The flying ship carrying Duan Ling Tian was naturally not the only flying ship from the Pure Yang Sect. There were a few more flying ships carrying other members of the Pure Yang Sect, and each of them carried members of two or more factions. Compared to the others, Zhen Ping Fan’s flying carried members from five factions. It should be known that there were only 19 factions in the Pure Yang Sect.

The Hidden Sword faction sent an elder this time. He was a kind-looking old man dressed in a light golden robe with silver trimmings. At this time, he was sitting cross-legged on the ground. At this time, he glanced at Duan Ling Tian and thought to himself, ‘What a good seedling. It’s thanks to him that our leader has a chance to complete an artifact soul. Our Hidden Sword faction truly owes him a favor this time. When the leader returned, he had said that Duan Ling Tian could be considered a benefactor of our faction. He even warned that those who look for trouble with Duan Ling Tian will be expelled from our faction immediately.’

At the end of his thought, the old man glanced at the younger generation from the Hidden Sword faction whom he had brought along with him to the Trading Conference. Upon seeing the eagerness and the battle intent in their eyes when they looked at Duan Ling Tian, he sighed helplessly in his heart. He understood their thoughts and feelings. All of them became Lords of Gods before the age of 10,000, and their competitiveness was understandable at this age. Moreover, the Pure Yang Sect had given Duan Ling Tian a lot of resources, which inevitably caused the others to feel dissatisfied. If he were in their shoes, he thought that he would feel envious of Duan Ling Tian as well.

‘I don’t want to hurt their self-esteem, but in case they look for trouble with Duan Ling Tian, I have no choice but to do so. Otherwise, the consequences would be worse if they provoke Duan Ling Tian and anger our leader…’ the old man thought to himself with a sigh.

Following that, the old man transmitted his voice to the younger generation from the Hidden Sword faction.

“Duan Ling Tian is already an intermediate Lord of Gods. I’m not trying to belittle all of you, but it’s a fact that even if four of you join forces, you still won’t be a match for him.”

The expressions of the four members of the Hidden Sword faction changed immediately upon hearing the old man’s words.

‘Duan Ling Tian has broken through?! No wonder he has the time to participate in the Trading Conference!’

The strongest among the younger generation in the Hidden Sword faction, who was younger than 10,000 years old, was in closed-door cultivation at this time to prepare for the Trading Conference. Hence, he did not have the time to participate in the Trading Conference.

Previously, when they found out that Duan Ling Tian had killed two intermediate Lord of Gods when he was just a rudimentary Lord of Gods, they did not take the matter to heart. After all, no one knew if those two intermediate Lords of Gods were injured to begin with, allowing Duan Ling Tian to kill them. Under such circumstances, they thought that they would also be capable of killing two intermediate Lords of Gods even if they were rudimentary Lords of Gods. For this reason, they did not think Duan Ling Tian’s feat was that amazing.

In hindsight, they should have known that things were not simple. If Duan Ling Tian killing those two intermediate Lords of Gods was just a fluke, how could the Pure Yang Sect give so many resources to Duan Ling Tian? If they had used their brains to think a little more about it, this would have been very obvious. It was clear that they had grossly underestimated Duan Ling Tian.

Nonetheless, after they realized Duan Ling Tian was much more capable than they had imagined, they still did not think he deserved all the resources that the Pure Yang Sect gave him. After all, there was no lack of prodigies in the Pure Yang Sect. There were many intermediate Lords of Gods below the age of 10,000 who could kill most ordinary intermediate Lords of Gods without breaking a sweat. For example, the strongest person among the younger generation, who was also a True Martial Disciple, in the Hidden Sword faction. They were wholly convinced by his strength. This was because his strength was infinitely close to that of an advanced Lord of Gods, and only a few True Martial Disciples were a match for him.

‘Now that Duan Ling Tian has broken through, how strong is he now?’

When this thought appeared in their minds, the four young members of the Hidden Sword faction shifted their dissatisfied gazes away from Duan Ling Tian, feeling bitter inside. They felt as though they had lived so long in vain. Even the youngest among them was 7,000 years old, but his achievements still could not compare to those of Duan Ling Tian.

The younger generation from the other factions was also looking at Duan Ling Tian with battle intent flashing in their eyes, and when they were similarly warned by their elders, their self-esteem suffered a blow as well.

Most of the younger generation on the flying ship was True Martial Disciples of the Pure Yang Sect.

From the Cloud Peak faction, apart from Duan Ling Tian, there was another man and woman.

The Hidden Sword faction sent four people among the younger generation.

The Zheng Ming Sect sent three, including Lan Xi Lin.

As for the two remaining factions, they sent two True Martial Disciples each.

In fact, this time, not a single outstanding True Martial Disciple, except for Duan Ling Tian, participated in the Trading Conference. All of them were in closed-door cultivation, diligently preparing for the Seven Mansions Feast.

If Duan Ling Tian did not have a breakthrough, it would have been impossible for him to participate in the Trading Conference. Without a breakthrough, if he had expressed his wish to participate, he would definitely get an earful from the Pure Yang Sect’s elders. Since the sect had invested so much in him, they naturally would not allow him to follow Zhen Ping Fan and fool around.

This time, before leaving the Pure Yang Sect for the Trading Conference, Zhen Ping Fan had informed the high-ranking officials of the Pure Yang Sect of Duan Ling Tian’s breakthrough. The high-ranking officials were rather satisfied, feeling that their investment was not a wrong choice. Naturally, they would only know if their investment paid off during the Seven Mansions Feast.

…

Initially, Duan Ling Tian did not intend to cultivate, not even after Zhen Ping Fan had said so to the others. He was just resting and pretending to cultivate, but at some point, he discovered a slight instability in his cultivation base. Hence, he began to cultivate and further stabilize his cultivation base.

Over the past two years, Duan Ling Tian had consumed many divine pills and spent a lot of effort to stabilize his cultivation base. Hence, when he discovered the slight instability, he could not help but feel that his progress was too slow. It was vastly different from the time when he had just become a rudimentary Lord of Gods.

‘This is too slow. Based on the current situation, I’m afraid I’ll have to spend another six months to fully stabilize my cultivation base…’ Duan Ling Tian sighed inwardly.

It was a good thing that other people were not privy to Duan Ling Tian’s thoughts. Otherwise, he would have invited a beating upon himself, causing others to feel vexed. For most people who just became an intermediate Lord of Gods, even if they consumed many divine pills, it would take at least a few decades to 100 years to completely stabilize their cultivation bases. If they knew that Duan Ling Tian was able to stabilize his cultivation base in less than a decade, they would have felt extremely vexed.

As time passed, silence descended on the flying ship as everyone settled down. Apart from those who were cultivating and resting, the others all communicated using Voice Transmission.

…

Ten days later.

Zhen Ping Fan’s flying ship finally arrived at its destination.

“We’ve arrived.”

Duan Ling Tian woke up from his cultivation immediately. “We’ve arrived?”

The venue for the Trading Conference this time was at Seven Kills Valley, one of the five strongest emperor-rank forces in the Eastern Ridge Mansion. The venue for the Trading Conference, which was held every 10,000 years, would change each time. The venue for the previous Trading Conference 10,000 years ago was held at the Pure Yang Sect.

Similar to the Pure Yang Sect, the Seven Kills Valley’s estate was also hidden and protected by Formations. Unlike the Pure Yang Sect’s estate that was suspended in the air, the Seven Kills Valley’s estate was located underground.

Nine luminous night pearls hung high in the sky.

Night pearls were common commodities in the Realms of Gods. It was just like candles in the mundane realms or light bulbs on Earth.

“Greetings, guests from the Pure Yang Sect.”

“Elder Zhen, Elder Ye, we meet again.”

Three people from the Seven Kills Valley came out to receive Duan Ling Tian and the others. The leader of the trio was an old man. He was also an Emperor of Gods, and the second Emperor of Gods from Seven Kills Valley whom Duan Ling Tian had met.

Previously, Duan Ling Tian met the first Emperor of Gods from Seven Kills Valley when he was still in the Flying Dragon Sect. He had met that Emperor of Gods in the Imperial Battle Realm’s Peace City. At that time, that Emperor of Gods was arguing with an Emperor of Gods from the Marionette Villa. In the end, the duo agreed to battle at the Seven Kills Valley.

Coincidentally, a few moments after Duan Ling Tian recalled this matter, Zhen Ping Fan said with a faint smile, “Elder Yu, I recalled that Marionette Villa’s Silver Marionette Elder Deng Kui and your sect’s Elder Hong Yun Xiao agreed to battle at your sect’s ground when they were at the Flying Dragon Sect and Tai Yi Sect’s Imperial Battle Realm. I wonder how that battle turned out?”

Duan Ling Tian’s eyes lit up when he heard Zhen Ping Fang bringing that matter up. He turned to look at the old man from Seven Kills Valley, curiously waiting for his response. With his status, it was naturally inappropriate for him to mention that matter, but it was different for Zhen Ping Fan.

Upon hearing Zhen Ping Fan’s words, that old man revealed a bitter smile on his face and said, “In the end, Elder Hong Yun Xiao was lacking. Although he has made good progress over the years, Elder Deng Kui hasn’t been slacking as well.” After a pause, he added, “However, compared to the previous time, Elder Hong lasted a little longer against Elder Deng this time. In general, Elder Hong progressed much more than Elder Deng. With time, Elder Hong will be able to surpass Elder Deng.”

Despite Hong Yun Xiao’s loss, the old man did not forget to praise Hong Yun Xiao. After all, although the old man’s strength and rank were higher than those of Hong Yun Xiao, Hong Yun Xiao, similar to Zhen Ping Fan, had an extraordinary background in the Seven Kills Valley.The old man had no one to rely on; instead, he had a bunch of disciples below him who relied on him.