4444 Taking a Servant In
“Huh?”
Upon hearing Duan Ling Tian’s words, Tan Xiu Teng frowned in confusion. Then, he asked, “Sir, does this mean that you plan to let me go?”
After Tan Xiu Teng finished speaking, he laughed at himself for being absurd. How could Duan Ling Tian possibly spare him? If he were in Duan Ling Tian’s shoes, he would not have spared someone who tried to kill him. After all, not killing someone like that was akin to creating future trouble for oneself.
“Let you go?” Duan Ling Tian smiled faintly and said, “I’m not so magnanimous toward a person who intended to kill me. However, if you swear on the Heaven Vault’s Blood Oath and acknowledge me as your master and become my servant, I’ll spare your life.”
Upon hearing this, Tan Xiu Teng sneered and said, “Impossible! I admit that I’m weaker than you. Even if I die, I admit that I lost fair and square. However, it’s impossible for me to swear allegiance to you!”‘
There was a specific master-servant contract when swearing on the Heaven Vault’s Blood Oath. After swearing the oath, a master-servant connection would be formed. At that time, the servant could be reduced to ashes as long as the master willed it using the power that governed heaven and earth.
“Boy, perhaps, your elders have never taught you this. Sometimes, people with our cultivation bases place more importance on dignity than life! Moreover, how can someone who lost his freedom overcome his heart devil trial and survive the Heavenly Tribulation?” Tan Xiu Teng said mockingly to the young man in front of him.
In Tan Xiu Teng’s opinion, Duan Ling Tian was dreaming if Duan Ling Tian thought that he would become his servant. What a joke! Duan Ling Tian was just an advanced Supreme God, who was admittedly stronger than him. Even if Duan Ling Tian was a peerless top advanced Supreme God or a supreme powerhouse, it was still impossible for him to acknowledge them as his master and become their servant using the Heaven Vault’s Blood Oath.
Those below the realm of Supreme Gods would be fine making such an oath. However, for those in or above the realm of Supreme Gods, it would draw the heart devil trial during the once-in-a-thousand-year Heavenly Tribulation, making it almost impossible to survive. This was a flaw of the master-servant contract by swearing on the Heaven Vault’s Blood Oath. As such, many of those below the realm of Supreme Gods who had sworn on the Heaven Vault’s Blood Oath did not dare to break into the realm of Supreme Gods even if they were capable of doing so, unless their master took the initiative to null the Heaven Vault’s Blood Oath. Otherwise, they would almost surely die when they faced their Heavenly Tribulation.
“You think I’m aware of that?” Duan Ling Tian glanced at Tan Xiu Teng indifferently as he said, “I’ve not finished my words yet. Yes, I asked to make a master-servant contract by swearing on the Heaven Vault’s Blood Oath, but I wasn’t asking you to make a lifelong contract with me. The contract will last until one year before your Heavenly Tribulation arrives. This won’t affect your chances of surviving the Heavenly Tribulation at all. I guarantee that I won’t kill you after that. You’ll regain your freedom and you have a year to prepare for your Heavenly Tribulation.”
Tan Xiu Teng was stunned by Duan Ling Tian’s words. Then, the mocking smile on his face vanished, replaced by a solemn expression. His eyes flashed as he asked in a deep voice, “Are you telling the truth?”
If Duan Ling Tian was telling the truth, then Tan Xiu Teng was not averse to it. After all, the reason why those in the realm of Supreme Gods would rather die than make a master-servant contract and swear on the Heaven Vault’s Blood Oath was due to the certainty of death when facing the Heavenly Tribulation. However, if the contract was terminated a year before his Heavenly Tribulation as Duan Ling Tian suggested, it would not affect him at all. Moreover, if he agreed to make this contract, his life would also be spared. He now had two choices: agree to become a servant for hundreds of years and his life would be spared or disagree and die. He knew that most people would choose the former.
“Of course,” Duan Ling Tian replied expressionlessly, “With your strength, is there a need for me to lie to you? I’m only suggesting this because I just left the Myriad Worlds and came to the Outer Boundary not too long ago, and I’m unfamiliar with this place. After you help me familiarize myself with the Outer Boundary, do you think you’d still be of use to me? At that time, having you with me will only be a burden.”
Although Tan Xiu Teng’s expression soured when he heard Duan Ling Tian’s words at the end, he knew that Duan Ling Tian was not lying. If Duan Ling Tian were familiar with the Outer Boundary, Duan Ling Tian really would have no use for him, a defeated opponent, at all.
Duan Ling Tian continued to say, “Apart from helping me to familiarize myself with the Outer Boundary, there’s also one thing I want you to do. I want you to lure Meng Yu Zheng out. Don’t worry, you don’t need to kill him. I’ll do it myself.”
Tan Xiu Teng’s expression froze briefly when Duan Ling Tian said that he wanted him to lure Meng Yu Zheng out. However, his expression eased and he sighed in relief when Duan Ling Tian promptly said he did not have to kill Meng Yu Zheng. After all, killing Meng Yu Zheng, the direct descendant of a supreme powerhouse, was not a trivial matter. It was fine if the supreme powerhouse did not care. However, if the supreme powerhouse wanted to, he could trace back to the scene of his descendant’s death with his blood that could help him find the culprit.
Perhaps, others did not know how important Meng Yu Zheng was to Meng Tian Feng, the new supreme powerhouse of the Green Billow City’s Meng clan, but Tan Xiu Teng, who served Meng Tian Feng, was different. If Meng Tian Feng only treated Meng Yu Zheng like an ordinary descendant, how could Meng Tian Feng have given Meng Yu Zheng the Supreme Powerhouse Divinity?
When Tan Xiu Teng first heard that Duan Ling Tian wanted him to lure Meng Yu Zheng out of the Meng clan, he had been sure that Duan Ling Tian wanted him to kill Meng Yu Zheng as well. However, although he was hesitant, he did consider agreeing in order to survive now. He even thought that after he killed Meng Yu Zheng, he would be leaving the Divine Sand Realm with the person in front of him; perhaps, Meng Tian Feng would not be able to track him down. Moreover, if he killed Meng Yu Zheng, he knew that Duan Ling Tian would not allow Meng Tian Feng to find him easily. After all, if Meng Tian Feng found him, it would not be difficult to find out that Duan Ling Tian was the mastermind. At that time, Meng Tian Feng would definitely kill Duan Ling Tian as well.
Nonetheless, Tan Xiu Teng was very happy when he heard that he did not have to kill Meng Yu Zheng and only had to lure Meng Yu Zheng out, which was a trivial matter. He felt the burden on his shoulders disappearing immediately.
Finally, Tan Xiu Teng looked at Duan Ling Tian and said in a deep voice, “Very well. Since I don’t have to kill him, I have no problem with this. If that’s all, I’ll swear on the Heaven Vault’s Blood Oath now.”
“Alright,” Duan Ling Tian said indifferently with a nod.
Following that, Tan Xiu Teng swore on the Heaven Vault’s Blood Oath and made a master-servant contract with Duan Ling Tian. However, when he was making the contract, he finally discovered that the name of the person in front of him was not Li Feng, but Duan Ling Tian. He was understandably surprised.
‘His name is Duan Ling Tian? So Li Feng is a fake name?’
However, Tan Xiu Teng quickly recovered and thought that it was only natural for Duan Ling Tian to use a fake name. In his opinion, Duan Ling Tian needed to hide his true identity to avoid danger. After all, who knew if other forces from the Myriad Worlds would try to kill him after he left the protection of the supreme powerhouse in the World that he came from? Since Duan Ling Tian came to the Outer Boundary to cultivate, Duan Ling Tian naturally did not have any protection. After all, if Duan Ling Tian was constantly protected, how could he grow any stronger? A blade needed to be sharpened; it was impossible to grow stronger if one was constantly coddled and protected.
In the past, the strongest people in the three major Worlds also risked their lives when they were young and braved all kinds of danger. Their experience contributed to their current strength and status.
‘It’s impossible for someone to be secretly protecting him now… If he were so overprotected, he wouldn’t have been able to achieve so much at this age…’
After Tan Xiu Teng completed the master-servant contract and swore on the Heaven Vault’s Blood Oath, a phenomenon briefly appeared in the sky. A complicated expression appeared on his face when he sensed the connection between him and Duan Ling Tian. He made a careless mistake which resulted in him becoming a servant for hundreds of years. If he could turn back time, he definitely would not make the same mistake again.
At this time, Duan Ling Tian glanced at Tan Xiu Teng and said indifferently, “Let’s go. Lead me to Green Billow City.”
Duan Ling Tian could also sense his connection to Tan Xiu Teng. The feeling was subtle, but he could feel that he now held Tan Xiu Teng’s life in his hand. With just a thought, he could kill Tan Xiu Teng. It would be impossible for Tan Xiu Teng to escape him until the contract ended.
‘This restriction in the master-servant contract is really terrifying, which is good. It means that I don’t have to worry about him messing around. At the same time, I can also let him handle all the trivial matters,’ Duan Ling Tian thought to himself.
In fact, the World Cleansing Divine Water was the one who suggested making Tan Xiu Teng his servant. After listening to her, he found that he agreed with her. Not only could he quickly familiarize himself with the Outer Boundary and have someone deal with trivial matters for him, but he could lure Meng Yu Zheng, who wanted his life, out of the Meng clan. He was simply killing two birds with one stone.
In exchange for those things, Duan Ling Tian did not mind sparing Tan Xiu Teng’s life at all. After all, when it came down to it, Tan Xiu Teng was only following Meng Yu Zheng’s orders. He would not form a heart devil and affect his chances of surviving the Heavenly Tribulation if he spared Tan Xiu Teng and killed Meng Yu Zheng.
“Yes, my lord,” Tan Xiu Teng said respectfully.
“It’s fine. Just refer to me as ‘young master’,” Duan Ling Tian said with a wave of his hand.
“Yes, young master,” Tan Xiu Teng said respectfully. Then, he brought his flying ship out and gestured for Duan Ling Tian to board the flying ship first before he steered the flying ship in the direction of Green Billow City.
As Tan Xiu Teng steered the flying ship, his mind began to wander. He knew that Duan Ling Tian spared him because he was not the true mastermind behind the attempt on his life. Then, he thought about Meng Yu Zheng.
‘That kid will definitely be scared out of his wits later. He’ll definitely regret his actions!’
