Chapter 4232
4232 Sectless Cultivator
Some people were just luckier than others.
For example, Hou Lian Yu, whom Duan Ling Tian just met. He had a good background as a descendant of the Hou clan, a heavyweight supreme-rank force in the Divine Offering Land. After entering the Realm Battlefield, he even found a natural secret realm. Many people lived for tens of thousands of years and spent thousands of years on the Realm Battlefield, but they never came across a natural secret even once.
Natural secret realms were left by the supreme powerhouses on the Realm Battlefield, waiting for the fated person to discover them. One did not need battle merits to enter it. Those with not very good luck could only enter the secret realms that required battle merits to open and enter. Alas, the majority of the people on the Realm Battlefield were people with such average luck.
During the journey, Hou Lian Yu asked curiously, “Big Brother Duan, which clan or sect do you come from in the Divine Offering Land?”
!!
Hou Lian Yu was fond of Duan Ling Tian, an imminent Supreme God who did not put on airs. From the beginning until now, Duan Ling Tian did not look down on him at all. Although his strength was close to that of an imminent Supreme God, he had met many imminent Supreme Gods who treated him with disdain and acted arrogantly toward him.
“I’m just a sectless cultivator,” Duan Ling Tian said with a slight smile. He did not say that he was not from the Divine Offering Land but from the Profound Energy Land. He was not familiar with Hou Lian Yu so there was no need to reveal too much.
“Sectless cultivator?” Hou Lian Yu looked at Duan Ling Tian in surprise. “Big Brother Duan, you’re a sectless cultivator? I assumed you were from a major force. Moreover, it seems like you’re younger than me. It’s really hard to imagine that such a young sectless cultivator is an imminent Supreme God.”
Although Hou Lian Yu did not probe Duan Ling Tian’s bone age, he could still vaguely sense when someone was much younger than he was. Duan Ling Tian was an example. Under normal circumstances, if someone with a similar cultivation base could vaguely sense an age gap, it meant that the age gap was at least 3,000 years.
“I thought about this before. I wondered if I were a sectless cultivator, would I be as strong as I am now? If I have a choice, would I choose to be a sectless cultivator or a descendant of the Hou clan? Needless to say, after thinking about it, I chose being a descendant of the Hou clan,” Hou Lian Yu said with a sigh, “Big Brother Duan, you managed to grow so strong in such a short time as a sectless cultivator. You must have suffered a lot along the way, right?”
Duan Ling Tian smiled indifferently as he said, “Not really. Everyone has their own destiny. If you have a good background, but you’re complacent and refuse to suffer hardships outside, you can only rely on your background to grow stronger. However, if you’re willing to work hard and train outside, you’ll also be able to achieve a lot. You’ll also be able to experience and gain things unique to most sectless cultivators. In short, no matter what one’s background is like, it all depends on the individual.”
As Duan Ling Tian spoke, he could not help but think of Yun Qing Yan of the Yun clan. When he was still in the mundane realm, he felt that Yun Qing Yan was extremely powerful and that the level of Yun Qing Yan’s strength was far from reach. In hindsight, Yun Qing Yan was really not as powerful as he thought. In fewer than 1,000 years, he had already surpassed Yun Qing Yan. In terms of background, he could not compare to Yun Qing Yan. However, Yun Qing Yan could not compare to him in terms of experiences, especially life-or-death ones.
If Yun Qing Yan, who was lucky enough to be born into the Yun clan and received abundant resources, was willing to get out of his comfort zone, he might be an advanced Supreme God now.
However, Duan Ling Tian knew it was easier said than done. Perhaps, if he was born into a prime-rank supreme force like the Yun clan, he might not be willing to leave his comfort zone and venture out as well when he would receive abundant resources anyway.
Moreover, even without a good background, the reason Duan Ling Tian left his comfort zone and traveled to so many places and came to the Realms of Gods was to bring Ke’er home. To be precise, from the moment he left the mundane realm for the Devata Realm, his purpose was to go to the Divine Offering Land to save his family and friends and bring his wife, Ke’er, home. Since Xia Jie, the Third Master of the Xia clan, released his family and friends, his only purpose now was to bring Ke’er home. He grew stronger and stronger for this reason.
During this time, his horizon had been greatly expanded. He realized how strong the supreme powerhouses were. He also deeply realized the world was dominated by the strong. With that realization, he gained another purpose to become stronger. Apart from bringing Ke’er home, he also wanted to be strong enough to protect and take care of his family in the future.
Becoming a Supreme God was not enough. Only by becoming a supreme powerhouse would he be able to protect his family. At that time, he no longer needed to fear anyone. However, he also knew that after becoming a supreme powerhouse, there would likely be supreme powerhouses stronger than him. Becoming a supreme powerhouse might not necessarily be the end of his quest to become stronger.
In conclusion, Duan Ling Tian would never give up on his quest to become stronger. In this life, he was determined to become strong enough to protect his loved ones.
…
Since Duan Ling Tian met Hou Lian Yu, they did not run into anyone from the Sanction Land. They did meet someone from the Divine Offering Land, but the other party did not attack them so they did not attack the other party as well. Their journey was a rather peaceful one.
After a month, Hou Lian Yu brought Duan Ling Tian to the meeting place, and Duan Ling Tian finally met the three people whom Hou Lian Yu mentioned.
One of them was also a member of the Hou clan, a heavyweight supreme-rank clan in the Divine Offering Land.
As for the other two people, they were from a heavyweight supreme-rank sect in the Divine Offering Land. The duo was fellow disciples of the same sect. However, based on the way the man flattered the woman, it was likely that the woman had a higher status in the sect.
At the same time, a person stood next to each of them.
At this time, the other member of the Hou clan, who was a young man, glanced at Duan Ling Tian, who was standing next to Hou Lian Yu. Then, he clicked his tongue in a disapproving manner and said mockingly, “Hou Lian Yu, the person you found seems to be younger than you… Is he reliable?”
Since Hou Lian Yu could sense that Duan Ling Tian was young, it was not difficult for the young man from the Hou clan, who was slightly older than Hou Lian Yu, to sense it as well.
Hou Lian Yu looked at the young man and said expressionlessly, “Hou Dong, you don’t need to worry about me. Who I invite is up to me. You have no say in this matter.”
Upon hearing these words, Hou Dong, the young man, narrowed his eyes slightly. “I’m only worried about you. If you die under my watch, I’m afraid your elder brother will seek revenge from me. After all, I only brought you along with me because my elder brother told me to do it for your elder brother’s sake.”
Hou Lian Yu scoffed. “Hou Dong, stop acting so superior. Our strength is almost the same. Even if you’re stronger, you’re just a little stronger than I am. You’re still not an imminent Supreme God. You’re traveling with me for your own safety as well. During our time together, you’ve taken the initiative to provoke no fewer than three people. If I didn’t take action, do you think you’d survive?”
Hou Lian Yu was a little annoyed when he recalled how Hou Dong had taken the initiative to provoke people from the Divine Offering Land. He, on the other hand, had no intention of attacking people from the Divine Offering Land. Unfortunately, Hou Dong kept provoking people from the Divine Offering Land who looked like weaklings. There were several instances where Hou Dong was almost defeated, and he was forced to make a move to defeat or kill the opponents.
Hou Dong looked at Hou Lian Yu disdainfully and said, “Very well. Hou Lian Yu, since you’re so great, you shouldn’t have taken the spoils.”
Hou Lian Yu scoffed. “Since I took action, I naturally have to take my share. It has nothing to do with you causing trouble unnecessarily.”
After helping Hou Dong to deal with the opponents, Hou Lian Yu would claim the opponents’ belongings. Since the opponents’ spatial rings would self-destruct, Hou Dong did not gain anything. He did this hoping that Hou Dong would stop stirring up trouble. Perhaps, Hou Dong would stop if he knew he would not gain anything. Alas, Hou Dong did not understand his good intentions and even thought that he took advantage of him.
At this time, a tall young man, who was the junior brother of the woman next to him, looked at Hou Dong and said expressionlessly, “Enough. The two of you, stop quibbling. We still have to work together after entering the secret realm. Let’s introduce the people we brought here.”
Hou Lian Yu and Hou Dong stopped arguing upon hearing these words.
Then, Hou Lian Yu looked at Duan Ling Tian and took the initiative to say, “I’ll introduce my friend first. He’s the person I invited to help me in the secret realm. His name is Duan Ling Tian. Big Brother Duan is a sectless cultivator.”
“Sectless cultivator?”
Hou Dong, the pair of fellow disciples, and the people they brought with them instinctively turned to look at Duan Ling Tian. Sectless cultivators were quite foreign to them after all.
There were many powerful sectless cultivators, but their number could not compare to those who belonged to a force. Their numbers were in completely different leagues.
As such, the others looked at Duan Ling Tian curiously when Hou Lian Yu said that he was a sectless cultivator.
Hou Lian Yu turned to Duan Ling Tian and said, “Big Brother Duan, this is Hou Dong. He’s also a member of the Hou clan. This is Qiu Ping. He’s from the Misty Rain Divine Sect, a heavyweight supreme-rank sect in the Divine Offering Land. This is Jiang Yu Wei. She’s also from the Misty Rain Divine Sect. She’s the direct descendant of an intermediate Supreme God in the Misty Rain Divine Sect.”
Duan Ling Tian’s expression remained the same when he heard Hou Lian Yu’s final words. After all, it was not like he had never killed an intermediate Supreme God before.
On the contrary, the people Hou Dong and Qiu Ping brought were shocked. They did not expect there to be such a person in the group. As for the person Jiang Yu Wei brought, she wore a veil so no one could tell if she was shocked.
Following that, Hou Dong introduced the person he brought. “Although my friend isn’t from a heavyweight supreme-rank force, he’s a prodigy of a supreme-rank sect. He’s almost as strong as a rudimentary Supreme God. He’s an imminent Supreme God!”
As Hou Dong spoke, he looked at Hou Lian Yu with a smug expression on his face.
Upon hearing Hou Dong’s words, Hou Lian Yu frowned. It was naturally not a good thing that Hou Dong found an imminent Supreme God. It was not that he was worried about Hou Dong snatching things from him. He was worried that Hou Dong would stir up trouble again now that he found a strong helper and draggged their group down.