“Wait a minute!” Suddenly, Duan Ling Tian’s mind was hit by a pang of realization and instantly he called out towards the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda, “Elder Huo, didn’t you say that as an eminent Celestial Supreme Treasure, the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda has a forbidding energy? If I enter it and shrink myself so that I can hide in it, it won’t topple, will it? And if it doesn’t, I won’t be thrown out too.” In the span of a heartbeat, Duan Ling Tian suddenly remembered this.
“Before the fourth level of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda is fixed, the space inside won’t even vibrate in the least when the wind blows past,” explained Elder Huo upon hearing Duan Ling Tian’s query, “Other than me, any other living thing inside will then be tossed out by that time, and that includes you, the owner of the pagoda.”
The moment Duan Ling Tian heart Elder Huo’s reply, his delighted heart sank once again.
He knew he had been overthinking.
“I wonder where I am right now. Right now, Xue Nai must still be looking for me all over the place.” Duan Ling Tian soared up into the sky and left the little island below. Hovering in the air, he kept looking at his surroundings.
The scene that entered his sight was a vast ocean that stretched out as far as his eyes could see. He could not make out his direction at all.
“How lucky would I be if I had the Earth compass from my past life with me! Even if the sun here were the same as the one on Earth from my past life, I’d be able to determine the direction too. But, the thing is, there’s more than one sun here. Right now during this season, there are two other suns that rise up from different directions,” he sighed before asking Elder Huo for help, but he had no solution as well.
For a moment, he could only go around to search.
“This direction it is then.” After Duan Ling Tian had identified one direction, he quickly flew out, but even after he had traveled for an entire month at full speed, he still could not see any land at all, not even a slightly bigger island.
Not only that, but he also met many ruthless, boorish beasts. There were a few times that he even almost lost his life.
At that moment, Duan Ling Tian was flying across the sky above the ocean, not daring to go closer to the ocean in fear that he would attract trouble that might cost him his life. This made Duan Ling Tian very frustrated.
“With my strength, I’m already considered prominent in the Cloud Continent and even on the Overseas Saint Islands, but now that I’m here, I’m merely an ordinary being. If I guess correctly, I must be near Dao Martial Saint Land already now.” After taking a deep breath, Duan Ling Tian pondered to himself.
“Besides that, it’s apparent that the gravitational pull here is much powerful than that of the Cloud Continent and the Overseas Saint Islands. According to Xue Nai, the gravitational pull in Dao Martial Saint Land is far from being comparable to the Cloud Continent and the Overseas Saint Islands. For instance, now, I can only fly this high at the max. If I were in the Cloud Continent or the Overseas Saint Islands, I could fly twice the height I’m flying at right now.” Shaking his head in despair, Duan Ling Tian continued to fly forward.
He had already lost his direction and the only thing that he could do now was to continue his journey all the way forward.
“There’s an island in front!” After another two weeks, Duan Ling Tian’s eyes lit up right away when he finally saw an island. It was a small, solitary island on the boundless sea.
After checking the surroundings for a moment to make sure that it was safe, he descended and landed on the small island.
The small island was deserted and there was no sign of life at all.
With a skip in his heartbeat, Duan Ling Tian thought to himself, “I think I’ll just cultivate right here to Mortal Shedding Stage before I leave. Otherwise, given my strength now, I might just die like this in this boundless sea.”
If he really died in this boundless sea and did not even step foot on Dao Martial Saint Land, it would be the greatest joke in the world.
After finding a secluded area, Duan Ling Tian smashed a cavern open by himself and stayed inside to cultivate.
The cavern was calm and was battered neither by the winds nor the rain. The only downfall was that it was slightly dark.
Soon, the cavern was lit up by the Luminous Pearl that Duan Ling Tian took out as though it was daylight inside. At the same time, he took out the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda too.
Settling the tiny Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda in a corner of the cavern, he entered the first level of the pagoda.
“Elder Huo.” After he had entered, he immediately saw Elder Huo whose eyes were closed as he attained mental composure not far away.
“Yes.” Upon hearing him, Elder Huo opened his eyes and nodded.
“Elder Huo… W-Why don’t you go to the second level? Doesn’t the second level have a better cultivation environment?” Perplexed, Duan Ling Tian asked.
“I’ve always been here on the first level, so I’m used to it already,” Elder Huo replied.
The Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda had seven treasures, each of which was located on each level.
This level was his territory.
Duan Ling Tian nodded and without saying a further word, he climbed up to the second level of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda by himself. The moment he arrived on the second level, he noticed that there was a new wooden house in the courtyard with a pool.
Needless to ponder further, he suspected that this was built by Elder Huo.
Smiling, Duan Ling Tian entered the wooden house and sat on the long, narrow, low bed before he started to cultivate.
The Divine Dragon Form of the Nine Dragons War Sovereign Technique!
At once, the vast Origin Energy in Duan Ling Tian’s body started to operate based on the last Divine Dragon Form of the Nine Dragons War Sovereign Technique. On top of this, he also tried to merge his Fused Profundity with it.
According to Xue Nai, this would help him to break through to the Mortal Shedding Stage.
Time continued to pass by quietly. After an infinite amount of time, he forgot about time in the midst of his cultivation.
However, soon, his heart started to become agitated as he realized that from the beginning, he still showed no sign of making a breakthrough to the Mortal Shedding Stage at all. The Origin Energy in his body still repelled the Fused Profundity.
Of course, it did not repel as much as last time anymore.
Opening his eyes and waking up from his cultivation, he took a deep breath. “No matter what, there’s still some progress compared to the last time.”
This time, Duan Ling Tian calmed down and continued to cultivate.
Time zipped by and a year went by very quickly. Of course, a year there referred to the time that had passed outside and not inside the second level of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda.
It had been three years inside the second level of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda.
After a year, Half Moon Island still remained tranquil.
In the middle of Half Moon Island, inside the spacious base of the Ling Tian Sect, two beautiful women were sitting in front of a stone table in the huge courtyard of a commodious mansion.
“Ke’er, what kind of freak baby are we carrying? It’s already been one year and we only have such a tiny bump!” One of the girls who looked seductively enchanting asked the other girl who seemed like a beautiful daughter of a humble family. Her hand was rubbing her belly tenderly.
Looking at them, nobody would have known that they were pregnant at all.
“Young Master must’ve known that we aren’t giving birth so soon. Otherwise, he’d have already been back by now.” The graceful woman stroked her belly and smiled too.
“It must be so. Still, how I wish he had never known about this in the first place. Then, we might be able to see him earlier. It has now already been a whole one year ever since he left and I really miss him a lot.” The seductive woman was none other than Li Fei, one of Duan Ling Tian’s two fiancées.
The other girl’s identity was apparent too. She was Ke’er.
“Sister Ke’er, Sister Fei’er.” A songbird-like voice echoed and in just the blink of an eye, a white figure appeared in front of the two girls. It was a little girl who was fair and delicate-looking dressed in white.
“Little White, why don’t you go and play with Little Gold and Little Black?” Upon seeing the little girl, Li Fei smiled as she asked.
“It’s not fun at all being with them. I still prefer to accompany you two and my two little nephews for a chat!” The little girl was none other than Little White, the white python.
“Little White, you always take on this form… By the time your two nephews are born and have grown up, I’m afraid they’ll be unwilling to call you ‘Aunty’!” Studying Little White from top to bottom, Ke’er chuckled.
“It’s alright. By the time I’ve made more progress and broken through to the Mortal Shedding Stage, I can transform for the second time. When that time comes, I want to become a beauty just like you, Sister Ke’er and Sister Fei’er,” Little Bai answered indifferently.
“Speaking of the Mortal Shedding Stage, is it really that hard to achieve?” Li Fei asked.
“Very.” Little Bai nodded her head in affirmation. “Even in Dao Martial Saint Land, the Mortal Shedding Stage is a bumpy journey. If I want to make a breakthrough, it’ll take me at least one to two years. However, I’m in no rush at all. If possible, I wish I’ll only make a breakthrough after eight to ten year. In that case, my foundation will be much stronger and by the time I make a breakthrough to the Mortal Shedding Stage, I can then open more Saint Veins,” Little White explained.
“And we’re still very far away from that stage…” Li Fei sighed emotionally.
“Little Bai, when do you think our children with Young Master will be born?” Ke’er asked.
“Sister Ke’er, you and Sister Fei’er conceived after you broke through to the Martial Emperor Stage. By that time, Brother was already at the peak of the Martial Emperor Stage.” After pondering a while, Little Bai continued, “The children born out of your unification will need to wait at least three to five years at the most before they are born, not taking in the possibility of premature delivery.”
“I hope Scoundrel will be back in time,” Li Fei whispered, her ultimately charming face filled with longing.
“Young Master will definitely come back in time,” Ke’er piped up confidently. She had utter blind faith that Duan Ling Tian would definitely return before her child was born to accompany her and to welcome the new life to this world.
Stroking the slight bump of her belly, Ke’er’s face was filled with a joyful smile.
At the north of Half Moon Island, in the middle of the sea.
Three figures that came from three different directions quickly gathered together.
“You still can’t find him?” The teenage girl who was dressed in yellow was worn out by her journey. Her face appeared to be much more mature now and she looked exhausted.
“Young Miss, it’s already been a year. If we could find him, we would’ve come across him long ago,” one of the two heavyset middle-aged men sighed.
“That’s right, Young Miss,” The other man nodded along as well. When he looked at the teenage girl in yellow, he appeared to be slightly careful.
“Brother Ling Tian must still be alive! He has to be!” The teenage girl was none other than Han Xue Nai.
Ever since Duan Ling Tian had gone missing a year ago, she had brought two men with her to search for a trace of him without restraint. Yet, a year had gone by and there was still no sign of him at all.