Translator: Yukidaruma Translations Editor: Yukidaruma Translations
Fang Xingjian then spent the next three hours searching through the entire city in detail, but he still did not discover any signs of existence of a tier six Divine level expert.
‘As expected, they aren’t around?
‘The people behind Duan Tianhao aren’t from the Plenary Foundation Septet? Or have they concealed themselves intentionally?’
Fang Xingjian gave it some thought, and a breeze swept into a study in the northeast area in the palace.
Right now, Duan Tianhao was sitting at the desk in the study, holding onto a document and studying it in detail. It was the information about the current situation between the plain and the Empire.
A breeze blew into the study unknowingly, flipping through all the documents on the desk.
Duan Tianhao raised his head to take a look, frowning. After taking a careful look and making sure there were no abnormalities, his attention sank back to the document before him.
The content recorded was about the recent mobilization of the troops at the Empire’s borders, the information about each of the experts who were at Demigod or higher, and even some hidden news about matters in the Empire’s palace.
The reason Duan Tianhao could get so much information was naturally that he had taken over the intelligence network which the previous Heavenly Lion King possessed.
After looking at the trends that were happening in the world, the corners of Duan Tianhao’s lips curled up into a hint of a smile. He thought inwardly, ‘Hmph, still having the forbidden grounds surrounded? Do you think that it’ll be fine to just forbid people from entering? How can Master’s means be something that you can imagine?
‘Fang Xingjian, even if death is near at hand for you, you’ll probably never expect that the six seniors have already broken out.
‘Once the last senior has also broken out… Hmhmph…’
Next, he looked at the attitude that the various great influences were having toward the Divine Treasures Meeting. Both the Mage Association and the Church of Universal Truth had yet to give an official reply.
Noticing the attitudes of the two top-notch influences in the land, Duan Tianhao’s eyes narrowed slightly. ‘Hehe, the strongest influences in this land… After one more month, you won’t be the strongest anymore.
‘Although these two influences have yet to give their reply, with their background, they’ll naturally understand what the Divine Sun Emperor’s treasures represent. When the time comes, they’ll still send people over.’
Duan Tianhao then continued reading. Regardless of whether it was the respective countries in the north, the many barbaric tribes, or the top notch martial arts factions… Almost all of them had agreed to participate in the Divine Treasures Meeting.
There were even many small sects and factions, as well as a few island countries overseas, that wished to have a slice of the pie.
The more Duan Tianhao read, the brighter his smile became. ‘Excellent. The more participants, the better.’ When he saw that the Empire’s reply was that Fang Xingjian would be leading a group to attend the Divine Treasures Meeting, his smile became even brighter.
He could not hold back his excitement at the thought of Fang Xingjian coming.
‘Fang Xingjian…’
“What are you smiling about?” Just as Duan Tianhao was smiling while reading the news report, Fang Xingjian’s voice suddenly rang out next to his ears.
Duan Tianhao raised his head abruptly and noticed Fang Xingjian standing next to him without his knowledge. The latter had a shadow of a smile on his face as he looked at Duan Tianhao.
“Fang Xingjian!” Duan Tianhao stood up from fright almost instantly. “Why are you here?”
“Why can’t I be here?” Fang Xingjian asked as he looked at Duan Tianhao. After his martial will rapidly scanned through the latter’s body, Fang Xingjian came to a conclusion, “Tier one Divine level? Then the person who drove Tyrant off is definitely not you. There’s someone hiding behind you.”
Simultaneously, information about Duan Tianhao appeared in Fang Xingjian’s mind.
‘The young master of the Four Seasons Villa. The Four Seasons Villa committed various crimes including defying the local government, harboring criminals, encroaching the country’s assets, murder, and plundering, thus they were wiped out.
‘He had absconded one month ago and the last time he was seen, he had the cultivation of a Demigod.’
At the thought of this, there was a hint of a chaotic glow that flashed in Fang Xingjian’s eyes as he looked at Duan Tianhao.
“Tell me, who helped you to drive back Tyrant?”
A hint of bewilderment flashed in Duan Tianhao’s eyes, and he opened his mouth like he wanted to say something. However, his body stiffened up, and he was unable to say anything.
Very soon after, the muscles all over his body started to tremble incessantly. It was as if there was a gush of power in his body forcing him to be unable to say a single word.
The chaotic glow in Fang Xingjian’s eyes became increasingly intense. While looking at Duan Tianhao, the martial will Fang Xingjian sent out seemed to materialize, gushing toward Duan Tianhao’s heart.
Under the effect of Fang Xingjian’s Heart Sword Path, Duan Tianhao was still unable to speak a single word. Instead, his body started to tremble even more intensely. Hints of blood started to flow out from his eyes, nostrils, and mouth, and the muscles all over his body started to convulse. Green veins started to pop up from under his skin.
“You still aren’t speaking up?” Fang Xingjian’s eyes narrowed slightly and he sensed that there was a stream of extremely extremely vast Qi activity in Duan Tianhao’s will, protecting him from the Heart Sword Path’s attack. This was clearly a means left behind by an expert.
‘If I intensify my attack, I may be able to break it, but this person will also die.’ At the thought of this, Fang Xingjian eventually decided to ease his attack and did not continue forcing the other party to reply.
However, judging just from the means left behind in Duan Tianhao’s consciousness, it was clear the person behind Duan Tianhao must definitely be an expert who was at tier six of the Divine level or higher. Otherwise, they would not be able to fend off Fang Xingjian’s Heart Sword Path.
Duan Tianhao suddenly felt relieved. He felt that his head had swelled up so much it seemed as if it was going to explode. All his muscles and bones also felt as if they had been run over by a truck.
Plop! Duan Tianhao was unable to sustain his action of standing up and dropped to his knees right before Fang Xingjian.
However, the moment he knelt down, his countenance turned ashen.
‘How can I…
‘How can I be kneeling before Fang Xingjian?’
He tried very hard to stand up. However, he realized that from head to toe, his limbs felt extremely sore and weak, and he was unable to exert any strength at all. Right now, he was already at his limits just by having his two hands support him so that he was not laying in prostrate. This condition made his eyes seem as if they were spewing fire.
Sensing his weakness and helplessness before Fang Xingjian, Duan Tianhao’s countenance turned increasingly grim as he said coldly, “Fang Xingjian, what are you thinking of doing?”
He lifted his head with great difficulty, looking at Fang Xingjian as if he was looking at a dead man, “You want to know who is the person behind me? So what if you know? They aren’t people that you’re able to fight against!
“I’m merely an ant before you, but when you’re before them, you’re just an ant as well.”
After saying that, he laughed out loud. It was as if he could also see Fang Xingjian’s tragic end.
However, Fang Xingjian thought, ‘They aren’t aware that I’ve already reached tier six of the Divine level. Not only that, they don’t even know that I’ve joined forces with the Immortality Saint and that we’ve discovered the existences of the Plenary Foundation Septet.
‘They should be thinking that I’m here to look for Duan Tianhao to seek revenge for Tyrant. Is that why they are still able to hold it in?
‘If that’s the case, this is a good opportunity to snoop for information on them.’
Thinking of this, Fang Xingjian threw a cold glance at Duan Tianhao. ‘I’ll see how long you guys can hold it in.’
