Chapter 13
Duan Ling Tian’s eyes shone with a cold light as he flew upwards.
As Li Jie’s body was dropping down, his fists mercilessly struck Li Jie’s back exactly on his backbone….
Ka!
Kacha!!
Ear-piercing sounds of bones breaking sounded continuously.
Instantly, Li Jie was blasted up towards the sky once more. His head swung backwards and his shrill scream stopped abruptly, then he blacked out.
“Bang!”
Duan Ling Tian made use of the counterforce and firmly dropped to the ground.
He raised his right arm just in time to catch Li Jie’s falling body.
He looked like an undefeatable war god.
Heaving a sigh of relief, the corners of Duan Ling Tian’s mouth curled up slightly, turning into a warm smile.
He had finally won, and it was all thanks to the Paralyzation Inscription on his ring.
Paralyzation Inscription was the inscription that Duan Ling Tian prepared a month ago. Once released, it will cause the target to experience a split second of paralyzation, causing all the accumulated energy in the body to dissipate.
That was the reason why Li Jie had lost to Duan Ling Tian.
“This….”
All around the Martial Arts Practice Hall, every one of the Li family disciples were struck dumb. They all took a large amount of time to regain their senses.
They found the events that had unfolded before their eyes extremely hard to believe!
Noticing Seventh Elder flying over in rage, the corners of Duan Ling Tian’s mouth flashed with a cold smile.
Exerting force with his hand, he threw Li Jie towards Li Kun.
“Duan Ling Tian!”
Li Kun caught Li Jie. When he looked at Duan Ling Tian, his eyes were filled with killing intent.
Only when Li Rou arrived and stood beside Duan Ling Tian did he withdraw his gaze due to a slight sense of fear.
“Tian, are you alright?”
Li Rou took out her handkerchief and wiped the sweat off Duan Ling Tian’s forehead. Her face flashed with slight worry.
“Mom, I’m fine.”
Duan Ling Tian’s heart felt warm. He lightly smiled while he shook head.
He was fine, but someone else wasn’t….
“Grand Elder!”
Li Kun suddenly shouted with a voice full of grief. Holding Li Jie in his arms, he turned around and rushed toward the platform to meet the Li Family higher ups that were currently descending.
Among these higher ups, Sixth Elder Li Ping’s face was the ugliest while Fifth Elder on the hand had an expression of self-satisfaction.
Grand Elder Li Huo checked Li Jie’s injuries and his face slowly turned grim.
“Kid, Li Jie’s backbone is almost completely shattered. Even a Grade Seven Gold Injury Pill won’t save him. Don’t you think you were a tad bit too merciless? You have basically destroyed Li Jie’s life.”
Li Huo said heavily as he raised his head to look at the approaching Li Rou and her son. His gaze was fixed upon Duan Ling Tian.
Li Jie was the youth that the Li family had the highest hopes for amongst the Li family disciples.
But now he had come to a premature end. This was a great loss to the Li family.
“What?!”
After hearing what Grand Elder Li Huo had said, Li Kun’s face severely distorted and his body started shaking as if he had been struck by lightning.
He didn’t expect his son to be injured so severely by Duan Ling Tian….
Backbone almost completely shattered?
Even a Grade Seven Gold Injury Pill was unable to save him?
“I want you dead!”
Li Kun bellowed, then his figure flashed as he madly flew towards Duan Ling Tian and attacked with rage!
At the top of his head, four ancient mammoth silhouettes developed.
Li Rou, who was on guard against Li Kun, instantly had six ancient mammoth silhouettes develop above her head, forcing Li Kun back in a single exchange.
“Li Kun, if you try to attack my son again, I will kill you!”
Her voice was cold and indifferent; it was as if it were coming from the pits of hell.
“Li Rou!”
Li Kun’s face was green, but even though he was extremely furious, he did not doubt what Li Rou had said.
“Grand Elder, you must uphold justice for my son!”
Li Kun said to Grand Elder Li Huo in a miserable voice. There was a ‘pu tong” sound as he knelt on the ground heavily.
When his youngest son’s arm was crippled, his future looked worrisome.
In Li Kun’s heart, he had long ago put all his hopes onto his eldest son, Li Jie.
But now, Li Jie’s entire backbone was almost shattered and there was no hope of recovery. His whole life would be spent lying on a bed.
In this instant, Li Kun felt his eyes go black. The world seemed dark without any light; it was as if the world was falling down upon him!
“LI Kun, the family rules state than when the disciples of the family have a battle, besides not being allowed to take one’s life, there are no other limitations so that the disciples may go all out and fight to the best of their abilities. When martial artists battle, injury is unavoidable. Today it’s your son that is lying down there, but what if it was my son? Would you ask Grand Elder to hold your son accountable?”
Li Rou made a cold humph sound, grunting out of anger.
“Ninth Elder, you’re arguing irrationally. Your son Duan Ling Tian has already broken one of Li Jie’s arms, and he was bound to win. But instead of showing mercy, he continued attacking and crippled Li Jie….In my opinion, he did it on purpose, and this is against the spirit of unity and friendship between Li family disciples!”
Sixth elder Li Ping’s eyes shone with a cold light.
“Sixth Elder, what you’re saying is wrong. After Duan Ling Tian broke Li Jie’s arm, he could have admitted defeat. But instead, he didn’t admit defeat because he most probably thought that he still had a chance at victory; he thought that he still had a chance to defeat Duan Ling Tian….Furthermore, you should not forget that Duan Ling Tian is only at the third level of the Body Tempering stage. Even if he was going up against a one-armed fourth level Body Tempering stage opponent, it was still a dangerous affair, and as such he needed to continue attacking to prevent Li Jie from obtaining an opportunity to counterattack, because that would cause him to lose more than he would gain.”
Fifth Elder Li Ting said indifferently. Faced with an argument backed by facts, Li Ping’s face turned grim as he did not have a way to counter this argument.
“Enough. Stop arguing. In the afternoon, there will be a family emergency meeting to discuss the matter. What’s important now is to take Li Jie back to rest….Seventh Elder, take Li Jie back home.”
Patriarch Lin Nan Feng frowned.
“Yes, Patriarch!”
Li Kun slowly stood up and held Li jie in his arms. His face had a grim expression.
His eyes were radiating a shocking killing intent as he fiercely glanced at Duan Ling Tian before leaving.
Duan Ling Tian smiled indifferently. He made nothing of Li Kun’s glance.
Regarding what happened today, there was no guilt in his heart.
Not mentioning his previous life of walking through the battlefield as a mercenary, which made him accustomed to being cruel and cold blooded.
But just those merciless remarks that Li Jie had made towards him, if it was his previous life, Li Jie would’ve been dead by now. In his opinion, he had already shown mercy.
<If you want to let me lie on my bed for the rest of my life, then I will do the same to you!>
The Li family higher ups left the Martial Arts Practice Hall one after another.
But when these people left, their gazes towards Duan Ling Tian were hostile.
After all, in their opinion, Duan Ling Tian was not part of the main Li family as his surname was not Li.
On the other hand, Li Jie was the Li family’s genius martial artist, a future pillar of support for the Li family.
Regarding this incident, they were more or less biased against Duan Ling Tian.
The Li family disciples who surrounded the Martial Arts Practice Hall also dispersed.
What happened today caused them to feel shocked and speechless at the same time.
Li Jie, their Li family’s martial arts genius, the strongest fourth level Body Tempering stage martial artist in the Li family, actually lost to a third level Body Tempering stage disciple with another surname.
Ashamed, they were truly ashamed!
“I used to think that Li Jie was formidable, but I never expected him to be so weak!
“Duan Ling Tian is only at the third level of the Body Tempering stage and he could defeat Li Jie. Once he steps into level nine Body Tempering stage, will anyone under the Core Formation stage be a match for him?”
“I really wonder what fortuitous gain Duan Ling Tian had to be able to complete such a metamorphosis in a single month and amaze the world with a single brilliant feat!”
……
The topic of conversation between the Li family disciples quickly moved towards Duan Ling Tian.
The previously unknown Duan Ling Tian became the hot topic within the Li family for a time.
As the Li family disciples left one by one, there were only four people left in the enormous Martial Arts Practice Hall.
Duan Ling Tian, Li Rou, Ke Er, and Fifth Elder Li Ting.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
Suddenly, Duan Ling Tian noticed that his mother had an ugly expression.
“Kid, you really are young and arrogant. You crippled Li Jie. Of course it was satisfying for you, but you didn’t think of the consequences….Li Jie is the family’s youth genius, and as such the family has placed enormous hope in him. In the afternoon, the family meeting is said to be a discussion about today’s incident, but it will actually be a discussion on to how to punish you. Tell me, why wouldn’t your mom be worried?”
Li Ting shook his head and sighed.
In his opinion, Duan Ling Tian was like a newborn calf that was not afraid of the tiger; he was too fearless and dared to do anything.
“Grand Elder still needs my help. With his status in the Li Family, as long as he speaks for me, everyone else has to give him some face, right?”
Said Duan Ling Tian unconcerned.
“If you think like this, then you’re wrong. Grand Elder has always differentiated between public and private matters. This is the reason why all the members of the Li family respect him so much. The identity of a Grade Nine Alchemist is not enough to cause everyone to respect him so wholeheartedly.”
Li Ting shook his head.
Duan Ling Tian slightly frowned. He didn’t expect that his secret weapon would become useless so easily.
When they returned home, although Li Rou’s expression seemed better, there were still signs of worry.
The young girl was quiet, not daring to talk as she feared it would agitate Li Rou.
“Mom, don’t worry. I have a method to solve this problem. Nothing will happen to me.”
Duan Ling Tian, who was pondering throughout the journey back home, finally laughed.
“What method do you have?”
Li Rou obviously did not believe him.
“Mom, what you’re worried about is that the Li family elders will be biased towards Li Jie and punish me, right? You can be at ease; I have a method to make them biased towards me.”
Duan Ling Tian’s smile was mysterious and full of confidence.
“What method?”
Asked Li Rou curiously.
The young girl on the side glanced over with a face full of anticipation.
“Let me go get some things ready. I will tell you two when we have lunch at noon.”
Duan Ling Tian returned to his room as soon as he finished speaking.
After he left, the two women looked at each other with helpless expressions.
“Ke Er, do you know what method Tian is talking about?”
Li Rou asked the young girl.
“Ke Er doesn’t know either.”
The young girl shook her head lightly.
“That stinking brat, he’s getting more and more mysterious lately.”
Li Rou’s eyes slightly squinted, then she laughed helplessly.
After eating lunch, Duan Ling Tian took a hundred silver in bills and thirty silver coins from his mother before taking the young girl out alone, leaving the Li family estate.
The Li family disciples that saw this scene were all speechless.
“Doesn’t he know what his circumstances are? He’s still in the mood to leisurely go shopping?”
“He isn’t preparing to run away because he’s worried that the family will punish him after the family meeting, right?”
“Are you kidding? He’s the son of the Ninth Elder; just like how a monk may run but the temple can’t, even if he wants to run, he has nowhere to go….”
“He really is something! After the family meeting today, if nothing happens to him, I will certainly make him my idol and ask him to be my boss!”
……