Chapter 1386: Copper Shirt

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Hmm?” Duan Ling Tian looked at the middle-aged man in a doubtful manner.

“Overseer.” At that moment, the staff who informed Duan Ling Tian that all the seats were taken up bowed to the middle-aged man respectfully. Anxiously, he felt like blaming someone.

He was nervous about Duan Ling Tian’s identity and secretly, he blamed Duan Ling Tian for not telling him his identity.

“Are you blind? This is the Pavilion Master’s guest!” The middle-aged man glared at the staff angrily. The staff smiled and apologized to Duan Ling Tian, “I’m so sorry, Sir. I didn’t know you’re Pavilion Master’s guest.”

“Sir, ignore him! Follow me. The Pavilion Master’s waiting for you.” The middle-aged man looked at Duan Ling Tian with a wide smile on his face.

“Pavilion Master? The Pavilion Master of the Rare Treasure Pavilion?” Duan Ling Tian was full of doubts. Did the Pavilion Master of the Rare Treasure Pavilion know him?

With reservations, Duan Ling Tian followed the middle-aged man to the top floor of the Rare Treasure Pavilion. The top floor was open-air and basked in the morning light.

“Sir, the Pavilion Master’s waiting for you out there,” said the middle-aged man as he took a glance at the open-air balcony. He left after he was done speaking.

Meanwhile, Duan Ling Tian stepped forward and walked onto the open-air balcony.

As soon as he did, he saw a person standing with his back facing him. The person stood by the balcony railing, indulging in the morning sun while looking across the street. Naturally, that was not the important point.

The important point was that he thought the back seemed a little familiar like he had seen it before.

However, he could not recall who it was at that moment.

“You are…?” Duan Ling Tian stopped walking when he arrived closer to the person and asked.

“Haha… Duan Ling Tian, you sure are quick to forget about your life savior!” The person turned around following a hearty laugh. It was a middle-aged man dressed like a scholar wearing a silk handkerchief on his head and a feather fan in his hand.

“Senior… Senior Lin!” Duan Ling Tian’s eyes opened wide. “You… You’re the Pavilion Master of the Rare Treasure Pavilion?” The middle-aged scholar who stood before Duan Ling Tian was no other than Lin Qing Rong. He had saved Duan Ling Tian’s life near Fuyu Island back then. He was also one of the 36 Guardians of the City Governor’s Estate in Mound Hill City.

He was the Ninth Guardian, the Heaven Bravery Guard!

Although Duan Ling Tian knew that the Rare Treasure Pavilion was the property of the City Governor’s Estate, never did he imagine that this old friend of his would be the Pavilion Master.

“Don’t be surprised. I was just appointed to take this position last month,” Lin Qing Rong said while smiling.

Indeed, he had just been assigned this position last month.

Moreover, Duan Ling Tian had played a big role in getting him the position of Pavilion Master of the Rare Treasure Pavilion. To be exact, he was assigned the position because he had brought a genius such as Duan Ling Tian into the City Governor’s Estate.

It was their 36 Guardian’s First Elder Brother, the Heavenly Leader Guardian, who had made him the Pavilion Master of the Rare Treasure Pavilion.

“Does that mean that you’re the reason why they’re auctioning three Saint Grade Martial Tactics at the Rare Treasure Pavilion auction today?” Duan Ling Tian asked.

“I guess so. I saw you just now and knew you’d be interested in today’s auction. Are you here for the Saint Grade Martial Tactics?” Lin Qing Rong asked.

“I’m just here to look around,” Duan Ling Tian said while smiling, “I can’t afford to buy a Saint Grade Martial Tactic.”

“I heard… The Saint Grade Martial Tactic that you performed to defeat Li Han and even Zhang Ji Long was remarkable,” Lin Qing Rong commented while looking deep into Duan Ling Tian’s eyes with a grin.

Duan Ling Tian smiled back awkwardly.

“Senior Lin, are the Saint Grade Martial Tactic Saint Tokens that are going on auction today with you?” Duan Ling Tian asked curiously.

To him, a Saint Token containing Saint Grade Martial Tactics was gravely important. Theoretically, it should be with Lin Qing Rong, the Pavilion Master of the Rare Treasure Master.

If Lin Qing Rong had them, he might have the opportunity to take a look at them.

“That’s right!” Lin Qing Rong nodded as Duan Ling Tian waited in anticipation. He lifted his arm and three Saint Tokens subsequently appeared in his hand. “Why? Would you like to take a look?”

“I would like to see what they are like.”

“Actually, when Master City Governor comes out of closed-door cultivation ten days later, you’ll obtain quite some Merit Points as long as you score remarkably in the assessment that he set,” Lin Qing Rong said, “With Merit Points, you can study the Saint Grade Martial Tactics available in the City Governor’s Estate. There are so many more Saint Grade Martial Tactics in the City Governor’s Estate than what I have in my hand now.”

Lin Qing Rong handed the three Saint Tokens in his hand over to Duan Ling Tian as he spoke.

As soon as Duan Ling Tian took the tokens, he exerted his Spiritual Energy into them one after another. At that moment, three waves of tremendous information flooded his head like they were sprouting in his mind.

“The three Saint Tokens that you have with you right now contain Human Rank Prominent Saint Grade Martial Tactics. Two out of these three Saint Grade Martial Tactics have the same defense technique called Copper Shirt. It’s not bad. You could study more about that,” Lin Qing Rong said.

Hearing what he said, Duan Ling Tian began to arrange the sea of information in his head. Eventually, he found out that the two piles of information coming from two different Saint Tokens contained a small part of exactly the same information.

The small section of information was the recording of the same defensive technique, which was the Copper Shirt that Lin Qing Rong had mentioned!

The Copper Shirt was a defense technique that allowed True Energy to fuse into flesh and even covered the top of human skin. If it was cultivated to its peak, the True Energy that was fused into one’s body could create a wall that was as hard as metal.

“This defense technique suits my body!” Duan Ling Tian’s emotions were stirred.

His body was tremendously strong — even stronger than a Five-clawed Divine Dragon’s true form of the same level. If he managed to cultivate this Copper Shirt, the True Energy that fused with his body would give him a boost in strength!

“Senior Lin, why would two completely different Saint Grade Martial Tactics have the exact same technique?” Duan Ling Tian could not understand that.

At that moment, he handed the three Saint Tokens back to Lin Qing Rong.

To him, the three tokens were worthless now because he now had the contents imprinted in his head. He would not be able to forget them even if he wanted to.

“Also, I found out that this technique appears in the Saint Grade Martial Tactic that I’m cultivating now,” Duan Ling Tian added.

Since he was going to cultivate Copper Shirt, he did not want to complicate the matter, so he began to pave the way for himself by telling Lin Qing Rong that there was already Copper Shirt in the Saint Grade Martial Tactic he was cultivating.

“There’s Copper Shirt in the Saint Grade Martial Tactic that you’re cultivating too?” Lin Qing Rong was a little surprised. He shook his head and smiled at the same time. “It seems that it was unnecessary of me to recommend it to you earlier, but it’s common that the same technique appears in many other Saint Grade Martial Tactics.

“Of course, such a situation only exists in Human Rank Saint Grade Martial Tactics… It’s most common in Human Rank Prominent Saint Grade Martial Tactics.

“Just like Copper Shirt, it’s a defense technique that’s most common in Human Rank Prominent Saint Grade Martial Tactics. If you put a hundred people who cultivate different Human Rank Prominent Saint Grade Martial Tactics together, at least ten of them would’ve cultivated Copper Shirt.”

“I see.” Duan Ling Tian nodded.

“But you’re in tremendous luck,” Lin Qing Rong said while smiling.

Duan Ling Tian was puzzled as he did not know what Lin Qing Rong meant and asked while looking lost, “Senior Lin, what do you mean when you say that I’m in tremendous luck?”

“There’s a Human Rank Mediocre Saint Grade Martial Tactic in our City Governor’s Estate… with an upgraded version of Copper Shirt. It’s a defense technique called Silver Shirt,” Lin Qing Rong explained.

“Silver Shirt?” Duan Ling Tian was stunned.

“Yes! Silver Shirt.” Lin Qing Rong nodded. “Although both Silver Shirt and Copper Shirt are divided into five stages, they have completely different effects. Silver Shirt on Competent Stage is on par with Copper Shirt on Impeccable Stage.”

Duan Ling Tian nodded, grasping the point. They belonged to different categories after all.

One was a Human Rank Mediocre Martial Tactic while the other was a Human Rank Prominent Martial Tactic.

“But if you’ve cultivated Copper Shirt to Impeccable Stage and cultivate Silver Shirt after that, you’ll be able to start on Competent Stage when you cultivate Silver Shirt right away,” Lin Qing Rong added.

The techniques in Saint Grade Martial Tactic were divided into five stages: Fundamental Awareness Stage, Elementary Stage, Competent Stage, Proficient Stage, and Impeccable Stage.

The limit of Copper Shirt was the Impeccable Stage whereby one would not be able to cultivate it further. However, it was a different story for Silver Shirt. Copper Shirt on Impeccable Stage was the same with Silver Stage on Competent Stage.

When one switched from cultivating Copper Shirt to Silver Shirt, the limit was expanded whereby the person could elevate another two stages.

It made sense that the effect of cultivation would be different.

“Now, do you understand what I’m trying to say?” Lin Qing Rong asked.

Duan Ling Tian nodded.

What Lin Qing Rong was trying to say was clear. He was hinting to Duan Ling Tian to focus on cultivating Copper Shirt as his efforts would not be wasted no matter how much work he put into it.

The reason being he would be able to shift his cultivation of Copper Shirt to Silver Shirt when he cultivated Copper Shirt to its peak.

Moreover, with Copper Shirt as his foundation, he would not have to cultivate Silver Shirt from the beginning. He could start half way immediately.

“Alright… I should go prepare myself for the auction,” Lin Qing Rong looked up into the sky and said to Duan Ling Tian, “I’m getting you a private room for today’s auction. At the auction, apart from the three Saint Grade Martial Tactics, you can choose any of the auction items. I’ll pay for it.”

“Only one item?” Duan Ling Tian chuckled as he teased, “Are you being a little stingy, Senior Lin?”

“Two items then. That’s the best I can offer,” Lin Qing Rong said while feeling slightly annoyed.

Before the auction began, Lin Qing Rong put Duan Ling Tian in a private room on the second floor. He could see the entire auction stage from the window in the private room.

“I hope there’s something that I’m interested in. It’d be great if there are two items that I desire,” Duan Ling Tian mumbled softly.

He took advantage of the time before the auction began and put the information about the defense technique Copper Shirt together. At the same time, he used True Energy to perform a rotation following Copper Shirt’s cultivation plan.

Before this, Duan Ling Tian had wondered if it was worth it for him to spend his time on such a Human Rank Prominent Saint Grade Martial Tactic.

Now that he found out there was a Human Rank Mediocre Martial Tactic which was an upgraded version of Copper Shirt called Silver Shirt in the City Governor’s Estate, he gave all his effort and made up his mind to cultivate Copper Shirt.