned it previously," Zhou Qi replied, "It seems like after that person had defeated two outer court disciples who were ranked in the top 100 in the outer court, he considered everyone to be beneath him and even talked back to Junior Brother Feng Fan. Moreover, he even ridiculed Junior Brother Feng Fan and caused him to fly into a rage out of humiliation. In the end, in his fury, Junior Brother Feng Fan decided to issue a death duel invitation." Zhou Qi let his tongue loose without restraint.

He had thought about this carefully during his journey back. Since Feng Fan was dead, he could say whatever he wanted.

"Then why do you have enmity with him?" Liu Huan asked with a frown.

"Master, you've misunderstood me. I don't have any enmity with him." Zhou Qi smiled wryly.

"Then, what do your words mean?" Liu Huan was a little impatient now.

"Master, I said I would find an opportunity to get rid of him even if Junior Brother Feng Fan didn't do anything because of his origin… His origin has determined that he can only be our enemy and not our ally!" Zhou Qi replied.

"Our? It has something to do with me?" Liu Huan did not piece the puzzles together yet.

"Master, that man is called Duan Ling Tian. Similar to Junior Brother Su Qi, he came from the City Governor's Estate of Mound Hill City… It seems like he's Fang Hui's disciple." Zhou Qi threw out a huge bait at the critical moment.

"Mound Hill City? Fang Hui?" As expected, Liu Huan's face turned completely grave in just an instant.