Chapter 201: Prior To Departure
KurazyTolanzuraytor Editor: Lucas
Within the Crimson Sky Kingdom, the Divine Might Marquis, Grand Cavalry General Nie Yuan, was undoubtedly the representative of the generals, whereas on the side of the Masterminds, it was led by the Prime Minister, Gu You Ting.
Gu You Ting had an exalted status within the Crimson Sky Kingdom. To a certain degree, he could be considered the spokesman of the Emperor.
Ordinarily, all the routine affairs within the Crimson Sky Kingdom would pass through his hands. Moreover, he himself was a Half-step Void Stage powerhouse!
"He’s the son of Prime Minister Gu You Ting?" Duan Ling Tian’s frowned. He was slightly bewildered as he gazed upon Gu Xuan who walked over in full fury.
Duan Ling Tian could be certain that today was absolutely the first time he’d seen Gu Xuan!
However, it seemed that this Gu Xuan harbored extreme hostility towards him, and this caused him to be puzzled.
Presently, it had been four months since Duan Ling Tian arrived at the Imperial City...So he was quite well versed in some of the matters within the Imperial City, and thus had heard of Prime Minister Gu You Ting.
Although Gu You Ting didn’t originate from a great clan, because of the trust of the Crimson Sky Kingdom’s Emperor, his Prime Minister’s Estate was well-renowned within the Imperial City.
Even members of the Imperial City’s three great clans didn’t dare lightly offend the Prime Minister’s Estate, as everyone knew that the Supreme Emperor of the Crimson Sky Kingdom stood behind Prime Minister Gu!
In next to no time, Duan Ling Tian watched as Gu Xuan arrived before him.
" Duan Ling Tian’s brows lightly knitted as he looked at Gu Xuan and indifferently asked, Something the matter?"
"Duan Ling Tian, I’m warning you, stay away from Bi Yao!" Gu Xuan’s face was gloomy, and his eyes emitted a somber sheen as he stared at Duan Ling Tian.
At this moment, he seemed to have transformed into a highly toxic Colubridae Snake! [1]
Duan Ling Tian came to a sudden understanding when he heard what Gu Xuan said, and now he finally knew the reason why Gu Xuan had adopted a hostile attitude towards him...So it was because of Princess Bi Yao!
On the way over here, he’d heard many discussions about himself and Princess Bi Yao, and Duan Ling Tian paid no attention to those guesses that were widely off the mark and directly ignored them.
As far as he was concerned, an innocent man was still innocent even if he didn’t proclaim it, and thus he didn’t need to give any further explanation.
Duan Ling Tian looked at Gu Xuan calmly as he indifferently asked, "Bi Yao? You’re talking about Princess Bi Yao, right?"
"Exactly!" Gu Xuan’s gaze flickered and his voice was filled with a condescending tone. "Did you hear what I told you earlier?"
Duan Ling Tian’s face sank. Not to mention there was nothing between him and Princess Bi Yao, but even if there was, it seemingly didn’t have anything to do with this Gu Xuan, right?
Duan Ling Tian snickered at Gu Xuan’s lofty appearance. There seemed to be a trace of rage that arose within his heart.
"So what if I heard, so what if I didn’t?" Duan Ling Tian asked, in a calm voice.
"Duan Ling Tian, I know your natural talent in the Martial Dao is great, and you’re even a direct descendant disciple that’s well protected by the Duan Clan...But in my eyes, you’re nothing, do you understand?" Gu Xuan’s voice turned incomparably gloomy.
In Gu Xuan’s eyes, only members of the Imperial Family and the Divine Might Marquis Estate were capable of being seen as equals by him within the entire Imperial City and even the entire Crimson Sky Kingdom.
As for those three great clans or whatever, they were not worth mentioning in his opinion!
His father was the Prime Minister, the spokesman of the Emperor of the Crimson Sky Kingdom, an existence that was below one and above all!
"Oh?" Duan Ling Tian abruptly burst out laughing. "I’m truly sorry, but in my eyes, you’re nothing as well...." As soon as he finished speaking, Duan Ling Tian ignored Gu Xuan’s gloomy expression and called Xiao Yu and Xiao Xun before walking out of Paladin Academy in large strides.
"This son of Prime Minister Gu is really too arrogant." Xiao Yu frowned. He obviously detested the way Gu Xuan treated Duan Ling Tian.
Xiao Xun shook his head as he slowly said, "It isn’t strange. He has a father with power that is only below the Emperor after all...Moreover, this Gu Xuan’s natural talent is pretty good, and he even has the chance to inherit the Prime Minister’s position."
Duan Ling Tian didn’t say anything, because to him, Gu Xuan was just a profligate son of a person with high status. And he was no different to Su Tong and Xue Lang, the people he’d crippled.
It was fine as long as Gu Xuan didn’t go too far and didn’t provoke him, but if he were to go too far, then Duan Ling Tian wouldn’t mind giving him something to remember!
That night, Duan Ling Tian didn’t cultivate, nor did he inscribe inscriptions.
He finally realized a dream he’d always had, and that was to sleep together with both of the two little girls in his house and enjoy the pleasures of their companionship....
The two girls seemed to have realized that Duan Ling Tian was leaving tomorrow and would be gone for a few months, thus they allowed Duan Ling Tian to perpetrate whatever evils he pleased.
For the entire night, Duan Ling Tian himself didn’t know how many times he took them, and only when he was extremely exhausted did he finally hug the two little girls and fall into a deep slumber.
The next day, the two little girls walked in a slightly unusual manner after they got off the bed.
A trace of an apologetic appearance appeared on Duan Ling Tian’s face, as last night was really too crazy!
When they were eating, besides Duan Ling Tian, who had a thick face and could ignore it, the two little girls both lowered their heads with faces full of embarrassment when faced with Li Rou’s burning, dubious gaze.
Duan Ling Tian took the two little pythons from inside his sleeve, took them out, and lightly touched their small heads as he said, in all seriousness, "Little Black, Little White, stay at home obediently and protect Ke Er, Little Fei, and my mother. Do you understand?"
"Hiss hiss~" The two little pythons were able to almost roughly understand what Duan Ling Tian said, and they flicked their tongues as they nodded.
Duan Ling Tian could see a trace of unwillingness within the intelligent eyes of the two little pythons; they already started to have human feelings.
At the house’s gate, Duan Ling Tian looked at his mother, who was helping him straighten out his clothes, and said, with a light smile, "Mom, I’m leaving."
"Be safe." Li Rou said lightly, and a trace of worry could be seen mixed within her brows. Like the old saying, a mother will always worry when her child goes on a journey, a mother has deep and sincere love for her children.
"Don’t worry." Duan Ling Tian nodded before smiling at the two little girls beside Li Rou. "Take good care of my mom while I’m away, I’ll be back soon."
Ke Er and Li Fei both nodded, and shimmers flashed within their beautiful eyes. Their eyes were filled with tears that were about to drop.
Duan Ling Tian looked at Xiong Quan and Jing Ru, who were standing at the side, as he said, "Xiong Quan, Jing Ru, I’ll be relying on you two to take care of my home while I’m away."
"Don’t worry, Young Master." They both hurriedly nodded, and a trace of unwillingness was mixed within Jing Ru’s eyes.
She’d always been grateful towards this Young Master who had unreserved trust towards her in these past few months, and it was precisely because of this Young Master’s care that her family could have a life that lacked neither food nor clothing.
"Alright, all of you go home." Duan Ling Tian took a deep breath before turning and leaving, as he was truly worried that he would be unwilling to leave if he were to look at them for a second longer.
"Zhang Qian, Zhao Gang." After leaving his house, Duan Ling Tian suddenly spoke.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Zhang Qian and Zhao Gang instantly appeared beside Duan Ling Tian.
"Are you two following me there, or returning to the Divine Might Marquis Estate?" Duan Ling Tian asked.
"Young Master, we’re following you." Zhang Qian and Zhao Gang spoke at the exact same time.
"Then you two continue concealing yourselves...When we’ve arrived at the battlefield, I’ll go a step further in teaching you two techniques of tracking, concealment, and assassination." Duan Ling Tian’s brows knitted as he slowly said, "If I don’t give the order, you two are not allowed to appear, understand?"
"Yes." Zhang Qian and Zhao Gang hurriedly replied, and their eyes revealed fiery gazes, as they were filled with infinite yearning towards the many techniques that Duan Ling Tian planned to teach them.
Before long, Duan Ling Tian walked into Paladin Academy. There were already many people that had gathered on the Martial Arts Practice Grounds. Of course, most of them were members of the Star General Department.
"Duan Ling Tian!" Duan Ling Tian had only just taken two steps when he noticed Xiao Xun waving his hand at Duan Ling Tian from afar, and Duan Ling Tian lightly smiled before walking over.
"Eh, you two didn’t bring a change of clothes?" Duan Ling Tian had a bewildered expression when he saw both Xiao Yu and Xiao Xun empty-handed.
He’d noticed that practically all of the students were carrying bags of different sizes...Xiao Xun and Xiao Yu, however, seemed to stand out like giants amongst dwarves.
"Look." Xiao Xun raised his hand and revealed the simple ring that he was wearing. "I got a Spatial Ring from my grandfather yesterday."
"All of my things are in Xiao Xun’s Spatial Ring," Xiao Yu said, with a smile.
"Duan Ling Tian, that’s a Spatial Ring on your hand, right?" Xiao Xun glanced deeply at Duan Ling Tian, and his gaze subsequently descended onto Duan Ling Tian’s hand.
Duan Ling Tian nodded.
"Duan Ling Tian, looks like the Duan Clan really holds you in high regard; they even gave such a valuable thing like a Spatial Ring to you." Xiao Yu naturally thought that Duan Ling Tian’s Spatial Ring was given to him by the Duan Clan, and he had a face full of envy.
Even he, the grandson of Aurora City’s Xiao Clan’s Supreme Elder, didn’t have a Spatial Ring on hand. Even within the entire Aurora City Xiao Clan, only the Patriarch and Supreme Elder possessed Spatial Rings.
Duan Ling Tian lightly smiled but didn’t give any explanation.
"Duan Ling Tian!" Right at this moment, a loud voice sounded from afar, and a slightly robust young man around the age of 25 was slowly walking over to Duan Ling Tian with a smile on his face.
"You are?" Duan Ling Tian had a questioning expression as he looked at the person, as he could feel that the young man carried no hostility when he approached.
"I’m Duan Zhu, a branch disciple of the Duan Clan, and a grade 6 Star General Department student...Duan Ling Tian, this is something the Patriarch asked me to pass to you." The robust young man, who was holding his luggage on his shoulders, extended his hand to pass a simple ring to Duan Ling Tian.
It was a Spatial Ring!
Under Xiao Yu and Xiao Xun’s astonished gazes, Duan Ling Tian extended his hand to receive it before nodding with a smile to Duan Zhu. "Thanks."
"Don’t mention it." After passing the Spatial Ring to Duan Ling Tian, Duan Zhu laughed before turning and leaving.
After Duan Ling Tian established ownership of the Spatial Ring, he noticed that besides a few million silver, there was nothing else within the Spatial Ring.
This Spatial Ring only contained a cubic meter worth of space, and it was a lowest grade Spatial Ring. It probably was something Patriarch Duan Ru Huo had passed to him to keep his luggage in.
"Duan Ling Tian, could it be that the Spatial Ring on your hand isn’t from the Duan Clan?" Xiao Yu looked at Duan Ling Tian with an astounded expression.
"It was given to me by the Grand Elder. I never expected the Patriarch to send me another...I’ve taken the money inside, so you can use this Spatial Ring." Duan Ling Tian casually found an excuse, and at the same time withdrew the money within the Spatial Ring before removing the ownership of the Spatial Ring and passing it to Xiao Yu.
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[1] TL Note: The actual snake mentioned is a Dinodon Rufozonatum but due to the length and complex nature of the name, I chose to use the snake family that the Dinodon Rufozonatum belonged to, the Colubridae family.