In cottage No.12 on the high platform at the Latent Dragon Camp, Duan Ling Tian leisurely lay in bed.
It was rare that he did not enter the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda to cultivate.
Compared to the dilapidated cottages near the manure pit beneath the high platform, the cottage Duan Ling Tian was in was like a paradise on earth…
That was one of the benefits of being part of the Thirteen Gangsters!
Moreover, Duan Ling Tian also learned that even the lowest ranking person in the Thirteen Gangsters would receive 100 eighth-grade Saint Stones every month.
Since he ranked twelfth, he would receive 200 eighth-grade Saint Stones. Those who ranked in front of him would receive more Saint Stones.
The first among the Thirteen Gangsters would receive 1,300 eighth-grade Saint Stones… It was equivalent to 130 seventh-grade Saint Stones.
“130 seventh-grade Saint Stones are equivalent to 13 sixth-grade Saint Stones… All that in just one month.” Duan Ling Tian stuck his tongue out. “However, the first among the Thirteen Gangsters is not only at the Mastery Mortal Shedding Stage, but he’s also the strongest among all five of the Martial and Dao Cultivators at the Mastery Mortal Shedding Stage in the Latent Dragon Camp.”
‘With my current strength, I can’t even win against ordinary people at the Mastery Mortal Shedding Stage, let alone the strongest person among the Thirteen Gangsters…’ Duan Ling Tian really felt he was weak when he thought about this.
He had been in the Latent Dragon Camp of the City Governor’s Estate of Mound Hill City for a few days now. During these few days, he had gained a certain understanding of Latent Dragon Camp.
Latent Dragon Camp was established by the City Governor of Mound Hill City. It was dedicated to recruiting and grooming young prodigies from the surrounding areas of Mound Hill City.
This round’s recruitment of young prodigies began half a year ago.
There was an age restriction for the young prodigies recruited by the City Governor’s Estate of Mound Hill City. Only Martial Cultivators and Dao Cultivators under forty years old were allowed to enter the Latent Dragon Camp.
The Latent Dragon Camp was also the reserve for the 36 Guardians under City Governor of Mound Hill City.
At the surrounding areas of Mound Hill City, there was almost no one who did not know about the 36 Guardians. They were the best of the best under the City Governor of Mound Hill City.
The weakest among them were also at the Perfection Mortal Shedding Stage.
It was said that the stronger ones were at the Paramount Stage. In fact, there were also a few who had entered the Saint Rudiment Stage.
Naturally, those were the rumors that Duan Ling Tian heard.
“However, Senior Lin is one of the 36 Guardians… That’s surprising.” Duan Ling Tian also learned that Lin Qing Rong was one of the 36 Guardians. He was ranked No.9, and he was known as the Heavenly Hero Guardian. “It’s said that the top ten guardians among the 36 Guardians will become Revered Elders of the City Governor’s Estate in a few years’ time.”
“At that time, there’ll only be 26 guardians left… The remaining ten guardians will be selected from the Latent Dragon Camp.” During these few days, Duan Ling Tian kept his ears open for information regarding the Latent Dragon Camp.
Naturally, he did not go snooping around.
It was very lively under the high platform. All he needed to do was crack open the door of his cottage to hear the noises coming from outside… Everything he heard was said by other members of the Latent Dragon Camp.
“Now, I can be considered as having settled down in the Dao Martial Saint Land,” Duan Ling Tian narrowed his eyes as he muttered, “I wonder how the girls are doing… And then there’s Xue Nai. She should’ve stopped looking for me right?”
Duan Ling Tian understood Han Xue Nai very well. She would not notify Half Moon Island of his disappearance before she found him because she was afraid his two fiancees and the three little fellows would worry.
Due to this reason, Duan Ling Tian did not have any plan of returning for now. Naturally, there was another reason as well. He was afraid! That’s right, he was afraid!
When he came, he encountered many life-or-death situations because he lost his way. It made him realize the strength and horror of the wild beasts in the vast ocean and made him realize how valuable life was.
In the past, in order to become strong enough to protect himself, he went into closed-door cultivation on the second level of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda for three years and successfully opened up 15 Saint Veins and broke through to the Early Mortal Shedding Stage.
However, even with his cultivation base at the Early Mortal Shedding Stage, he was still almost killed by several Mastery Mortal Shedding Stage wild beasts.
Fortunately, Lin Qing Rong was there and had saved him. Therefore, he did not plan to return to Cloud Continent until he had sufficient strength to protect himself.
“Strength… I’m still too weak right now.” Duan Ling Tian sighed and stood up to close the door… At once, the noises outside sounded softer, it was almost negligible.
After closing the door, Duan Ling Tian retrieved the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda in the cottage.
With a thought, Duan Ling Tian entered the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda.
“Elder Huo, give me a reminder after two and a half months.” After greeting Elder Huo, Duan Ling Tian went up to the second level of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda.
Naturally, when Duan Ling Tian said two and a half months, he meant two and a half months inside the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda time.
Two and a half months inside the second level of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda were equivalent to nearly one month in the outside world.
At that time, it would be the day that members of the Latent Dragon Camp’s receive their Saint Stones.
He was rank No.12 among the Thirteen Gangsters so he would receive 200 eighth-grade Saint Stones.
Although 200 Saint Stones were nothing compared to the thousands of high-grade Saint Stones Xue Nai had given to him in the past, one had to know that even the smallest mosquito had meat.
After Duan Ling Tian arrived at the second level of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda, he was not in a hurry to cultivate. Instead, he began to study his current strength.
‘With my current strength and the Sun Shooting Bow, there shouldn’t be a lot of opponents that can beat me among the Martial and Dao Cultivators at the Intermediate Mortal Shedding Stage.’ A thought flashed in Duan Ling Tian’s mind.
Naturally, he did not dare to guarantee he could defeat all of the Martial and Dao Cultivators at the Intermediate Mortal Shedding Stage.
He would not be a match for them if they were at the Intermediate Mortal Shedding Stage and had cultivated the Saint Grade Martial Tactic or Dao Method to an extremely high stage.
“Compared to other Martial or Dao Cultivators at the Intermediate Mortal Shedding Stage, my current advantage, apart from having a body stronger than the Five-Clawed Divine Dragon, is the Sun Shooting Bow… Although I can’t fully utilize the strength of the Sun Shooting Bow with my current strength, it is still far ahead compared to Human Rank Mediocre Saint Weapons wielded by those at the Intermediate Mortal Shedding Stage.”
A few days ago, Duan Ling Tian had seen Guo Li, Hou Lin, and Li Han use their Human Rank Mediocre Saint Weapons… That was why he was so certain about this matter.
‘As for the advantages from my Saint Veins… It’ll only be obvious among Martial Cultivators and Dao Cultivators at the same level as I am,’ Duan Ling Tian thought to himself.
After all, he only opened up his Saint Veins when he became a Martial Cultivator at the Mortal Shedding Stage.
“However, the True Energy in my Qi Sea is limited. If I can break through to the Intermediate Mortal Shedding Stage… I’m confident that even without my physical strength or the Sun Shooting Bow, I can easily defeat Martial and Dao Cultivators at the Intermediate Mortal Shedding Stage even if they unleash their full strength!” Duan Ling Tian was very confident about this.
At that time, the number of Saint Veins in his body would be beyond comparison to other Martial and Dao Cultivators at the Intermediate Mortal Shedding Stage.
If he went against a Martial or Dao Cultivator at the same level, his True Energy would have been used by his ridiculous number of Saint Veins before his opponent could even utilize the True Energy in their Qi Sea.
As long as he made the first move, his opponent would be defeated before they can even utilize their True Energy.
‘Intermediate Mortal Shedding Stage… I don’t know how long it’ll take me to break through to that stage.” Duan Ling Tian’s heart was filled with anxiety as he prepared to cultivate.
He retrieved the Saint Stones Han Xue Nai had given to him. They were fifth-grade Saint Stones… It was his first time cultivating with the Saint Stones given to him by Han Xue Nai.
Previously, when he broke through from the peak of the Martial Emperor Stage to the Early Mortal Shedding Stage, he had been using ninth-grade Saint Stones to cultivate during that three years… During that time, he had almost depleted all his ninth-grade Saint Stones.
Those ninth-grade Saint Stones were the leftovers from Half Moon Island.
Duan Ling Tian did not want to waste them so he had decided to use the low-grade Saint Stones in his hands first.
He had used up the ninth-grade Saint Stones to break through to the Early Mortal Shedding Stage.
Currently, he only had the high-grade Saint Stones given to him by Han Xue Nai for cultivation.
Among the thousands of Saint Stones given by Han Xue Nai to him, 90% of them were fifth-grade Saint Stones, and 10% were fourth-grade Saint Stones.
Nine Dragons War Sovereign Technique, Nine Dragons Form!
Duan Ling Tian closed his eyes as he held a fifth-grade Saint Stone.
At the same time, he began to absorb the Heaven and Earth Spirit Energy in the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda’s second level to cultivate.
Although the Heaven and Earth Spirit Energy at the City Governor’s Estate of Mound Hill City was very dense, it was only comparable to the Heaven and Earth Spirit Energy at the first level of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda.
The Heaven and Earth Spirit Energy at the second level of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda was far denser than the Heaven and Earth Spirit Energy at the City Governor’s Estate of Mound Hill City.
While absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spirit Energy at the second level of the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda, he was also absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spirit Energy from the fifth-grade Saint Stone… After he circulated a great Qi circulatory cycle, Duan Ling Tian opened both his eyes suddenly.
“The speed of cultivation by absorbing a fifth-grade Saint Stone isn’t much faster than absorbing a ninth-grade Saint Stone… However, the Heaven and Earth Spirit Energy contained in it is indeed much more than a ninth-grade Saint Stone.” Duan Ling Tian looked at the fifth-grade Saint Stone in his hands. He could see the substantial amount of Heaven and Earth Spirit Energy that was flowing from the fifth-grade Saint Stone into his body.
“According to what Xue Nai said, a fifth-grade Saint Stone will last longer than a ninth-grade Saint Stone… With my current cultivation speed, I’ll deplete a ninth-grade Saint Stone in just a day.” Naturally, this was also because of Duan Ling Tian’s ridiculously fast cultivation speed.
Duan Ling Tian had 15 Saint Veins to absorb the Heaven and Earth Spirit Energy for cultivation. His cultivation speed had even surpassed most of the Martial Cultivators at the Intermediate Mortal Shedding Stage.
After all, the factor that affected the absorption rate of the Heaven and Earth Spirit Energy was the number of Saint Veins.
Due to that reason, one’s cultivation speed would be faster the more Saint Veins one had.
If an ordinary Martial or Dao Cultivator at the Early Stage of the Mortal Shedding Stage were to compare their cultivation speed with Duan Ling Tian, they would definitely feel like dying.
“Normally, a Martial or Dao Cultivator at the Early Mortal Shedding Stage has to cultivate a few days before they’ll deplete a ninth-grade Saint Stone.”
“Throughout the cultivation process, if they keep changing Saint Stones, it’ll affect their cultivation speed to a certain extent… Hence, it’s best to use high-grade Saint Stones when cultivating if it’s possible so they don’t have to change it so often.” Duan Ling Tian discovered one of the benefits of a high-grade Saint Stone.