Although Ye Man was a Devil Cultivator who experienced a qi deviation and had greatly increased his strength, he was merely a Paramount Mortal Shedding Stage Devil Cultivator. Theoretically, it was impossible for him to escape from a group of outer court elders and outer court deacons.
Moreover, Ye Man had killed so many outer court disciples. His nature was so terrible that it shook all of the Moon Illumination Sect's high-ranking officials.
Even the outer court's Greatest Elder, Dongfang Quan, had to personally deal with the matter.
Duan Ling Tian had dealt with Dongfang Quan before, he knew that Dongfang Quan's strength was comparable to an inner court elder… With him dealing with it personally, how could Ye Man have escaped?
"I heard that Ye Man used Blood Escape," Bai Li Hong said.
"Blood Escape?!" Duan Ling Tian's eyes narrowed. Naturally, he knew what Blood Escape was.
"Blood Escape is a move that can only be used by Devil Cultivators above the Saint Rudiment Stage… Does it mean Ye Man has broken through to the Saint Rudiment Stage?" Duan Ling Tian was shocked.
The speed of a Saint Rudiment Stage Devil Cultivator when they use Blood Escape Secret Tactic was comparable to the speed of a Saint Stage powerhouse.
Once they used the Blood Escape Secret Tactic, terrible side effects aside, their speed would increase outrageously to the extent it would be raised a level higher.
This is why even if Ye Man was merely an Early Saint Rudiment Stage Devil Cultivator, once he used the Blood Escape Secret Tactic, no one under the Saint Stage could make him stay.
"Speaking of this Ye Man, he seemed to have joined the sect at the same time you did, Junior Brother." Bai Li Hong sighed. "I didn't expect there's someone else with such a monstrous talent apart from you among the disciples who are recruited this time… Too bad he had killed in the sect. He would never be accepted by the sect again."
"Besides, his future achievement would be greatly reduced since he used the Blood Escape Secret Tactic," Bai Li Hong said.
A Devil Cultivator above the Saint Rudiment Stage could only use the Blood Escape Secret Tactic at most three times in their lives.
They would die if they used it the third time. Therefore, ordinary Devil Cultivators would only dare to use it twice if they wanted to live.
Moreover, every time they used it, it would take a huge toll on their bodies.
Not only would the side effect affect their lifespan, but it would also affect their future cultivation.
"I'm afraid it's going to be difficult for Dongfang Quan to report this matter to the Sect Leader," Bai Li Hong muttered as he shook his head.
As someone who had opened up 99 Saint Veins, Duan Ling Tian had extraordinary hearing, thus, he could easily hear Bai Li Hong's words.
He could understand his concern.
Regardless, Dongfang Quan was the Greatest Elder in the outer court. He was in charge of the entire outer court.
He would definitely be punished for letting something like that happen in the place he was in charge of. Moreover, he was not able to apprehend that person.
"Junior Brother, about Ye Man's escape, please keep it to yourself and don't spread it around… They had announced that Ye Man was caught and would be executed in a few days!" Bai Li Hong said.
"I understand." Duan Ling Tian nodded.
Although Bai Li Hong did not say why, it was not difficult for Duan Ling Tian to guess the reason.
The Moon Illumination Sect's high-ranking officials were most likely worried that once the news of Ye Man's escape was leaked, the outer court disciples would descend into panic again.
The only way to calm down the fears of the outer court disciples and restore peace to the outer court was to say they had caught Ye Man.
Three days later, the Sect Leader of the Moon Illumination Sect gave an order to execute Ye Man.
Duan Ling Tian was also present on that day.
When Duan Ling Tian saw Ye Man who was tied up in the middle of the execution ground and surrounded by a big crowd, he could not help but exclaim inwardly, 'Such an impressive disguise! He looks almost exactly like Ye Man! If I didn't know that Ye Man had escaped, I would've thought that he's Ye Man."
"He's Ye Man? The Devil Cultivator who killed twenty-three outer court disciples?"
"Devil Cultivators are like ticking bombs… In my opinion, I think the sect should impose a rule and ban Devil Cultivators from joining the sect."
"That's right! Once the rule is in place, we can completely eliminate the chance of something like this happening again."
…
Many Moon Illumination Sect's disciples were discussing among themselves. Even some of the inner court disciples had an expression of fear on their faces when the words 'Devil Cultivators' were mentioned.
"Hey! All of you are discriminating against Devil Cultivators! So what if someone is a Devil Cultivator? Take me for example, I've never experienced qi deviation. Besides, don't you forget that there are two Devil Cultivators among the few Saint Stage powerhouses in our sect… How can you discriminate against them like this?" One of the inner court disciples who was also a Devil Cultivator protested.
Instantly, the group of Moon Illumination Sect's disciples fell silent.
Yes, there were two Devil Cultivators among the Saint Stage powerhouses in the sect.
Obviously, it was impossible for the sect to impose a rule to ban Devil Cultivators from joining.
The subsequent scene was simple. One of the Moon Illumination Sect's Enforcement Elder had personally executed Ye Man.
After killing Ye Man, he looked around and said in a deep voice, "The sect has never rejected Devil Cultivators because we value their speed of cultivation and extraordinary strength… However, a Devil Cultivator will always be a Devil Cultivator. They're like a double-edged sword to the sect!"
"The sect has been using this double-edged sword smoothly until recently when an oddity like Ye Man appeared!" Duan Ling Tian could not help but feel drowsy when he heard the Enforcement Elder speaking in official jargon.
Duan Ling Tian could guess his subsequent speech without even listening. He would most certainly give a warning to the other Devil Cultivators.
"Here, I'd like to warn the Devil Cultivators among the inner court disciples to avoid qi deviation while cultivating. If there's a risk of qi deviation, you should do it far away from the sect… Let Ye Man serve as an example to you otherwise!" Just as Duan Ling Tian had expected, the Enforcement Elder warned the Devil Cultivators present with his words.
What he meant was simple.
If Devil Cultivators were uncertain about their cultivation, they should cultivate far away from the sect so that they would not affect the sect if qi deviation occurred.
If their qi deviated in the sect and they killed people in the sect, they would have to die!
It should be noted that the Enforcement Elder's words were effective as the faces of the disciples who were Devil Cultivators turned solemn.
With Ye Man as an example, they would not dare to be careless anymore.
Just like that, Ye Man's incident came to an end, and peace was gradually restored in the Moon Illumination Sect.
With Bai Li Hong's status in the Moon Illumination Sect, Duan Ling Tian received his identity order token for inner court disciples in just a few days' time.
Duan Ling Tian had also officially joined the Moon Illumination Sect's inner court and moved into Bai Li Hong's mansion.
Due to Duan Ling Tian's relationship with Bai Li Hong, there were not many inner court disciples who dared to offend him even though he had just joined the inner court.
In the following days, Duan Ling Tian entered the third level of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda and greedily inhaled the Heaven and Earth Spirit Energy in the air and the Heaven and Earth Spirit Energy inside the Saint Stones to improve his cultivation base.
He desperately wanted to break through to the Mastery Saint Rudiment Stage!
Once he broke through to the Mastery Saint Rudiment Stage, he would be able to master the True Energy Consolidated Weapon.
At that time, his strength would have a qualitative leap.
"Once I master the True Energy Consolidated Weapon, I'm confident I'll be able to defeat even the strongest Perfection Saint Rudiment Stage powerhouse! I'm not sure about Paramount Saint Rudiment Stage powerhouses though. After all, they've mastered the True Energy Consolidated Territory."
Duan Ling Tian had personally witnessed how terrifying the True Energy Consolidated Territory could be.
That assassin whom he suspected was from the Mountainshade Black Market had formed the Blood Devil Territory that easily obstructed him even though he was using a Three Star Divine Strider Talisman.
Within the Blood Devil Territory, every Blood Devil was extremely powerful.
"I don't know what kind of territory I'll master when I break through to the Paramount Saint Rudiment Stage." Duan Ling Tian was very eager to find out.
One might be able to choose one's True Energy Consolidated Weapon and True Energy Consolidated Beast, but it was not the case with the True Energy Consolidated Territory. It was entirely up to Heaven. It was a gift from Heaven that was as useful as one's arms.
Just like the assassin whom Duan Ling Tian suspected to be from the Mountainshade Black Market, he was a Devil Cultivator who had mastered the Blood Devil Territory. The territory was very suitable for him.
While Duan Ling Tian was working hard on his cultivation, the Moon Illumination Sect's inner court elder, Liu Huan, had arrived at Han River City and the Mountainshade Black Market's branch in the area under the influence of the Nine Sect Alliances.
His purpose in coming here was simple. He wanted to ask the people from the Mountainshade Black Market if the mission he had put out had failed.
What would happen next if it failed?
"Did it really fail?" Even though he was mentally prepared, Liu Huan's face that was hidden under a mask still turned ghastly when he learned the mission had really failed.
"Guest, we failed your mission because we had underestimated your target… According to the rules of the Mountainshade Black Market, we'll refund you twice the amount you've paid," a person from the Mountainshade Black Market said apologetically to Liu Huan.
In other words, if Liu Huan had previously spent 10,000 grade six Saint Stones to buy Duan Ling Tian's life, he would be compensated with another 10,000 grade six Saint Stones on top of what he had paid.
However, Liu Huan was not happy at all.
"What if I want you to continue the mission?" Liu Huan pressed.
At this time, he merely thought the person whom the Mountainshade Black Market sent out was too weak. That had to be a reason why they failed.
"If you want us to continue with the mission, you don't have to pay us. It'll do if you just give us some time," the person from the Mountainshade Black Market said.
"Alright! I want you to continue with the mission… I hope you'll send out someone stronger this time. Don't let me down again," Liu Huan said, displeasure evident in his voice.
"Don't worry. The Mountainshade Black Market won't let you down again," the person from Mountainshade Black Market said.
After Liu Huan left, inside one of the rooms in the Mountainshade Black Market's branch, two of the highest high-ranking officials in that branch got together again due to Liu Huan's mission.
These two high-ranking officials were Yin Yang and Tai Wu.
Yin Yang was the person in charge of the Mountainshade Black Market's branch in Han River City. He was usually responsible for taking care of the day-to-day matters.
Tai Wu was the secret weapon of the Mountainshade Black Market's branch at the areas under the influence of the Nine Sect Alliances. He was usually rotated between the various branches of the Mountainshade Black Market in the areas under the Nine Sect Alliances. Recently, he had been on duty at Han River City.
Tai Wu was also the Mountainshade Black Market powerhouse who killed the previous Sect Leader of Profound Talisman Sect back then!