Chapter 1980: Li An’s Speculation
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
To a certain extent, a Dragon Warrior could be considered as an advocate for the Divine Dragon that gave him the gift of Dragonization.
For example, a Seven-clawed Dragon Warrior was the advocate for a Seven-clawed Divine Dragon, an Eight-clawed Dragon Warrior was the advocate for an Eight-clawed Divine Dragon, and a Nine-clawed Dragon Warrior was the advocate for a Nine-clawed Divine Dragon.
“To think that Duan Ling Tian is a Nine-clawed Dragon Warrior. It seems like a Nine-clawed Divine Dragon existed in our Dao Martial Land before!”
“That’s right! A Nine-clawed Divine Dragon is a legendary and mythical creature to us. Prior to this, we weren’t even sure if a Nine-clawed Divine Dragon existed in the Dao Martial Saint Land. However, since Duan Ling Tian’s able to transform into a Nine-clawed Dragon Warrior, it’s more than enough to prove that a Nine-clawed Divine Dragon had once existed in the Dao Martial Saint Land!”
“Duan Ling Tian must have obtained the legacy of a Nine-clawed Divine Dragon. That must be how he gained the ability to transform into a Nine-clawed Dragon Warrior.”
“I’m really envious of Duan Ling Tian’s encounter!”
The news of Duan Ling Tian being a Nine-clawed Dragon Warrior had spread to every nook and cranny in the Fire Worship Sect’s Four Symbols Sanctums.
The news was too shocking.
After all, this meant that a Nine-clawed Divine Dragon once existed in the Dao Martial Saint Land before!
That was how Duan Ling Tian was able to obtain the legacy left behind by a Nine-clawed Divine Dragon and gain the ability to transform into a Nine-clawed Dragon Warrior.
Apart from this, they could not come up with another plausible reason.
“Senior Brother Hong Xu is forced to commit suicide by Duan Ling Tian?” Meanwhile, it was not peaceful in the Black Turtle Sanctum. Many people could not accept it when they learned Hong Xu had been forced to commit suicide when faced with the pressure from Duan Ling Tian.
These people were the Black Turtle Sanctum’s disciples who had regarded the Black Turtle Sanctum’s Great Senior Brother Hong Xu as their idol.
“Hurmph! What do you even mean by Senior Brother Duan Ling Tian forced Senior Brother Hong Xu to commit suicide? If Senior Brother Hong Xu did not intend to kill Senior Brother Duan Ling Tian, would Senior Hong Xu commit suicide due to the pressure from Senior Brother Duan Ling Tian? What a joke!” Many Black Turtle Sanctum’s disciples who knew the details of what had transpired stood on Duan Ling Tian’s side and defended him.
“That’s right! Hong Xu even resorted to consuming a forbidden pill just to kill Senior Brother Duan Ling Tian. Tsk tsk… What an elaborate plan! What a pity he’s not a match for Senior Brother Duan Ling Tian even after consuming the forbidden pill.” Compared to those who stood up for Hong Xu, there were undoubtedly more Black Turtle Sanctum’s disciples that stood on Duan Ling Tian’s side.
As the saying went, ‘In war, those who win become the ruler while the losers become bandits!’
Coupled with the fact that Duan Ling Tian was not in the wrong, it was only natural there were more people supporting him compared to the people supporting Hong Xu.
“Hurmph! To think that I regarded Hong Xu as the Great Senior Brother before this. I can’t believe he’s so ruthless that he intended to kill a fellow disciple that he didn’t even think twice before he consumed a forbidden pill. I was blind before this!”
“Me too! I regarded Hong Xu as my idol previously. Now that I think about it, I feel disgusted. How could I regard someone like that as my idol!”
Many Black Turtle Sanctum’s disciples who originally respected Hong Xu a lot changed their minds about him one by one.
Hong Xu’s actions had hurt them.
Naturally, there was a minority of Black Turtle Sanctum’s disciples who found the incident of Hong Xu attempting to kill Duan Ling Tian strange.
“If I’m not mistaken, both of them are strangers. Why would Senior Brother Hong Xu try to kill Duan Ling Tian? Moreover, he did not even hesitate to consume a forbidden pill? How big is the enmity between them?”
“If they had enmity, Senior Brother Hong Xu would have long made his move on Duan Ling Tian. Why would he wait until Duan Ling Tian’s banished to the Four Symbols Sanctum’s First Mine before he made his move?”
“Indeed! I also feel there’s something strange about this matter.”
“Does any of you remember that two days ago, Elder Li An came to the residence of the Black Turtle Sanctum’s disciples and looked for Senior Brother Hong Xu?!”
“You mean… Elder Li An is the one who instructed who Senior Brother Hong Xu to kill Duan Ling Tian?”
“Shhhh… Keep your voice down! Are you seeking death?!”
These Black Turtle Sanctum’s disciples were smarter and immediately guessed the incident of Guo Xiong going to the Four Symbols Sanctum to kill Duan Ling Tian had something to do with their Black Turtle Sanctum’s First Silver Flame Elder Li An.
After all, the dispute between Li An and Duan Ling Tian was not a secret in the Black Turtle Sanctum and the Four Symbols Sanctums.
Although they were aware of this, they did not dare to recklessly spread this news. If news of this spread out, and they were caught by Li An, they would be skinned alive if they were not killed.
They were not Duan Ling Tian and did not dare to offend Li An.
When the Black Turtle Sanctum was in an uproar over Duan Ling Tian and Hong Xu’s matter, a travel-weary Li An finally returned.
As soon as he returned, before he even had time to rest, he learned about what happened in the Four Symbols Sanctums’ First Mine. The person who told him about this was the person he sent to the Four Symbols Sanctums’ First Mine.
“Useless trash!” After finding out Hong Xu had committed suicide and Duan Ling Tian was safe, Li An was so enraged that he began to curse loudly.
Bang!
An explosion sounded as the new stone table in the front courtyard of Li An’s mansion was destroyed by him again with a slap.
The useless trash he was cursing was none other than Hong Xu!
Initially, he thought with the forbidden pill, the Kismet Rejoining Pill, that he had given to Hong Xu, Hong Xu would be able to raise his strength close to the Saint Celestial Stage, and it would be easy for him to kill Duan Ling Tian.
Who knew God would play such a joke on him?!
Even after Hong Xu had consumed the forbidden pill, the Kismet Rejoining Pill, he was no match for Duan Ling Tian. This was because Duan Ling Tian was a Nine-clawed Dragon Warrior!
At the eleventh hour, at the brink of life and death, Duan Ling Tian had transformed into a Nine-clawed Dragon Warrior that allowed him to withstand Hong Xu’s strongest attack after consuming the forbidden pill, the Kismet Rejoining Pill! Once his attack missed, it also meant he no longer had a chance to kill Duan Ling Tian.
“And that Duan Ling Tian… To think he’s actually a Nine-clawed Dragon Warrior! What did he do to deserve obtaining the legacy of a Nine-clawed Divine Dragon? Damn it! Damn it!” The moment Li An thought about how Duan Ling Tian was a Nine-clawed Dragon Warrior, his expression turned grave.
“I must get rid of Duan Ling Tian! I must get rid of him before he grows even stronger!” Li An said through clenched teeth after he took a deep breath.
The martial Dao and the Divine Abilities that Duan Ling Tian possessed were enough to make him feel wary. Now that he learned that Duan Ling Tian was a Nine-clawed Dragon Warrior, he became even warier of Duan Ling Tian.
If the dispute between him and Duan Ling Tian was a minor one, taking into account Duan Ling Tian’s identity as a Nine-clawed Dragon Warrior, he might have put his pride aside and take the initiative to make peace with Duan Ling Tian. After all, he was uncertain if Dian Ling Tian had any connections with the dragon clan.
Although the dragon clan currently only had a few Seven-clawed Divine Dragons at the garrison and was only slightly more powerful than the ordinary first-rate forces, the heritage of the dragon clan was enough to make him feel wary!
Although all of the three great sects were much stronger than the dragon clan, they did not dare to simply look for trouble with the dragon clan.
The dragon clan was an ancient and mysterious clan.
This clan had a long heritage in the Dao Martial Saint Land and even surpassed the three great sects too!
Who would believe it if somebody said that such an ancient and mysterious clan did not have any trump cards?
…
However, Li An knew very well that he and Duan Ling Tian had long reached a point where neither one would rest until one of them died. There was no room to turn back at this point.
What he wanted to do now was to kill Duan Ling Tian before Duan Ling Tian grew stronger! Otherwise, once Duan Ling Tian grew into his potential, Li An would definitely die!
“Before Hong Xu killed himself, he exchanged a look with Duan Ling Tian for a moment. I’m sure that in that time, he must have spoken to Duan Ling Tian using Voice Transmission and told him about many things!”
Although Li An was not present during the battle between Duan Ling Tian and Hong Xu, he learned about everything from the spy he sent to the Four Symbols Sanctum’s First Mine. Even the minor details were not left out.
“Hurmph! Hong Xu has betrayed me! Not only that, but if I’m not mistaken, he must have begged Duan Ling Tian to help ask the Hong Clan to relocate! How unfortunate! Did he think I’ll leave the Hong Clan alone after he killed Duan Ling Tian? I, Li An, am not such a fool to the point that I don’t even know what it means to eliminate a problem by destroying its roots!” Li An snorted coldly as he narrowed his eyes. A sneer appeared on his face.
Two days ago, when Hong Xu entered the Four Symbols Sanctums’ First Mine, he had already made a trip to the Hong Clan and annihilated all of them!
The Hong Clan was situated in the Western Region and was not far from the Fire Worship Sect. With his speed, it only took him about half a day to reach the Hong Clan. Similarly, it didn’t take him more than half a day to annihilate the Hong Clan! In fact, he had just returned from the Hong Clan.
“Hong Xu must not have expected that even if Duan Ling Tian manages to find someone to warn the Hong Clan to relocate, what awaited them is only a pile of ruins!” Li An muttered to himself as the smile on his face turned colder. “However, I must pass on the news about Duan Ling Tian being a Nine-clawed Dragon Warrior and that he had seemingly obtained the legacy of a Nine-clawed Divine Dragon to the Northern Plethora Sect and Yang Chong!”
Li An’s train of thoughts changed its course. He could not help but analyze the situation as he muttered under his breath, “I’m certain after the Dao Martial Saint Land was split into the Upper Province and the Lower Province, there was no Nine-clawed Divine Dragon. In other words, Duan Ling Tian must not have obtained the Nine-clawed Divine Dragon’s legacy from the Upper Province. He must have obtained it from the Lower Province! It’s possible Duan Ling Tian may be from the Lower Province!”
The moment he thought of this, he took out an empty jade token and recorded his speculations on it before he sent someone to send it to the first-rate force, the Northern Plethora Sect, and to hand it over to their fifth elder, Yang Chong!
In the jade token, he had also given a suggestion to Yang Chong. If the search for Duan Ling Tian’s background yielded no results in the Upper Province, he could search the Lower Province.
It would never cross Duan Ling Tian’s mind, not even in his wildest dreams, that Li An was so smart. He could come to a conclusion that he might be from the Lower Province of the Dao Martial Saint Land just based on the fact that he was a Nine-clawed Dragon Warrior!