Chapter 273

Yun Yun Zhongjin spoke, his words filled with confidence.

Yet, none of the Dan family members present felt that there was anything wrong with what Yun Yun Zhongjin said.

Young Master Yun was qualified to say this.

Ranked twenty-sixth on the Earth List of the Potential Dragon List, he was not only a Ranked practitioner under nineteen but also a symbol of strength.

Since the release of the Potential Dragon List, three months had passed, and the geniuses on the Earth List had undergone earth-shaking changes in these three months.

Of the thirty geniuses originally on the list, only a dozen or so remained, and they were the ones ranked at the top. As for those geniuses originally ranked lower, even if they had entered the Ranked tier within these three months, they still couldn't maintain their rankings.

Yun Yun Zhongjin, as the genius ranked last on the Earth List when the Potential Dragon List was first released, was still able to stand firm on the Earth List now, and his ranking had even advanced four places. His strength could be imagined.

He was a well-deserved standout among the Ninth Rank.

"Little sister, you shouldn't have any objections to Young Master Yun's suggestion, right?"

Dan Dan Mufeng looked at Dan Dan Muqing with a smile. Dan Dan Muqing looked at Lin Chen, and after seeing Lin Chen nod, she said: "That is fine, let us do as Young Master Yun says."

……

……

In the Dan family's martial arts arena, the younger generation of the Dan family had all appeared.

Every year of the great competition, the younger generation of the four great families would put all their thoughts into the competition.

The ranking in the great competition determined the amount of resources each family would have for the next ten years.

And cultivation resources were precisely what the younger generation needed most; it could be said that their interests were closely linked to it.

The impact of the first place and the last place of every great competition on a family was significant.

Compared to the fourth place, the first place would have about five more new Ranked practitioners in these ten years.

If one falls behind, one will slowly lag behind the other three families if they finish at the bottom for several consecutive sessions.

The Dan family had finished second twice and third twice in the previous four sessions, and their overall strength among the four great families was second only to the Zhuang family.

In addition to the younger generation of the Dan family, there were also six geniuses from outside the clan in the martial arts arena.

"Who will go first?"

Yun Yun Zhongjin stood proudly in the arena with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the five people including Lin Chen.

No one responded.

Clearly, no one wanted to make the first move; they all wanted to let others move first so they could analyze Yun Yun Zhongjin's strength from the sidelines.

Except for Lin Chen. Seeing that the others didn't react and just as he was about to speak, Yun Yun Zhongjin's gaze looked toward the man at the head of the left side: "Since none of you are embarrassed to make the first move, let us go in order."

Even though he wanted to observe from the sidelines, after being called out by Yun Yun Zhongjin, the man on the left still stood out.

Being invited by the Dan family, they were all genius practitioners under twenty, and naturally, they had pride in their hearts. With so many people watching, they naturally couldn't show fear.

"Zhao Jin, please enlighten me."

Zhao Jin cupped his hands. After Yun Yun Zhongjin returned the salute, his figure shot out, stirring up gusts of wind.

"Well fought!"

Yun Yun Zhongjin's eyes narrowed, and his figure flashed. Although he moved after, his speed was clearly faster than Zhao Jin's.

Bang!

The two exchanged blows, and dust swirled in the courtyard. A few breaths later, the dust settled, and Zhao Jin had retreated a yard from where he had previously stood.

"Next."

Yun Yun Zhongjin was expressionless. He said three moves for each person, and it was three moves.

Zhao Jin retreated to the side with a dark face, not saying a word, and the second man now stood out.

"Sun Jiang, please enlighten me."

……

……

Sun Jiang retreated two yards after three moves, his face becoming extremely ugly. In contrast, the previous Zhao Jin had a smile on his face.

If it were just him, losing to Yun Yun Zhongjin was within expectations, but his face was still a bit ugly. But now that others performed worse than him, the depression in his heart was swept away in an instant.

Just as Yun Yun Zhongjin looked toward the third person, a voice suddenly came from the courtyard gate.

"This is bad!"

A young man ran in hurriedly, not caring about everyone's expressions at the moment, and shouted anxiously: "Just received news, the geniuses from outside the clan invited by the Xiang family this time include two who are on the Earth List, and the Zhuang family has even invited Gao Gao Yongsi this time."

As soon as the three words "Gao Gao Yongsi" were spoken, the atmosphere in the entire courtyard instantly became heavy.

"Brother Dan, since your Dan family's spots for outsiders are full this time, I can give up."

Lin Chen looked at the man standing beside him and spoke, his face showing a look of contemplation. Because he was standing close, he clearly captured that when the name Gao Gao Yongsi appeared, this person's breathing stalled.

So, it was because of the name Gao Gao Yongsi that he chose to give up voluntarily.

Gao Gao Yongsi...

Lin Chen was also somewhat familiar with this name; it seemed he had seen it somewhere before.

"Gao Gao Yongsi is actually helping the Zhuang family? Then won't the first place fall to the Zhuang family again? How are we three families supposed to compete?"

"When the Potential Dragon List was released, Gao Gao Yongsi was already thirteenth on the Earth List, and now he has risen to eighth on the Earth List. I fear he is already an invincible existence in the Ninth Rank realm."

Following the discussion of the Dan family's young people around him, Lin Chen remembered why he was familiar with the name Gao Gao Yongsi.

After the Potential Dragon List was released, he had also paid a few glances. Although the focus was on the top ten of the Heaven List and the top three of the Earth List, he had also incidentally scanned the name Gao Gao Yongsi. Being able to advance in ranking despite such fierce competition, Gao Gao Yongsi's strength was absolutely not to be underestimated.

And adding what the young man from the Dan family just said, with other Earth List geniuses also joining, facing several Earth List powerhouses, ordinary Ninth Rank practitioners had no chance of winning, and going in would mostly mean serving as cannon fodder.

It was no wonder this person would choose to give up.

Giving up, the Dan family would still pay the originally promised reward.

Although there was no life danger in entering the ruins, that was relative, and Lin Chen believed that these four great families were inevitably hostile toward each other within the ruins.

A simple truth: to have a high ranking, one doesn't need to have a high score oneself; one just needs the opponent's score to be low enough.

Lin Chen could think of this point, and the others present were the same.

Hearing the man choose to give up, the Dan family's young people were in an uproar. Dan Dan Muyuan's face was very ugly; the other party was someone he had invited, and now retreating in the face of battle made him lose face in front of his clansmen.

"Since Your Excellency is withdrawing, then we shall decide according to what our Dan family discussed with Your Excellency beforehand."

Dan Dan Muqing spoke, then continued: "Now that the spots are sufficient, I think there is no need to continue testing with this duel."

"That is fine."

Yun Yun Zhongjin nodded; he didn't care.

He had agreed to Dan Dan Mufeng's invitation not because of how good his relationship with Dan Dan Mufeng was, but because the conditions Dan Dan Mufeng offered made him very tempted, and he had also heard of the ruins seal of the four great families of Lin Hai Prefecture.

In the past, he didn't need to take risks in the ruins, but now that the Potential Dragon List had been released, even at his level, he didn't want to miss any opportunity.

Even to maintain his ranking and achieve a higher position, he needed to take the initiative to search for Martial Way resources.

He assumed that Gao Gao Yongsi and the others had the same thoughts.

Otherwise, after so many years of competition between the four great families of Lin Hai Prefecture, how could it be such a coincidence that they only invited the top geniuses of the Zhao State this year?

Hearing Yun Yun Zhongjin agree directly, Dan Dan Mufeng had unwillingness in his eyes. This time he wanted to snatch the spot of that Lin Fei whom Dan Dan Muqing had invited.

There was no other reason. Although Dan Dan Muyuan was the son of his younger uncle, he himself had no great schemes and posed no threat to their branch. Dan Dan Muqing, on the other hand, although a woman, had operated several shops in recent years with booming business, and her own strength had reached the Ninth Rank, carrying great weight in the hearts of some elders in the clan.

The Dan family had no rule against women serving as clan head; an ancestor had once been a female clan head.

If Dan Dan Muqing's status in the hearts of the elders continued to rise, it would inevitably threaten his status, which he would not allow.

Unfortunately, Yun Yun Zhongjin had agreed, so he couldn't refute it.

……

……

"Brother Gu, I am sorry."

After everyone left, Dan Dan Muqing had a look of shame on her face: "I didn't expect my big cousin to be so difficult."

"It is fine."

Lin Chen shook his head. He didn't take such a small conflict to heart, and from the information revealed by the youth from the Dan family just now, he also had a guess in his heart: the ruins of the ancestors of these four great families were likely not simple.

"Brother Gu need not worry about your safety. This time I will go in with Brother Gu."

Dan Dan Muqing clarified, fearing that Gu Fei would be dissatisfied with her, thinking she hadn't informed him of the danger of the duel.

Their four-family duel every ten years was always a matter of stopping at the limit. After all, those who could enter the ruins were all geniuses of each clan. If several families were fighting to the death inside, this kind of duel would have long since been unable to be held.

……

……

A few days later, the first ray of dawn fell into the courtyard, and Dan Dan Muqing came to knock on the door.

"Brother Gu, it is time to set off today."

The great competition of the four great families was today.

"Good."

Lin Chen had a pack on his back. Seeing Lin Chen with the pack, Dan Dan Muqing smiled and said: "Brother Gu, you can leave your pack in the courtyard and come back to get it when you return."

"No need, I am used to carrying it."

Seeing Lin Chen shake his head, Dan Dan Muqing had a look of incomprehension in her eyes, but she didn't ask too much.

Lin Chen naturally wouldn't put down the pack. The Canglan Beads he had stolen from the Canglan Sea clan had been mostly consumed by him during this period, leaving only thirty.

During these days, although Lin Chen's Qi and blood hadn't increased much, the golden figure in his dantian had clearly grown by a large margin.

The golden figure was Martial Way will, and for most Ranked practitioners, what determined the strength of their power was Martial Way will.

Whether punching or palming, they infused it with Martial Way will, far exceeding the power erupted by the flesh itself.

Of course, Lin Chen, who practiced body forging, was an exception.

On the path of body forging, the power the flesh could erupt was no less than Martial Way will; the only flaw was that the improvement was extremely slow.

After leaving the Dan Prefecture, Lin Chen and Dan Dan Muqing rode horses simultaneously, heading toward a mountain range in the central area of Lin Hai Prefecture.

The difference between Lin Hai Prefecture and other prefectures was that the prefecture city was built around a mountain range, and the entire mountain range was guarded by the four great families, not allowing outsiders to enter.

Qingshan Sect!

At the entrance of the mountain range, Lin Chen stopped, looking at a stone tablet ten yards high in front, with three large characters written on it.

Qingshan Sect, disappeared five hundred years ago, leaving behind the sect ruins.

The ancestors of the four great families were all disciples of the Qingshan Sect at that time.

(End of chapter)