Chapter 261: Wasted Effort

Translator: DavidT Editor: DavidT , Rock

The splendor of his sword was like a rising sun in the pitch black darkness! It illuminated the entire surroundings!

What exquisite swordplay! With just this attack alone, he was definitely no weaker than the top-notch assassin, Golden Leaf BaiFei. In fact, he might even be slightly stronger!

That black-dressed man’s face was covered with a black cloth and no one could see his appearance with the splendor of the sword light blocking his face.

At that moment, Ling Tian broke out into a cold sweat. This assassin's timing was too perfect! Ling Tian had used the windowsill to propel his body into the air before circulating all of his inner qi to send out the iron arrows. At this moment, his body was descending with the force from his previous jump fully exhausted, and he didn't have any footing he could use to change his direction in the air. His opponent had waited for the moment when Ling Tian was the most vulnerable before launching his strongest attack!

Seeing how Ling Tian could no longer avoid the sword, the black-dressed assassin revealed a trace of doubt in his eyes. However, the might of his sword didn't decrease in the slightest and even became stronger.

Ling Tian first eased the circulation of his inner qi before opening his mouth and sucking in a breath of fresh air with all of his strength. This breath of fresh air was sucked in too forcefully, almost rupturing his throat, and he felt as though his throat was burning!

After forcefully circulating his inner qi, his left foot tapped onto his right foot lightly and his body shot up farther into the air like a rocket! Ling Tian actually managed to forcefully propel his body up by another six feet when he was in mid-air, dodging this killing blow!

As he propelled himself up, Ling Tian had quickly adjusted the circulation of his inner qi. His face was already flushed red from when he had forcefully circulated his inner qi! At the same time, killing intent flashed in his eyes. As long as the black-dressed assassin attacked him again, Ling Tian would definitely fight the black-dressed assassin to the death! Ling Tian would definitely keep the black-dressed assassin here today!

However, as the black-dressed assassin saw that his attack failed, he didn't even bother pausing for a single moment and flew away on his sword! The splendor of his sword light covered him as he shot to the side of the three other black-dressed men. With a whistle, another three men appeared from the darkness and rescued the three injured men.

Failing his first strike, he retreated without any delay. He was swift and decisive without any hesitation at all. This was the typical style of an assassin!

What a top-notch assassin!

A loud roar could then be heard and the sound of clothes fluttering accompanied it. The various experts from the different families were all woken up from their dreams, and dozens of figures could be seen on the roofs of the Smoky Thea Tower.

A hoarse voice was then heard,

"Who is the scoundrel? Third Master is here!

" It was Yu ManTian’s voice.

Ling Tian chuckled and said in a low voice,

"My darling, are you still planning to leave? Why not stay for a while longer!

"

Stretching out his arms, his arms seemed to have turned into wings as Ling Tian gave chase at lightning speed.

The few black-dressed men continued to escape without bothering about Ling Tian. From the darkness, the sounds of bows firing could be heard and three arrows flew towards him, targeting his head, chest, and abdomen. The arrows were fired with great force at a tricky angle! Regardless of whether Ling Tian was able to avoid or block them, he would definitely lose the best chance for him to chase the enemy!

With a loud roar, Ling Tian waved both of his arms and his originally speeding body had mystically floated up 10 feet or so, avoiding the three arrows completely!

The black-dressed assassin also turned his head back at this moment and couldn't help but reveal a look of shock. Ling Tian was actually able to use a movement technique which defied common sense so naturally as though it was well in line with the laws of nature. Such martial arts were truly frightening!

However, Ling Tian was still slightly too late due to this obstruction. When his body landed again, the few black-dressed men had already disappeared without a trace. The strength of their movement techniques could be easily witnessed, and they were definitely no weaker than Ling Chi and the others!

With a swoosh, Yu ManTian’s burly figure appeared by Ling Tian’s side and he said with a laugh,

"What? You didn’t catch them?

" The joy in his tone seemed to be gloating at Ling Tian’s misfortune. Yu ManTian was obviously extremely happy that Ling Tian suffered a loss.

Ling Tian glared at him,

"You seem to be very happy.

"

Yu ManTian chuckled,

"You seem pretty frustrated from not being able to catch your enemy. Do you want this Third Master to exchange a few moves with you to vent your anger?

"

Ling Tian replied helplessly,

"How can I be as carefree as you? You should just wait for the time when you become a pig's head under the hands of my brothers.

"

"I… while I do admire their talents, I am merely going easy on them. If I were to really fight them with my all, how many of them would be able to survive?

" Yu ManTian replied with frustration.

Ling Tian grunted and ignored Yu ManTian, leaving behind a phrase before he left,

"There are enemies by the side ferociously watching. You, BingYan, and I are all targets! You should be careful of your hairy head, lest someone takes it to collect a reward.

"

Yu ManTian burst out in anger,

"This daddy here has fought battles all over the continent and I have never met one who is able to take this daddy’s head! You are looking down on me…

" Before he could finish his sentence, he realized that he could no longer see Ling Tian at all. Thus, he couldn't help but be frustrated, and he slammed his fist into a large tree nearby.

Ever since he met Ling Tian, Yu ManTian felt as though he would constantly lose in both martial arts and in words. This made him extremely depressed! But after he thought about his deal with Ling Jian, he was immediately excited again. He finally didn’t have to mix with these scholars anymore! Thinking about the great battle that was about to happen again, Yu ManTian made a resolute decision in his heart that he must definitely recover all of his losses from the other little brats!

When Ling Tian walked towards the Smoky Thea Tower, someone came up and said,

"Brother Ling, how are you? Are you alright?

" His words were filled with concern and the one saying it was DongFang JingLei.

"Oh, I am alright.

" Ling Tian stopped and looked towards the crowd that was gathering. The uncle and nephew of the XiMen Family, BeiMing QingTian of the BeiMing Family, DongFang JingLei from the DongFang Family, NanGong TianHu from the NanGong Family, and even XiaoFeng Yang and Xiao YanXue were present at this moment. The only ones who were missing were Qian ShuiRou and the others from the Heavenly Moon Chamber!

Ling Tian then looked towards the Heavenly Moon Chamber and everyone followed his gaze as well. The moment they saw where his gaze was directed to, they all understood what he meant.

The lights of the Heavenly Moon Chamber were suddenly lit and a few figures walked out of the door. The one leading the group was naturally Qian ShuiRou. She then said with a smile from afar,

"Brother Ling, you are carefree indeed. You actually have the mood to enjoy gazing at the moon in the middle of the night.

"

Ling Tian laughed and said,

"I never imagined that brother Qian wasn’t asleep yet. If that’s the case, why don't we keep our candles lit and have a good conversation through the night? For us to join our beds and talk through the night, it would definitely be a wonderful affair.

"

Qian ShuiRou then yawned and said calmly,

"This little brother doesn’t have the mood to do so. I want to go and sleep already.

" After she had said that, she ignored everyone else and walked back into the room, rejecting Ling Tian’s invitation without any hesitation at all. At the same time, she also disdained to even talk to the other experts of the Great Families! The experts behind her glared fiercely at Ling Tian before leaving behind her.

Everyone revealed faces of anger and Ling Tian couldn't help but laugh bitterly. At the same time, XiMen Qing, who was by the side, was laughing at Ling Tian’s misfortune.

Ling Tian then gave the various families a casual greeting before returning to his own room. As for XiMen Qing, Ling Tian couldn't even be bothered to look at him. XiMen Qing’s mood was far too unstable, and he was incapable of controlling his emotions in the slightest. Thus, he would never accomplish anything great! Ling Tian had already completely dismissed him.

Just who was the enemy who wanted to assassinate Ling Tian?

While Qian ShuiRou revealed herself at the right time, she was still Ling Tian’s number one suspect. Apart from Qian ShuiRou, Ling Tian also suspected the fact that the Blood Slaughter Pavilion had another top-notch expert. As for the Northern Wei envoys, they were obviously no more than a suicide squad, and Ling Tian didn't feel that there was any need to pay special attention to them.

After Ling Tian took his walk back to the Heavenly Fragrance Chamber, he fell into deep thought for a moment before deciding to issue out an order to prepare for battle!

Ling Tian was extremely clear that the moment he gave out such an order, he would definitely cause a huge wave in the whole of Sky Bearing or even the whole continent. However, as compared to the sense of danger in his heart and the situation at hand, it made Ling Tian feel as though he didn't have any other choice! While it was still a little early, it was only a little bit early. That was how Ling Tian consoled himself.

Ling Tian’s face was completely calm as he considered the matter carefully. No matter how the present state of Sky Bearing was to develop, he must have the confidence of controlling the situation. However, his attention was completely focused on Sky Bearing now, and if anything were to happen outside the city it would be a little beyond his reach!

For all of these top-notch experts to suddenly appear in Sky Bearing, they were definitely not here to just cause trouble! For them to appear without Ling Tian noticing at all, these people definitely had other plans. While he was still able to suppress everyone with his martial arts and gain the respect of everyone with his literary arts, Ling Tian was extremely clear that he had no choice but to reveal himself to the world to ensure that he could gain the largest benefit from the gathering of all the powers in Sky Bearing! He could no longer be like before, plotting in the dark and feigning weakness to eat the tiger.

Ling Tian was confident that he didn’t need to be afraid for anyone in a head-on battle. However, it was inevitable for him to suffer some losses!

Ye QingChen, Yu ManTian, Ye BaiFei and Qian ShuiRou all made Ling Tian even more cautious. While confidence was a good thing, blind arrogance was fatal. The martial arts of this world were definitely not as low as he had previously predicted. Especially from the battle which just ended, while it was just a small skirmish, a good seven to eight experts had actually appeared! How could Ling Tian not be wary?

Currently, Ling Tian’s only option would be to take out a portion of his hidden strength to deal with unexpected changes.

Thinking about this Ling Tian sighed heavily.

Ling Chen was the one who understood him the best and the both of them could almost be said to be able to read each other’s minds. Ling Chen then said gently,

"Young noble, why not… command Ling Jian and the rest to…

"

Ling Tian clapped his hands and said,

"That’s right!

" standing up, he continued,

"Command the Violent Wind Gang and Smoky Thea Tower that I want to find out the resting spot for Qian ShuiRou by tomorrow afternoon! I want to know all of their information. Regardless of how large or small the detail, I want to know about it!

"

The night was already dark, and not a sound could be heard. While Mister Qin and Meng LiGe were far wiser than the average person, the bodies of scholars were naturally weaker. Thus, they had already gone to rest. Following which, Yu BingYan and Ling Chen had also gone to bed.

Seated in front of the window alone, Ling Tian lowered his head in silent consideration. He silently organized everything that happened in the past few days.