Since arriving in the Profound Energy Land, this was the first time Duan Ling Tian felt completely relaxed. After all, he was accompanied by the two elders from the Pure Yang Sect, Qin Wu Yang and Zhen Ping Fan, who was an Emperor of Gods. Apart from that, he had also settled most of his affairs.
When Duan Ling Tian was in the Flying Dragon Sect, he was constantly on guard against Xue Ming Zhi and those from the 10,000 Devils faction. While he was in the Linghu clan, he had to guard against the Hidden Fog Sect. Even when he was in the Hidden Fog Sect, he had to be wary of hidden threats; he even had to leave the Hidden Fog Sect in the end due to certain conflicts. There was also the time when he was in the Hidden Fog Sect and was targeted by the Zhong clan. After thinking about it, he recalled the days when he had first arrived in the Profound Energy Land and stayed in the Duan clan were rather relaxing as well.
‘It’s been a long time since I feel so relaxed. In just a blink of an eye, I’ve already been in the Profound Energy Land for quite a while,’ Duan Ling Tian thought to himself with a sigh.
Duan Ling Tian managed to see his family and friend during his last visit to the lower realms hence he did not miss them much. However, after learning about Ke’er’s situation from Linghu Ren Jie, he had been depressed for a few days. He felt helpless because he could not help Ke’er now. In the end, he could only pray for her safety and blame himself for being weak.
Nonetheless, he felt grateful that apart from Ke’er and Feng Qing Yang, his family and friends were safe and sound.
As he thought about his family and friends, he suddenly recalled another person: Murong Bing. He had met Murong Bing in the Devata Realm. At that time, due to certain circumstances, he had slept with her. Before leaving the Devata Realm, he had promised her that he would return for her after 1,000 years and told her to wait for him.
Duan Ling Tian sighed, feeling complicated. Although he acknowledged Murong Bing as his woman, he did not think of her like his wives or his partners. After all, it was due to an accident that he had slept with her. It was only natural that their emotional bond was not strong compared to his partners, Feng Tian Wu and Huang’er, let alone his two wives.
‘There are less than 40 years left before the time I promised her is up…. I should quickly raise my strength so I can save Ke’er before I look for Murong Bing. Perhaps, love will grow over time. In the future, we can slowly cultivate our feelings…’ Duan Ling Tian thought to himself. He felt very guilty toward Murong Bing. Before he knew it, 600 years had passed since he left Murong Bing.
‘I wonder how she’s doing now? There’s no point thinking about this now. What’s important is that I keep my promise to her…’ Duan Ling Tian thought to himself before dismissing all thoughts about Murong Bing. Then, he began to think about his cultivation, ‘Although I’ll be able to break through and become an intermediate Lord of Gods, it’ll still be challenging even with the help of the various Limit Divine Pills I refined… It’ll be helpful if I can obtain some heaven-defying medicinal herbs, divine fruits, or a higher-grade divine pill…’
After that, Duan Ling Tian closed his eyes and began to cultivate.
Since the Pure Yang Sect was quite a distance away, the trio decided to travel using Qin Wu Yang’s lord-grade flying ship. Needless to say, its speed was much faster than Duan Ling Tian’s Teleportation Profundity. However, such a ship consumed a lot of divine crystals as well.
Duan Ling Tian was so immersed in his cultivation that he lost track of time. He only woke up when Qin Wu Yang called out to him.
“Duan Ling Tian, we’ve arrived at the Pure Yang Sect.”
During their journey to the Pure Yang Sect, Zhen Ping Fang was cultivating as well. He seemed to face an issue with his cultivation so he did not have time to speak to Duan Ling Tian.
When Duan Ling Tian opened his eyes, he discovered Zhen Ping Fan was already hovering above the flying ship with his hands on his back, waiting for him and Qin Wu yang to disembark.
“Elder Zhen, Elder Qin,” Duan Ling Tian greeted the duo with a smile.
The duo responded with a smile before Zhen Ping Fan said, “Duan Ling Tian, your cultivation speed is much faster than I expected. Based on my observation, you’re already one-third into your journey of becoming an intermediate Lord of Gods. It’s really unbelievable that you’ve only become a rudimentary Lord of Gods recently.” He sighed emotionally as he continued to say, “It’s easy to progress when you’re a King of Gods. There are many prodigies in our sect who quickly became rudimentary Lords of Gods from an advanced King of Gods with the help of divine pills. However, their progress slowed down considerably after becoming a rudimentary Lord of Gods. Based on your progress after becoming a rudimentary Lord of Gods, only a few people in the history of our sect can compare to your speed. Moreover, most of them had many fortuitous encounters to thank for their cultivation speed.”
After that, Zhen Ping Fang stared at Duan Ling Tian meaningfully and asked, “Duan Ling Tian, I bet you’ve had quite a few fortuitous encounters, right?”
Duan Ling Tian smiled sheepishly and said, “I’ve been quite lucky…”
As though he could sense Duan Ling Tian’s unease, Zhen Ping Fang said with a smile, “Rest assured. Fortuitous encounters depend on one’s luck. I won’t judge you because of them. Moreover, not everyone can benefit from a fortuitous encounter. One still has to rely on one’s strength and intelligence. In my opinion, you’re worth my investment…”
Duan Ling Tian was very impressed and relieved by Zhen Ping Fan’s bluntness.
“Alright, let’s go into the sect,” Zhen Ping Fan said with a smile, leading the duo into the Pure Yang Sect’s estate.
Soon enough, Duan Ling Tian saw a towering mountain shrouded in fog up ahead. It looked like an ordinary mountain until Zhen Ping Fan touched the fog. Then, the scenery changed completely.
Buildings of various sizes that looked like palaces could be seen on various floating islands in the sky. The largest island seemed as big as Linghu City while the smaller islands could accommodate one huge palace with plenty of space in the surroundings.
After passing through the fog, an old man appeared. He bowed and called out, “Greetings, Junior Granduncle.”
Zhen Ping Fan nodded expressionlessly. His attitude was completely different from the casual manner he treated Qin Wu Yang.
Then, the old man nodded and said with a smile, “Senior Brother Qin.”
“Junior Brother Wang, you’re on duty today?” Qin Wu Yang said amiably with a smile. He seemed to be well acquainted with the old man.
The man nodded in response before his curious gaze instinctively shifted to Duan Ling Tian. Nonetheless, he did not ask any questions. After bowing at Zhen Ping Fan again, he took his leave.
At the same time, Duan Ling Tian could sense a few auras in his surroundings that disappeared as soon as the old man left. He speculated inwardly, ‘They must be the patrolling disciples or elders…’
The old man’s identity token was the same as Qin Wu Yang’s, meaning he was also a Spirit Void Elder of the Pure Yang Sect.
“He’s my junior uncle’s direct disciple,” Qin Wu Yang said, “He just became a Spirit Void Elder about 100 years ago.”
Duan Ling Tian nodded before he followed Zhen Ping Fan.
Soon after, another two figures appeared.
“Greetings, Nirvanic Elder!”
“Greetings, Elder Qin!”
The person in the lead was a tall middle-aged man. His eyes had widened when he first saw the identity token hanging from Zhen Ping Fan’s waist.
‘He doesn’t seem to know Zhen Ping Fan and only knew that he was a Nirvanic Elder based on his identity token.’ The middle-aged man’s reaction did not escape Duan Ling Tian’s notice.
Then, the middle-aged man turned to the old man standing behind him and said reproachfully, “Why aren’t you paying respect to our Pure Yang Sect’s Nirvanic Elder? He’s an Emperor of Gods. Do those from the Glorious Heaven Sect not have any manners? You’re one of the valley masters in the Glorious Heaven Sect, right?”
Meanwhile, the old man was staring at Duan Ling Tian with a strange expression on his face. His expression changed when he heard the middle-aged man’s words.
At the same time, when Duan Ling Tian saw the old man, he exclaimed, “Senior!”
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