Chapter 3345: Escape
Duan Ling Tian had known Little Black and Little White since he was a teenager. At that time, they were merely two little pythons that were rather unique. The two little pythons began to cultivate, and after some time had pa.s.sed, they gained their human forms. Similarly, he had also met Little Gold when he was a teenager. The trio suddenly disappeared when they were in the mundane realm’s Beyond Heaven Secret Zone, and he had never seen them again. Whenever he thought about the trio, he would wonder what happened to them and if something untoward had happened to them. When he thought about something bad happening to them, he did not dare to continue down that line of thoughts.
“Brother Ling Tian!”
As soon as Duan Ling Tian separated himself from Little Black, a golden figure dashed into his arms.
Duan Ling Tian chuckled. “Little Gold, you’re all grown up now…” He could sense Little Gold’s turbulent emotions as he watched tears stream down her face due to happiness. He hurriedly patted her back and said softly to console her, “Silly girl, don’t cry. Isn’t it a good thing we’re reunited?”
At this moment, the graceful and quiet white-clad young woman frowned slightly when she saw the golden-clad young woman had no intention of letting Duan Ling Tian go after hugging him for so long. She grumbled in a soft voice, “Little Gold, you’ve hugged Brother Ling Tian long enough…”
“Why? Do you want to hug Brother Ling Tian as well? I’m not letting go. You won’t have a chance to hug him!” Little Gold smiled mischievously when she heard Little White’s words. She pulled her face and tightened her hold around Duan Ling Tian.
Little White scoffed before she stepped forward to push Little Gold away. She hugged Duan Ling Tian’s arm and leaned against his chest as tears streamed down her face as well as she said, “Brother Ling Tian, Little White misses you terribly! We finally found you…”
Meanwhile, Ji Ning Yun, the elegant woman and the Fourth Elder of the dragon clan, who was standing nearby watched the reunion in fascination. This was her first time seeing this side of Little White. All this time, Little White had always appeared cheerful and independent in front of her. Little White hardly ever revealed her emotions, let alone cry. The same went for the aloof Little Black and mischievous Little Gold. She thought to herself, ‘This is why Little Black and Little White insisted on using the surname Duan and refused to use the surname Ji like everyone in the clan…”
Needless to say, at this time, Ji Ning Yun knew the purple-clad young man in front of her whom the three little ones were so attached to was none other than Duan Ling Tian.
At this time, Ji Yu Nian, the Grand Elder of the dragon clan, said to Ji Ning Yun, “Yun’er, bring them away. I’ll stay here and wait for the Heavenly Emperor of the Boundless Heaven. I haven’t seen him in many years; this is a good opportunity to catch up with an old friend. I’ll look for you once I’m done here…”
“Alright,” Ji Ning Yun replied. Then, she turned to the three little ones and Duan Ling Tian before she said, “You should continue your conversation somewhere else. Leave the Heavenly Emperor of the Boundless to the old man…”
As soon as Ji Ning Yun finished speaking, a pure and white energy shot out like a beam of light in the dark and shrouded the three little ones and Duan Ling Tian.
“Let’s go!”
“Senior, can you please bring Senior Lian Qiu with us?” Duan Ling Tian asked respectfully as he looked at Lian Qiu who was hovering in the distance.
As soon as Duan Ling Tian finished speaking, Ji Ning Yun’s energy shot toward Lian Qiu.
“Thank you, senior,” Duan Ling Tian hurriedly thanked Ji Ning Yun. Before he left, he called out, “Brother Pei, all of you can leave now!”
Upon hearing these words, Pei Yuan Ji and the other t.i.tled Celestial Emperors who used to be imprisoned in the Thousand Chains Prison made their moves immediately.
The t.i.tled Celestial Emperors from the Heavenly Pool Palace could only watch helplessly as the prisoners left. They did not dare to stop the prisoners at all as they looked at the golden-clad middle-aged man standing nearby from the corners of their eyes with various expressions of fear and wariness.
Similarly, the Soaring Celestial Emperor and the Water Staff Celestial Emperor did not dare to make a move as well.
‘d.a.m.n it! Duan Ling Tian is going to escape!’ Lei Ying’s expression was incredibly unsightly at this moment. She did not expect Duan Ling Tian would be able to escape. When Ji Yu Nian was not looking, she glared at him with eyes that brimmed with hatred. Naturally, she could only lower her head when Ji Yu Nian turned to look at her. With Ji Yu Nian’s strength, it would be easy for him to kill her even if she was in peak condition, let alone when she was severely injured. She knew he could kill her with just a thought using his formidable s.p.a.ce energy. His comprehension of the law of s.p.a.ce was on par with the Heavenly Emperors who had comprehended the law of s.p.a.ce as well. Moreover, he could also revert to his true form, a Nine-clawed Divine Dragon, to increase his strength. All in all, his strength was on par with those weaker Heavenly Emperors.
In just a blink of an eye, Duan Ling Tian, Pei Yuan Ji, and the others disappeared from sight. No traces of them could be seen at all.
At the same time, You Feng Yu, the Palace Master of the Heavenly Pool Palace, had finally healed his injuries after 15 minutes. When he finally felt better, he looked at Ji Yu Nian with a grim expression on his face and asked in a low voice, “Elder Ji, so be it if you want to protect Duan Ling Tian, but why do you have to protect the others as well, especially Pei Yuan Ji, the Nirvanic Celestial Emperor? My grandfather personally captured Pei Yuan Ji and imprisoned him in the Thousand Chains Prison. Why would you intentionally make an enemy out of my grandfather?”
Ji Yu Nian glanced at You Feng Yu and replied indifferently, “I only appeared to save Duan Ling Tian, and I don’t care about the others. However, you can think what you like…”
The t.i.tled Celestial Emperors from the Heavenly Pool Palace were rendered speechless when they heard Ji Yu Nian said he had no intentions of protecting the others. Alas, 15 minutes had pa.s.sed; even if they gave chase now, it would be impossible to catch up to the other prisoners.
…
‘She’s the Fourth Elder of the dragon clan? The Converging Clouds Celestial Emperor?’
Although Duan Ling Tian had guessed Ji Ning Yun was also a t.i.tled Celestial Emperor based on her energy when she brought him and the others away, he did not expect she was also the Fourth Elder of the dragon clan.
The dragon clan in the Ten Thousand Beasts Heaven was also a heaven-grade force just like the Heavenly Pool Palace in the Boundless Heaven and the Heavenly Sword Mountain in the Solitary Destructive Heaven. Nevertheless, the dragon clan was much stronger than the Heavenly Pool Palace and the Heavenly Sword Mountain. In fact, the dragon clan was considered one of the top heaven-grade forces. Therefore, even weaker Heavenly Emperors would not provoke the dragon clan unnecessarily.
After all, there were more than a dozen t.i.tled Celestial Emperors in the dragon clan. Even their weakest t.i.tled Celestial Emperor was slightly stronger than or on par with the Heavenly Pool Palace’s Xu Lang, the Verdant Prairie Celestial Emperor. The t.i.tled Celestial Emperors in the dragon clan had an edge over other t.i.tled Celestial Emperors since they could revert to their true forms that would boost their strength.
Apart from that, there was a rumor that one of the Heavenly Emperors of the Devata Realm was from the dragon clan. Although he was no longer in the Ten Thousand Beasts Heaven, he would not stay idle if the dragon clan was threatened. He was known to be rather strong, and if one were to compare him to the Heavenly Emperor of the Boundless Heaven, his strength was somewhere in the upper-middle tier while the Heavenly Emperor of the Boundless Heaven’s strength was only ranked in the lower-middle tier.
At this moment, Little Gold asked curiously, “Brother Ling Tian, when we went to the Thousand Tribulations Sword Sect to look for you, we heard of a Sister Huan’er by your side. Where is she now?”
“She’s waiting for me in the Saint Province Realm,” Duan Ling Tian replied with a smile. Then, he added, “Senior Lian Qiu is Huan’er’s father…”
Following that, Duan Ling Tian looked at Lian Qiu and introduced him to the others. “Senior Lian Qiu, they’re my brother and sisters. I’ve known them since I was a teenager in the mundane realm…”
“h.e.l.lo.” Lian Qiu smiled amicably. Since his wife was a Phantom Fox, he was rather fond of Celestial Beasts.
After a while, Duan Ling Tian asked curiously, “Little Black,Little White,Little Gold, what happened to all of you when we were in the Saint Province Realm’s Beyond Heaven Secret Zone?” Duan Ling Tian asked curiously. After entering the Beyond Heaven Secret Zone, the trio disappeared mysteriously. He could not find them and did not hear from them until now.
“Brother Ling Tian, we were brought to the Ten Thousand Beasts Heaven at that time,” Little White replied.
Little Black and Little White were brought to the dragon clan while Little Gold was brought to Blood Moon Ridge. Then, she recounted everything that had happened since then.
After Little White recounted what had happened, Little Gold said with a wry smile on her face, “Brother Ling Tian, we thought we’d be much stronger than you now. As it turns out, we’re still weaker than you…”
Earlier, before Ji Yu Nian stepped forward, they had been observing the fight while they stayed hidden behind the clouds. Therefore, they saw Duan Ling Tian defeating one of the t.i.tled Celestial Emperors.
Due to the distance, Ji Yu Nian did not detect the Five Divine Elements’ presence when Duan Ling Tian borrowed their powers. Nevertheless, even if Ji Yu Nian were closer to him, Ji Yun Nian still might not be able to detect the Five Divine Elements’ presence since he was incredibly discreet when borrowing their powers. In any case, he did not have to use the Five Divine Elements’ power again since Ji Yu Nian stepped forward at the crucial moment.
Fear still lingered in Duan Ling Tian’s heart when he recalled that moment when he faced the Soaring Celestial Emperor, the Explosive Flame Celestial Emperor, and the Water Staff Celestial Emperor. ‘Fortunately, the Grand Elder showed up in time. Otherwise, to deal with all three t.i.tled Celestial Emperors, I’m afraid the existence of the Five Divine Elements would be exposed