War Sovereign Soaring The Heavens

During their entire journey, Tang Wu Yan only showed Duan Ling Tian around and introduced the various buildings to him, she did not talk about anything outside of that.

For this reason, Duan Ling Tian was certain she was not interested in him at all and was only helping him because of Tang Chun.

“It’s nothing so there’s no need for you to feel obligated to say such things,” Tang Wu Yan said with a faint smile. However, she did not reach out to take Duan Ling Tian’s Soul Pearl. It was as though she did not intend to have any contact with him in the future.

“Just take it. Who knows if I’ll be of some help in the future?” Duan Ling Tian said with a smile. He did not like owing others after all. Although this only took a little effort on Tang Wu Yan’s part, he knew she would not usually be tasked to show new disciples around. Naturally, he knew that Tang Chun had only arranged for her to show him around in hopes that he would take a liking to her. Apart from that, during their short time together, he could sense the pride and arrogance that were etched in her bones. In his two lives, he had only met a handful of women with such arrogance and pride.

“Alright.” Tang Wu Yan nodded in the end. A hint of helplessness could be seen on her face when she accepted Duan Ling Tian’s Soul Pearl.

Duan Ling Tian who noticed her expression could not help but smile bitterly. He rarely gave out his Soul Pearls, but one of the few times he took the initiative to give out his Soul Pearl, he was refused.

“I’ll take my leave then,” Tang Wu Yan said before she left, “Remember to have a look at the Inner Disciple Manual that’s contained in the Memory Jade Token. It’ll save you a lot of trouble down the line.”

“Okay.” Duan Ling Tian nodded faintly as he watched Tang Wu Yan leave. Then, he made his way to the cultivation ground of the inner disciples. Instead of building a house, he chose to stay in a vacant stone house.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

With a wave of his hand, a gust of wind swept through the stone house, clearing the cobwebs and dust away. In just a blink of an eye, not even a speck of dust could be seen in the house.

After entering the house, Duan Ling Tian looked at the Formation compass that had been given to him during his registration. The Formation compass was given to the disciples so they could place it at their cultivation place to avoid being disturbed. It also served to protect the disciples since the Formation could keep everyone who was weaker than Kings of Gods out. If the Formation was destroyed, the inner elders responsible for protecting the disciples would also be alerted.

Duan Ling Tian sat cross-legged on the bed before he brought out the Memory Jade Token.

“Inner Disciple Manual.”

As soon as he extended a strand of his Divine Consciousness into it, a huge load of information appeared in his mind immediately.

The introduction of the manual contained some of the basic rules. There were the Hidden Fog Sect’s rules and rules specifically for the inner sect. Along with that were detailed descriptions of the punishments for breaking the rules. The rules were similar to the laws on earth to maintain order.

The manual held a lot of information, hence, it took Duan Ling Tian several hours before he was finished with the manual. With that, his understanding of the Hidden Fog Sect deepened as well.

“The Hidden Fog Sect is only a lord-rank force, but it’s still so wealthy. Every inner disciple is given ten taels of divine rocks every month. Even if I don’t collect my divine rocks, they’ll accumulate, and I can collect them at a later date.”

Although Duan Ling Tian possessed a few hundred thousand taels of divine rocks, he was still impressed when he thought about the Hidden Fog Sect giving 10 taels of divine rocks to so many inner disciples. With just inner disciples, the sect was already giving away tens of thousands of divine rocks a month. Moreover, this did not include the divine rocks allocated for the core elders, inner elders, outer elders, guardians, core disciples, and outer disciples.

“The cultivation environment here is indeed better than that of the academy. There’s also the Heavenly Stairs Battle for the inner disciples who are gods and Kings of Gods respectively. The top ranker will be handsomely rewarded as well. One can choose from different rewards or ask for something equal in value…”

Due to the rewards, Duan Ling Tian was rather excited about the Heavenly Stairs Battle. Since the core disciples’ test was still half a year away, he should have plenty of time to participate in the Heavenly Stairs Battle.

After that, Duan Ling Tian decided to leave his stone house to ask someone about the competition. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw a figure flying out from a wooden house and hurriedly intercepted that figure.

“What’s the matter?” The other person looked at Duan Ling Tian warily.

“Hello,” Duan Ling Tian said, somewhat embarrassed. After all, it was rude to suddenly obstruct someone’s path. He asked, “Excuse me. I just wanted to ask when’s the upcoming Heavenly Stairs Battle?”

“Heavenly Stairs Battle?” The young man that Duan Ling Tian intercepted had an ordinary appearance and a medium build. He furrowed his brows as he looked at the unfamiliar purple-clad young man and asked, “Are you a new inner disciple?”

The young man was certain Duan Ling Tian was a newcomer because he had never seen Duan Ling Tian before and also because of Duan Ling Tian’s question.

“Yes.” Duan Ling Tian nodded slightly.

“The next Heavenly Stairs Battle is in four months,” the young man said somewhat impatiently, “Now that I answered your question, can you step aside?”

“My apologies.” Since Duan Ling Tian knew his action could be considered rude, he apologized and stepped aside. His mind was only filled with thoughts about the Heavenly Stairs Battle at this moment.

‘I have another four months. During this time, I should try breaking through to become an advanced god. If I succeed, ranking at the top won’t be shocking,’ Duan Ling Tian thought to himself.

Although Duan Ling Tian was certain he would be able to rank first despite only being an intermediate god, he thought it would attract too much attention and trouble. Due to envy and jealousy, who knew if there were those who would make an attempt on his life? Although the sect provided ample cultivation resources, there was still a limit to them. There would be those who were unwilling to share these resources with another person.

Although Duan Ling Tian did not fear any of the inner disciples, he could not dismiss their masters who were elders of the Hidden Fog Sect. Even if the elders could not act openly against him, it would be easy for them to act in the dark.

“If possible, I should try to find a backer in the sect. However, accepting a master is out of the question. After all, I already have a master,” Duan Ling Tian muttered to himself. He felt a headache coming on when he thought about this matter. “Let it be. Let’s just take one step at a time for now.”

With that, Duan Ling Tian returned to the stone house to cultivate.

…

At some point, Duan Ling Tian was woken up by a disturbance to his Formation. Although whoever was outside did not force their way in, he or she had still triggered the Formation’s alarm.

When Duan Ling Tian emerged from the stone house, he saw a middle-aged man and a young man.

The middle-aged man was dressed in a long cyan robe. Although he was rather handsome, he looked rather gloomy.

On the other hand, the young man’s appearance was ordinary. He looked a little dull, but his eyes were bright.

“Are you looking for me?” Duan Ling Tian asked with a frown as he sized up the two strangers.

“You’re new here?” the middle-aged man asked Duan Ling Tian.

“Do you have a problem with that?” Duan Ling Tian bluntly asked.

“This stone house is my eldest brother’s cultivation place. He’ll be returning soon. Since you’re new here, I won’t say much, but it’s best you vacate the stone house.”

“Your eldest brother’s cultivation place?” Duan Ling Tian raised an eyebrow.

Perhaps, if he did not read the Inner Disciple Manual, he might have apologized and vacated the stone house. However, the Inner Disciple Manual had clearly stated that the vacant houses could be occupied by any of the inner disciples. Based on the cobwebs that hung on the house when he arrived, it was clear the house had stood empty for a while now.

“That’s right.” The middle-aged man nodded. A hint of impatience flashed in his eyes as he said, “My eldest brother built this house. Since you’re a newcomer, you should leave as soon as possible.”

“Why?” Duan Ling Tian asked. Since the people in front of him were also inner disciples, he did not believe they were unaware of the rules. He had just arrived not too long ago, but these two people had already come knocking on his door. He felt this matter was not simple.

“What? You don’t want to leave?” The middle-aged man’s expression hardened immediately. “You’re just an intermediate god. You’re not a match for me, an advanced god!”

The dull-looking young man sneered at this moment as he suddenly exuded an oppressive aura.

Duan Ling Tian looked at the middle-aged man expressionlessly as he asked, “Not a match for you? Are you sure?”