"Put aside my cultivation base that doesn't allow me to use my Divine Consciousness to probe and locate the Innate Spiritual Root, even if I can locate and probe someone's Innate Spiritual Root, do you really think that I can destroy Gu Chun's Innate Spiritual Root and leave him unharmed? As far as I know, even a Saint Celestial powerhouse at the Ninth Form won't be able to guarantee he would be able to leave someone's soul unharmed if he destroys that person's Innate Spiritual Root!" Duan Ling Tian said confidently, leaving no room for doubts since his words were reasonable.
After he finished speaking, before Li An could speak, he continued to say with righteous indignation, "Elder Li An, I know you resent me and want to seek revenge from me for killing the son of your best friend, Fifth Elder Yang Chong of the Northern Plethora Sect… if you want to seek revenge from me, you can just kill me. Is there a need for you to come up with such an absurd story just to kill me?!"
Swoos.h.!.+
Li An's expression turned grave immediately. He did not expect Duan Ling Tian would say such a thing in front of so many people.
Upon sensing the several thousands of eyes that were looking at him strangely, he discovered Duan Ling Tian had turned the situation around and now he was placed in a disadvantageous position.
"You…" Li An said with a grave expression on his face.
However, before he could finish his sentence, Duan Ling Tian interrupted him. "Although I don't know if your direct disciple, Gu Chun, really lost his Innate Spiritual Root or not, you should have killed him first before you come here and accuse me of destroying his Innate Spiritual Root. Perhaps, people might be more inclined to believe your accusations, Elder Li An."
Duan Ling Tian's words seemed as though he was advising Li An, but in truth, he was mocking Li An.
Li An's expression turned even graver when he heard this. His eyes that were staring at Duan Ling Tian looked as though they were about to shoot fire.
If looks could kill, Duan Ling Tian would have died several times over.
The thousands of Black Turtle Sanctum's disciples present on the scene nodded when they heard Duan Ling Tian's words.
That was right!
If Li An had killed Gu Chun before looking for Duan Ling Tian and sought revenge from him by accusing him of this, perhaps, they would have believed Li An.
Li An accused Duan Ling Tian of destroying Gu Chun's Innate Spiritual Root, but Gu Chun was still alive. This was undoubtedly a terrible plan to deal with Duan Ling Tian. It would have been a better plan if he had killed Gu Chun before he accused Duan Ling Tian.
However, Li An did not think to use the better plan and chose the terrible plan instead. Was this not an insult to their intelligence?
Although they were merely bystanders, they were not dumb. They were still able to differentiate between lies and truths.
"Duan Ling Tian, what nonsense are you spouting?!" Gu Chun shouted as his expression turned grave when he saw Duan Ling Tian had taken the righteous route and turned the public's opinion against his master. He was angry and humiliated. "You're the one who destroyed my Innate Spiritual Root! If it's not you, why did you use your Territory to block other people from seeing what you're doing at that time? Doesn't that show you're guilty?!"

The Black Turtle Sanctum's disciples were baffled when they heard Gu Chun's words. Some of them had witnessed the fight between Duan Ling Tian and Gu Chun that day.
Duan Ling Tian did indeed blocked their sight using his Territory, causing them to be unable to see what was happening. All of them did not know what Duan Ling Tian was doing inside his Territory.
"Could it be that Duan Ling Tian really destroyed Gu Chun's Innate Spiritual Root?" Many of the Black Turtle Sanctum's disciples who were present at that time felt their hearts wavered again.
Before Duan Ling Tian could respond, Gu Chun continued saying, "Moreover, I dare to swear on the lightning penalty oath that my Innate Spiritual Root has been destroyed…"
As Gu Chun spoke, he p.r.i.c.ked his finger as a drop of blood floated into the sky.
After that, he said loudly, "If my Innate Spiritual Root is not destroyed, I'm willing to be killed by the Nine-Nine Heavenly Tribulation!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Nine claps of thunder reverberated in the air, completing the lightning penalty oath.
However, Gu Chun was not struck by lightning. It was proof that he was not lying when he said his Innate Spiritual Root had been destroyed!
The Black Turtle Sanctum's disciples present on the scene no longer doubted him when they saw this.
"It's really destroyed?" Many of the Black Turtle Sanctum's disciples were sure Gu Chun's Innate Spiritual Root had been destroyed. He and his master, Li An, were not lying after all.
"I've already sworn on the lightning penalty that my Innate Spiritual Root has been destroyed…" After swearing by the thunder penalty oath, Gu Chun s.h.i.+fted his sharp gaze to Duan Ling Tian before he said coldly, "Duan Ling Tian, do you dare to swear on the lightning penalty oath that you did not destroy my Innate Spiritual Root?!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped forward and stood next to Li An as he stared coldly at Duan Ling Tian.
Do you dare?!
Everyone instantly s.h.i.+fted their attention to Duan Ling Tian.
"Do you think Duan Ling Tian dares to swear on the lightning penalty oath?"
"I think he will. After all, it's not possible for him to destroy Gu Chun's Innate Spiritual Root with his cultivation base!"
"What if he doesn't dare to do it?"
"Well, doesn't that mean he's guilty?"
Although the Black Turtle Sanctum's disciples found it hard to believe Duan Ling Tian was able to destroy Gu Chun's Innate Spiritual Root, they could not help but feel skeptical when they saw how sure Gu Chun was.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, if Gu Chun was so bold as to stand next to Li An in front of so many people, Li An would have gotten angry and scolded Gu Chun for not knowing his place!
However, at this moment, not only was Li An not angry, but he even secretly praised the direct disciple he was not fond of for being smart.
His disciple's actions had made the public wavered. It had helped them escape from the disadvantageous position they were in.
This pleased him a lot. He felt the stifling feeling in heart disappearing. At this moment, he even felt this disciple of his was a lot more pleasing to his eyes.
"Swear on the lightning penalty oath that I didn't cripple your Innate Spiritual Root?" Under the watchful eyes of the others, Duan Ling Tian smiled as he said, "Gu Chun, don't you think it's unnecessary for me to swear on the lightning penalty oath?"
"Why? Are you afraid?" Gu Chun smirked. "If you don't dare to do it, doesn't that mean you're guilty? You're indirectly admitting that you destroyed my Innate Spiritual Root… By destroying my Innate Spiritual Root, you're essentially cutting off my cultivation path. What's the difference from maiming me? According to the law of Fire Wors.h.i.+p Sect, I'm sure you know what punishments would be given to those who maliciously harm the disciples of the sect, right?"
When Gu Chun was speaking, a terrifying aura rose up from Li An's body. The aura quietly locked Duan Ling Tian in place. He was ready to punish Duan Ling Tian.
"I think you're the one who doesn't dare to?!" Duan Ling Tian's words made the terrifying aura on from Li An's body to disappear.
Li An stared at Duan Ling Tian intently. He did not understand what Duan Ling Tian meant.
"I don't dare? What is it that I don't dare to do? Duan Ling Tian, don't even think of changing the topic with so many people watching," Gu Chun said disdainfully.
"I've already said it's unnecessary for me to swear on the lightning penalty oath. Since you keep insisting I'm the one who destroyed your Innate Spiritual Root, you can always swear on the lightning penalty oath that I'm the one who destroyed your Innate Spiritual Root and you're willing to be struck by lightning. If you die, then it means I'm the one who destroyed your Innate Spiritual Root. If lightning did not strike you, then it means I did not destroy your Innate Spiritual Root, and you're just making baseless accusations!" Duan Ling Tian said with a calm expression and looked at Gu Chun as the thousands of Black Turtle Sanctum's disciples looked at him with confusion.
His statement was flawless!
Gu Chun told him to swear on the lighting penalty oath. It was within his right to ask Gu Chun to swear on the lightning penalty as well.
The oath they had to swear was the same. Both would be able to tell if Duan Ling Tian really did destroy Gu Chun's Innate Spiritual Root. The only difference was the person making the oath.
Swis.h.!.+
Horror dawned on Gu Chun. He had used all means to turn things in his favor. It did not cross his mind that Duan Ling Tian would use such a method to counter his words.
Duan Ling Tian had asked him to swear on the lightning penalty oath! Although the oath's content was the same, he did not dare to swear on it at all!
This was because he had only a.s.sumed Duan Ling Tian was the one who destroyed his Innate Spiritual Root. Even if he was 99% certain Duan Ling Tian was the culprit, there was still that 1% of doubt.
This concerned his life. Even if it's just 1% of doubt, he did not dare to gamble his life at all! For this reason, he did not dare to swear on the lightning penalty oath.
"Duan Ling Tian, I've already sworn on the lighting penalty oath. It's your turn to swear on the lightning penalty oath!" Now that things had escalated to this point, Gu Chun could only continue on insisting that Duan Ling Tian swear on the lightning penalty oath.
"What a lame argument!" Duan Ling Tian smirked when Gu Chun finished speaking. "Gu Chun, from the beginning until the end, you're the one who brought up swearing on the lightning penalty oath. Now that the problem can be solved by one of us swearing on the lightning penalty oath, don't you think you should be the one to swear an oath since you brought it up first? Why should I swear an oath? It can't be that you don't dare to swear an oath because you know I didn't destroy your Innate Spiritual Root!" The smirk on Duan Ling Tian's face widened when he finished speaking.
Duan Ling Tian was gambling with his life when he told Gu Chun to swear on the lightning penalty oath.
If he lost the bet, he would die. If he won, he would live.
He bet that Gu Chun would not dare to swear on the lightning penalty oath!
Naturally, Duan Ling Tian only dared to make this bet because he was absolutely certain Gu Chun was unaware of him devouring his Innate Spiritual Root and was merely making an a.s.sumption. He did not have any proof at all.
He had nothing to his advantage when he told Gu Chun to swear on the lighting penalty oath!

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