Feng Qing Yang was the first successor of the Fog Rain Progeny in the Saint Province Realm’s Seven Absolute Sect; Duan Ling Tian was the second successor.
When Duan Ling Tian was still in the Saint Province Realm, he had stumbled upon Feng Qing Yang’s legacy by chance and had mastered the Sovereign Heart Sword. For this reason, his journey in the Saint Province Realm had been smooth sailing.
It could be said that the reason Duan Ling Tian was able to grow so powerful was due to his mastery of the Sovereign Heart Sword. Back when he was still in the Saint Province Realm, he had wondered more than once if he would be able to meet Feng Qing Yan whom he considered his master.
When he finally arrived at the Heavenly Palace of the Solitary Destructive Heaven and was acknowledged by Meng Luo, the Heavenly Savage Celestial Emperor, he knew he would be able to meet Feng Qing Yang. However, he did not expect that he would have to wait for more than 200 years before he would finally be able to meet Feng Qing Yang. For most celestials, 200 years were not a long time, but for him, 200 years was almost half of his life. He was only more than 500 years old now, after all.
During the journey to meet Feng Qing Yang, Elder Huo felt rather nostalgic and began to reminisce about the past.
“Young Master, our Lord Heavenly Emperor watched you when you were going through the heavenly tribulation in the mundane realm through a Mirror Image Formation. At that time, I’d just left you not too long ago… In just a blink of an eye, almost 500 years have passed since then…”
“He watched me undergo the heavenly tribulation through a Mirror Image Formation?” Duan Ling Tian was briefly stunned; this was his first time hearing about this. He did not expect Feng Qing Yang to have paid attention to him since such a long time ago.
“Back then, Kuang Ling, the sword soul of the Solitary Destructive Flaming Heavenly Sword, and I accompanied Lord Heavenly Emperor to watch you pass the heavenly tribulation… It’s a pity that Kuang Ling is no longer with us…” Elder Huo sighed.
Duan Ling Tian had previously learned from Elder Huo that Kuang Ling, the sword soul of the Solitary Destructive Flaming Heavenly Sword, perished when Feng Qing Yang fought the servant of Yun Qing Yan, the Young Master of the Yun Clan in the Divine Offering Realm.
At that time, Yun Qing Yang’s servant had a higher grade divine artifact. Not only was the grade of his weapon higher than the Solitary Destructive Flaming Heavenly Sword, but even his sword soul was stronger than Kuang Ling.
In the past, Elder Huo had vanished so suddenly because Feng Qing Yang had ordered Kuang Ling to bring Elder Huo to the Solitary Destructive Heaven. Feng Qing Yang had done so because he was worried he would be overly reliant on Elder Huo and the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda, causing him to slack off in his cultivation.
Based on this, one could see Feng Qing Yang truly cared about Duan Ling Tian and paid attention to his growth.
Meng Luo, Feng Qing Yang’s most trusted subordinate, thought so as well. Otherwise, he would not have been so respectful toward Duan Ling Tian.
After staying in the Heavenly Palace of the Solitary Destructive Heaven for more than 200 years, Duan Ling Tian had explored most of the places in the palace. Therefore, he was rather familiar with his way around. However, at this moment, as he followed Elder Huo to meet Feng Qing Yang, the paths suddenly seemed different to him. The short journey seemed much longer than it should be.
Apart from excitement and joy, Duan Ling Tian could not help but feel slightly awkward as well.
At this moment, Elder Huo came to a stop and said, “This is where our Lord Heavenly Emperor stays at the moment.”
A small floating island above a lake was right in front of Duan Ling Tian. This place was one of the forbidden places in the Heavenly Palace of the Solitary Destructive Heaven. Only a handful of people were allowed in. As Feng Qing Yang’s true disciple-to-be who had been approved by Meng Luo, Duan Ling Tian had been to this place a few times in the past.
The lake beneath the floating island was located in a quiet mountain valley in the Heavenly Palace of the Solitary Destructive Heaven. The entire place was like a world of its own. The scenery was lush. Flowers bloomed amidst the birds’ chirpings.
Although this was not Duan Ling Tian’s first time here, he felt completely different from before. In the past, he would take time to enjoy the beautiful scenery. However, at this time, all his attention was focused on the small floating island above the lake.
He knew there was a spacious courtyard with a room at the back on the small floating island. However, he did not know it was where Feng Qing Yang stayed in the past.
Under Elder Huo’s lead, Duan Ling Tian flew onto the floating island before descending into the courtyard.
Following that, Elder Huo bowed in the direction of the room at the back and said respectfully, “My Lord Heavenly Emperor, the Young Master is here…”
Duan Ling Tian took a deep breath as he stared unblinkingly in the direction of the room.
Swoosh!
A wave of majestic mustard-color energy swept out from the room as soon as Elder Huo’s voice fell.
Duan Ling Tian could tell that the energy was from the law of earth. Following that, he saw something shocking.
The mustard energy began to solidify in front of Duan Ling Tian’s eyes. Initially, they converged in a humanoid form. Following the figure became cleared and clearer before it solidified into a tall and handsome young man dressed in a green robe. His expression was solemn and dignified. His eyes, which were framed by a pair of sword-shaped brows, were deep; it was as though he could see through everything with his eyes. At this moment, he smiled as he looked at Duan Ling Tian and said, “I’ve seen you once through the Mirror Image Formation many years ago. Unfortunately, that was the last time, until today, that I saw you. You still look the same even though your bearing has changed.”
With these words, Duan Ling Tian snapped back to his senses. He hurriedly bowed and said somewhat nervously, “I’m Duan Ling Tian. Greetings, Senior Feng Qing Yang.”
The handsome young man cocked an eyebrow and asked teasingly, “Hmm? You’re still referring to me as Senior Feng Qing Yang?”
Elder Huo reminded Duan Ling Tian through Voice Transmission, clearly amused, “Young Master, you should address the Lord Heavenly Emperor as master.”
Upon hearing these words, Duan Ling Tian hastily said, “Greetings, master!”
Duan Ling Tian had thought there would be ceremonies and formalities to go through before he officially became Feng Qing Yang’s true disciple. Therefore, he did not want to be presumptuous and address Feng Qing Yang as his master before anything else. However, it seemed like his master did not care much about formalities.
Feng Qing Yang chuckled when he heard Duan Ling Tian’s new way of addressing him. “We finally met. Since I entered the Asura Hell, I hardly received any news about you. I sent my men to look for you in the mundane realm at that time. However, when they failed to find you, I figured you must have ascended to one of the Devata Realms. I didn’t expect you only took a few hundred years to become a Celestial Emperor.”
At this time, Elder Huo had tactfully left Feng Qing Yang and Duan Ling Tian alone so they could speak.
“I had a few fortuitous encounters.” Duan Ling Tian smiled. Soon after, a guilty expression appeared on his face as he said, “Master, I want to apologize. It’s all my fault that you were forced to go to the Asura Hell; you were even trapped in that place for such a long time.”
“There’s no need to apologize.” Feng Qing Yang shook his head. “Everything happens for a reason. After all, if I weren’t trapped in the Asura Hell, I wouldn’t have achieved the things I did…”
For Feng Qing Yang, he had achieved many things after experiencing many near-death experiences. To a certain extent, he saw his time in the Asura Hell as an opportunity given by Duan Ling Tian. This was one of the reasons he was concerned about Duan Ling Tian’s well-being and instructed his men to look for Duan Ling Tian.
Upon hearing those words, Duan Ling Tian asked curiously, “Master, I heard… Is it true that you’ve attained godhood?”
“That’s right.” Feng Qing Yang nodded. “This is a clone from the law of earth.”
“I see.” Duan Ling Tian understood now why Feng Qing Yang had solidified into being from the law of earth’s energy.
The World Cleansing Divine Water had once told him that once one attained godhood, one would gain a law clone from every law where all the profundities had been comprehended to the mastery stage.
Law clones could exist away from one’s physical body. They also contained divine energy and the full force of the law that had been comprehended.
“I wasn’t aware that you’ve mastered the law of earth as well,” Duan Ling Tian was surprised. Based on what he knew, Feng Qing Yang was famous for his comprehension of the law of destruction. The strongest law he comprehended was also the law of destruction. Moreover, the law of destruction was compatible with the Sword Dao. He knew that Feng Qing Yang’s Sword Dao contributed to his comprehension of the law of destruction as well after years and years of perfecting his sword technique. Needless to say, Feng Qing Yang’s comprehension of the law of destruction was one of the best in the Devata Realms.
“I’ve mastered both the law of destruction and the law of earth…” Feng Qing Yang said with a smile.
The duo continued chatting for a while before Feng Qing Yang finally asked about what happened back then. “That person chased after me back then and only said he wanted to kill me because of you… He said I have to pay with my life because you inherited my legacy. That person is an Imminent God. The law and profundities he comprehended were no weaker than mine at that time. In addition, his divine artifact was more powerful than mine. I wasn’t a match for him at all. I remember him saying he’s from the Realm of Gods called the Divine Offering Land. How did you offend someone like that?”
Feng Qing Yang was curious how Duan Ling Tian who was still in the mundane realm at that time managed to offend someone from the Realm of Gods.
“Master, it was because of my wife, Ke’er.” Duan Ling Tian did not hide the truth from Feng Qing Yang. After he recounted everything, he said, “… that person who attacked you is merely a servant of the Yun Clan in the Divine Offering Realm…”
“I didn’t expect so many twists and turns.” Feng Qing Yang said. Realization seemed to dawn on him as he looked at Duan Ling Tian meaningfully and asked, “Is that why you progressed so quickly in just a few hundred years? You’re planning to save your wife once the passages from the Devata Realms to the Realms of Gods open?”
It was not difficult for Feng Qing Yang to figure out Duan Ling Tian’s motivation for cultivating so hard. However, he slightly regretted asking that question since he felt it was no different from pouring salt on his disciple’s wound. Therefore, he did not wait for Duan Ling Tian’s reply and swiftly changed the topic. His eyes shone brightly as he said, “I’ve heard about what happened in the Saint Province Realm. Do you want to come with me to the Luo River Heaven?”