During the journey, Duan Ling Tian learned a little more about Mound Hill City.
Mound Hill City was a big city located close to the ocean on the west of Dao Martial Saint Land that was ruled by a powerful sect. The areas at the border of the city were also ruled by them. Fuyu Town in Fuyu Island, Guo Li’s hometown, was one of the areas.
“Duan Ling Tian, is the Mortal Continent fun?” Guo Li excitedly asked Duan Ling Tian multiple questions about the Mortal Continent. Now that she learned Duan Ling Tian was the strongest in the Mortal Continent, she was keen to learn more about it.
“The Mortal Continent’s so much more fun compared to our Dao Martial Saint Land… I, for instance, have never left the border of Mound Hill City even though I’m already an adult,” Guo Li said sadly.
The Dao Martial Saint Land was a place filled with powerhouses. There were countless people at the Mortal Shedding Stage, and the number of people at the Saint Rudiment Stage was as many as dogs.
Therefore, people at the Mortal Shedding Stage did not dare to travel as they pleased. If they were unfortunate, they might be killed.
“Both are good in their own ways, I suppose,” Duan Ling Tian said while smiling, “I, for instance, have never seen someone who’s younger than me that has the same ability as me on Cloud Continent… You’re only 27, and you’re already a Martial Cultivator at the Intermediate Stage of the Mortal Shedding Stage. Something like that is unimaginable on Cloud Continent.”
“That’s because we have different cultivation environment… I heard there are no Saint Stones reserves in the Mortal Continent?” Guo Li asked.
“That’s right.” Duan Ling Tian nodded.
“That’s why… Do you know in our Fuyu Town alone, we have three Saint Stones reserves? Our Guo Clan owns one of them, the Ye Clan where Ye Man is from owns another one, and another clan owns the third one,” Guo Li said, “The three clans in our Fuyu Town are just ninth-rate forces.”
“Ninth-rate forces?” Duan Ling Tian was speechless when he heard that.
Such inferior forces owned Saint Stones reserves?
“Nobody came after your clan’s Saint Stones reserve?” Duan Ling Tian asked.
“There’s nothing to come after… The three Saint Stones reserves in our Fuyu Town are just ninth grade Saint Stone reserves… They usually only produce ninth grade Saint Stones. There might be eighth grade Saint Stones occasionally if we’re lucky,” Guo Li said.
Duan Ling Tian had heard of the different grades for Saint Stone from Xue Nai previously. There was a total of nine grades for Saint Stones. Ninth grade was the lowest, and naturally, first grade was the highest grade.
A first grade Saint Stone was equivalent to ten second-grade Saint Stones, a hundred third grade Saint Stones or 1,000 fourth grade Saint Stones…
The ninth grade Saint Stones were the lowest of them all.
The Saint Stones produced in the supreme grade Origin Stones reserves in the two Ancient Clans on Cloud Continent and the four Overseas Saint Islands were just ninth grade Saint Stones. However, the Saint Stones Xue Nai had given him were of a higher grade.
Gradually, Duan Ling Tian learned about the situation on the Dao Martial Saint Land from Guo Li.
Forces without any Paramount Mortal Shedding Stage guardians in the Dao Martial Saint Land were unrated forces…
The three clans in Fuyu Town where Guo Li was from had Paramount Mortal Shedding Stage guardians respectively. However, since there were no guardians at the Saint Rudiment Stage in the clans, they were only a ninth-rate force.
“There has never been a Saint Rudiment powerhouse in the three clans?” Duan Ling Tian asked skeptically.
“Hardly,” Guo Li said, “Don’t judge it just because Ye Man and I look as though we have the potential to break through to the Saint Rudiment Stage… It’s still uncertain if we can successfully break through to the Saint Rudiment Stage.”
“Other matters aside, all three clans in Fuyu Town don’t allow the existence of Saint Rudiment Stage powerhouses in the clans. I’m only 27, but the other two clans have attempted to murder me for at least a hundred times,” Guo Li said as she sighed, looking a little jaded, “The same goes for Ye Man as well.”
“Therefore, when I found out there’s a chance for me to join the City Governor’s Estate in Mound Hill City… Both Ye Man and I couldn’t wait to join. Unfortunately…” Duan Ling Tian knew Guo Li felt bad for Ye Man even though she did not finish her sentence.
In certain aspects, Guo Li and Ye Man were in a similar situation after all.
“Now that you’ve joined Mound Hill City, you should be able to successfully break through to the Saint Rudiment Stage,” Duan Ling Tian said with a smile.
However, Guo Li shook her head. “There are many talented people who have the potential to break through to the Saint Rudiment Stage in the Dao Martial Saint Land… However, it’s already considered not bad if one out of ten of them manage to successfully break through to the Saint Rudiment Stage.”
“Let’s not talk about those with the potential to break through to the Saint Rudiment Stage. Just the journey to break through to the Saint Rudiment Stage is filled with difficulties… The risk alone is enough to kill them,” Guo Li said sympathetically.
Duan Ling Tian’s heart sank when he heard this. At this moment, he realized how cruel the Dao Martial Saint Land was.
“To be able to survive in the Dao Martial Saint Land… You’ll need tough fists,” Lin Qing Rong said to Duan Ling Tian at this moment.
People with tough fists ruled!
Just like the saying, ‘The weak are the prey of the strong’, and ‘Survival of the fittest’… It applied in the Dao Martial Saint Land even more than the Mortal Continents.
“Elder Huo, do you have any Spiritual Secret Tactic to detect people’s age?” At this moment, Duan Ling Tian recalled the time when Ye Man had probed his age. He could not help but ask Elder Huo in the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda… In his opinion, Elder Huo must have such a Secret Tactic since he had lived for so many years.
“Spiritual Secret Tactic for detecting people’s age is just child’s play… If you want to learn, I’ll send you a high-level Secret Tactic now. This Secret Tactic will let you detect someone’s age without alerting them as long as their cultivation base is not higher than yours,” Elder Huo said.
“A Secret Tactic to detect someone’s age without alerting the other person as long as his or her cultivation base isn’t higher than mine?” Duan Ling Tian’s eyes lit up when he heard Elder Huo’s words. He seemed excited. “Elder Huo, send it to me right now.”
“This Secret Tactic I’m sending you is called Divine Eye… Its power will rise when the Saint Veins connected to your eyes are opened in the future.” Elder Huo imparted a great deal of knowledge about Divine Eye when he spoke.
Divine Eye was a type of Assistive Secret Tactic
Its main function was to detect people’s cultivation base and age.
It was easy to master this technique as long as one was able to release one’s Spiritual Energy.
After merely half an hour, Duan Ling Tian had mastered Divine Eye completely. Naturally, he wanted to put it to the test now that he had mastered it.
His first target was Guo Li.
Duan Ling Tian squinted as he looked at Guo Li. Spiritual Energy came out from his eyes silently and lingered around Guo Li quickly without touching her.
At this very moment, his eyes gleamed when he discovered there were lines on Guo Li’s body.
“Elder Huo… Why are there lines on her body?” Duan Ling Tian asked skeptically.
“There are growth rings in trees, the same applies to human… What you’re looking at right now are the growth rings for humans,” Elder Huo responded.
“Human growth rings?” Duan Ling Tian began to count the growth rings on Guo Li’s body when he heard that. Soon after, he discovered there were 27 rings on her body… She was indeed 27 years old.
‘That’s amazing!’ Duan Ling Tian could not help but exclaim inwardly. Guo Li was unaware of his action from the beginning until the end.
Subsequently, Duan Ling Tian probed Guo Li’s cultivation base.
The Second Level Mortal Shedding Stage!
‘I wonder if Senior Lin’s at the Saint Rudiment Stage… If he is, he’ll definitely find out if I try to probe him.’ Duan Ling Tian glanced at Lin Qing Rong as he struggled with his indecision.
‘Ahh, I don’t care!’ Eventually, Duan Ling Tian began to probe Lin Qing Rong since he could not curb his curiosity.
He began by probing Lin Qing Rong’s cultivation base.
‘The Paramount Stage of the Mortal Shedding Stage?’ Duan Ling Tian was relieved when he discovered Lin Qing Rong’s cultivation base. He was lucky Lin Qin Rong was not at the Saint Rudiment Stage, otherwise, his action would have been found out.
‘Senior Lin’s age…’ Subsequently, he began to check Lin Qing Rong’s age. ‘There’s a total of 58 circles… Senior Lin’s 58 years old this year.’ Soon after, Duan Ling Tian discovered Lin Qing Rong’s age as well.
“The Dao Martial Saint Land is just in front of us,” Lin Qing Rong suddenly said to them.
Duan Ling Tian looked ahead after hearing that. He saw a vast land behind the sea in the distance. “That’s the Dao Martial Saint Land?” Duan Ling Tian felt a little emotional when he realized he was going to step on the Dao Martial Saint Land soon.
“It’ll only take half an hour to get to Mound Hill City after arriving at the Dao Martial Saint Land,” Lin Qing Rong continued to say.
Duan Ling Tian nodded.
Soon after, the three of them arrived at the Dao Martial Saint Land… The vast land was located close to the ocean. It was rich with lush greeneries, and the air was fresh.
A tiny, black dot appeared before Duan Ling Tian’s eyes after half an hour.
“That’s Mound Hill City ahead of us.” Duan Ling Tian narrowed his eyes when he heard Guo Li’s words.
Meanwhile, the black dot in the distance did not stop growing in size. Soon after, the black dot transformed into a huge and majestic city.
The city was extremely big. At least it seemed big to Duan Ling Tian who had never seen such a big city on Cloud Continent before.
“Mound Hill City!” From afar, Mound Hill City seemed like a gigantic beast with its monstrous mouth opened. It looked as though the city was swallowing carriages and humans… It emitted an oppressive aura from afar.
“Hmm? Why’s no one flying into the city?” Duan Ling Tian noticed something soon after.
“There’s a Flight Prohibiting Formation covering the entire city above Mound Hill City. It’s a formation set up by a powerful Dao Cultivator… When the formation’s activated, Martial Cultivators and Dao Cultivators below the Saint Rudiment Stage won’t be able to fly within the city,” Lin Qing Rong explained to Duan Ling Tian patiently after hearing his question.
“I see.” Duan Ling Tian discovered something new again.
Soon after, the three of them arrived outside of Mound Hill City. Just when Duan Ling Tian was about to walk into the city, he saw Lin Qing Rong lifting his hand and bringing out a carriage. The four-wheeled carriage was similar to the ones Duan Ling Tian saw entering the city.