Chapter 3273: The Martial Dragon Celestial Emperor, Gu Chang Jiang!

As the tens of thousands of golden sword rays began to vanish, the group of Heavenly Pool Palace disciples shook their heads. They were under the impression that the battle had ended now that Liu Jian killed Duan Ling Tian.

Even Lei Jun and the Sword Trial Pavilion elder shared the same thoughts as the Heavenly Pool Palace disciples. They were certain Liu Jian had won and had killed Duan Ling Tian.

Hong Fei’s expression changed drastically as he cried out, “Little Junior Brother!”

On the contrary, Huan’er was the only one who remained calm. Nobody knew Duan Ling Tian better than her, after all. She knew Liu Jian was no match for Duan Ling Tian at all so she was not even the slightest bit worried. Therefore, unlike everyone else, she was not surprised when she saw a purple figure after the golden sword rays completely disappeared.

“Duan… Duan Ling Tian?”

“H-how is this possible?!”

Everyone saw Duan Ling Tian appearing completely unharmed while Liu Jian’s corpse fell from the sky before smashing into a pulpy mess in the battle ring of the Prodigy Arena.

Liu Jian, a prodigious disciple below the age of 700, was an Eight Trigrams Celestial Lord who had comprehended six profundities from the law of metal to the mastery stage, and yet, he had been killed by a prodigious disciple from the 200-to-300-year-old age group!

‘Duan Ling Tian…’ Lei Jun narrowed his eyes when he saw Duan Ling Tian alive and well. A hint of disbelief could be seen flashing in the depths of his eyes. It was completely out of his expectation that Duan Ling Tian would survive the battle with Liu Jian. Moreover, not only did Duan Ling Tian survive unharmed, but Duan Ling Tian also managed to kill Liu Jian!

When the Heavenly Pool Palace disciples regained their senses, their impression of Duan Ling Tian had undergone a 180-degree change. None of them thought he would be able to defeat Liu Jian, let alone kill Liu Jian. Moreover, he had just become a prodigious disciple in the 200-300-year-old age group today! One could imagine the uproar this news would cause once it spread in the Heavenly Pool Palace. Although something like this was not unprecedented in the history of the Heavenly Pool Palace, it was rare.

“What happened? How did Senior Brother Liu Jian die?”

“Did Duan Ling Tian use some Celestial Talisman to kill Senior Brother Liu Jian?”

“Hey, hey, do you think the Prodigy Arena is a joke? The Prodigy Arena can detect Celestial Talismans…”

“This…” The Sword Trial Pavilion was similarly stunned. He had been so sure Duan Ling Tian had been killed by Liu Jian. How could he not be surprised that not only did Duan Ling Tian survive, but he even killed Liu Jian?

‘How did he do it?’ The elder wondered inwardly, perplexed. He could not figure out how Duan Ling Tian managed to kill Liu Jian. Although they were both prodigious disciples, Duan Ling Tian was, at least, 300 years younger than Liu Jian! Moreover, the fact that Liu Jian did not even have to surrender proved that Duan Ling Tian was not as simple as he seemed to be.

“I-impossible! How’s this possible?!” Huang Lu Nan, the former prodigious disciple who had just been kicked out of the Prodigious Disciples Ranking and suffered a huge beating from Duan Ling Tian, was dumbfounded. He was so sure his senior brother would avenge him by killing Duan Ling Tian. Not only did his senior brother fail, but his senior brother was killed by Duan Ling Tian as well! He could not accept this; he even thought he was dreaming for a brief moment. If it were not for the commotion in the arena, he would have continued to think he was dreaming.

“Little Junior Brother? T-this… This is crazy!” The expression of despair on Hong Fei’s face that appeared when he thought Liu Jian had killed Duan Ling Tian froze. It was replaced with an expression of shock when he discovered not only was Duan Ling Tian alive, but Duan Ling Tian had also killed Liu Jian.

When Hong Fei regained his senses, he laughed heartily as he made his way to Duan Ling Tian after seeing Huan’er teleport to Duan Ling Tian’s side, gently holding his arm. Liu Jian had been his rival and enemy for so many years, and there was nothing he could do to get the upper hand. How could he not feel delighted by Liu Jian’s death? Due to how Liu Jian had antagonized him, he really hated Liu Jian to the bones. He said happily, “Little Junior Brother, I didn’t expect you to be so strong. I really underestimated you!”

At the same time, Lei Jun’s gaze turned frosty when he saw Huan’er affectionately holding Duan Ling Tian, looking like a pair of lovers, while ignoring him earlier. He scoffed before he left the Prodigy Arena.

Similarly, Huang Lu Nan did not linger in the Prodigy Arena. It would be too embarrassing to do so. As he left, he sent a message to his teacher to inform his teacher of Liu Jian’s death.

Huang Lu Nan and Liu Jian’s teacher was one of the titled Celestial Emperors in the Heavenly Pool Palace. His name was Gu Chang Jiang, and his title was the Martial Dragon Celestial Emperor.

When the Sword Trial Pavilion elder arrived in front of Duan Ling Tian, he said with a sigh, “Duan Ling Tian, I didn’t expect you to be strong. Although Liu Jian was not particularly outstanding, he wasn’t weak either. I didn’t expect you to kill him.”

Duan Ling Tian smiled and said modestly, “I was just lucky.”

Just lucky?

The elders and the disciples who overheard Duan Ling Tian’s words, naturally, did not believe him.

Duan Ling Tian did not waste time and asked, “Elder, I can now challenge the top prodigious disciple in my age group, right?”

“That’s right.” The elder nodded. “When I return, I’ll inform him that you want to challenge him through his Soul Pearl… I’ll get back to you once he has decided on a date. He’s not allowed to refuse your challenge. If the battle doesn’t happen in three months, he will be considered to have forfeited the fight, and you’ll automatically rank at the top of your age group.”

“Thank you, elder.” Duan Ling Tian nodded.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave,” the elder said. Before he left, he nodded and smiled at Huan’er. However, before he could leave, a thunderously loud noise from a far rang in everyone’s ears.

“Who killed my, Gu Chang Jiang, disciple?”

Duan Ling Tian’s expression turned slightly grave. He was no stranger to the name Gu Chang Jiang. He knew Gu Chang Jiang was one of the nine titled Celestial Emperors in the Heavenly Pool Palace. He also knew Gu Chang Jiang’s title was the Martial Dragon Celestial Emperor.

‘Gu Chang Jiang actually showed up here?’ Duan Ling Tian raised his eyebrows. He did not expect Gu Chang Jiang would personally make a trip here because of Liu Jian’s death.

‘Gu Chang Jiang?!’ Upon hearing Gu Chang Jiang’s voice, Hong Fei did not hesitate and quickly sent a message to his teacher, Xu Lang, the Verdant Prairie Celestial Emperor.

Hong Fei knew who valuable a titled Celestial Emperor was to the Heavenly Pool Palace. If Gu Chang Jiang insisted on behaving shamelessly and killed Duan Ling Tian, the Heavenly Pool Palace would not sentence Gu Chang Jiang to death. At most, they would heavily punish him. He knew the best course of action was to inform his teacher, Xu Lang, about this matter.

Swoosh!

Gu Chang Jiang was a tall and muscular middle-aged man dressed in a long green robe. His expression was as clear as jade. His expression turned grim when he saw the body that lay motionlessly in one of the battle rings. Although Liu Jian was not his most outstanding disciple, he was rather fond of Liu Jian due to Liu Jian’s eloquence. For this reason, he was furious when he learned about Liu Jian’s death.

“Who’s Duan Ling Tian?” Gu Chang Jiang asked as he hovered in the air and swept his gaze across the crowd of people. It did not take long before his eyes finally rested on Duan Ling Tian due to how conspicuous Duan Ling Tian was. Not only was Duan Ling Tian handsome and had an extraordinary bearing, but it was difficult not to notice Huan’er, the peerless beauty, who was standing next to him.

“You killed my disciple?” Gu Chang Jiang asked solemnly as he looked at Duan Ling Tian. At the same time, a formidable aura surged out of his body, pressuring Duan Ling Tian.

“Since it was a life-or-death battle between us, I can only say his death is a result of his incompetence.” Duan Ling Tian remained calm despite Gu Chang Jiang’s domineering attitude. He was not afraid at all despite the pressure from Gu Chang Jiang’s aura. After all, although he could sense the pressure, he did not really feel it. He had been absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spirit Energy from the remnant of a Realm of Gods, after all. How could he feel pressured by the aura of a mere titled Celestial Emperor?

“Lord Gu Chang Jiang.” The Sword Trial Pavilion elder stepped forward at this moment and said, “I supervised the life-or-death battle between Duan Ling Tian and Liu Jian. I can explain the matter to you.”

“Was I speaking to you?” Gu Chang Jiang glanced at the elder and raised his hand. A powerful energy surged out like tens of thousands of galloping horses and landed on the elder, sending the elder flying back.

The elder spat out a few mouthfuls of blood, turning his face pale. He did not hesitate and quickly crushed the Communication Celestial Talisman to inform Lei Ying, the Pavilion Master of the Sword Trial Pavilion, of this matter. There was no doubt that Gu Chang Jiang, the Martial Dragon Celestial Emperor, was behaving unreasonably. Under such circumstances, he had no choice but to let his pavilion master, who was also a titled Celestial Emperor, intervene.

Meanwhile, the Heavenly Pool Palace disciples felt anxious when they saw how aggressive Gu Chang Jiang was behaving.

“Is the Martial Dragon Celestial Emperor, Lord Gu Chang Jiang, going to avenge his disciple, Liu Jian?”

“I don’t think so… Although it’s easy for him to kill Duan Ling Tian, I don’t think he’d dare to do such a thing… Right?”

“I agree. His reputation will be tarnished if he does such a thing. At that time, everyone will only say he’s irresponsible and that his behavior is not befitting of a titled Celestial Emperor…”