2595 The Commander of the Black Dragon Army

"You!" Jian Qiu Ping's blood was boiling when he heard Duan Ling Tian's words. His Celestial Origin Energy surged out again, a precursor to a violent fight. However, at the last moment, he recalled the centurion's words. He suppressed his rage with great difficulty and tried to calm down. Wounding or killing the brat before him would bring him instant gratification, but the consequences he would bear when the commander found out about it would be bad.

Huang Ji Bing, who had died in the Little World, had been the commander's most trusted and most relied upon subordinate when he was alive. Due to this sentiment, the commander had made the unusual announcement of making the person who managed to find Huang Ji Bing's identity token a captain. From this, one could see Huang Ji Bing was special. After all, many captains had died, but the commander had never made such announcements.

Although he managed to stay his hands, Jian Qiu Ping did not hide his hostility. "You punk, just because you have a glib tongue, it doesn't mean sh*t in the Black Dragon Army. I hope your strength is as good as your glib tongue!"

"I don't recall asking for your opinion," Duan Ling Tian said indifferently, "Enough with wasting time. Bring me to your commander. As he has promised, I'm still waiting to be made a captain."

Jian Qiu Ping scoffed loudly and rushed out, ignoring the fact that he had not formally greeted Duan Ling Tian.

Duan Lin Tian followed after him.

Whoosh!

As though he was trying to test Duan Ling Tian, Jian Qiu Ping hurtled forward at top speed. In a flash, he had become a tiny black dot in the distance in Duan Ling Tian's eyes.

Nevertheless, Duan Ling Tian paid no mind to this and continued moving at an even pace to his destination. He knew there was no need to speed up since Jian Qiu Ming would not dare to leave him in the dust for real. After all, Jian Qiu Ping had no choice but to wait for him.

Duan Ling Tian's conjecture turned out to be true. By the time Duan Ling Tian caught up to Jian Qiu Ping who had been waiting for a long time, Jian Qiu Ping's expression was sour and his eyes were burning with rage. He had intended to test the purple-clad young man who was about to be made a Captain of the Black Dragon Army, however, the purple-clad young man did not bother with him at all.

Throughout the remaining journey, Jian Qiu Ping seethed silently. Every time he looked at Duan Ling Tian, his eyes were brimming with animosity. Things changed, however, when the two arrived at an expansive plain nestled between valleys. The sour expression on Jian Qiu Ping's face was immediately replaced by one of abject respect.

"Commander!" Captain Jian greeted loudly as he stood in front of an army tent in the middle of the valley. He respectfully performed a military salute as well.

As Duan Ling Tian surveyed his surroundings, he discovered there were ten other tents erected around the tent in the center. 'Since the center tent belongs to the commander, the ten tents must belong to the ten captains,' he thought to himself, 'This place is the closest to the core of the Celestial Stone vein. The air here is rich with spiritual energy. The places outside truly pale in comparison!'

As Duan Ling Tian basked in the spiritual energy around him, an expression of bliss appeared on his face.

After Jian Qiu Ping finished his greeting, a confident and powerful voice rang from the tent. "What's the matter?"

"Commander, I brought the man who found Captain Huang Ji Bing's identity token," Jian Qiu Ping reported.

As soon as Jian Qiu Ping finished speaking, a gust of wind appeared in the still air and a figure suddenly appeared out of thin air.

The figure belonged to a middle-aged man with a large, burly frame clad in a long black robe with gilded edges. The man with a bushy beard had a commanding air about him.

'This must be Chen Xuan Ba, the Commander of the Black Dragon Army…' Duan Ling Tian thought to himself as he raised an eyebrow.

When Duan Ling Tian was in the restaurant in Bloody Specter City, he had learned the names of the two commanders of the Black Dragon Army and Silverwyrm Army from the waiter.

Chen Xuan Ba ignored Jian Qiu Ping and asked Duan Ling Tian in a low and commanding voice, "You're the one who found Captain Huang Ji Bing's identity token?"

Duan Ling Tian remained calm when faced with Chen Xuan Ba's attention and his incoming Divine Consciousness. He quietly produced the identity token he found in the Little World that was opened by a Superior Celestial King from the Blissful Sect and handed it to Chen Xuan Ba.

Whoosh!

The commander raised his hand, and Duan Ling Tian felt the token being lifted away by an unseen force before reappearing in Chen Xuan Ba's hand.

After inspecting the identity token, Chen Xuan Ba nodded and said, "Indeed, this is Captain Huang Ji Bing's identity token."

To the naked eye, all ten captains' identity tokens looked the same. However, each of the tokens had been left with a subtle mark by Chen Xuan Ba himself. Therefore, he could easily identify its authenticity and its master.

After confirming the authenticity of the identity token, Chen Xuan Ba's eyes shifted back to Duan Ling Tian, sizing Duan Ling Tian up. "Where did you find this?"

"Within the mountainous range south of Bloody Specter City, inside the Little World," Duan Ling Tian replied honestly.

Jian Qiu Ping's expression changed.

In fact, Chen Xuan Ba's expression changed as well. "Are you saying… Are you telling me that you entered the Little World and came out alive?"

Chen Xuan Ba's eyes, zeroing on Duan Ling Tian, was piercing. His commanding aura intensified and pressured Duan Ling Tian. He did this to intimidate Duan Ling Tian into telling the truth.

Before Duan Ling Tian could say anything, Jian Qiu Ping interjected, "This person here is obviously lying, commander! The Little World is so dangerous that not even the City Governor of Bloody Specter City, who is an incredibly powerful fighter, dare to guarantee he would be able to return after entering the Little World..."

However, Chen Xuan Ba shot Jian Qiu Ping a cutting gaze before Jian Qiu Ping could finish speaking. "Do you take me for a fool? Do you think I'll be fooled by just anyone? Do you think I need someone like you to remind me of this?"

Chen Xuan Ba's terrifying eyes stared at Jian Qiu Ping pointedly until Jian Qiu Ping's face turned pale and he fell silent.

"Yes," Duan Ling Tian answered calmly, seemingly unflustered by Chen Xuan Ba's scrutinizing eyes.

"The Little World you speak of is not an ordinary place. Even the powerful City Governor of Bloody Specter City wouldn't simply go there. At the same time, even the County Chief, who's likely the strongest individual in the Nine Specters County, can't promise that he would be able to come out of that place alive," Chen Xuan Ba said pointedly. "Tell me, why should I believe that you managed to come out of that place unharmed?"

Chen Xuan Ba was inwardly curious about this purple-clad young man's cultivation base and strength. He could not determine the young man's cultivation base. This could only mean that he was either very strong or he had mastered a technique to conceal his cultivation base. Regardless, he was certain this young man could not possibly be stronger than the County Chief of the Nine Specters County or the City Governor of Bloody Specter City. If the young man was stronger than them, he would have no reason to bring Huang Ji Bing's identity token here. After all, someone that strong would have no interest in becoming the commander of an army, let alone the petty position of a captain.

"A powerful warrior helped me out of that Little World," Duan Ling Tian replied with a white lie he had prepared beforehand. Although it was more lies than truth, it sounded quite convincing. He was sure no one would be able to find fault with it. He continued with his lies, "That warrior is really amazing. Based on his strength, I think he's several times stronger than a Great Overarching Golden Celestial. He even told me the Little World was created by a Superior Celestial King from the Blissful Sect, whatever that is. The warrior went into the Little World to retrieve his sect's Sect Guarding Celestial Weapon. It was a horsetail whisk that's called World Cleansing Horsetail Whisk."

As Duan Ling Tian talked, he looked at Chen Xuan Ba with an anticipatory gaze. He had intentionally mentioned so many details in hopes that Chen Xuan Ba might know the sect that Murong Bing belonged to.

"The Blissful Sect? A Superior Celestial King?!" Chen Xuan Ba's expression changed as his eyes widened in shock when he heard Duan Ling Tian's words. When he regained his senses, he muttered to himself, seemingly lost in thoughts, "No wonder so many powerhouses lost their lives in the Little World in these 10,000 years. As it turns out, that place was created by a Superior Celestial King from the Blissful Sect! The last time the Superior Celestial King was active was 10,000 years ago. That was also when the Little World had appeared!"