Inviting Self-Humiliation
Translator: WhatTranslate
Editor: Pebbles & Mr Voltaire
Proofreader:TheFan
The buzzing Plains District suddenly quietened down.
The players that were initially taunting Ling Tian were unable to make a sound. Those of the Yan Huang Alliance who were ridiculing him before were unable to manage a smile. Everyone was just staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed… even Long Tian Yun's expression was stiff.
No one saw how Ling Tian pulled out his weapon, and definitely no one saw him move. It all just happened in a split second and all they could see was the result… that the Flame Emperor was defeated. The Flame Emperor was taunting Ling Tian, treating him with contempt, when suddenly he was killed by Ling Tian. Moreover he was launched a few hundred metres into the air… flying so far and so high, it must have been a terrifying attack. And that damage value was over tens of thousands! Enough to kill Cang Yan dozens of times over!
Who was Cang Yan? - China's 4th ranking player, the top Elementalist. No other Elementalists were able to surpass his power. He was worshiped by many players and was admired by many more. When he provoked Ling Tian, the people were looking forward to a great display of his strength, but in the end, he was killed! It was instantaneous - it wasn't even a struggle when he was killed by Ling Tian.
"If you don't want to permanently disappear from the rankings, be careful of what comes out of your mouth."
It was a voice of slight disdain, of one who had killed the Flame Emperor in 1 second. Cang Yan had sneered at him for being over-confident… but that's right, it was actually Cang Yan who was over-confident in his own ability! He spoke as if the 4th ranking Flame Emperor was nothing but a pitiful ant in his eyes. But upon hearing this taunt, no one dared laughed. All of the Flame Emperor's subordinates knew that he had eaten his words.
"Heh, he brought the humiliation upon himself," Yun Feng had a wry smile, which he then couldn't help but turn into a grin. He was the one who understood Ling Chen's real strength the most and he hadn't believed that the fight against the Flame Emperor would be particularly suspenseful, but he didn't think it would end this quickly and cleanly… dealing tens of thousands of damage, and launching him hundreds of metres away - such a picture was definitely intimidating, such strength indubitably terrifying… Is that the level of Eve, the highest peak of human strength?
He looked at Xiao Qiu Feng from the corner of his eye, the sight of the Cold Magistrate with his brows raised satisfied him… he believed that the Cold Magistrate would never say that Ling Tian was over-confident ever again.
After a period of deathly silence, the crowd burst out.
"Wow!!! So cool!!!"
In the house where the fight was being broadcasted live, Xiao Qi jumped up, both hands cupping her cheeks. Jumping around, she didn't even know what she was doing, but she couldn't express the excitement that she was feeling. Su’Er was covering her lips with both her hands, her eyes shining. Yun Meng Xin's pupils widened in awe, and Shui Ruo was cheering in laughter, her happiness was incomparable… Ling Tian managed to, in one shot, defeat not an ordinary player, but the 4th ranking, awe-inspiring Flame Emperor!
This alone, would make him world famous.
The calmest of all, was Mu Bing Yao. Her expression was indifferent, as if what just happened was completely normal and nothing out of the blue.
"The Flame Emperor… has… has been killed…"
"Over ten thousand damage… What?! Is this real…"
"What was that skill just then, over ten thousand damage… ten thousand!"
"Is this Ling Tian's real strength? Even facing the Flame Emperor… he can easily defeat him!"
"That is scary levels of strength… with this strength, who can escape that technique?"
"The stone pillar looking weapon he is carrying, could it be the equip that has recently appeared on the equipment rankings?"
The instant defeat of the Flame Emperor gave the players new insight. The players' impression towards Ling Chen had changed completely from that of "privileged", "rich" and "extremely arrogant", to feelings of fear towards him… and maybe even a growing support for him. The people had moved aside to make way as the Flame Emperor flew, and they could now see his body lying on the ground bent. That one technique had dealt over ten thousand damage. There was no way the Flame Emperor would survive. He was laying there as dead as could be. Before, he had energetically come out to challenge Ling Tian, but the situation had changed so much in a blink of an eye that he didn't even have a chance to attack before dying. His former provocations towards Ling Tian now all just seemed a joke.
Yaaahhh….
At this time, a large number of players rushed out into the district centre. Ling Chen found himself completely surrounded. There seemed to be thousands of players surrounding Ling Chen, with the tanks at the front, the warriors in the middle, and the mages at the back who were starting to recite their spells. The archers pulled their bowstrings and the summoners started their incantations. All this was aimed at their mutual target, which was Ling Tian in the middle.
These people were all the members of the Yan Huang Alliance. Seeing the Flame Emperor killed, they could no longer idly stand by and so had rushed out.
The sudden action quietened the scene, making it peaceful once again, but immediately the sounds of whispers could be heard.
"What is the meaning of this? They want to attack from all directions?"
"The Flame Emperor tried to pick a fight with Ling Tian and that's what got him killed."
"The Flame Emperor got himself killed but such a big Yan Huang Alliance attack for that? They couldn't win so they are attacking from all sides?"
Ling Chen looked around at the people surrounding him, and laughed coldly, clapping loudly, "Hahahaha, I've heard that the Yan Huang Alliance was large in number what with being China's number 1 guild! Today, it seems like you have really fulfilled that reputation. Your Flame Emperor tried to pick on me, so I completely defeated him, tut tut. Your sudden, overwhelming number of superiority puts on a good show. As the number 1 guild in all of China, you have really given me some respect."
Ling Chen's words were the most cutting of taunts, especially that last line. The anger of the Yan Huang Alliance members grew. Unseen, Ling Chen looked around the crowd, and turned to face Long Tian Yun, "If you want to attack me, then get it over with, I don't think there's a point of a duel between the Sword Emperor and myself anymore, because even if I win, you'll just get hundreds and thousands or even millions of players to attack me. Forget about giving me the Guild Creation Token, hahahaha…"
"Woah, they really have no shame!"
"If you can't afford to lose then don't fight, tch"
"Ling Tian, this time I support you"
"The Flame Emperor lost all his dignity in a second, and he was the one looking for it, everyone could see that. There is no doubt about it and now that he didn't win they are trying to surround Ling Tian. Yan Huang Alliance, do you want to be disgraced completely?"
Ling Chen's taunts and what the surrounding crowd of players said made Long Tian Yun's brow twist. He looked at Flame Shadow and said coldly, "Who let them come out?!"
"…Cang Yan died, they must have subconsciously rushed out," Flame Shadow said immediately. He did not give such an order… Of course, there was a possibility he didn't speak of - that it was an order given by Cang Yan in anger after his death. Given his attitude, his smug provocation, and then being killed in one second, the moment of shame and humiliation was enough to make one explode with rage.
"Make them all stand down!" Long Tian Yun bellowed.
"Yes sir!" Flame Shadow said accordingly. If this was because of a personal vendetta, it was over. With so many people witnessing it, the Flame Emperor would never regain his dignity after this and this would cause severe damage to Yan Huang Alliance's reputation. He said in a low voice, "That Cang Yan…"
"Do not revive him. Is he not sufficiently disgraced? If he is revived, who knows what else he will do," Long Tian Yun said while waving his hand.
Flame Shadow deeply agreed. He did not take out the Revival Scroll, and quickly instructed the group to disperse.
"Everyone leave! Who told you to come out? This was a fair fight, no one can be blamed for the death of the Flame Emperor!" Flame Shadow took a few steps forward and exclaimed loudly.
As Flame Shadow spoke, these originally restless players rapidly withdrew from the scene, leaving the centre space open until soon, the only two remaining were Ling Tian and the Sword Emperor.
"Just now when the Flame Emperor died, my people of the Yan Huang Alliance got a little anxious so they did something without thinking and made a fool of themselves. My Yan Huang Alliance always keeps to their commitments. We will not go back on them and will not use our power to bully others," Flame Shadow stood in the front, and said, "Can everyone please forget that ever happened. The main event for today was for the fight between Ling Tian and the Sword Emperor. I hope that these other things will not interrupt that. Ling Tian, if you are ready, you can begin."
"I have always been ready to begin," Ling Chen responded, he then put away his Celestial Equips and took out the common single-handed sword that he had revealed before.
"Be careful," Long Tian Yun said to the Sword Emperor in a low voice.
The Sword Emperor didn't say a word. Before, Long Tian Yun had told him to "end it quickly". But at this moment, he told him to "be careful". Obviously, what Ling Tian did just then had struck fear into him. Before today, he, and everyone else had underestimated Ling Tian. Everyone thought that his strength came from his level and equipment, but this was not the case from what could be seen of his strength. Yet this did not strike fear into Long Tian Yun. He still had complete faith in the Sword Emperor's true strength. Just now when the Flame Emperor was killed in one shot; the quick movement, the rapid equipment switch, and the violent and relentless strike…the Flame Emperor was strong - not only did he have a formidable fire that he could control, but he had combat consciousness that was far greater than that of any other person - and even he could not respond to Ling Tian's attack. This kind of attack that managed to catch the Flame Emperor completely off guard was something not ordinary people could do.
Right now Long Tian Yun had already begun to regret accepting Ling Tian's challenge from yesterday. At the time, he was feeling violent anger and was unstable in his thinking. It really wasn't the best time to make decisions. When he calmed down, he regretted it a little bit, but that regret had immediately disappeared because he understood the strength of the Sword Emperor. Moreover, Ling Tian seemed untrained, so Long Tian Yun was unable to find a reason that the Sword Emperor would lose to him.
But now Ling Tian, with the display of his real strength, was causing Long Tian Yun's initial regret to resurface, even though it was too late. He saw that Ling Tian was really strong, but it was not Ling Tian's strength that made him uneasy. Instead, it was that from yesterday till today, even under so much pressure, he always remained completely calm, with a collected posture. With such a mood, how could he be the impulsive and extremely arrogant person that others made him out to be?
He said yesterday that this kind of person was either too smart or too stupid… the latter was now impossible, so it had to be the former. A person who was too smart decided to face Sword Emperor on his own initiative and with large stakes involved too. There was only really one possibility, and that was… he had absolute confidence!