In Liu Jian’s opinion, Duan Ling Tian would definitely surrender if he unleashed all his strength from the beginning. If he killed Duan Ling Tian after Duan Ling Tian had surrendered, he would be punished by the Heavenly Pool Palace. With his status in the Heavenly Pool Palace, he might even be sentenced to death. Although he was a prodigious disciple in the palace, he was ranked at the bottom among the 100 prodigious disciples in the Heavenly Pool Palace. It would be impossible for the Heavenly Pool Palace to spare his life due to his low status. Therefore, he had hidden his true strength and waited for the opportunity to strike with all his might to kill Duan Ling Tian when the opportunity presented itself.
…
Most of the disciples who were watching could tell Liu Jian was holding back his strength.
“Duan Ling Tian is quite strong…”
“Even then, it’s obvious Senior Brother Liu Jian is holding back his strength. He should be stronger than this, right?”
“That’s right. The strength he has displayed so far is, at most, comparable to Huang Lu Nan’s strength. There’s no doubt he’s holding back his strength.”
Even the disciples could tell Liu Jian was holding back his strength, let alone Huang Lu Nan. He could guess his senior brother’s intention. Killing intent glinted in his eyes as he watched the battle. Duan Ling Tian had beaten him so badly in front of so many people, his reputation would definitely take a hit once word of it spread out. Everyone would be reminded of his humiliation when they saw him or Duan Ling Tian. If Duan Ling Tian died, he no longer had to worry about this matter.
Since the others could guess Liu Jian’s intention, how could Hong Fei not understand Liu Jian’s intention? He hurriedly sent a Voice Transmission to Duan Ling Tian; his voice laden with anxiety. “Junior Brother Ling Tian, Liu Jian is hiding most of his strength so far. He wants to kill you! Hurry up and surrender!”
As soon as Hong Fei’s Voice Transmission ended, the golden sword ray that was dimming suddenly brightened as though it had received a boost.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The golden sword ray suddenly split into tens of thousands of sword rays and shot toward Duan Ling Tian in the spatial prison from the Restraining Profundity like floodwater that surged out of a broken dam.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Chills ran up the disciples’ spines as the ear-piercing sword cry rang in the air.
“T-this… This is Liu Jian’s true strength?”
“Didn’t I say he was holding back earlier?”
“How terrifying! Let alone Duan Ling Tian, even his senior brother, Hong Fei, would be seriously injured if he didn’t die from such an attack, right?”
“Liu Jian truly intends to kill Duan Ling Tian!”
The disciples felt pity from Duan Ling Tian as they watched the tide of golden sword rays swept toward Duan Ling Tian.
Huang Lu Nan’s eyes lit up when he saw the golden sword rays. He did not think Duan Ling Tian would be able to survive this attack. After all, if he were to face such an attack, there was no doubt he would die.
‘Liu Jian wants to kill Duan Ling Tian!’ The eyes of the Sword Trial Pavilion elder frowned slightly when he saw Liu Jian intended to kill Duan Ling Tian. Otherwise, there was no reason for Liu Jian to suddenly unleash all his strength at this moment. Unfortunately, even if he wanted to intervene for Huan’er’s sake, there was nothing he could do at this moment unless Duan Ling Tian surrendered since it was clearly stated that it was a life-or-death battle. Nevertheless, he thought it was too late even if Duan Ling Tian wanted to surrender at this moment. Based on what he could see of Duan Ling Tian’s strength, Duan Ling Tian would not be able to withstand the attack for long. Even the slightest distraction was enough to kill Duan Ling Tian at this moment.
‘Die!’ Lei Jun thought to himself excitedly. However, he felt like something was amiss when he turned to look at Huan’er and saw the calm expression on her face. It seemed like she was not the slightest bit worried that Duan Ling Tian was going to die.
‘What’s going on?’ Lei Jun thought to himself in confusion. Soon enough, he thought to himself incredulously, “Don’t tell me she thinks Duan Ling Tian is able to survive this attack?’ He found this ridiculous. After all, even he would not be able to survive Liu Jian’s attack when he was younger than 500 years old.
“Little Junior Brother…” Hong Fei’s eyes widened in fear. His chubby face twitched as he watched the tide of golden sword rays shot toward Duan Ling Tian.
…
At this time, Liu Jian’s sword rays were still continuously attacking Duan Ling Tian’s defensive energy.
‘I didn’t expect Duan Ling Tian to be capable of withstanding my attack for 15 minutes… Alas, he’ll definitely die in another two breaths.’ Liu Jian, who was among the golden sword rays, glared at Duan Ling Tian. Although he was surprised by Duan Ling Tian’s tenacity, he was certain Duan Ling Tian was hanging by a thread at this moment. He was confident he would be able to kill Duan Ling Tian before Duan Ling Tian could even open his mouth to surrender.
Unfortunately, Liu Jian was not aware that Duan Ling Tian had not used the full strength of the profundities from the law of space that he had comprehended to the mastery stage. Although he could kill Liu Jian if he had cast all of his profundities that were at the mastery stage, it would take some time for him to kill Liu Jian. At that time, Liu Jian would have time to surrender. How could he allow someone who wanted to kill him to live?
“Profound Divine Metal, lend me your strength!” Duan Ling Tian called out to the sixth-form Profound Divine Metal that was in his Little World.
The Profound Divine Metal that had evolved to its sixth form was not arrogant. It heeded Duan Ling Tian’s call immediately.
A terrifying energy from the Profound Divine Metal surged out of the Little World into Duan Ling Tian’s body in just an instant.
“Thank you.” Duan Ling Tian thanked the Profound Divine Metal. Killing intentions flashed in his eyes as he stared at one of the golden sword rays. He could tell it was the golden sword ray that Liu Jian had transformed into.
‘Did he discover me?’ Liu Jian could tell Duan Ling Tian had identified him among the other golden sword rays. However, he could not care less. After all, there was nothing Duan Ling Tian could do now. He was in full control of the situation.
“Die!” A smug smile appeared on Liu Jian’s face as the tens of thousands of golden sword rays breached Duan Ling Tian’s protective energy; they were only a hairbreadth away from Duan Ling Tian at this moment. However, his smile suddenly froze. He saw the spatial energy around Duan Ling Tian pushing his golden sword rays away. His expression changed drastically when he realized Duan Ling Tian had been hiding his strength. Moreover, Duan Ling Tian seemed slightly stronger than him. ‘He hid his true strength!’
“Duan Ling Tian, you hid your strength well!” Nevertheless, Liu Jian was not frightened and was not in a rush to surrender. In his opinion, even if he could not kill Duan Ling Tian, he would still be able to surrender in time. After all, he was certain Duan Ling Tian was only slightly stronger than him at most.
As soon as Liu Jian finished speaking, he saw a golden sword ray shot out of Duan Ling Tian’s mouth at lightning speed. He was shocked when he saw the golden sword ray that seemed to be boosted by the law of metal that he was familiar with! ‘How’s he capable of using the law of space and the law of metal at the same time? Moreover, the strength of his law of metal is incredibly strong!’
Everything happened in just a blink of an eye.
“No!” Liu Jian cried out suddenly. He was just about to surrender, but before he could even utter a word, the golden sword ray had pierced his glabella.
“It’s an honor for you to die under my flying sword.” This was the Voice Transmission Duan Ling Tian had sent Liu Jian just moments before Liu Jian’s death.
As soon as Liu Jian died, the tide of golden sword rays disappeared into thin air immediately.
Meanwhile, Duan Ling Tian’s golden sword ray had disappeared as soon as it had done its job.
Due to its appearance and nature, no one was aware that the golden sword ray belonged to Duan Ling Tian. Everyone assumed that it was one of Liu Jian’s golden sword rays.