2004 On Purpose? Or Coincidental?

"He's dead?"

"W-what happened?"

"How's this possible?! Apart from consuming the forbidden pill, Senior Brother Yang Wen has even mastered the high-grade offensive Divine Ability, the Spear Emperor Genesis at the very last minute! Wouldn't it be easy for him to kill Duan Ling Tian with such strength? How's it that he's killed by Duan Ling Tian instead?"

"What's that sound of a sword whistling in the air earlier? Not only did it overpower the cacophonous sound of the other swords whistling in the air, but it even destroyed Senior Brother Yang Wen's attack domineeringly the moment it sounded. Even the gruesome wound between the brows of Senior Brother Yang Wen might be caused by the sword technique that sounded like a phoenix's cry!"

"How's Duan Ling Tian so powerful?!"

Liu Yun and the three Bronze Flame Elders from the Palace of Death were still shocked when 90% of the Saint Land disciples seated around the Death Arena stood up immediately with an expression of disbelief and confusion on their faces.

"I must be dreaming! I must be dreaming!" A Saint Land disciple cried out in surprise before slapping himself on the face.

Slap!

The sharp pain spreading on his face shocked him instead. "It's not a dream… To think it's actually not a dream! How's this possible?!"

"What kind of sword technique did Duan Ling Tian cast? From the beginning until the end, I couldn't even see his sword when he cast his sword techniques!"

"To think that his sword is actually so terrifyingly fast. I'm afraid only a powerhouse at the Saint Celestial Stage and above can see his sword technique clearly."

The Saint Land disciples discussed among themselves as they looked at the custodian of the Palace of Death, Nie Zui, and the three Bronze Flame Elder.

Four of them were at the Saint Celestial Stage and above.

Many people shifted their gaze to Liu Yun as well.

A minority of people turned to look at Cha Jin as well since he was the elite disciple with the highest chance of becoming a true disciple.

"Senior Brother Cha Jin, did you see Duan Ling Tian's sword techniques clearly?" One Saint Land disciple could not help but ask.

"I couldn't see it clearly," Cha Jin said as he shook his head with a glum expression on his face, "A person whose cultivation base has not entered the Saint Celestial Stage shouldn't be able to see Duan Ling Tian's sword techniques clearly. His sword techniques are terrifyingly fast!"

Gasp! Gasp! Gasp!

Although they knew this, they still could not help but gasp when they heard Cha Jin's reply.

"A sword technique cast by him who's only a Martial Cultivator at the peak of the Exemplary Saint Stage can only be clearly seen clearly by powerhouses at the Saint Celestial Stage or above? If I didn't witness this with my own eyes, I won't be able to believe it!" Many Saint Land disciples exclaimed in surprise.

"Then, does this mean only the four elders from the Palace Of Death and Senior Brother Liu Yun saw Duan Ling Tian's sword techniques clearly?" Many of the Saint Land disciples shifted their gaze to Nie Zui, Liu Yun, and the three Bronze Flame Elders.

"The expressions on Senior Brother Liu Yun and the three Palace Of Death's Bronze Flame Elders don't seem right…"

"I've long noticed that! Something's wrong with their expressions since earlier."

"D-Don't tell me they didn't see Duan Ling Tian's sword techniques like us?!"

"How's this possible?!"

As the group of Saint Land disciples was whispering among themselves, one of the Palace Of Death's Bronze Flame Elders said, "Initially, I could still see the sword technique that Duan Ling Tian cast. However, I couldn't even catch a trace of the sword that emitted a phoenix's cry!"

"Me too!"

"The same goes for me as well!"

The other two Bronze Flame Elders nodded as well.

"Me too." Even Liu Yun whom many people were staring at nodded solemnly.

Now that the Palace Of Death's three Bronze Flame Elders and Liu Yun had spoken up, the entire place fell silent. It was so silent that if needle dropped to the ground, the sound of it could be heard.

Everybody present on the scene, including the Palace Of Death's custodian, Nie Zui, was stunned.

Nie Zui did not expect his three Palace Of Death's Bronze Flame Elders and the true disciple, Liu Yun, could not see Duan Ling Tian's sword techniques clearly as well.

He, on the other hand, had his sight coincidentally blocked by Duan Ling Tian's body. Due to this reason, he was not able to see the last sword that ended Yang Wen's life.

On top of killing Yang Wen in just a flash, that sword had directly destroyed the attack of the Spear Emperor Phantom and the Spear Emperor Phantom itself.

From the smile plastered on Yang Wen's face when he died, one could tell he could not react in time at all. In fact, he probably did not realize what was going on. Based on this, one could see how fast Duan Ling Tian's sword was!

Whoosh!

The people in the Palace of Death were still shocked when Duan Ling Tian descended on the Death Arena and landed next to Yang Wen's body. He finally sighed in relief when he made sure that Yang Wen's soul had been destroyed as well.

When he was still in the Lower Province of the Dao Martial Saint Land, Xu Jing, the Young Mansion Master of Rising Sky Mansion, did not die even after he was pierced between the brows by Duan Ling Tian's sword.

Based on his previous experience, Duan Ling Tian, naturally, was more cautious since he did not want an incident like that to happen again.

'What a pity there are so many Saint Celestial Stage powerhouses present on the scene. I can't block their field of vision even if I consolidate my 10,000 Swords Territory.' Duan Ling Tian who was standing next to Yang Wen's body really wanted to devour his Innate Spiritual Root that had not completely disappeared. However, he held himself back.

If he did that, it would definitely create a commotion and attract the attention of those few Saint Celestial Stage powerhouses. Nie Zui, the custodian of the Palace of Death, in particular, would be able to see through what he was doing!

Although the 10,000 Swords Territory was consolidated by the Sun Saint Energy, and once it was consolidated, it would form a fireball burning with golden flames with a hundred-meter radius that could block people's visions, it could only block the visions of people below the Saint Celestial Stage.

The 10,000 Swords Territory that he consolidated now still could not block the visions of those powerhouses at the Saint Celestial Stage and above.

If that was not the case, he would have cast his 10,000 Swords Territory and envelop himself and Yang Wen from the very start. On top of that, he would have been able to cast his Sovereign Heart Sword's third stage's swordplay technique and kill Yang Wen in a flash by using the Jasper Celestial Sword! There would not be a need for him to expend so much effort if that was the case.

Today, there was only one reason the battle between him and Yang Wen was dragged out for a long time. It was to make Nie Zui, the custodian of the Palace of Death, let down his guard.

This was because he had long learned from Elder Huo that with his current strength, only those who were at the Third Form of the Saint Celestial Stage or above could catch traces of the Jasper Celestial Sword when he used it with the third stage of the Sovereign Heart Sword.

As for Liu Yun and the three Palace Of Death's Bronze Flame Elders, perhaps they could catch the traces of the swordplay technique of the Sovereign Heart Sword's third stage when he wielded the Hundred Inscriptions Saint Sword, but it was definitely impossible for them to catch a trace of the Jasper Celestial Sword.

'However, just that one sword alone has almost depleted all my energy.' At this moment, a feeling of emptiness overwhelmed Duan Ling Tian. His Sun Saint Energy was almost completely depleted. Moreover, he was also exhausted spiritually due to the aftereffects of the Elementary Devouring Tactic.

Currently, even an ordinary Quintessential Saint Stage Martial Cultivator would be able to kill Duan Ling Tian easily!

One could say that from the beginning until the end, Duan Ling Tian had set up an elaborate plan to kill Yang Wen.

Naturally, this was all for the custodian of the Palace of Death, Nie Zui, since he did not want him to discover the existence of the Jasper Celestial Sword. If its existence was exposed, it would only bring calamity to him.

Due to this reason, from the beginning until the end, Duan Ling Tian did not pay much attention to Yang Wen. After all, he was merely a Martial Cultivator at the First Form of the Saint Celestial Stage!

If he wielded the Jasper Celestial Sword with the third stage of the Sovereign Heart Sword, he could even kill a powerhouse at the Second Form of the Saint Celestial Stage!

For this reason, despite having consumed the forbidden pill and having his strength raised to the Second Form of the Saint Celestial Stage, Yang Wen was still killed by Duan Ling Tian!

'Although it's mostly thanks to the Jasper Celestial Sword that I could kill Yang Wen today, the swordplay technique, the Sword Warding Heart, the third stage of the Sovereign Heart Sword, played a huge part as well,' Duan Ling Tian thought to himself.

One could say that Duan Ling Tian was confident he would be able to kill Yang Wen from the very start was due to the Sovereign Heart Sword's third stage, the Sword Warding Heart, and the Celestial Supreme Treasure, the Jasper Celestial Sword.

"Elder Nie Zui!" Duan Ling Tian used his remaining Sun Saint Energy to fly up into the sky and approach the custodian of the Palace Of Death, Nie Zui, before handing over his crystal card. "After you deduct 400,000 Contribution Points from the card, please transfer the Contribution Points that I earned into the card before returning it to me."

Upon hearing his words, Nie Zui finally regained his senses as he studied Duan Ling Tian intently.

He was not in a hurry to take the crystal card Duan Ling Tian had taken out neither was he in a hurry to return the Sun Shooting Bow in his possession back to Duan Ling Tian. Instead, he asked Duan Ling Tian meaningfully, "Duan Ling Tian, you didn't deliberately block my field of vision when you cast that final sword technique, right?"

It was only natural Nie Zui would think so. Duan Ling Tian and Yang Wen were fighting for so long, but his sight was never once blocked. It was only during the critical moment that Duan Ling Tian just so happened to block his vision, causing him to be unable to see the last sword technique.

He found this to be too coincidental.

"Elder Nie Zui, what do you mean? Are you saying I deliberately blocked your field of vision? Where did you get this idea from?" Although Duan Ling Tian was shocked by Nie Zui's words, he still managed to put on a confused expression on his face flawlessly.

Nie Zui stared at Duan Ling Tian intently, trying to find a crack or flaw, but it was all in vain,

'Could it be that I've thought too much?' Nie Zui thought to himself. As soon as he thought about this, he no longer bothered thinking about it.

He returned the Sun Shooting Bow to Duan Ling Tian and took Duan Ling Tian's crystal card.