Since the first moment that he gathered with others at the square, Ding Hao felt a little lost.
Ding Hao did not notice anything around him even including Elder Chen’s speech and the 10 Mysterious Frost Holy Guards. He had been waiting for Evil Moon the Fat Cat to find Zhang Xiaofan and bring him here in time because now was the last moment. If Xiaofan missed the chance to enter the space gate, he might have many difficulties when he wanted to take the long road to Green Province, where Sage Battlefield was set.
“Why aren’t they here yet? Did it fail to find Xiaofan? Or did Evil Moon the Fat Cat fail because it had been messing around?”
Time was ticking away, and Ding Hao grew more and more anxious.
At that time, thunderous screams rang by Ding Hao’s ears, like thunder in early spring. Among them, there were also crazy shouts by disciples and elders from Tranquility Academy. A frown creased his forehead. Ding Hao looked around and found all of the people from Tranquility Academy frantically watching Mu Tianyang the Child Prodigy. Even people from other sects affiliated with Tranquility Academy all looked ecstatic as well, shouting Mu Tianyang’s name.
Mu Tianyang did not respond, just standing silently in front of the crowd.
Cheers and shouts around him seemed irrelevant to him, or he did not care about appraisal and applause from those ordinary people like ants at all. He just stood there quietly, every wisp of his hair reflecting the glow of the sun. The sunshine had colored his white robe golden. He remained silent like a peerless War God with his back facing the world. He only left a lonely back so straight that it seemed to be carved by a saber to everyone.
At that moment, Mu Tianyang’s aura and temperament seemed to even surpass that of powerhouses like heads of the nine sects.
In the outer circle of the crowd, the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect higher-ups such as Li Jianyi and higher-ups from other Swordsmanship-seeking Sect affiliates looked kind of serious. Against the shouts around them, they even looked a little at their wit’s end. Not far away from Li Jianyi, the Leiyin Sect head, Tie Zhan, was stroking his blood-red beard and laughing out loud, as if Leiyin Sect had gone back to the group of nine sects.
Ding Hao was startled. “What’s going on?”
Li Lan approached him and whispered in his ears. “Mu Tianyang has joined Mysterious Frost Holy Guard Battalion. Elder Chen announced it himself… I didn’t see that coming. Fang Xiaoan the sly fox really kept a few tricks up his sleeve. He actually did something like that.”
Ding Hao was also stunned.
Mysterious Frost Holy Guard Battalion… Well, things got a little tricky now.
Having worked hard for the past 10 years, Swordsmanship-seeking Sect finally regained their name on the sect Grading Meeting and became ranked first among sects in Snow Province. They had finally replaced the previous dominator Tranquility Academy. From now on, they could look down on all the other sects. However, who knew that Mu Tianyang turned into a Mysterious Frost Holy Guard at that time? It meant that Tranquility Academy had affiliated itself with the Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost, becoming the biggest sect supported by the holy land of Human Tribe kung fu in the Northern Region. In this way, the advantage Swordsmanship-seeking Sect just accumulated almost instantly vanished.
Being a sect supported by the Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost, Tranquility Academy was virtually in the “inner circle” of the Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost. The support and cultivation resources it would receive was definitely far greater than normal Human Tribe sects’. Even as the top Human Tribe sect in Snow Province, Swordsmanship-seeking Sect could not seem to compare in terms of that.
The situation quickly changed.
In this way, the plan that Swordsmanship-seeking Sect wanted to completely suppress Tranquility Academy in the next decade with its ranking and resource advantage would not be carried out so easily.
Nevertheless, for Tranquility Academy, it was like a drowning person suddenly clutching a large ship.
No wonder the Tranquility Academy people looked so ecstatic now, and no wonder Li Jianyi and others suddenly look so serious. Ding Hao exclaimed. “Mu Tianyang is really capable. It’s said that the first condition to becoming a Mysterious Frost Holy Guard is being in a realm between the Peak of great grandmaster and the half-step to the Martial King Realm. Has he already advanced to the realm?”
Ding Hao suddenly felt that he had not seen through his archenemy clearly.
At that moment—
“Well, now, it’s clear that who the real genius is. Does he really see himself as someone just because he has a name in Snow Province? Our Senior Brother Tianyang has done that long ago… Well, a real genius will look at the entire Northern Region. Looking at one small province is just something common people will do. They shouldn’t achieve anything big. What Saber and Sword Addict? He’s just blinded by his pride and doesn’t know what he’s saying!”
A sarcastic voice rang from not far away.
It was a familiar voice.
Ding Hao turned around to look, only to see the silver-haired chick Lu Xianr looking at himself with a sneer.
She was a vicious girl who had kowtowed before him after being caught by him. An expert in the sect removed the deviated Qi from her body and she then finally woke up. Obviously, she couldn’t get rid of the hate in her. Vicious expression was in her eyes. She almost wanted to swallow Ding Hao alive.
Ding Hao faintly smiled. After a glance, he diverted attention from her.
He did not take Lu Xianr’s hateful and insidious gaze to heart at all.
Nowadays, since he had grown, he did not take Lu Xianr’s personal strength seriously anymore. To be honest, even in the entire Tranquility Academy, except Mu Tianyang, there were not many people he took seriously. He could almost hear his vow of revenge on that day. He would never let the tragic death of Brother Guo Nu go just like that. Since she appeared here, she was courting death. After entering Sage Battlefield, once running into her, Ding Hao would definitely not spare her.
What Ding Hao felt slightly surprised about was that the vicious young girl should also get a place into Sage Battlefield. It was rumored that her grandfather was the top-notch powerhouse of Tranquility Academy, Lu Xiongfei. It looked like the news was real. Otherwise, with her strength under a Great Martial Mentor level, she was as weak as an ant. How could she get such an opportunity?
Regarding that, Tranquility Academy could not compare with Swordsmanship-seeking Sect.
There were also many legitimate descendants of venerated old people of the sect in Swordsmanship-seeking Sect. However, as long as they were not qualified, they did not have a single shot at winning a place from the sect. Li Jianyi, Tang Folei, and other powerhouses acted selflessly and thought for the future of the sect. They had made the most use of every place, giving them to real geniuses with great potentials like Li Muyun, and even Li Lan…
Oh, right, speaking of Li Lan, there was a discovery that shocked Ding Hao for quite a while.
It turned out that Li Lan was the head’s son.
Yesterday, when they set off from Swordsmanship-seeking Sect, Ding Hao found out about it—when Li Lan, who originally did not obtain a place, smilingly appeared in the crowd that was headed to Sage Battlefield, Ding Hao was slightly startled but then immediately realized. The teammate with an extremely mysterious identity and background all these while really came from a noble family. He was the head, Li Jianyi’s only son. The place Li Jianyi requested was prepared exactly for Li Lan.
No wonder a few days ago, when Ding Hao also visited Li Lan in private, ready to give him a place, however, the youth with a pair of delicate willow brows refused Ding Hao with a mysterious smile. It turned out that Li Lan already knew that Li Jianyi had prepared a place for him.
On that day, Ding Hao also vaguely realized why a year ago, when he was only an insignificant nominal disciple, the lofty and unapproachable sect head Li Jianyi would notice him and had always helped him in private. Li Jianyi probably had done it mostly for Li Lan. It looked like that as the mighty and serious head, privately, Li Jianyi really cared for Li Lan, his only son.
Of course, as of now, only Ding Hao knew the secret.
Li Jianyi had taken everything into consideration. He wanted desperately to make Li Lan independent. He did not seem to want the title of “the head’s only son” to affect Li Lan’s cultivation in Swordsmanship-seeking Sect.
Lu Xianr arrogantly sneered. “A swallow is just a swallow. When it flies dozens of meters high above the ground, it actually wants to challenge geese and swans. How presumptuous.”
Seeing Ding Hao not respond to Lu Xianr’s sarcasm, the pepper girl Li Yiruo, who had stood quietly beside Ding Hao, could not take it anymore. She did not care who they were. As long as they insulted Brother Hao, they would become her archenemy. She wore a chilly sneer on her beautiful face. “A wretch who’s just in Martial Soldier Realm dares to insult Brother Hao. I’ll tear your smart tongue one day!”
At that moment, Li Yiruo showed how she would act as the pepper girl.
Lu Xianr was startled from the curse. “You…” Then she sneered with anger and embarrassment. “You’re Ding Hao’s girl? Well, good, very good. I’ll start my revenge with you. Looks like you also got a place into Sage Battlefield. Rest assured, I’ll make you beg for death in time!”
Li Yiruo wanted to say something more, but Ding Hao smiled flatly and gently said, “Ignore the dying mad dog.”
The pepper smiled cutely and did not say anything more.
A mouthful of hot blood almost spurted out of Lu Xianr’s mouth…
Insidious light was glistening in her delicate eyes. “Hmph, call me a dying mad dog? Ding Hao, flaunt it for the last time while you still can. Well, soon, you’ll know who the real dying dog is. In time, everything you treasure will turn into smoke. You’ll crash into hell and never get reborn.”
At that exact time, Elder Chen’s loud voice rang in everyone’s ears again—
“It’s time. Open the space gate.”
…
Just as he said, 10 Mysterious Frost Holy Guards as still as statues behind him suddenly turned around together. They went down on one knee before the God of War of Mysterious Frost in the Northern Region statue like the most loyal citizens worshipping their king. They chanted and respectively stuck their war spears into the ground. Golden war spears buzzed, lines of closely-written inscription flew out of the tips of the spears, and streaks of golden marks spread to the ground along the spear bodies like mad vines.
Strong and uncontrollable energy broke out in the air.
It was like a pair of invisible golden hands tearing open the barrier of the void.
Bang!
Invisible aura spread in all directions like a hurricane.
Aura of the 10 war spears gathered and finally formed an arched golden door where the space barrier had been torn. It blocked the void fragments that tried to come back together. Inside the door, merry and light silver space elements were pouring. They were as thick as rising waves.
This was the space gate!
It was the space gate that could beam people millions of li away in an instant.
It was an extremely sophisticated inscription formation for space teleportation.
Ding Hao secretly exclaimed and looked around, but still could not see Zhang Xiaofan.
Silver space elements that seemed to contain rising waves gradually calmed down, glowing like a bright mirror. It looked exceptionally pretty against the holy arched golden door. Elder Chen looked blank. His gaze swept everyone and briefly stayed on Ding Hao. Then he said, “It’s time. Let’s enter the space gate.”
Mu Tianyang nodded and silently became the first one to step into the silver space gate.
Then, other disciples with places from Tranquility Academy entered.
In an instant, most of the 76 people entered. To wait for Zhang Xiaofan, Ding Hao did not walk forward.
In the end, only Ding Hao remained at the square.
Having sighed helplessly, Ding Hao walked to the space gate step by step under Elder Chen’s urging.
Looking back, he still failed to see Evil Moon and Zhang Xiaofan.
It seemed that Xiaofan would miss out on the opportunity.
Before he stepped into the space gate, something suddenly happened. Ding Hao suddenly felt a flow of overwhelming energy brushing against his body. Then, he saw the cold and serious Elder Chen cast a meaningful glance at himself. Then, he felt his hand slightly drop. Something was in his palm. Before he could carefully observe the thing, he felt dizzy. He had already stepped into the space gate, feeling as if he were washed away by a boundless sea…
