Kapitel 279: Chapter 272: The Empress enters!
Inside a grand hall with tall open window overseeing the whole platform of the battle stadium, a celebration party was currently being held here for the champions of the competition!
"Brother Duan Li! I've never in my whole life met someone as formidable as yours from the younger generation before! This is shameful for a powerful cultivator like me who sits at the top of the world to not heard of your name prior to this competition! Hai!" Wang Dong scratched the back of his head as he lamented.
"..." Duan Li almost had the urge to kick this fellow in front of him to the ground. For a person to be able to feel awkward while boasting himself at the same time..
Shameless!
Suppressing this emotion with twitching brows and mouth, Duan Li replied, "Well, you are not too bad yourself. If I did not participate in this competition, you would've become the champion for the early stage platform without a doubt!"
Unknowingly, Duan Li had propped himself higher before the latter with a casual remark, causing Wang Dong to sunk his head lower!
As expected of the person whom I looked upon! His art of boasting is quite suave and flows perfectly like water meandering through the river!
"Ahahaha! Brother Duan Li, I'm not worthy of such complements, I've had too much of it already from the others to the point that it makes me nauseated.." Wang Dong laughed out loud as he put both hands on his waist, feeling satisfied.
Tap! Tap!
"Friend, if it is not inconvenient for you, let us have a chat! A toast between the champions tonight!" Lu Bu came forward and chugged out a bottle of expensive looking wine from his spatial ring.
"While we might have been a little too serious during the battle before, it was only a friendly competition after all, so I hope that there are no hard feelings between us. Furthermore, we would prefer to make friends instead of petty rivalries with you!" Zhang Liao extended his right hand towards Duan Li for a handshake with an honest look.
Seeing this friendly gesture of theirs, Duan Li was a little bit taken aback. He had thought that they would have some grudges on him after being defeated, but on the contrary, he sensed no malice from their expression!
Heaving a sigh of relief, Duan Li smiled and shook Zhang Liao's right hand in return before replying, "Don't worry, I understand! Besides, I was only joining it for fun as well! However, I did not expect that you guys were so powerful that I had to use all of my strength! It's a pleasure to be acquaintances!"
"..." everyone around him.
Don't you mean 10 percent of your strength? We don't know if you are being humble or boastful here..
"Brother Duan Li is too shameless!" Wang Dong thought in his head as he nodded rapidly in approval with his eyes shining brightly in admiration. For creatures of the same species, he felt that he was at the right habitat tonight, and vowed to learn more from this brother of his.
"That last fist art of yours was exceptionally deadly! To think that a fist art from an Early stage Core Formation realm would be able to destroy a Nascent Soul realm puppet.. could your mentor perhaps be.. a Grandteacher as well?" Lu Bu said and went straight to the point.
"Grandteacher? What's that?" Duan Li asked as he cupped his chin with interest.
Seeing that Duan Li didn't know, both Lu Bu and Zhang Liao was surprised and looked at each other before explaining it to Duan Li.
After a while, Duan Li finally nodded his head in comprehension, "I see.. so Grandteacher is the most respectable title for a Child of Tian that settled down in an empire.."
As far as he remembered, there was no figure as exceptional as that to ever appear in the history of the Jiu Empire!
Perhaps, this was the reason why everyone here thought that it was only mere legends?
He then shook his head, "Regrettably, I am under the tutelage of no one but myself. In addition, you guys are mistaken about something.. I am currently at the Pinnacle stage of the Core Formation realm, but alas, due to some injuries, my strength plummeted all the way to the Early stage.." Duan Li sighed.
Hearing this, the trio in front of him almost spurted out the wine inside their mouth to Duan Li's face!
Brother! Are you kidding? How in the world are you still able to destroy a Nascent Soul realm puppet if the injury is that severe?
It was as if saying that you could slap a mountain to the extent that it will cry to its ancestor if you recover to your full strength!
However, this makes sense as well. No wonder he is that powerful! It turns out that he is currently at the Pinnacle stage!
But how did the test failed to reflect his realm properly? This was unheard of!
Unable to hold himself in, Lu Bu spoke out, "Is that even possible? Weird, the orb to test at one's realm has never failed before like that.."
Seeing that the other party had misunderstood him, Duan Li shook his head before replying, "Eh, there is nothing wrong with the test orb and its working as intended.. I think. But it only measures the spiritual Qi density inside one dantian. With my current injury towards all three Dantians, its no wonder that the orb thought that I am just at the Early stage." he said as he sipped the wine slowly from his cup casually.
Huh?
Wang Dong, Lu Bu and Zhang Liao stared at one another.
"E-Excuse us, maybe we have misheard you. But, did you say.. three Dantians?" they asked, their lips started to form a wide 'O' shape, as if a ring was being forcefully put inside it.
Duan Li nodded affirmatively, "En, that's right! I cultivated using all three of my Dantians!" he showed his three fingers towards them.
Putong!
The trio nearly keeled themselves over to the floor when they heard this!
Heavens! Even cultivating just one Dantian could make a person become invincible in their life, and you are saying he cultivated all three?!
"Brother, its not that I don't believe you, but its just simply not possible to do! Every single cultivator that tried, either died a horrible death or become disabled for their whole life!" Wang Dong said as he shook his head.
Hais!
With a helpless sigh, Duan Li walked slowly towards the verandah with both hands clasped behind his back.
Eh? What's he doing now?
Just as the crowd was perplexed as to what he was gonna do, with a deep look to him, Duan Li suddenly said, "If you were to climb the highest mountain on where you live, how can you be so sure that there are no mountains ten times higher in somewhere else?"
Boomm!!
The crowd that heard this swallowed a mouthful of saliva with surprised look.
"T-This.."
The words that Duan Li spoke just now might seem straightforward, but the wisdom behind it centered right at the very crux of the world!
At this moment in their awe as their horizons widened, the full moon seemed to align perfectly with Duan Li, causing his shadow to extend far and wide; appearing like an expert that had gone through the ups and downs in life!
Unknowingly, the trio had clenched their fists tight in agitation. If they were doubting his words before, now they were perfectly convinced!
"I was blind! I had grown complacent because I have the greatest teacher in the world imparting to me everything there is to know about cultivation! Yet, here is a person who had actually cultivated all three Dantian!" Lu Bu said to himself with gritted teeth!
"Grandteacher, you once said that in our lifetime, we will be able to meet someone so great that it will shatter our horizon. Today, I have met that very person!" Zhang Liao said to himself as he look at Duan Li with veneration in his eyes!
"Father! Mother! I have found a gold mine!" Wang Dong cried joyfully as his tears streamed down from his cheeks, his face flushed red in excitement as if he had won a jackpot in gambling.
Meanwhile, Wu Jin and Dong Jinghai that was watching from afar and overheard this could not help but to shook their head.
Hais! Our junior have gone far ahead of us!
Just as the trio were about to say something, a loud stern voice suddenly spoke out.
"Everyone, the arrival of her highness, Empress Dowager!" an attendant announced.
"H-Huh? T-The Queen is here?"
The crowd then immediately dispersed and lined themselves properly as they single kneeled themselves.
Tap! Tap!
A figure draped in luxurious red robes with golden silk woven in them walked in. The moment she appeared, it was as if the stars had lost their light and the moon had become pale and old!
Beautiful!
This was the only word that came out at the top of everyone's mind as they watched the Empress Dowager entering the room.
Her aura and charm felt ethereal, as if she was an otherworldly angel that descended down to give light and warmth to the dampness of the mortal world!
Behind her, was an old man with a hunchback and long beard.
"T-That is Advisor Chen!"
"Y-You mean the rumored 10-star Strategist of the Jiu Empire?"
"He is way beyond that you fool! Now shut up before you got us complicated!"
Sweats trickled down on everyone's forehead except Duan Li. In his mind, he did not know why everyone was being like this.
"Hey, why is everyone seemed to be scared?" he whispered to Wang Dong beside him.
"E-Eh? You did not know? Despite her pretty looks, it is a known fact that the Empress is as cold as ice! Rumor has it that if she was displeased by someone, the next day, that person will somehow 'mysteriously' disappear!" Wang Dong replied with a hushed voice.
Eh? What a scary woman!
"Everyone, don't be too tense! I am here to congratulate the champions for tonight's competition!" Empress Dowager chuckled.
She then glanced over to Duan Li and a strange smile crept on her lips.
...
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
_Ram_
_Ram_ I bet you guys are still wondering about the identity of the people responsible for the trouble eh? ;) Enjoy and thanks for reading! ;)
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