The first morning light illuminated the earth at the break of dawn as all of Creation slowly woke from their sleep.
The two ladies were haunted after hearing Duan Ling Tian’s stories.
They fell into a deep sleep not long after he was done with his story.
Allowing them to lean against his body, he did not stir them. He was staring into space while looking at the ceiling.
“A Saint Stone reserve?” He was stunned by what Han Xue Nai had told him earlier.
Just one Saint Stone alone could help a First Level Martial Emperor martial artist to breakthrough to the Second Level Martial Emperor Stage quickly. One could imagine the power in the Heaven and Earth Origin Energy.
The Saint Stone was undoubtedly a precious treasure no matter if it was on the Cloud Continent or the Overseas Saint Island.
However, there were exclusive reserves in Dao Martial Saint Land for people to mine as they wished.
“Bastard!” Duan Ling Tian thought to himself and released Wang Ba’s soul which he had sealed with his Spiritual Energy earlier.
Although Wang Ba was just a remnant of a soul, he did not want other people around when he was spending time with his two women.
“Brat, how dare you seal me again?! Let me tell you this one more time. I’m not interested in prying when you’re with your women!” Wang Ba fumed in rage as soon as he was released.
When Duan Ling Tian had reunited with the two ladies earlier, he had sealed Wang Ba before he got intimate with them so that the latter was kept unaware of what was happening outside.
Wang Ba was pissed off, to say the least.
“Do you want to have another taste of being sealed?” Duan Ling Tian threatened calmly.
Wang Ba fell silent upon hearing the threat. He had to obey him since he was living under his roof.
Although he was a Saint Stage powerhouse back in Dao Martial Saint Land in his heydays, he was just an insignificant remnant of a soul now.
“I released you to ask you… Are the Saint Stones produced in Dao Martial Saint Land the same as this one here?” Duan Ling Tian asked Wang Ba while taking out a Saint Stone which he had obtained from the Hidden Fog Island.
“Not necessarily,” Wang Ba replied coldly. Although he was unwilling to respond to him, he did not dare to do so as did not want to be sealed again.
“Not necessarily?” Duan Ling Tian frowned.
“The Saint Stone in your hand is just a Prominent Saint Stone that’s usually produced from a Prominent Saint Stone Reserve… Of course, there’ll be Saint Stones like this found in a supreme grade Origin Stone reserve occasionally,” Wang Ba explained.
“A Prominent Saint Stone? This is just a Prominent Saint Stone?” Duan Ling Tian inhaled sharply.
Never had he thought that the Saint Stone that provided an accelerated boost to a Martial Emperor powerhouse’s cultivation base would just be a Prominent Saint Stone.
If a Prominent Saint Stone already contained such a terrifying amount of Heaven and Earth Origin Energy, then what about a Mediocre Saint Stone?
Would that not mean that the Heaven and Earth Origin Energy it contained was even more terrifying?
Hearing that his Saint Stones were merely Prominent Saint Stones, Duan Ling Tian felt like collapsing.
At that very moment, he deeply felt how insignificant he was in Dao Martial Saint Land. He was so trivial that he felt like suffocating.
Time crept by. Soon, ten days had passed since the Hidden Fog Martial Competition came to an end.
Today was the day for the top thirty participants of the Hidden Fog Martial Competition to receive their prize. It was the day that was set by the Third Island Master of the Hidden Fog Island, Fang Wen.
The venue was the same as where the Hidden Fog Martial Competition was held which was above the peaceful and endless ocean.
Fang Wen was waiting there since the wee hours of the morning.
Two persons followed behind him like his shadows. They were his grandson and his direct disciple, Leng Yun.
While Duan Ling Tian and the rest were late, the other participants were already there.
There was a young lady in daffodil yellow and three little fellows by Duan Ling Tian’s side. The four of them were new to most of the people. A few days ago, Duan Ling Tian had introduced them to Martial Emperor Ling Xuan Yang Hui, and they were now considered united with Ling Xuan Peak. They did not seem awkward with the team.
Soon, somebody noticed that Martial Emperor Lei Ming and Zhou Yi were not present. “Where’s Martial Emperor Lei Ming? His Martial Emperor’s direct disciple doesn’t seem to be here as well.”
Apart from that one person, the nine people from Thundercloud Peak including Lan Bi could not stop glancing around with anticipation and anxiety in their eyes.
They had just found out that day that Martial Emperor Lei Ming and Zhou Yi had left silently.
They thought that Martial Emperor Lei Ming and Zhou Yi would be there earlier, but upon their arrival, they realized their absence and they could not help to be a little concerned.
Martial Emperor Lei Ming and Zhou Yi were still missing when the Third Island Master of the Hidden Fog Island, Fang Wen, spoke.
The people from Thundercloud Peak had a bad omen rising in their stomachs.
One of them had a gleam sparkling in his eyes. He seemed to be able to see through the sky as his eyes landed on a purple silhouette far away. “Could he… not only have killed Zhou Yi, but also Master Martial Emperor?” He shuddered as he thought about it.
Martial Emperor Lei Ming was on the Fifth Level Martial Emperor Stage and ranked in the top three among the Martial Emperor powerhouses on the Cloud Continent.
Did he die just like that?
He could not really believe it.
He began to console himself, “Maybe Master Martial Emperor left at the last minute to handle something.”
He did not really believe that the young man in purple had the ability to kill Martial Emperor Lei Ming.
“If his ability surpassed Master Martial Emperor’s, why would he spend so many Origin Stones to get me to bait Zhou Yi back then?” He calmed down as he thought of this point.
The absence of Martial Emperor Lei Ming and Zhou Yi only affected the people from Thundercloud Peak while the rest remained indifferent.
Soon, Fang Wen began to give out the prizes for the top thirty participants of the Hidden Fog Martial Competition.
Zhou Yi was absent from the prize presentation, but Fang Wen could not be bothered.
He might have had concerns if it were someone who was at the top ten of Hidden Fog Martial Competition. Otherwise, they were not worthy of his time.
“What’s that?” Yang Hui’s eyes lit up as he asked curiously when Duan Ling Tian returned to the Ling Xuan Peak group after receiving his prize.
“Just many supreme grade Origin Stones and quite an amount of grade one medicinal pills and grade one spirit weapons,” Duan Ling Tian nonchalantly said to Yang Hui.
Neither he nor the others found these items attractive.
“Everyone, now, it’s time that I tell you the purpose of the Hidden Fog Island having this Hidden Fog Martial Competition!” Suddenly, Fang Wen’s voice reverberated loudly, catching everyone’s attention.
“Here it is…” Duan Ling Tian knew that Fang Wen was getting down to business.
Both he and the Hidden Fog Island disciples would not believe that the Hidden Fog Island had spent a bomb to host the competition for nothing.
Han Xue Nai, who stood next to Duan Ling Tian, had her eyes trained keenly on Fang Wen as well.
Everyone else looked at him with full attention.
“The Hidden Fog Martial Competition this time’s indeed a little fishy… I heard that the Hidden Fog Island has never had such a martial competition before this,” a Martial Emperor’s direct disciple from the Cloud Continent said softly.
“That’s right. I’m guessing the Hidden Fog Island’s up to something. It seems like it now anyway.”
“I wonder what the Hidden Fog Island’s trying to do.”
“No matter what it is, I suppose all of us who are in the top thirty of the Hidden Fog Martial Competition have completely fallen for their scheme now.”
…
The onlookers whispered among themselves while many of them showed concern on their faces. They were worried that the Hidden Fog Island might get them to do something risky. Some of them were even thinking about how to get out of this dilemma.
“Everyone knows that there are four Overseas Saint Islands including our Hidden Fog Island,” Fang Wen proceeded, “Among the Four Great Overseas Saint Islands, apart from our Hidden Fog Island, there are another two Overseas Saint Islands that are close to each of the other two Mortal Continents.”
“Meanwhile, the last Overseas Saint Island is located right in the middle of the other three Overseas Saint Islands,” Fang Wen said.
“Close to each of the other two Mortal Continents?”
“Mortal Continents? What’s that?”
…
It was the first time many of them were hearing the term ‘Mortal Continent’. All of them looked lost.
“For instance, the Overseas Saint Island such as our Hidden Fog Island is close to the Cloud Continent, which is one of the Three Great Mortal Continents,” Fang Wen explained.
Soon, a Martial Emperor powerhouse from the Cloud Continent voiced his doubts, “Three Great Mortal Continents? Third Island Master, from what you said… There are another two continents that are like our Cloud Continent in this world?”
“If you’re referring to continents alone, there are more than two… But if you’re talking about the Mortal Continent, there are only two of them excluding the Cloud Continent,” Fang Wen confirmed.
‘What?!” This was a shocking revelation to most of them from the Cloud Continent. It was their first time hearing that there were another two continents that were similar to their hometown, the Cloud Continent.
“The Cloud Continent’s surrounded by the ocean which is boundless… We’ve no idea exactly what’s on the other side of the ocean.”
“Perhaps there really are continents similar to our Cloud Continent far away on the other side of the ocean.”
“If there really are… I wonder if the people there are the same as those on our Cloud Continent which advocates Martial Dao and where powerhouses rule.”
Slowly, more and more people believed what Fang Wen said.
“There are differences compared to your Cloud Continent… In your Cloud Continent, no matter human or Demon Beasts, all of them advocate Martial Dao. All of you are called Martial Cultivators.
“Thus, the Cloud Continent is ruled by a bunch of Martial Cultivators,” Fang Wen continued, “Meanwhile, it’s a different story for the other two Mortal Continents that are similar to the Cloud Continent. From what I know, one of the Mortal Continents is ruled by a bunch of Dao Cultivators who fight with Heaven and Earth Energy.”
“Dao Cultivators?” The people went into confusion.
“What’s a Dao Cultivator?”
Duan Ling Tian was the only one who looked calm. He was not surprised by that as he knew about the existence of Dao Cultivators much earlier on.
“The other two Mortal Continents that the Third Island Master is talking about… It should be the two Mortal Continents that Sword Saint Feng Qing Yang mentioned. One of the two Mortal Continents is ruled by Dao Cultivators while the other is ruled by both Martial Cultivators and Dao Cultivators,” he thought to himself.