Chapter 3276: In the Prodigy Arena Again
Similar to Duan Ling Tian’s previous opponent, Huang Lu Nan, Fan Qi was also a Five Elements Celestial Lord. However, Huang Lu Nan was definitely no match for Fan Qi. Even if Huang Lu Nan could disregard the rule and directly challenge Fan Qi, it was likely that he would not do so.
“Duan Ling Tian challenged Fan Qi? Fan Qi is stronger than Senior Brother Lou Jian, and he’s also the top prodigious disciple in the 200-to-300-year-old age group. I’m sure that he has more than a few tricks up his sleeve.”
“Duan Ling Tian might not be able to defeat him!”
…
Meanwhile, no one knew whether it was to watch Duan Ling Tian getting beaten by Fan Qi or to see if Fan Qi had mastered any new techniques, Huang Lu Nan decided to leave his cultivation place and go to the Prodigy Arena to watch the battle.
‘Fortunately, teacher didn’t blame me when he returned injured a month ago…’ Fear rose in his heart when he thought about this. At that time, he had prepared himself to be punished.
…
At this time, many people from the Heavenly Pool Palace, like Huang Lu Nan, were making their way to the Prodigy Arena. Among these people, there were many prodigious disciples as well.
Previously, due to Duan Ling Tian’s unknown strength as a newcomer and Huang Lu Nan’s rank at the bottom of his age group, their battle did not pique the interest of the other prodigious disciples at all.
Similarly, Huan’er’s battle with the prodigious disciple in the 200-to-300-year-old age group who was ranked second to last did not attract much attention as well. Nevertheless, those who were present were shocked when Huan’er defeated her opponent with just one strike.
After two battles, the people in the Heavenly Pool Palace, naturally, paid more attention to Xu Lang and Lei Ying’s new students. The pair was both talented and well-matched.
…
In the Heavenly Pool Palace, every t.i.tled Celestial Emperor, including the Palace Master of the Heavenly Pool Palace, had prodigious disciples under them. For instance, the Verdant Prairie Celestial Emperor, Xu Lang, had seven prodigious disciples under him while the Merciless Celestial Emperor, Lei Ying, had five prodigious disciples under her.
Similarly, the Martial Dragon Celestial Emperor, Gu Chang Jiang, had six prodigious disciples under him before Duan Ling Tian killed one and kicked another one off the Prodigious Disciples Ranking.
“Fifth Junior Brother is truly useless. I can’t believe he was killed by someone who’s not even 300 years old.”
Apart from Huang Lu Nan, the other prodigious disciples under Gu Chang Jian were all stronger than Liu Jian. Moreover, two of the prodigious disciples were younger than Liu Jian; one of them was a little over 500 years old while the other was a little over 600 years old.
The one who had just spoken was Gu Chang Jian’s prodigious disciple who was in the 600-to-700-year-old age group like Liu Jian. He was a few decades younger than Liu Jian, but he was ranked third in his age group while Liu Jian was ranked second to last. Therefore, Liu Jian had to address him as Third Senior Brother when they met. He was Yu Yue, Gu Chang Jian’s third disciple. His appearance was that of a skinny young man, and he was dressed in fine robes. Although his features were ordinary, his gaze was piercing.
“Third Senior Brother, I think Fifth Junior Brother was just careless. Otherwise, with his strength, he wouldn’t have died even if Duan Ling Tian’s capable of defeating him.”
Apart from Huang Lu Nan who had gone to the Prodigy Arena, two of Gu Chang Jiang’s prodigious disciples had also gone to the Prodigy Arena. One of them was Yu Yue, and the other one was Gu Chang Jiang’s fourth disciple, Yuan Gang.
Yuan Gang was a little more than 500 years old, and he was ranked fourth in the 500-to-600-year-old age group. Although he was younger than Liu Jian, he was much stronger than Liu Jian.
Similar to Lei Ying, the seniority of Gu Chang Jiang’s prodigious disciples was decided based on their strength.
In fact, this was how all of the t.i.tled Celestial Emperors in the Heavenly Pool Palace, except for Xu Lang, decided the seniority of their prodigious disciples.
Since Xu Lang, the Verdant Prairie Celestial Emperor, decided the seniority of his prodigious disciples based on when they joined him, no one knew which of Xu Lang’s disciples were the strongest or the weakest.
…
As Duan Ling Tian and Huan’er prepared to leave their cultivation place and make their way to the Prodigy Arena, they saw Hong Fei, Duan Ling Tian’s Sixth Senior Brother, who had been waiting for them for quite a while.
Hong Fei was not alone; there were another two people standing next to him. One of them was Hu Mei, Duan Ling Tian’s Third Senior Sister, and Wen Wan’er, Duan Ling Tian’s Fourth Senior Sister.
Duan Ling Tian stepped forward and greeted his two senior sisters. “Third Senior Sister, Fourth Senior Sister.” After that, he turned to greet Hong Fei.
“Little Junior Brother, you’re not being fair. Why did you greet me last? Do you look down on your Sixth Senior Brother?” Hong Fei said dramatically.
“Fatty, your seniority is lower than both of us. Isn’t it natural that he greets you last? If you’re dissatisfied, you can challenge me or your Fourth Senior Sister. If you’re able to defeat any of us, I’ll address you as senior brother. What do you think about that?” Hu Mei’s blunt words successfully shut Hong Fei up.
Initially, when Duan Ling Tian first joined Xu Lang, Hong Fei had thought there was finally someone weaker than him in the group. When Duan Ling Tian killed Liu Jian a month ago, he finally realized even his Little Junior Brother was stronger than him. In the end, nothing had changed; he was still the weakest among the prodigious disciples under Xu Lang. Fortunately, their seniority was not decided based on strength. Otherwise, he would definitely be everyone’s Little Junior Brother now.
Wen Wan’er said with a faint smile on her face, “Sixth Junior Brother, you really have to work harder… Even Little Junior Brother is stronger than you. If you don’t work hard, who knows if you’ll get kicked off the Prodigious Disciples Ranking?”
“Fourth Senior Sister, even you are joining Third Senior Sister to bully me!” Hong Fei said as he sulked.
Wen Wan’er did not reply to Hong Fei. Instead, she looked at Huan’er and said with a smile, “Sister Huan’er, congratulations on becoming a prodigious disciple!”
“Thank you, Fourth Senior Sister,” Huan’er replied with a smile. She had a good impression of Duan Ling Tian’s Fourth Senior Sister. On the contrary, she completely ignored Hu Mei, Duan Ling Tian’s Third Senior Sister.
“What? Are you still mad at me, Sister Huan’er?” With Hu Mei’s personality, just because Huan’er ignored her, it did not mean she would do the same. She moved closer to Huan’er and said with a bright smile on her face, “Hey, I was just joking at that time! You’re taking it too seriously, silly girl! Although Little Junior Brother seems like a good man, I have no interest in stealing another person’s lover. So don’t worry; he’s all yours!” After she finished speaking, she laughed heartily.
While Hu Mei laughed, Hong Fei seemed transfixed by her alluring figure.
When Duan Ling Tian saw Hu Mei and Wen Wan’er, he had already guessed their intentions. Nevertheless, he still asked, “Third Senior Sister, Fourth Senior Sister, are you going to the Prodigy Arena as well?”
“That’s right.” Hu Mei nodded. “I really regret I wasn’t there to watch you kill Liu Jian a month ago. Now that you have another battle, how can I miss it? Moreover, your opponent this time is the top prodigious disciple in your age group.”
Wen Wan’er chimed in with a smile on her face, “Little Junior Brother, after listening to Sixth Junior Brother constantly praising you, I’d like to watch your battle to see how powerful you are as well.”
“Alright. Shall we go now?” Duan Ling Tian shook his head and smiled.
Following that, the five of them made their way to the Prodigy Arena.
…
During their journey to the Prodigy Arena, they saw many people making their way to the arena as well.
Since the arena was not located far away from the Heavenly Pool Palace’s estate, it only took a few moments before Duan Ling Tian and the others arrived at the arena.
Currently, the Prodigy Arena was already crowded. From afar, one could only see a sea of black heads.
Meanwhile, Elder Qin from the Sword Trial Pavilion had already arrived and was hovering in the center of the arena. It did not take long before his eyes found Duan Ling Tian and the others. He smiled faintly at Duan Ling Tian before he bowed at Huan’er.
…
As soon as Duan Ling Tian appeared in the Prodigy Arena, many of the Heavenly Pool Palace disciples discovered him. Almost everyone was staring at him at this moment.
“Duan Ling Tian is here!”
“It’s Duan Ling Tian!”
Upon seeing everyone’s attention on Duan Ling Tian, Hong Fei said, “Little Junior Brother, you’re getting a lot of attention… Today, you must defeat Fan Qi and make us proud!”
“Hey, don’t you know how to speak properly?” Hu Mei said as she glanced at Hong Fei, “You should tell Little Junior Brother to go easy on Fan Qi instead. Do you think there’d be another outcome apart from Little Junior Brother defeating Fan Qi?”
“N-no!” Hong Fei only smiled bitterly when he heard Hu Mei’s words. Inwardly, he could not help but grumble that he definitely could not compare with Hu Mei in regard to flattery. For this reason, even their First Senior Sister had a close relations.h.i.+p with Hu Mei; they were like sisters.
After a moment, Hong Fei’s keen eyes spotted Gu Chang Jiang’s disciple whom Duan Ling Tian defeated a month ago. “Who could’ve guessed Huang Lu Nan would come as well?”
“Hm?” After discovering Huang Lu Nan, Hong Fei saw another two of Gu Chang Jiang’s prodigious disciples. “Yu Yue? Yuan Gang? They’re here as well?”
“Why? Sixth Junior Brother, are you worried Yu Yue and Yuan Gang will cause trouble for our Little Junior Brother?” Hu Mei asked as she rolled her eyes. Then, without waiting for Hong Fei to reply, she knocked his head and continued to say, “Hey, do you think your Fourth Senior Sister and I are just for show?”
Indeed. With Hu Mei and Wen Wan’er’s strength, Hong Fei thought there was no need to be afraid of Yu Yue and Yuan Gang. Thus, he scratched his head and said sheepishly, “My bad, my bad… I forgot about both of you.”
“Hey, how could you forget we’re here? Are we invisible to you?” Hu Mei said as she raised her hand again to knock Hong Fei’s head.
Hong Fei shook his head vehemently. He really felt like crying at this moment.