Chapter 198: Three Places  

KurazyTolanzuraytor Editor: Lucas

After leaving Paladin Academy, Duan Ling Tian walked into a remote alley.

Without any warning, Duan Ling Tian abruptly turned around and looked at the end of the alley, and his gaze focused as he spoke in a calm voice. "Come out."

Instantly, two old men slowly walked out, and their faces were filled with shock, as it was difficult for them to imagine how Duan Ling Tian was actually capable of noticing their whereabouts.

"Sixth Elder, Eighth Elder." Duan Ling Tian nodded to the two old men. There two old men were precisely the Duan Clan’s Sixth Elder and Eighth Elder, and they obviously were sent here by the Duan Clan to protect him.

"Elders, please return." Duan Ling Tian lightly smiled to the two old men before his body moved as if transforming into an agile spirit serpent. He concealed himself by entering the corner of the alley in front of them.

The two old men followed up but realized that there was no sign of Duan Ling Tian, and they looked for a long while but were unable to locate Duan Ling Tian again.

For a moment, the shock on their faces grew even greater.

"This Duan Ling Tian is really amazing! Not only was he able to notice us, and he’s even capable of easily losing us...."

"Even Duan Ru Feng all those years ago was far from being so abnormal! Never mind, since he’s able to notice us and lose us, he’s naturally capable of noticing and losing another...There is absolutely no meaning in us following him, so let’s return."

Both the old men glanced at each other and could see the bitter smile on each other’s face before shaking their heads and directly leaving. They returned to the Duan Clan Estate to report to Patriarch Duan Ru Huo.

Two gusts of wind sounded as they swept over towards Duan Ling Tian, who was on the way home, and they descended beside him.

"Young Master!" They were precisely Zhang Qian and Zhao Gang.

"Where did you two fellows go off to earlier? Could it be that you were not worried that Xue Lu would have killed me?" Duan Ling Tian said angrily.

"Young Master, we were with the Marquis earlier...We wanted to make a move but were stopped by the Marquis." Zhang Qian had a bitter smile and an innocent expression on his face.

"Uncle Nie? Even he knows?" Duan Ling Tian suddenly came to a realization, and a trace of warmth arose within his heart.

Looked like even if he didn’t have the Bone Corrosion Inscription, or the Vice Dean Zhan Xiong, or the Duan Clan’s Grand Elder today, he would’ve still been fine.

Although an afternoon had passed, Duan Ling Tian’s mood still hadn’t been able to fully calm down, and even the two girls at home noticed that Duan Ling Tian seemed slightly off.

"I’m fine." Duan Ling Tian lightly smiled when faced with the concern of the two girls. He returned to his room before lying on his soft bed and gazing at the ceiling.

His eyes revealed traces of an awe-inspiring light that flowed within.

"If I’d crippled Tong Li’s cultivation the first time I’d met her...Tang Guo’s incident might not have happened." Duan Ling Tian sighed in his heart.

In the future, he would never be able to see that female student that idolized him so much ever again.

Tang Guo, although she was only a transient guest within his life, but she’d been deeply remembered within his heart now.

This entire night, Duan Ling Tian thought of many things.

In the end, a tremendous change occurred in his mentality...Duan Ling Tian’s current change in mentality would also lead to the fact that anyone who made an enemy of him in the future would never have a good end.

The next day, Duan Ling Tian made a trip to the Divine Might Marquis Estate.

Divine Might Marquis Nie Yuan couldn’t help but shake his head with a smile when he saw Duan Ling Tian. "What did you come for this time, kid?"

Nie Yuan didn’t mention anything regarding the matter of the City Guard Army Commander Xue Lu yesterday, or maybe, in his opinion, Xue Lu completely counted for nothing....

"Uncle Nie, I come today because I want to ask you for two places." Duan Ling Tian went straight to the point.

"Places?" Nie Yuan was dazed and didn’t react for a moment.

"Places within the Paladin Academy Star Mastermind Department reinforcements that are departing 20 days from now. I have two friends that want to go along with me, and I’ve already promised them," Duan Ling Tian explained.

"So it’s this. No problem, I’ll tell your big brother Nie when he gets home later. I’ll ask him to add on two more places...What are the names of those two people?" Nie Yuan had a casual expression, as this was only a small matter to him.

"Xiao Yu, Xiao Xun." Duan Ling Tian lightly smiled.

"So it’s the Xiao Clan members...However, this Xiao Xun seems to be the younger brother of that genius alchemist, Xiao He, right?" As Nie Yuan finished speaking, he glanced deeply at Duan Ling Tian.

Who would have thought that the genius in the Martial Dao, Duan Ling Tian, whose name was spread and gave rise to much discussion within the Imperial City, was precisely the youth genius alchemist that appeared briefly and once defeated Xiao He within the Alchemist Guild’s Main Guild.

Duan Ling Tian naturally knew the meaning of what Nie Yuan said, and he lightly smiled. "Even if Xiao He were to see me now, he might not even be able to recognize me. Moreover, even if he does recognize me, it still wouldn’t affect the relationship between me and Xiao Xun."

This was something that Duan Ling Tian was quite confident about, as he could still remember that when he met Xiao Xun for the first time, when Xiao Xun spoke, he was filled with admiration towards that genius alchemist that defeated Xiao He, and he bore no resentment.

"Yes, that disguising method of yours that day was truly unfathomable." Nie Yuan shook his head with a smile as he glanced deeply at Duan Ling Tian. "Sometimes, I really want to break open your head, kid, and see what other secrets are actually hidden within...."

Ever since this nephew of his appeared, Duan Ling Tian had brought him wave after wave of shock. And luckily, his heart was sufficiently strong; otherwise, he really might have a heart attack because of this nephew of his.

Duan Ling Tian rubbed his nose as he laughed embarrassedly.

"Right, didn’t you say that day that when you’ve stepped into the Origin Core Stage, you’d be able to refine a Grade Eight Spirit Cleansing Pill for your Grandpa Nie?" Suddenly, Nie Yuan seemed to have thought of something and his eyes shone.

The corners of Duan Ling Tian’s mouth twitched. He was currently only a step away from the seventh level of the Core Formation Stage, let alone the Origin Core Stage.

Of course, he understood that this Uncle Nie of his surely thought he’d broken through to the Origin Core Stage like the other people. Thus, he didn’t explain and casually found an excuse. "Uncle Nie, you at least have to give me some time to let my grade nine pill fire transform into a grade eight pine fire, right?"

Nie Yuan laughed embarrassedly when he heard what Duan Ling Tian said, and only now did he recall that even if the cultivation had arrived at the Origin Core Stage, it wasn’t so easy to raise the grade of an alchemist.

Within the Crimson Sky Kingdom, people with cultivations at the Nascent Soul Stage but were only grade nine alchemists could be found everywhere.

When speaking purely about the alchemist’s pill fire, the Origin Energy within a Nascent Soul martial artists is sufficient to condense a grade six pill fire....However, the advancement of the pill fire is something that depends on the alchemist’s natural talent.

If someone’s natural talent is insufficient, then not to mention the Nascent Soul Stage, even if the person were to break through to the Void Prying Stage, the person would still only be a grade nine alchemist, or even to the extent of being unable to become a grade nine alchemist.

"It’s Uncle Nie who’s too impatient." Nie Yuan shook his head and smiled before saying, "Go see your grandfather, he’s been frequently talking about you to me during this period of time...Yesterday, when he heard that City Guard Army Commander Xue Lu had brought his soldiers to block you at Paladin Academy’s gate, he even started making noise about wanting to kill that Xue Lu."

Duan Ling Tian was stunned, as he never imagined that the old man’s temper was so explosive....However, a trace of warmth still arose within his heart.

"Grandpa Nie." When Duan Ling Tian met the old man, he was just watering the plants in the rear courtyard in an extremely happy manner.

When the old man saw Duan Ling Tian, his murky eyes shone with a dazzling gleam. "Little Tian, you’ve come."

Duan Ling Tian supported the old man to sit down before lightly smiling. "Grandpa, your body’s gotten better lately, right?"

The old man nodded. "The medicinal strength of the grade nine Spirit Cleansing Pill has already removed the poison from my internal organs, and the remaining poison has been suppressed by the grade nine Spirit Cleansing Pill within my various parts of my body and within my Dantian, so it’s not too bad."

"That’s good. Once I’ve become a grade eight alchemist, I’ll refine a grade eight Spirit Cleansing Pill for Grandpa Nie to completely remove the remaining poison." Duan Ling Tian nodded. This result was within his expectations.

"I heard you’re going to battle with Fen?" The old man asked.

Duan Ling Tian smiled as he said, "Yes, I want to go experience it."

"Experiencing it is a good thing, as the battlefield is a place to temper a person...." As the old man spoke, his gaze seemed to float of as if he’d returned once again to those years in the military life, and there seemed to be an aura of slaughter that arose from his body.

This aura of slaughter was extremely terrifying...And even surpassed that of the Divine Might Marquis, Nie Yuan!

The following period of time was extremely calm and tranquil.

That City Guard Army Commander Xue Lu and that Fifth Prince seemed to have completely vanished.

Of course, Duan Ling Tian wouldn’t think they’d show mercy and give up on taking revenge for Xue Lang and Tong Li. And this was probably only the calm before the storm.

Paladin Academy, within the Star Mastermind Department grade 1 classroom.

On the podium, Sima Chang Feng slowly said, "The Star Mastermind Department’s roster for the students who’re following the reinforcement army to battle at the northwest border has been released."

"Teacher Sima, why are you speaking of this? Could it be that someone within our class got a place?" Instantly, many students were stunned.

Before long, they gazed with tacit understanding at the violet-clothed youth that sat in the distance ....

"It’s probably Duan Ling Tian!"

"Nonsense, who else could it be besides Duan Ling Tian?"

Some of the students whispered in discussion amongst themselves.

In next to no time, all the other students besides Duan Ling Tian looked at Sima Chang Feng, as they waited for him to announce the roster...Especially Xiao Yu and Xiao Xun, they gazed fixedly at Sima Chang Feng, as even though Duan Ling Tian said there would be no problem, they were still slightly perturbed.

"Duan Ling Tian!" Sima Chang Feng announced the first name.

"Xiao Yu, Xiao Xun!" Sima Chang Feng continued.

Actually, when he received the roster, even he was slightly surprised.

Duan Ling Tian was recommended by him, and thus it was extremely normal for Duan Ling Tian to be within the roster...But the other two people weren’t recommended by him.

When Xiao Yu and Xiao Xun heard what Sima Chang Feng said, their gazes brightened, and they looked at each other. They could both see the excitement within each other’s eyes.

"Xiao Yu and Xiao Xun got places as well?" Instantly, the remaining students all glanced at Sima Chang Feng, and hoped that Sima Chang Feng would call out their names.

But unfortunately, what Sima Chang Feng said next completely dispelled their thoughts. "You three prepare properly and gather at the academy’s Martial Arts Practice Ground half a month from now for departure!"