War Sovereign Soaring The Heavens

“What’s the matter?” Duan Ling Tian was not surprised Tang Wu Yan knew he had woken up from his closed-door cultivation. After all, many of the inner disciples had seen him; some of them must have informed her about it.

“Over the last three months, Qi Yu, who’s ranked in the top ten among inner disciples with the cultivation base of a god, has been challenging you to duel, but there was no response from you. A lot of people thought you’re too afraid to accept the challenge. Naturally, there are some who realize you’re in closed-door cultivation. However, it seems like someone’s deliberately spreading the rumor that you’re a coward. Duan Ling Tian, you should just ignore these people. Don’t let their words affect you,” Tang Wu Yan said.

“Don’t worry. I won’t,” Duan Ling Tian replied. He could tell Tang Wu Yan was sincerely concerned. However, with his experience in the mundane realm to the Devata Realms and the Realms of Gods, how could he be affected by such trivial matters?

Although Duan Ling Tian only responded with a few words, Tang Wu Yan could tell that based on his calmness, he was truly unruffled by the rumors. After a brief moment, she asked, “Are you planning to compete in the Heavenly Stairs Battle?”

“Yes,” Duan Ling Tian said with a nod.

Tang Wu Yan smiled and said, “Alright. Good luck. I hope you do well!”

Tang Wu Yan no longer said anything after that. She did not even mention if she was going to be present during the battle.

Duan Ling Tian followed the inner disciples who were leaving the cultivation ground. He knew they were all going to the Heavenly Stairs Battle’s venue.

The Heavenly Stairs Battle was an important event for the inner disciples to show their talents and skills.

As he made his way to the venue, Duan Ling Tian recalled the thing he had learned about the Heavenly Stairs Battle from the Inner Disciple Manual. If he took it literally, it seemed like the battle was to see who could climb the highest. Naturally, he knew it was not going to be that simple.

The Heavenly Stairs Battle was created by the founders of the Hidden Fog Sect. Initially, its purpose was to train the disciples. As time passed, it evolved and became an event where inner disciples competed with one another. The sect seemed happy with this development and tried to motivate the disciples by putting up extraordinary rewards for the person who ranked first in the battle.

Duan Ling Tian overheard the conversations between the inner disciples around him as he continued to walk.

“It’s said that the person who ranks first this time in the King of God and god divisions of the Heavenly Stairs Battle will be rewarded with the Auspicious Pill and the Tribulation Defense Fruit respectively.”

‘The Auspicious Pill?’ Duan Ling Tian was stunned. He did not expect the Hidden Fog Sect to be so generous as to offer the Auspicious Pill as a reward.

The Auspicious Pill was created specifically for gods. Even an advanced god who was not particularly talented was guaranteed to become a King of Gods after consuming the Auspicious Pill. This pill was tremendously useful in helping gods become Kings of Gods.

There was a rumor that an extraordinary god had broken through and became an advanced god. After that, he directly took nine Auspicious Pills and became a rudimentary King of gods. Having two breakthroughs in a day was normal in the Realms of Gods. Many emperor-rank and supreme-rank forces would provide their prodigies with various resources to facilitate two breakthroughs in a day. Hence, one can imagine how highly coveted the Auspicious Pill was.

‘The god who ranks first and the King of Gods who ranks first will be rewarded with the Auspicious Pill and the Tribulation Defense Fruit respectively.’

Duan Ling Tian had heard of the Tribulation Defense Fruit as well. Unlike the Auspicious Pill that was refined using various rare medicinal herbs, the Tribulation Defense Fruit was a product of heaven and earth. It did not boost one’s cultivation, but it would help Kings of Gods withstand the Heavenly Tribulations.

Kings of Gods had to face the Heavenly Tribulation once every 1,000 years. The tribulations would get increasingly difficult, and those who could not raise their cultivation bases in time would be killed by the Heavenly Tribulation. For this reason, apart from anticipation, there were also many advanced gods who feared becoming Kings of Gods. Advanced gods’ cultivation bases could stagnate, and it would not be a problem. On the contrary, the consequences would be deadly if a King of Gods’ cultivation base stagnated since they would be unable to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation.

The Tribulation Defense Fruit could help a King of God avoid the Heavenly Tribulation once. After consuming the fruit, a defensive barrier would appear to help the King of God partially block the damage from the Heavenly Tribulation. If a King of God only had a 50% chance of surviving the Heavenly Tribulation, with the Tribulation Defense Fruit, his or her chances of survival would increase to 80%.

‘The Hidden Fog Sect is truly generous!’ Duan Ling Tian exclaimed inwardly. He was amazed by the wealth of the lord-rank force.

“Young Master Duan!”

A voice rang in the air, pulling Duan Ling Tian back to his senses. Since the voice was unfamiliar, he did not look back. However, the owner of the voice flew over and stood in his way. He asked, “Who are you?”

The person who stood in front of Duan Ling Tian was a tall and burly middle-aged man. His eyebrows slanted up at the sides, and he wore a determined expression on his face. A hint of fear could be seen on his face as he said, “Young Master Duan, my name is Zhong Tian Nu. I’m a disciple of the Zhong clan.”

Zhong Tian Nu was not only a disciple of the Zhong clan, but he was also the adopted son of Zhong Da, the Clan Leader of the Zhong clan. Although he had no blood relations to the Zhong clan, he was raised to be loyal to the clan since he was young. Moreover, when he was young, Zhong Da had tricked him into taking the Devil Heart’s Blood Oath, swearing to be loyal and to only serve the Zhong clan. For this reason, the Zhong clan entrusted him with many important tasks. Today, he had been entrusted by Zhong Da to deliver the things to compensate Duan Ling Tian.

Since Duan Ling Tian was in closed-door cultivation over the past few months, Zhong Tian Nu was unable to deliver the compensation to Duan Ling Tian. With the commencement of the Heavenly Stairs Battle, he was certain he would be able to meet Duan Ling Tian today.

“Young Master Duan, I’m here to pass you these things on behalf of my godfather,” Zhong Tian Nu said.

“Your godfather?” Duan Ling Tian was puzzled.

Zhong Tian Nu explained, “My godfather is Zhong Da, the Clan Leader of the Zhong clan. Young Master Duan, everything is kept in this spatial ring.”

Duan Ling Tian accepted the spatial ring. After claiming ownership of the spatial ring, he took a look at the content. He was surprised when he saw the piles of divine rocks, rare medicinal herbs, divine fruits, and pill bottles that were already labeled.

‘Auspicious Pills?’ Duan Ling Tian was further stunned. The Hidden Fog Sect was only rewarding the winner with one Auspicious Pill after all.

‘How many Auspicious Pills are in this bottle?’ Duan Ling Tian wondered inwardly as he used his Divine Consciousness to sense the number of pills in the bottle.

One, two, three…