Chapter 216: The Emperor’s Summons
Translator: KurazyTolanzuraytor Editor: Lucas
"The Young Master hates him to the bones because of Princess Bi Yao." The old man slowly nodded when he heard Gu You Ting’s question.
"Princess Bi Yao…Such a pity, my son doesn’t have the fortune to marry her." Gu You Ting’s eyes flickered with a cold light. "However, the people outside actually disparage my son and praise that Duan Ling Tian…Since Gu Xuan hated him, then it isn’t necessary for him to remain on this word." As Gu You Ting finished speaking, his expression was calm. It was as if he’d transformed into the judge of death that could easily decide the life and death of another.
Maybe in his eyes, he’d never once taken Duan Ling Tian and the Duan Clan behind Duan Ling Tian into consideration.
"Lord, when our Crimson Sky Kingdom’s army captured the Southern Barbaric City, that Duan Ling Tian obtained the greatest achievement, so his majesty the Emperor will probably heavily reward him, look highly upon him, and take him to be the pillar of the kingdom…." The old man slightly frowned and seemed to hesitate slightly.
"So what?" Gu You Ting asked indifferently. "My son is probably dead by now, so let me complete his final wish…Since he hated this Duan Ling Tian to the bones, I’ll kill this Duan Ling Tian to console his spirit in heaven. It can be considered the last thing I do for him."
Even though he’d guessed that his son had already died, Gu You Ting still quickly recovered his calm composure.
If Duan Ling Tian was here, he would surely fear this Gu You Ting, because this type of person was the type he hated the most, and he was also the most cold and terrifying.
At dawn the next day, within the spacious room, Duan Ling Tian put on his clothes with the help of the two little girls before walking out of the room.
After having his breakfast, Duan Ling Tian went to Paladin Academy. Wherever he passed, he unsurprisingly caused a great stir.
"Duan Ling Tian, I like you!" Right at this moment, a nearby female student roared at Duan Ling Tian with a red face.
Duan Ling Tian was stunned, and the surrounding group of students was stunned as well. A wave of sighs resounded.
"I like you too." Duan Ling Tian lightly smiled to the female student and continued to walk forward.
Instantly, some of the other female students looked at the female student that spoke out earlier with faces full of envy. They learned and copied her. "Duan Ling Tian, I like you!"
"Duan Ling Tian, I like you!"
...
Faced with these fervent female students, Duan Ling Tian replied with a light smile to all of them. "I like all of you too."
Favorable impressions arose within the hearts of the Paladin Academy students present towards Duan Ling Tian’s calmness.
"Duan Ling Tian!" Right at this moment, a person walked toward him from afar.
Duan Ling Tian’s brows knitted, as he’d never expected this person to take the initiative to greet him; moreover, it was such a friendly greeting.
The person before him was no one other than Xu Qing!
"Xu Qing, you’ve changed." A trace of a light smile appeared on the corners of Duan Ling Tian’s mouth, as the current Xu Qing was didn’t have the former arrogance he had, but instead was slightly calmer.
At least the feeling he gave off wasn’t repugnant like before. Obviously, the incident the other day caused Xu Qing to change a great deal.
"I still need to thank you for allowing me to see many things clearly…Besides that, your tactics of three interlinked strategies is worthy of admiration!" Xu Qing had a friendly expression as he returned a smile.
After he was defeated by Duan Ling Tian the other time, Xu Qing was quiet for a few days before recovering. He’d clearly thought of many things and now saw Duan Ling Tian as a target to advance courageously to.
This time, as a grade two student of the Star General Department that joined the Crimson Wyrm Army to head to the northwest border together, he’d experienced Duan Ling Tian’s ability to devise strategies within the command tent and felt admiration in his heart.
Maybe, since that moment, the resentment in his heart towards Duan Ling Tian had already completely vanished.
"You’re not bad either; you actually broke through to the Origin Core Stage." Duan Ling Tian’s eyes narrowed as he smiled mysteriously.
"You…Can even discern this?" Xu Qing was stunned.
He’d only broken through on the way back to the Imperial City, and that was not even a month ago. He was confident that he’d never revealed his Origin Core Stage strength before another.
However, never had he imagined that Duan Ling Tian would be able to discern it with a single glance.
"Duan Ling Tian, you’re truly out of the ordinary…Let’s be friends, how about it?" Xu Qing’s face was filled with anticipation.
"Aren’t we already friends?" Duan Ling Tian started laughing.
Xu Qing laughed as well. "Then I won’t disturb you and go to class."
"OK." Duan Ling Tian nodded.
Duan Ling Tian and Xu Qing’s short conversation stupefied the surrounding group of students.
"Could it be that this is the legendary ‘forming of friendship from an exchange of blows?’"
"Maybe."
Many students sighed, as some students amongst them even witnessed the battle between Duan Ling Tian and Xu Qing with their own two eyes.
At that time, Xu Qing wished for nothing more than to kill Duan Ling Tian!
Whereas now, these two people actually became friends. The affairs of the world were truly inconsistent.
"Right, did Duan Ling Tian said that Xu Qing has already broken through to the Origin Core Stage earlier?"
"I think so!"
"I never imagined that after an Origin Core martial artists appeared within the grade 1 students of our Paladin Academy, an Origin Core Stage martial artist appeared within the grade 2 students as well!"
...
In next to no time, the topic of conversation of the group of students moved onto Xu Qing.
At the moment he walked into the classroom, Duan Ling Tian noticed the burning gazes of everyone besides Xiao Yu and Xiao Xun looking at him.
"Duan Ling Tian, great job!"
"You’ve really brought pride to our grade 1 Star Mastermind Department!"
"Formidable!"
...
The group of students in his class looked at Duan Ling Tian and were extremely generous with their words of praise.
Duan Ling Tian replied with a smile to each person.
"Haha! Duan Ling Tian, we met that fellow Tian Hu yesterday afternoon just a while after you left…He even said he’d look for you at noon to get even with you." Xiao Xun laughed.
"Get even with me? Get even for what?" Duan Ling Tian was dazed and slightly curious.
"What else? It’s naturally for the matter of you not helping him get a place in the reinforcement troops." Xiao Yu started laughing as well.
"F**k! You two sold me out just like that?" Duan Ling Tian glared. These two fellows were really not trustworthy….
"We didn’t sell you out, it was he who guessed it himself." Xiao Xun shrugged as he lightly smiled.
Right at this moment, Sima Chang Feng walked into the classroom and stood at the podium. His profound gaze that was mixed with a complicated expression descended onto Duan Ling Tian, as even he had never imagined that Duan Ling Tian would actually possess that level of natural talent to command troops into a battle as a strategist!
Commanding a huge army of 100,000 and capturing the Southern Champion Kingdom’s Southern Barbaric City without losing a single soldier….Such an achievement in battle could be considered teaching material.
Sima Chang Feng glanced deeply at Duan Ling Tian before saying, with a smile, "’To borrow arrows with thatched boats’, ‘sneaking along an unknown path’, and ‘removing the firewood from under the pot’…Combined with the earlier ‘crossing the river while deceiving the heavens’, Duan Ling Tian, you really aren’t simple."
"You’re too kind, Teacher, but it’s just that my luck is good." Duan Ling Tian humbly smiled.
Luck is good?
Not only Sima Chang Feng, the corners of the mouths of all the students including, Xiao Yu and Xiao Xun, twitched.
This can be considered as having good luck as well?
Just when Sima Chang Feng was at a loss for words, a figure appeared at the door of the classroom.
Paladin Academy’s Vice Dean, Zhang Xiong.
Zhan Xiong nodded to Sima Chang Feng before looking at Duan Ling Tian and saying, "Duan Ling Tian, his majesty’s summoned you. Follow me over."
Swash!
What Zhan Xiong said naturally caused a stir within the classroom.
His majesty, the Emperor of their Crimson Sky Kingdom, summoned Duan Ling Tian?
"Looks like Duan Ling Tian is going to get lucky."
"I already guessed that since Duan Ling Tian directed the army and captured that Southern Champion Kingdom’ss Southern Barbaric City and brought face to the Crimson Sky Kingdom, his majesty would surely be extremely happy and naturally was bound to reward Duan Ling Tian based on his merits."
"I wonder what his majesty will grant Duan Ling Tian as a reward…."
"Can’t you just ask Duan Ling Tian once he returns?"
...
Within the classroom, the students all whispered in discussion, and the classroom only returned to quiet after Sima Chang Feng intentionally coughed twice.
Duan Ling Tian followed behind Zhan Xiong and walked out of Paladin Academy.
Outside the academy, a luxurious carriage was waiting for him. Beside the carriage was two troops of soldiers in armor, and a young soldier served as the carriage driver.
"These armors don’t seem to be from the City Guard Army…Could it be the armor of the Imperial Army?" Duan Ling Tian thought inwardly.
"Lord Vice Dean, Lord Ling Tian, please." Noticing the arrival of Duan Ling Tian and Zhan Xiong, the young soldier leaped of the carriage and respectfully greeted them into the carriage.
When he faced Duan Ling Tian, heartfelt reverence appeared on the young soldier’s face. As a member of the army, he deeply admired Duan Ling Tian’s deeds in the northwest border.
"Vice Dean, are they the Imperial Army?" Sitting within the carriage, Duan Ling Tian looked at Zhan Xiong as he asked curiously.
"Right, they’re the Imperial Army." Zhan Xiong lightly nodded before smiling and saying, "I’m relying on your good fortune this time, because normally, even if I wanted to enter the Imperial Palace, I’d still have to prepare the carriage myself…However, this carriage was personally ordered by the Emperor to be prepared for you."
Before long, Duan Ling Tian arrived at the Imperial Palace.
The Imperial Palace had a grand atmosphere and palaces stood in the distance, seeming magnificent and extraordinary.
Presently, the carriage that carried Duan Ling Tian forward had entered the Imperial Palace and encountered little to no resistance before quickly arriving before a palace at the center of the Imperial Palace.
Under the escort of the young soldier that served as the carriage driver, Duan Ling Tian and Zhan Xiong entered at the palace.
Gold and jade glittered within the palace, causing anyone to be bedazzled by it.
"Hmm?" When he entered the palace, Duan Ling Tian noticed that there were already four people present.
Divine Might Marquis Nie Yuan and his son stood at a side.
And on the imperial throne in the middle, a 60-year-old man wearing a dragon robe sat firmly on the throne.
Although aged, of the people Duan Ling Tian had seen, the majestic presence of a person with high status on him was the most oppressive.
However, this bit of majestic presence was unable to cause any effect to Duan Ling Tian.
Duan Ling Tian was able to guess that this 60-year-old man ought to be the current Emperor of the Crimson Sky Kingdom.
Moreover, beside the Emperor, there was still another middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man was dressed like a refined scholar and his eyes flickered with a sheen of wisdom. He also had a carefree expression and an extraordinary disposition.
If Duan Ling Tian met such a figure at an ordinary occasion, he would surely secretly praise him in his heart.
However, while facing this person now, a sense of vigilance arose within Duan Ling Tian’s heart.
Because when he’d just entered this palace, he’d noticed a faintly discernible killing intent enveloping him.
That strand of killing intent flashed for a moment before vanishing, and if it wasn’t for Duan Ling Tian possessing the experiences and intuition that he’d accumulated from his previous life, he might not have been able to notice it.