War Sovereign Soaring The Heavens

Earlier, it did not cross Qin Yu's mind to probe Duan Ling Tian's cultivation base at all. After all, he was convinced Duan Ling Tian was not as strong as him and that Duan Ling Tian's feat of advancing to the ninth step was just a fluke. Moreover, he did not think Duan Ling Tian would have a breakthrough in the Heavenly Stairs. The only reason he had decided to probe Duan Ling Tian was due to the sense of unease he felt when he saw how calm Duan Ling Tian was even after they had arrived in the Extreme Martial Arena.

Now that Qi Yu discovered Duan Ling Tian was an advanced god, he was frightened out of his wits. Duan Ling Tian's breakthrough made a whole world of a difference in their fight. He was confident about defeating Duan Ling Tian when Duan Ling Tian was an intermediate god, but now that Duan Ling Tian was an advanced god, he was not confident he would be able to defeat Duan Ling Tian at all. Although they had both comprehended triple Fused Profundities, and their cultivation bases were both the same now, the fact that Duan Ling Tian comprehended one of the Four Supreme Law gave him an edge. After all, he had only comprehended one of the elemental laws.

Qi Yu said grimly, "I didn't expect to break through and become an advanced god."

Qi Yu intentionally raised his voice when he spoke. He wanted everyone present, including the two elders on duty, to hear him.

Upon hearing Qi Yu's words, Elder Peng, one of the elders on duty, confirmed Qi Yu's words by probing Duan Ling Tian with his Divine Consciousness as well. Then, he sent a message to the elder guarding the Heavenly Stairs.

"Elder Chen, your worries are unfounded."

Elder Chen, the elder who guarded the Heavenly Stairs, was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Duan Ling Tian is an advanced god. This means he has a high chance of winning the challenge. Don't you think you're worrying too much? There's no need for me to remind him to surrender," Elder Peng said.

"What? Duan Ling Tian is an advanced god?" Elder Chen was shocked. "Before he entered the Heavenly Stairs, I'm sure he was just an intermediate god. I used my Divine Consciousness to probe him after all. Don't tell me he broke through while he fought one of his opponents in the Heavenly Stairs?"

After thinking about it for a while, Elder Chen said, "That should be it. He likely broke through while he was on the seventh step. That must be why he stayed on the seventh floor for such a long time, and that's also probably why he passed the eighth step so quickly. The prisoner on the eighth step didn't go easy on him at all. Then, he likely encountered a King of God on the ninth step and was thus eliminated."

After his analysis, Elder Chen felt like he had been worried for nothing. Duan Ling Tian was not any weaker than Qin Yu; in fact, he was likely stronger than Qi Yu.

"Well, you'd know better. Anyway, I'm going to watch their fight now. I'll let you know the outcome once the battle ends. However, I think Qi Yu's going to end up surrendering. I can already see the fear in his eyes. Moreover, being frightened before a fight is going to be disadvantageous to him as well."

After that, Elder Peng stopped communicating with Elder Chen and focused his attention on the two people standing in the Extreme Martial Arena. At the same time, he could hear the conversations in his surroundings.

"I didn't expect Duan Ling Tian to break through and become an advanced god!"

"No wonder he accepted Senior Brother Qi Yu's challenge. As it turns out, he had a breakthrough!"

"Hey, I get it now! I think Duan Ling Tian broke through on the seventh step of the Heavenly Stairs! That was why he took such a long time defeating his opponent on the seventh step but quickly defeated his opponent on the eighth step! Then, he likely encountered a King of Gods on the ninth step and was eliminated!"

"I agree!"

At the same time, Tang Wu Yan stood among the inner disciples and looked at Duan Ling Tian with a complex gaze as she muttered softly, "So he really did have a breakthrough in the Heavenly Stairs? I just casually said those words to Qi Yu. Who knew that's really the case?"

Earlier, Tang Wu Yan had told Qi Yu that Duan Ling Tian might have had a breakthrough, allowing him to easily defeat his opponent on the eighth step and advance to the ninth step. Nonetheless, she only said those words to defend Duan Ling Tian. In fact, she did not think Duan Ling Tian could have a breakthrough in the Heavenly Stairs as well. She really did not expect she would be right.

…

Back in the arena.

Duan Ling Tian looked at Qi Yu coldly as he said in a voice dripping with mockery, "What's the matter? Do you want to admit defeat? Oh, wait, based on what I know, once you enter the Extreme Martial Arena, you're not allowed to admit defeat immediately. You can only admit defeat after one minute into the fight."

"Who said I'm going to admit defeat?" Qi Yi said. Outwardly, he looked calm, hiding all fears in his heart. He continued to say, "Duan Ling Tian, although you're an advanced god, you've just broken through so your foundation still isn't stable. With that, do you really think I'll admit defeat? You must be joking."

As soon as Qi Yu's voice fell, a gust of wind surged from his body along with his Divine Energy. The wind grew more and more violent until it grew into a small tornado. After that, the tornado continued to increase in size.

Duan Ling Tian remained expressionless as he looked at Qi Yu. The middle-aged scholar he had met on the ninth step of the Heavenly Stairs had also comprehended the law of wind, but the middle-aged scholar was much stronger than Qi Yu. After all, the middle-aged scholar had comprehended two triple Fused Profundities from the law of wind while Qi Yu had only comprehended one triple Fused Profundity from the law of wind. With that said, how could he be afraid of Qi Yu when he had easily defeated the middle-aged scholar?

"I'm going to give you a chance now," Duan Ling Tian said tonelessly, "Kneel down and kowtow ten times, and I'll spare your life."

Duan Ling Tian's words stunned everyone. They did not expect him to say such words as though he was completely assured of his victory.

"You're too arrogant!" Qi Yu was naturally infuriated by Duan Ling Tian's words. He charged out immediately like a gust of wind toward Duan Ling Tian. Following that, a scimitar appeared in his hand, and he hurriedly imbued it with his Divine Energy and the law of wind, causing it to glow green. Although the scimitar was a primitive divine artifact, after being imbued with his energy, it was rather powerful. It seemed as though it could tear a hole in the sky.

Swoosh!

The wind whistled as Qi Yu brought his scimitar down at Duan Ling Tian.

Duan Ling Tian remained indifferent as he teleported and dodged Qi Yu's attack.

When he reappeared behind Qi Yu, Qi Yu spun around, guided by his instinct. Then, he brandished his scimitar, releasing energy rays toward Duan Ling Tian.

The energy rays that missed Duan Ling Tian immediately circled back to him.

"I've already given you a chance earlier," Duan Ling Tian said before he stepped forward. Then, the outline of a piece of armor appeared on his body. Along with the spatial energy, he easily destroyed Qi Yu's attacks. Then, he casually waved his hand.

Swoosh!

A short sound of wind whistling reverberated in the arena.

Following that, at the same time everyone saw the sword that suddenly appeared in Duan Ling Tian's hand, they also saw Qi Yu's head that had already been severed from his body at some point. Following that, they watched as the spatial energy crushed Qi Yu as though he had been through a meat grinder.

With Qi Yu's death, the remaining energy rays vanished. Those that managed to land on Duan Ling Tian were easily neutralized by his armor. His armor was a defensive divine artifact, after all. It was given to him by the Zhong clan. Its value was not inferior to that of an offensive divine artifact. The sword he had used was also a primitive divine artifact given by the Zhong clan.

Blood splattered all over the arena.

Everyone was silent. No one expected the battle to end so quickly. From the time Qi Yu attacked to the time he died, less than 18 seconds had passed. Duan Ling Tian only took 6 seconds to kill Qi Yu.

The two inner elders on duty inhaled sharply. Although they were surprised, due to their experience, they quickly recovered. Although they were certain Duan Ling Tian would win, they did not expect him to win so quickly. After all, Qi Yu was among the top ten strongest inner disciples who were gods.

Qi Yu was the face of the inner disciples with the cultivation bases of a god to the outside world. However, the elders were not saddened by his death. After all, a stronger disciple had appeared, and he was more than qualified to become the new face of the inner disciples with cultivation bases of a god.

"This…" Tang Wu Yan was in shock for a long time.. When she regained her senses, she muttered to herself in disbelief, "He has just broken through, but he's already so strong? He actually killed Qi Yu with just one move!"