Chapter 351

Linhu Village.

Lin Chen returned to his private courtyard and took out the Martial Way Mountain Seal from his bosom.

He had not been to Martial Way Mountain for several months and should report his safety to the seniors of the Canglan Sect.

With a thought.

Lin Chen appeared on the steps of Martial Way Mountain.

【Name: Lin Chen】

【Sect: Canglan Sect】

【Martial Way Mountain Ranking: 40,000】

【Points: 40,000】

Glancing at his ranking, Lin Chen recalled the experience of crazy challenges in Lihuo; it was truly like walking a tightrope on a cliff—if he had failed even once, he would have turned to ashes by now.

Composing his emotions, Lin Chen moved his mind and chose to challenge.

……

……

Han Guo, Imperial Palace.

"Second Lin Lin Shixiong, the Han Guo royal family is hosting a banquet for us; are you going?"

"Lin Lin Shidi, you go; I won't be going."

Wei Yichen refused.

Several junior brothers came to this desolate island to satisfy their vanity, because their cultivation stages wouldn't even rank as geniuses in the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao, but coming to this desolate place, they were top-tier geniuses.

But he was different; he was the sect's number one genius and had already entered the top 40,000 of Martial Way Mountain. Although he had fallen out several times before, this time he had fought his way back into the top 40,000.

He followed several elders to this desolate place just to see if he could discover some innate energy.

The Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao was vast and rich in resources, with plenty of innate energy, but these places that nurtured innate energy were already controlled by various sects and family forces; with their sect's strength, they were only allocated one spot.

After his junior brothers left, Wei Yichen was preparing to cultivate when his brows twitched the next moment, and a Martial Way Seal appeared in his hand.

Someone was challenging him on Martial Way Mountain.

……

Martial Way Mountain Battle Plain.

As soon as Wei Yichen's figure appeared, he saw his opponent point a finger.

Afterwards, he heard a whistling sound and saw an ice-blue giant finger constantly enlarging in his pupils, finally pressing down fiercely.

From beginning to end, he didn't even have time to resist; by the time his vision recovered, he had already returned to the steps of Martial Way Mountain.

"Was that just now the Canglan Finger of the Canglan Sect?"

Wei Yichen gasped heavily; the shock that finger brought him was so intense that he still felt lingering fear even now.

"As expected of a disciple of the Canglan Sect; it is not something that disciples of our small sects can compare to."

Amidst the heart palpitations, there was envy in Wei Yichen's eyes. The martial artists on these desolate islands looked at them with envy, but when they looked at disciples of major sects like the Canglan Sect in the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao, wasn't it the same?

For Lin Chen, that battle just now didn't even count as a warm-up; after defeating his opponent, he immediately chose to enter the next match.

……

Martial Way Mountain.

The man responsible for watching the jade stele saw the name appearing on the fifth line on the jade stele, and his eyes lit up.

This Lin Chen had appeared again.

Since he last saw Lin Chen win tens of thousands of matches in a row without choosing to challenge across rankings, he had told the Canglan Sect about this to earn a favor.

The Canglan Sect had asked him to keep an eye on Lin Chen's ranking; although he didn't understand why the Canglan Sect would make such a request, he was very willing to be able to make the Canglan Sect owe him a favor.

Thus, he watched Lin Chen win all the way to 40,000th place.

He was even more confused in his heart: the Canglan Sect already knew Lin Chen's situation, yet they still let Lin Chen waste time challenging one by one.

But two months ago, Lin Chen suddenly stopped challenging on Martial Way Mountain, and the Canglan Sect sent another message asking him to help see if Lin Chen would appear on Martial Way Mountain again later.

He didn't understand this operation by the Canglan Sect.

Unless Lin Chen was a disciple of the Canglan Sect who had been left outside, and the Canglan Sect still hadn't made contact with him until now.

But was this possible?

A disciple left outside, without the resources of the Canglan Sect, could make such rapid progress in the ranking of Martial Way Mountain?

"Forget it, I'd better notify the Canglan Sect."

……

……

Canglan Sect.

When Gao Zeming received the news from Martial Way Mountain again, his whole person was stunned.

More than two months had passed, and in his heart, Lin Chen was already dead.

He had also learned from Qin Yan how difficult it was to practice the Wujin Shenxiang Jue.

Under normal circumstances, practicing this art was very difficult, and it was hard to succeed without trying several times, let alone Lin Chen, who hadn't even received the inheritance of the technique; wanting to succeed in one go was as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Du Zhanglao hadn't asked him about Lin Chen afterwards; presumably, Du Zhanglao also believed that the possibility of Lin Chen being able to practice the Wujin Shenxiang Body was infinitely small.

After being stunned, Gao Zeming immediately headed towards Du Zhanglao's private courtyard.

"Du Zhanglao, good news."

Before entering the courtyard gate, Gao Zeming spoke excitedly, only to find that besides Du Zhanglao, two other elders were also present after he entered the courtyard.

"This disciple greets Elder Zhao and Elder Qu."

"Is something the matter?"

Du Xiaofeng looked at Gao Zeming. Gao Zeming glanced at the other two elders and didn't speak immediately. Du Zhanglao had the intention of taking Lin Chen as a disciple; if he said this in front of Elder Zhao and the other, he was afraid these two elders would also be tempted.

After pondering for a long time, Gao Zeming said: "Elder Zhao, the Lin Chen you asked this disciple to pay attention to last time is currently challenging on Martial Way Mountain."

Du Xiaofeng's old eyes shrank, and the next moment they narrowed slightly.

"Lin Chen? Old Du, when did you start paying attention to sect disciples?" Zhao Yulin on the side asked with a chuckle.

"A good seedling I discovered not long ago; I had the intention of taking him as a disciple."

Du Xiaofeng answered with a smile. Hearing this, Zhao Yulin and the other Elder Qu looked at each other. Seedlings that could be valued by elders like them were not ordinary geniuses.

Did the sect have such a genius disciple named Lin Chen? It seemed he hadn't heard of it.

"The two of you don't guess anymore; this Lin Chen hasn't entered the sect yet. I also discovered this little guy's potential was not bad when I was walking outside by chance, but whether to take him as a disciple depends on the subsequent improvement of his martial way strength."

Du Xiaofeng explained, then looked at Gao Zeming: "If I remember correctly, that Lin Chen entered the top 40,000 of the Martial Way last time; what is his ranking now?"

"Currently, he is ranked over 38,000." "Over 38,000; this growth in strength is not considered fast, but considering he is only eighteen, we can observe him a bit more."

Gao Zeming listened to Du Zhanglao's words and looked at Du Zhanglao's understated tone, and he also gave Du Zhanglao a thumbs up in his heart.

As expected of Du Zhanglao, these lies came out of his mouth, and he didn't even reveal any flaws.

No, it couldn't be called a lie.

What Du Zhanglao said was all true; Lin Chen was indeed only eighteen, and it was indeed only 40,000th place not long ago. This ranking and age naturally didn't count for much in the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao.

But Du Zhanglao hid the three most critical pieces of news.

Lin Chen was born in a desolate place of the Martial Way.

Lin Chen is currently on a winning streak of over 60,000 matches on Martial Way Mountain; 38,000th place is not Lin Chen's strength limit.

Lin Chen succeeded in practicing the Wujin Shenxiang Jue in one go.

Du Zhanglao came up with such vague wording. Even if Elder Zhao and Elder Qu came to reason with Du Zhanglao afterwards, Du Zhanglao wouldn't be afraid, because what Du Zhanglao said was all true.

Zhao Yulin and Elder Qu exchanged glances again, and smiles appeared on their faces. Old Du hadn't received any good seedlings in these years; he was a bit anxious, even taking a fancy to a little guy who hadn't even entered the top 10,000 on Martial Way Mountain.

"Don't think that I have lowered the standard for taking disciples. I tell you, I haven't given Lin Chen any cultivation resources. He was able to walk to this step entirely by relying on his own martial way comprehension."

Du Xiaofeng snorted, with dissatisfaction on his face. Zhao Yulin laughed: "Old Du, the two of us didn't mean to mock you. According to what you said, this Lin Chen is indeed not bad. Why not take him as a disciple directly? With the treatment our Canglan Sect gives to direct disciples, it should be able to let him break through to the Innate Stage one step earlier."

"Let me ponder on it."

Seeing Du Zhanglao show a thoughtful look, and seeing the hypocritical smiles of Elder Zhao and Elder Qu, Gao Zeming couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Du Zhanglao was playing Elder Zhao and the other around; when Elder Zhao and the other knew the truth, they were afraid they wouldn't be able to laugh then.

"What is there to ponder? Since you value him, then take him; you aren't only taking one direct disciple."

Zhao Yulin urged again. If Old Du took a direct disciple, he would have one less competitor for the top few disciples in the inner sect this year.

"Alright."

After a long while, Du Xiaofeng also had a resolute look on his face: "Since that's the case, I will take this Lin Chen as a direct disciple."

"Haha, Lin Lin Shixiong Du has character." Elder Qu on the side also flattered him.

He and Zhao Yulin had the same thoughts.

"It's rare to have such a happy event today; why not go to the Registration Hall to settle this matter."

Du Xiaofeng heard Zhao Yulin's words and knew that this old thing had no good intentions, fearing that he would go back on his word afterwards, wanting to drag him to the Registration Hall to register Lin Chen in the direct disciple roster; in this way, he wouldn't be able to go back on it.

It was just that who was calculating whom, he didn't know yet; he hoped that when this old thing knew Lin Chen's true potential, he would still be able to laugh then.

"Elder Zhao..."

Gao Zeming looked at Elder Zhao, who was pressing step by step on the surface but was actually falling into Du Zhanglao's trap, and he also sighed in his heart. When Lin Chen came to the Canglan Sect, he was afraid Elder Zhao's intestines would turn green with regret, and even if other elders disagreed, Du Zhanglao could still use Elder Zhao to retort.

Who said that elders were all kind-hearted? This heart was much more than these disciples.

……

……

Half an hour later, under the confused farewell of the deacon of the Registration Hall, the three elders including Du Xiaofeng walked out of the hall.

"Old Du, you've received a good disciple; do you want to set up a banquet to celebrate?"

"Wait until Lin Chen arrives at the sect before talking."

Du Xiaofeng kept a straight face and waved his hand: "I still have things to do, so I'll withdraw first."

Watching Du Xiaofeng's departing figure, Elder Qu looked at Zhao Yulin: "Zhao Jingchuan, I'm afraid Lin Lin Shixiong Du has come to his senses now and is quite dissatisfied in his heart."

"Hahaha, so what if he has come to his senses? This matter is already a foregone conclusion. Instead, Lin Lin Shidi Qu, there are several good seedlings in the inner sect this year; that disciple Qiao Yuan, Lin Lin Shidi Qu, don't fight with me."

"Zhao Jingchuan, when we elders take direct disciples, we also have to consider the disciple's own intentions; I can't make the decision on this matter."

Elder Qu didn't respond directly. What a joke, Qiao Yuan ranked third among the three thousand inner sect disciples, and the two in front already had masters. How many elders were eyeing Qiao Yuan? Even he was tempted; how could he give up easily?

……

Du Xiaofeng returned to his private courtyard. Gao Zeming was still waiting here. He knew that after Du Zhanglao returned, he would definitely summon him; since that was the case, it was better to wait here.

"This elder has already taken Lin Chen as a direct disciple. Lin Chen is on a desolate island, and I am not easy to go there personally, so you take those two disciples and go pick Lin Chen up."

"Yes."

Gao Zeming agreed. As for the two disciples Du Zhanglao mentioned, they were naturally Qin Yan and Gu Kong.

Du Zhanglao was completely driving the three of them who knew the truth out of the sect. In this way, even if other elders knew about Du Zhanglao taking a disciple and suspected there was something fishy and wanted to investigate, they wouldn't be able to find anyone to investigate.

Of course, Gao Zeming also knew that Du Zhanglao wouldn't treat the three of them badly.

"If this matter is done well, this elder will have a heavy reward."

……

On Martial Way Mountain, Lin Chen challenged continuously for three days and defeated thousands of opponents, but unfortunately, he never encountered a disciple of the Canglan Sect again.

Finally, he simply ignored it and focused on improving his ranking on Martial Way Mountain, striving to enter the top 10,000 as soon as possible.

Yan Guo.

Princess Mansion.

Murong Shuang looked at her two younger sisters. Among the princesses of this generation of the royal family, there were only two younger sisters who hadn't married yet.

"Mother received a message from Aunt, wanting the two younger sisters to go to the Han Guo Imperial Palace."

"Why let us go to the Han Guo Imperial Palace at this time?"

Murong Xin was very puzzled, while Murong Yan on the side was thoughtful, raised her eyes and asked: "Fourth Sister, does it have anything to do with the people coming from the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao?"

"Hmm, Little Sister, you guessed right. This time, the people coming from the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao are a sect called the Jiuque Sect. This time, besides four elders, the Jiuque Sect also brought four young disciples."

"Aunt mentioned in the letter that those four young disciples of the Jiuque Sect are all under twenty years old, one of whom is in the Fourth Rank stage, and the other three are also in the Fifth Rank stage."

Hearing this, Murong Xin's eyes lit up: "Under twenty years old and already a Fifth Rank martial artist, and there's one who stepped into the Fourth Rank? This... isn't this crushing our Nine Nations' geniuses?"

After Murong Xin finished speaking, her gaze looked at Murong Yan: "That Lin Chen was only Seventh Rank a few months ago, right?"

Murong Yan didn't answer her Fifth Sister's question. Lin Chen's strength was known to all Nine Nations. In the ranking tournament that was disbanded halfway a few months ago, he revealed the strength of a Seventh Rank martial artist.

She had already guessed Aunt's intention and understood why Fourth Sister came to find her and Fifth Sister.

Currently, only she and Fifth Sister were unmarried. Aunt wanted her and Fifth Sister to have contact with the disciples of the Jiuque Sect.

Among the four elders of the Jiuque Sect, two of them were said to be existences beyond the First Rank, enough to change the pattern of the entire Nine Nations.

"Fourth Sister, I won't go."

Murong Yan shook her head and refused. Murong Shuang sighed in her heart when she heard this. It seemed that Little Sister was not just a little tempted by Lin Chen, not only because of the potential Lin Chen revealed, but because of Lin Chen himself.

"Fifth Sister, what about you?"

"I'll go."

(End of chapter)