4631 It’s Worthwhile to Accept Him as a Disciple
When Xue Qing Zhu, a woman and top genius in the Outer Boundary, became a Saint at a young age, she shocked everyone. At that time, she was the youngest Saint in the history of the Outer Boundary. Previously, those who held the record were all men. Not only did she break their records, but she was also the first woman to do so. For these reasons, she was famous in the Outer Boundary.
Behind these achievements were Xue Qing Zhu’s blood, sweat, and tears. All her time was spent cultivating and learning from others to grow stronger. Day after day, year after year, her routine remained the same. In the end, her hard work paid off, and she became the youngest Saint in the history of the Outer Boundary.
Many female cultivators in the Outer Boundary regarded Xue Qing Zhu as their idol. Among them, many of them were from the Myriad World before moving to the Outer Boundary, like Huangfu Meng Yuan; Duan Ling Tian’s Eldest Senior Sister from the Myriad Laws Academy’s Inner Palace faction.
Previously, when Duan Ling Tian chatted with Huangfu Meng Yuan, he had heard mentioning Xue Qing Zhu as well, and she even said that she wanted to be like Xue Qing Zhu.
At that time, Huangfu Meng Yuan deliberately hid the fact that Xue Qing Zhu was a woman from Duan Ling Tian so he assumed he was a male cultivator. He thought his senior sister idolized the other party simply because the other party was extraordinarily talented. It was only later on that he realized Xue Qing Zhu was a woman.
Xue Qing Zhu was completely focused on cultivation so she did not have time for other matters such as marriage. As she grew stronger, quite a few people mentioned the matter of marriage to her, but she did not take them seriously.
Moreover, it was difficult for her to find a man about her age who was as strong as her, let alone find one that was stronger than her. She naturally had no interest in men who were inferior to her. For this reason, she was single until now.
In fact, her life was rather similar to that of Feng Qing Yang. He also devoted himself to the Sword Dao and to growing stronger. For that reason, he had been single. It was also due to his inexperience that he did not know how to express his feelings to Xue Qing Zhu.
Xue Qing Zhu was also inexperienced in this regard. Even if it was obvious that Feng Qing Yang liked her, she did not notice it. She only thought that Feng Qing Yang treated her as a friend until Duan Ling Tian asked if she was single and recommended Feng Qing Yang. After that, she recalled how ‘friendly’ Feng Qing Yang had been, and she could not help but blush.
At the same time, Feng Qing Yang was embarrassed. He did not expect Duan Ling Tian to be so straightforward. He could not help but glare at Duan Ling Tian before he explained, “Miss Xue, he… he was just joking with you…”
Xue Qing Zhu nodded and took a deep breath to calm down before she looked at Duan Ling Tian and said seriously, “Mr. Duan, I came here with Mr. Feng to spar with you. I heard Mr. Feng said that you’re stronger than him. I really want to see it for myself.”
Duan Ling Tian smiled and said, “I don’t mind sparring with you. However, I’m not very motivated since there’s no prize or benefit to it…”
“Little Tian…”
Feng Qing Yang frowned. He did not expect Duan Ling Tian to make things difficult for Xue Qing Zhu. After all, Duan Ling Tian knew he liked Xue Qing Zhu. Why would he treat his master’s future wife like that?
Xue Qing Zhu frowned slightly, but she still asked, “Then what kind of prize do you want?”
Duan Ling Tian pretended to ponder a moment. He did not answer the question. Instead, he calmly said, “How about this? Since your strongest Dao is the Sword Dao, we’ll spar using the Sword Dao. We’ll attack with all our might, and if you can stop three of my attacks, you win. Otherwise, you lose.”
Feng Qing Yang raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing this.
At the same time, a hint of anger could be seen on Xue Qing Zhu’s face. After all, she was also a level-seven supreme powerhouse like Duan Ling Tian. She felt like he was looking down on her when he proposed determining the outcome of the match with only three strikes.
“Alright,” Xue Qing Zhu replied. Her voice was much colder than before. She really wanted to see how strong he was. In her opinion, even if according to Feng Qing Yang, she was no match for Duan Ling Tian, the gap between their strength could not be that big. It was absolutely impossible for him to defeat her with three strikes.
After a moment, she asked again, “What prize do you want? And if I win, what will I gain?”
Duan Ling Tian smiled and said, “If you win, I’ll owe you a favor. I’ll do anything you ask as long as it doesn’t violate my principles and it’s within my capability.”
Xue Qing Zhu’s eyes lit up upon hearing this. This was indeed a valuable prize.
Duan Ling Tian continued to say, “If you lose, you have to stay in the God Defying World for a thousand years. To be precise, you have to stay in my master’s Heavenly Emperor’s Palace in the Solitary Destructive Heaven as a guest. Apart from that, you can’t be in closed-door cultivation for more than 300 years during this time. Of course, during this time, you can return to the Outer Boundary if there’s something urgent you have to attend to. However, you can’t leave for more than a year at a time. In total, your time away can’t exceed ten years.”
Upon hearing this, Xue Qing Zhu looked at Feng Qing Yang, wondering if it was the latter’s idea.
Meanwhile, Feng Qing Yang finally realized Duan Ling Tian’s intention. He felt that it was really worthwhile accepting Duan Ling Tian as his disciple. However, when he saw the expression on Xue Qing Zhu’s face, he looked at her innocently and shook his head.
“What do you think?” Duan Ling Tian asked. Striking the iron while it was hot, he continued to goad her, “Miss Xue, don’t tell me you’re not confident about stopping three strikes from me?”
Who knew if Xue Qing Zhu did not mind staying in the Solitary Destructive Heaven, or if Duan Ling Tian’s provocative words were effective? In the end, she nodded and said, “Alright, I agree.”