“Where are the Ning Dragons?”
After everyone left God’s Secret Treasure, they finally discovered the absence of the Ning Dragons. They could only watch as the broken chains and the door to God’s Secret Treasure slowly vanished.
Soon enough, Xuan Kong, the most outstanding prodigy from the Profound Cat Clan, discovered three of his fellow disciples were missing. “Where are Junior Brother Yue, Junior Brother Leng, and Junior Brother Wang?”
Everyone had already left God’s Secret Treasure. However, the Profound Cat Clan’s three members were nowhere to be seen. There were only two possibilities for this: one, they had decided to say in there, and two, they were killed in there.
Xuan Kong knew the former possibility was not possible so he hastily brought out the three members’ Soul Pearls. Sure enough, the three Soul Pearls were shattered.
‘There are no dangers or traps in God’s Secret Treasure that could kill them. This means someone here must have killed them,’ Xuan Kong thought to himself as he swept his gaze across the people present on the scene with a grim expression on his face.
“Ladies and gentlemen, did anyone witness the deaths of three members from our Profound Cat Clan?” Xuan Kong asked without beating around the bush. “If there’s a witness, please send me a Voice Transmission. The Profound Cat Mansion will be grateful to you.”
With this, the others finally realized three members of the Profound Cat Clan were missing. They began to discuss among themselves, spurred by their curiosity.
“The three members of the Profound Cat Clan died inside the God’s Secret Treasure?”
“There’s no danger in the God’s Secret Treasure… Unless they chose to stay inside, it’s likely someone had killed them.”
“Who could have killed those three people?”
At this moment, Duan Ling Tian glanced at Xuan Kong and said airily, “When I was in God’s Secret Treasure, three rats hid and lurked in a corner before they attacked me… They, naturally, died in the end.”
Xuan Kong’s expression changed when he heard Duan Ling Tian’s words. He glared at Duan Ling Tian and asked through gritted teeth, “It’s you?! Why did you kill our members?”
“Ah, so they’re from the Profound Cat Clan.” Duan Ling Tian feigned a look of surprise. “Are you sure they’re from the Profound Cat Clan? They looked like dirty rats to me, waiting in the dark to ambush their targets.”
“Impossible!” Xuan Kong said in a low voice, “If they met you, they wouldn’t… wouldn’t have attacked you.” In fact, he wanted to say that those three people would not dare to attack Duan Ling Tian. However, he changed his words since it was rather embarrassing to say such words.
“Why would I kill them if they didn’t attack me first?” Duan Ling smiled. “After all, I, Duan Ling Tian, have no grudge with the Profound Cat Clan.”
“Duan Ling Tian, I know you have a high innate talent and comprehension of the law… However, they’re useless if you die before you can grow into your full potential!” Xuan Kong threatened as his eyes glinted coldly.
“Xuan Kong, don’t worry,” Gongsun Jing chimed in after he smiled, “Whether Duan Ling Tian will successfully grow into his full potential or not has nothing to do with the Profound Cat Clan.”
Xuan Long’s expression turned even colder when Gongsun Jing intervened. He said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go!”
Xuan Kong knew he was at a disadvantage. Strength-wise, he was no match for Duan Ling Tian. Background-wise, he was inferior to Gongsun Jing. If he continued to stay here, he would only be treated as a joke.
Before Xuan Kong left, he turned back and looked at the grassroots prodigies and said, “The grassroots prodigies who managed to rank in the Peak of Gravity Ranking or the Formation Spirit Pagoda Ranking who wish to join the Profound Cat Clan, please leave with me.”
The grassroots prodigies who met the qualification Xuan Kong stated were rather moved.
Upon seeing this, the Tuoba Clan and the Great Dragon Battle Sect began to extend invitations to the grassroots prodigies as well.
As a result, most of the grassroots prodigies decided to join the Tuoba Clan and the Great Dragon Battle Sect and did not leave with the Profound Cat Clan. After all, it was rather embarrassing to leave with the Profound Cat Clan since it was akin to fleeing away.
After that, the most outstanding prodigies from the Ancient Phoenix Clan, the Baili Clan, and the Profound Sky Dao Sect such as Feng Qi Qi, Baili Hong Fei, and Ye Wu Dao began to extend invitations to the grassroots prodigies as well, However, in comparison to the Tuoba Clan and the Great Dragon Battle Sect, the requirements to join these three clans were much higher.
At this moment, Yu Tian Xing from the Thousand Tribulation Sword Sect finally said, “Those who are ranked in the top 20 in the Peak of Gravity Ranking or the Formation Spirit Pagoda Ranking or top 10 in other rankings are eligible to join the Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect.”
At this moment, Su Li said to Duan Ling Tian, “Duan Ling Tian, let’s explore the surroundings… When it’s time, I’ll bring you to the Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect.”
Therefore, while Yu Tian Xing was busy recruiting grassroots prodigies, Su Li, Duan Ling Tian, and Huan’er left.
Upon seeing this, Gongsun Jing called out, “Hey! Su Li, Duan Ling Tian, wait for me!” It seemed like he now regarded himself as part of Duan Ling Tian’s group and no longer followed Yu Tian Xing around.
…
Time passed by quickly. In just a blink of an eye, it was time to leave the Genius Secret Realm.
After exploring various places in the Genius Secret Realm, Duan Ling Tian, Huan’er, Su Li, and Gongsun Jing managed to find treasures, but they were incomparable to things they gained in God’s Secret Treasure.
When it was time to leave, the quartet left and made their way to the Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect.
The estate of the Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect, one of the three strongest grade-one forces in the Nan Dou Territory, was located high above the clouds. The tens of thousands of floating islands in the sky looked grand and majestic. They looked like swords pointing at the sky. Among the numerous floating islands, there were 10 larger islands that belonged to the Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect’s ten progenies respectively.
“These ten islands are the base of the sect’s ten progenies. The other islands are laid with a Sect Guarding Formation,” Gongsun Jing explained to Duan Ling Tian as he pointed to the ten islands that were different from the others.
“There are tens of thousands of islands just for a Sect Guarding Formation?” Duan Ling Tian asked in shock, “Even if multiple titled Celestial Emperors join forces, it would still be difficult for them to destroy the Sect Guarding Formations, right?”
“Duan Ling Tian, you’re wrong,” Gongsun Jing smiled and said, “Although the Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect is not as glorious as we used to be, our ancestors paid a huge price to create this Sect Guarding Formation… Not to mention a few titled Celestial Emperors, even dozens or a hundred of them won’t be able to breach our Sect Guarding Formation.”
“Even dozens or a hundred titled Celestial Emperors still won’t be able to breach the Formation?” Duan Ling Tian was stunned. After all, he knew how powerful the combined strength of dozens of titled Celestial Emperors were, let alone a hundred of titled Celestial Emperors.
“Even the Formations that guard the heaven-grade sects or clans that are second only to a Heavenly Emperor’s force aren’t so powerful, right!?” Duan Ling Tian exclaimed.
“Duan Ling Tian, our Sect Guarding Formation was created based on the Sect Guarding Formations of various heaven-grade forces… Our Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect used to be a heaven-grade sect, after all. I wonder if our sect will be able to return to its glorious days.” A hint of hope could be seen on Gongsun Jing’s face when he finished speaking.
“A heaven-realm sect?” Duan Ling Tian was taken aback. He had no idea the Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect used to be a heaven-grade sect. After all, heaven-grade forces were only second to the force of a Heavenly Emperor! There were many titled Celestial Emperors in a heaven-grade force; the number of titled Celestial Emperors was almost comparable to that of a Heavenly Emperor’s force.
“Yes.” Gongsun Jing nodded. “Since you’re joining the Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect, you can visit the library and learn about the history of the Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect.”
Duan Ling Tian nodded as he looked at the 10 eye-catching floating islands. Then, he asked, “The Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect has 10 progenies. Su Li is from the Shadow Support Progeny, you’re from the Yellow Thearch Progeny, and Yu Tian Xing is from the Tai-Ah Progeny. What are the names of the rest?” he asked.
“The 10 progenies of our Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect are the Yellow Thearch Progeny, the Profound River Progeny, The Crimson Sky Progeny, the Tai-Ah Progeny, the Seven Stars Dragon Abyss Progeny…” Gongsun Jing said.
However, before Gongsun Jing could finish naming the progenies, Duan Ling Tian interjected, “The remaining are the Gan Jiang Progeny, the Mo Xie Progeny, the Pure Porcelain Progeny, and the Shadow Support Progeny, right?”
“How do you know?” Gongsun Jing was taken aback.
“This…” Duan Ling Tian smiled wryly. How could he not know these names; these names were the names of the ten most famous swords on earth, his home planet in his last life! He already had a suspicion this might be the case when he heard Yu Tian Xing was from the Tai-Ah Progeny, Su Li was from the Shadow Support Progeny, and Gongsun Jing was from the Yellow Thearch Progeny.
‘The Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect seems to be related to the Yan Huang Planet,’ Duan Ling Tian thought to himself.
The Yan Huang Planet was another name of earth. Most of the progenitors in the Yan Huang Realm were from the Yan Huang planet.
After a moment, Duan Ling Tian asked Su Li and Gongsun Jing, “Where should we go next?”
Since he had been invited to join the Thousand Tribulation Sword Sect, an accommodation should have been prepared for him, right?
“I’ve already sent a message to the sect leader when we left the Genius Secret Realm. We’re to meet the sect leader first,” Gongsun Jin said with a smile, “Duan Ling Tian, the sect leader is very curious about you. After all, you managed to break his records in both the Peak of Gravity Ranking and the Formation Spirit Pagoda Ranking. The sect leader has always cherished talented people so he won’t mistreat you after you join our sect. Look at Su Li for example! Although Su Li suddenly appeared, the sect leader has always taken good care of him.” A hint of reverence could be seen on Gongsun Jing’s face when he spoke about the Sect Leader of the Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect.
In fact, Duan Ling Tian even noticed the reverence Su Li had for the sect leader. For these reasons, he was curious about what kind of person the Sect Leader of the Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect was.