1491 Ouyang Clan

"The Ouyang Clan?" Duan Ling Tian furrowed his brows involuntarily.

When he was at the marketplace that day, he had detected someone following him, but that person had hidden well enough, so he could not pick him out at once.

Later on, that person stopped following him, so he left the matter at the back of his mind.

Who knew that someone would have come looking for him the minute after he arrived at the inn? Moreover, that someone was a steward of the Ouyang Clan.

Needless to say, Duan Ling Tian knew it must be Ouyang Ruo's idea.

As a fresh face around Han River City, how else would he get the attention of the Ouyang Clan otherwise?

Indeed, Duan Ling Tian guessed correctly.

After Ouyang Ruo had returned to the Ouyang Clan, the first thing she did was to go to her father, the Ouyang Clan Leader and tell him about the accident inside the Jiuqu Mountain Range.

The Ouyang Clan Leader was enraged when he heard that his precious daughter had almost suffered such distress and wanted to the Yi Clan to reprimand them immediately.

However, Ouyang Ruo managed to stop him in time.

Along with Ouyang Ruo's account of the incident, the Clan Leader of the Ouyang Clan realized that the pressing matter was to find that young talent who had saved his daughter instead of getting even with the Yi Clan.

According to his daughter, that young talent was most probably from a seventh-rated force or stronger.

Therefore, he sent people all over Han River City to find that young talent once his daughter finished drawing a portrait of him. Ouyang Ruo was quite skilled at drawing.

At least, with that portrait, the people from the Ouyang Clan managed to find Duan Ling Tian in the largest marketplace of Han River City and discover the inn he was staying in.

"Please." The Ouyang Clan steward narrowed his eyes and extended the invitation to Duan Ling Tian yet again whilst a glint flash in his eyes.

"What will you do if I reject you?" Duan Ling Tian glanced at the steward coolly and asked.

"Please don't make it hard for me, Young Master."

The Ouyang Clan steward added, "Don't you worry. You've saved the life of our Young Miss. No matter how bad our Ouyang Clan is, we won't bite the hand that fed us. This invitation bears no ill will. Our Clan Leader merely wants to express his gratitude."

Duan Ling Tian stared intently at the Ouyang Clan steward for a while and then nodded. "Lead the way."

He was not an overly cautious person.

He was just trying to determine their intentions by asking the Ouyang Clan steward such questions. On the way to the Ouyang Clan, Duan Ling Tian also learned that the steward was called Ouyang Ji.

When Ouyang Ji asked for his name, he merely said that his surname was Duan.

"Young Master Duan, is this your first time in Han River City?" Ouyang Ji asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"I have reports from my man about your behavior at the marketplace," Ouyang Ji said with a smile.

"The person who followed me was under you?" Duan Ling Tian frowned.

"Yes."

Ouyang Ji openly admitted, "He's an Intermediate Saint Rudiment Stage Martial Cultivator who's good at tracking people. He didn't think that you'd be able to discover him, Young Master Duan. Before this, besides Mortal Shedding Stage Martial Cultivators and Dao Cultivators, in fact, none of the Intermediate Saint Rudiment Stage Martial Cultivators and Dao Cultivators who were followed had ever discovered him." As Ouyang Ji spoke, he sighed a little.

"No matter how good you think you are, there's always someone out there who's better. He's just never met them," Duan Ling Tian said faintly.

"Yes. Young Master Duan, you taught him a lesson today," Ouyang Ji said with a smile.

"Was it him who discovered the inn I'm staying at?" asked Duan Ling Tian. That was what he was most curious about.

As Earth's strongest weapon specialist in his past life, he thought that he had an extraordinary tracking ability, but he could not figure out that someone had followed him back to his inn.

The 99 Saint Veins in his body were open now. Whether it was his hearing, his vision or his sense of smell, all of those were far superior to an ordinary person's. As a result, his anti-tracking abilities were enhanced.

However, he still did not discover that person.

It was okay that he did not discover Huang Cheng and the black-clad man previously when he was on the way to Han River City. After all, one of them was a Perfection Saint Rudiment Stage Martial Cultivator and the other was a Paramount Saint Rudiment Stage Devil Cultivator. Their cultivation bases were far superior to his.

However, the person who had followed him back to the inn would definitely not be a Perfection Saint Rudiment Stage cultivator.

In a family like the Ouyang Clan, anyone above the Perfection Saint Rudiment Stage would undoubtedly be the pillar of the clan. They would be the Clan's top management. It was impossible for those people to trail him.

"He stopped following you after you discovered him at the marketplace, Young Master Duan."

Ouyang Ji nodded. "After he came back and reported it, I personally come to follow you, Young Master Duan. Therefore, I appeared not long after you arrived at the inn."

"So, does that mean that you're a Mastery Saint Rudiment Stage cultivator?" Duan Ling Tian asked with narrowed eyes.

"Yes." Ouyang Ji nodded.

Duan Ling Tian's heart sank slightly at the fact that his anti-tracking abilities seemed to be useless when their cultivation base differed so much.

However, he was relieved when he remembered that he was merely at the Paramount Mortal Shedding Stage right then.

How could he, on the Paramount Mortal Shedding Stage, could be expected to discover the existence of someone above the Mastery Saint Rudiment Stage?

If he really could discover them, then they would have been very invaluable.

Unconsciously, Duan Ling Tian followed Ouyang Ji to the Ouyang Clan estate.

As one of the eighth-rated clans in Han River City, the Ouyang Clan estate was situated on the east side of the city on a vast land. It looked magnificent.

…

While he followed Ouyang Ji into the entrance of the Ouyang Clan estate, a dozen guards stood beside the entrance, bowing respectfully at Ouyang Ji.

"Lord Ji!"

"Lord Ji!"

The current Ouyang Ji was no longer as accommodating and warm as he was when he had only been with Duan Ling Tian. He looked solemn and presented the dignity of being a steward.

However, after entering the estate when they were alone again, he changed his demeanor and started to introduce the landscape along the way to Duan Ling Tian.

The Ouyang Clan estate was huge, and it took a while for them to walk past the front yard.

In the front yard, there were ponds, rock gardens, and walkways, very similar to the imperial garden of Duan Ling Tian's hometown, the Crimson Sky Kingdom. Certainly, even the Crimson Sky Kingdom's imperial garden was not as big as the front yard of the Ouyang Clan estate.

At that time, the sun began to set and the sky darkened.

It was almost night time.

The Ouyang Clan estate started to light their lamps up all over the estate, bringing out the buildings in the front yard and making them seemed majestic and magnificent.

"Young Master Duan, the building in front is the Ouyang Clan's main hall for meeting guests. The Clan Leader and Young Miss have been waiting for you there for quite some time," Ouyang Ji glanced forward and said to Duan Ling Tian.

Duan Ling Tian looked over after hearing that. In a glance, he saw that a palace-style building stood in front, surrounded by other buildings. Like stars twinkling around a bright moon, it stood out.

Duan Ling Tian was brought outside the main hall and then Ouyang Ji respectfully shouted, "Clan Leader, Young Master Duan is here!"

"So, your surname is Duan." Almost at the same time as Ouyang Ji finished his sentence, a figure which seemed familiar to Duan Ling Tian appeared in front of him. It was Ouyang Ruo.

Currently, Ouyang Ruo was looking at Duan Ling Tian while smiling. "What now? We meet again!"

"Miss Ouyang, the way you treated is not how one usually treats their savior. It's more like the way one treats their enemies," Duan Ling Tian commented pointedly.

"If I didn't do that, how could I have found you??" Ouyang Ruo's smile remained unchanged since she had guessed what Duan Ling Tian would say. She knew that he would highlight the fact that their Ouyang Clan had followed him.

"Ruo'er, why don't you ask your savior to enter?" At that time, a loud and majestic voice rang out from inside the main hall.

Just by listening to the voice, one would be able to tell that the person must have been holding a position of power for a long time. Duan Ling Tian did not have to guess that the voice belonged to the Ouyang Clan Leader.

"Please come in, Young Master Duan," Ouyang Ruo looked towards Duan Ling Tian and called out to him with a smile.

Duan Ling Tian also did not try to be courteous and just strolled into the main hall of the Ouyang Clan.

Ouyang Clan's main hall was elaborately decorated and seemed majestic.

Once Duan Ling Tian entered the main hall, he saw the middle-aged man sitting in the middle of the main hall at first glance. The middle-aged man was bearded and built. He sat there majestically like the king of lions.

It was the Ouyang Clan Leader, Ouyang Ba.

Behind him, stood a young man who looked quite handsome and somewhat similar to Ouyang Ruo.

Duan Ling Tian could guess that he must be Ouyang Ruo's eldest brother, the Elder Young Master of the Ouyang Clan, Ouyang Qing.

'It's said that a dragon would give birth to a dragon and a phoenix would give birth to a phoenix. Someone who looks as bearish as the Ouyang Clan Leader actually gave birth to a pair of children who appear so delicate and pretty. That's rare.' A thought crossed Duan Ling Tian's mind and he could not help but secretly pull a face.

Currently, Duan Ling Tian could foresee that Ouyang Ba's wife must be very pretty. Otherwise, how could such delicate and pretty children come about?

If Ouyang Ba's wife was not pretty, then there was only one other possibility — both Ouyang Qing and Ouyang Ruo were not the children of Ouyang Ba.

Naturally, the possibility of that was very low.

As the Ouyang Clan Leader who was a tyrannical local strong force, how could he raise the children of others?

"Ouyang Clan Leader." Duan Ling Tian cupped his hands and called out towards Ouyang Ba as a greeting.

"I'm Ouyang Ba, the Clan Leader of the Ouyang Clan. What's your name, Little Brother Duan?" Ouyang Ba said smilingly. He sounded kind and easy-going without putting on airs.

"My last name's Duan," Duan Ling Tian responded calmly, still refusing to say his full name.

'His name must sound terrible.' thought Ouyang Ruo to herself as she entered the main hall behind Duan Ling Tian while looking at his back.

"Hmph!" Just as Ouyang Ba's face froze, Ouyang Qing who stood behind him scowled. "Who do you think you are!? You're still reluctant to tell us your name when my father has asked for it. I'm really curious as to where are you from. How bloody uncouth!"

"Whether I'll tell you my name or not depends on my mood. If you really want to compare our manners, as the Eldest Young Master of the Ouyang Clan having treated me, your sister's savior, as such, how refined are you really?" Duan Ling Tian responded calmly.