“Nonsense!” Huang Lu Nan was enraged by Duan Ling Tian’s words. Flames surged out of his body immediately. He was a Six Combos Celestial Lord who had comprehended five profundities from the law of fire to the mastery stage. Therefore, he knew he was capable of doing what Duan Ling Tian did during the first disciple selection test.
“Duan Ling Tian, today I’ll teach you a lesson so you won’t dare to challenge another prodigious disciple again!” Huang Lu Nan said after scoffing. Then, charged toward Duan Ling Tian.
The disciples from the Heavenly Pool Palace nearby could feel the scorching heat of Huang Lu Nan’s flames. Many of them began to discuss among themselves when he started attacking.
“Although Huang Lu Nan ranks last among the prodigious disciples between the ages of 200-300, he’s only slightly weaker than those who ranked ahead of him.”
“That’s right! He doesn’t always rank last. He has ranked 6th in the past. That’s his highest rank so far.”
“Huang Lu Nan is rather strong. It won’t be easy to defeat him and become a prodigious disciple.”
Soon enough, the disciples saw a shocking scene unfold…
Swoosh!
Just as Huang Lu Nan was about to reach Duan Ling Tian, he felt as though he had run into an invisible wall. He was forced to come to a stop. No matter how hard he tried, he could not advance at all. He tried leaving in another direction, but it was futile.
After a moment, Huang Lu Nan scoffed. “Do you think your Restraining Profundity is capable of restraining me?” It was obvious he knew Duan Ling Tian had cast the law of space’s Restraining Profundity on him.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of thunderous explosions rang in the air as the flames on Huang Lu Nan’s body surged and raged. It collided with the invisible barrier from the Restraining Profundity unceasingly. Soon enough, the flames on his body rose and raged until they filled the space he was imprisoned in. With this, the barrier began to tremble violently as though it was going to shatter at any moment.
The disciples began to discuss among themselves again.
“Duan Ling Tian’s Restraining Profundity is capable of withstanding Huang Lu Nan’s attacks for such a long time?”
“No wonder he has the courage to challenge a prodigious disciple. It seems like he’s quite talented and strong.”
“However, based on the current situation, it’s only a matter of time before Huang Lu Nan breaks out from the Restraining Profundity.”
Just as the disciples had speculated, Huang Lu Nan soon broke free of the restraints with a smirk on his face. However, it did not take long before the expression on his face froze. Then it changed drastically as he watched Duan Ling Tian disappear into thin air. Flames erupted from his body again and rose into the air like raging fire dragons.
“Is this all you got?” Duan Ling Tian had reappeared behind Huang Lu Nan. In just a blink of an eye, a powerful spatial energy surged as he pushed his palm out and easily extinguished Huang Lu Nan’s raging fire dragons.
Bang!
After the fire dragons were extinguished, a loud explosion rang in the air.
Soon enough, everyone saw Duan Ling Tian send Huang Lu Nan flying back in the air when Duan Ling Tian’s palm landed on Huang Lu Nan’s body.
Huang Lu Nan tried with all his might to regain and stabilize his footing when Duan Ling Tian teleported next to him.
Bang!
Duan Ling Tian kicked Huang Lu Nan and sent him flying once again.
Swoosh!
The third time, Duan Ling Tian teleported above Huang Lu Nan. His hand slammed down on Huang Lu Nan, dispersing the Celestial Origin Energy that Huang Lu Nan was gathering.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Huang Lu Nan struggled to retaliate. Whenever he tried to mobilize the Celestial Origin Energy in his body, Duan Ling Tian would teleport near him and attack him. He was helpless since he could keep up with Duan Ling Tian’s speed when mobilizing Celestial Origin Energy.
‘How’s this possible?’ Huang Lu Nan was shocked and confused. Not even in his wildest dreams would he be able to guess that Duan Ling Tian possessed 99 Heavenly Veins. In regard to the speed of mobilizing Celestial Origin Energy, only those who possessed 99 Heavenly Veins in the Devata Realms were a match for him.
…
Meanwhile, the disciples who were watching the battle were similarly shocked and confused. They were unaware of the predicament Huang Lu Nan was in. In their eyes, it seemed as though he was deliberately letting Duan Ling Tian win.
“W-what’s going on?”
“Huang Lu Nan is completely subdued by Duan Ling Tian?”
“Impossible! He can’t retaliate at all? How’s this possible? Is he deliberately letting Duan Ling Tian win?”
“Is this a staged fight?”
“This doesn’t make any sense… Should he already be defeated by now if he’s deliberately letting Duan Ling Tian win?”
“That’s right. Even if he’s acting, is it necessary to suffer so much beating?”
Chills ran up the disciples’ spines as they watched Huang Lu Nan being beaten to a pulp. If they were in Huang Lu Nan’s shoes, they would have long surrendered instead of enduring such a beating.
…
At this moment, Hong Fei began to laugh. Then, he narrowed his eyes as he looked at Liu Jian who was standing nearby and said mockingly, “Liu Jian, it seems like your junior brother is quite strong… He’s already being beaten to such an extent by my junior brother, but he’s still enduring it. In my opinion, he should change his name and call himself Mr. Strong or something. What do you think?” He was clearly in high spirits.
On the other hand, Lu Jian’s expression was rather unsightly as he watched Huang Lu Nan being beaten by Duan Ling Tian. His expression turned even more unsightly when he heard Hong Fei’s words. He snapped back, “That’s enough!”
…
Meanwhile, Duan Ling Tian and Huang Lu Nan were unaware of the conversations in their surroundings.
Huang Lu Nan refused to surrender so Duan Ling Tian could only continue. In fact, it was not his intention to beat Huang Lu Nan to such an extent. However, this was the first time he was able to freely use all the profundities from the law of space that he had comprehended to the mastery stage. At this moment, he was like a child who was just learning to speak and could not stop talking at all.
‘How exhilarating!’ Duan Ling Tian felt adrenaline coursing through his veins. He was not in a hurry to end the battle at all. Therefore, he only inflicted shallow injuries on Huang Lu Nan to prevent him from retaliating.
On the contrary, Huang Lu Nan was in a bad state. He would have surrendered if he had suffered serious injuries. However, he could not surrender because he discovered, despite the excruciating pain, the injuries Duan Ling Tian inflicted on him were not life-threatening at all! He was enduring so he could find an opening and strike Duan Ling Tian once before he surrendered. However, as time passed, he fell into despair; he was completely suppressed with no hope of retaliating! On top of all this, Liu Jian kept sending Voice Transmissions repeatedly asking to surrender. For all these reasons, he eventually gave in. “I surrender!”
“You’re giving up so soon?” Duan Ling Tian frowned, clearly discontented.
…
Soon after, the Sword Trial Pavilion announced loudly, “Duan Ling Tian, from today onward, you’re a prodigious disciple. You’re now ranked 10th in the 200-to-300-year-old age group.”
After the elder finished speaking, he handed the identity token that Huang Lu Nan had handed over to him before the battle started to Duan Ling Tian. Then, he reminded Duan Ling Tian to claim ownership of the identity token by dripping his blood on the token.
“Alright.” Duan Ling Tian nodded and wasted no time in claiming ownership of the identity token.
…
Meanwhile, the crowd of disciples watching the battle was no longer shocked by the outcome of the battle after watching Duan Ling Tian beating up Huang Lu Nan without giving Huang Lu Nan a chance to retaliate at all.
…
Before the Sword Trial Pavilion elder left, he bade farewell to Lei Jun and Huan’er since the pair was the only son and a student of Lei Ying, his Pavilion Master, respectively.
Duan Ling Tian suddenly called out just when the elder was about to leave, “Elder!”
The elder knew Duan Ling Tian and Huan’er had a close relationship so he was courteous toward Duan Ling Tian. “What’s the matter, Duan Ling Tian?”
“Elder, since I’ve replaced Huang Lu Nan as a prodigious disciple and ranked 10 in my age group, can I challenge any of the nine prodigious disciples regardless of rank, or do I have to follow the order?” Duan Ling Tian asked.
“You’re free to challenge whoever you want in your age group except for those in the top three. You can only challenge the top three prodigious disciples in ascending order. For example, someone who’s ranked 5th can’t challenge the person who’s ranked 3rd. In order to do so, the person who’s ranked 5th has to defeat the person who’s ranked 4th first.”
“Is there any other way around this?” Duan Ling Tian frowned slightly. He did not want to go through the trouble of fighting so many people. He just wanted to rise up the rank as quickly as possible to raise his status so he could help Huan’er find her parents.
When Liu Jian overheard the conversation between Duan Ling Tian and the elder, he sneered. “What? Don’t tell me you want to directly challenge those in the top three?” He scoffed before he continued to say, “It’s not entirely impossible if that’s what you want. If you’re able to defeat me, not only will you be able to challenge the top three prodigious disciples in your age group, but you can also directly challenge the top prodigious disciple in your age group.” At the end of his words, his lips curved up into a contemptuous smile.