Chapter 357: Qu Qu Guanfu: Du Du Xiaofeng, That Old Rascal

Mount Dengwudao.

Zhao An stared at the name ranked fourth on the jade tablet, his expression complex.

Lin Chen!

This name first appeared at the very bottom of the jade tablet; his series of challenges piqued my curiosity, even prompting me to send a message to Canglan Sect as a warning.

Now that he has climbed into the top four, I have witnessed step by step as his name rose.

The three names ranked above him on the jade tablet are super prodigies known throughout the Yan Emperor's realm, each with over five thousand consecutive victories among ten thousand challengers.

Yet even these two have never achieved ninety thousand consecutive victories since first entering Mount Dengwudao.

"Canglan Sect has produced another super prodigy."

In the Yan Emperor's realm, any cultivator who enters the top three of Mount Dengwudao's jade tablet is recognized as a prodigy.

…

Canglan Sect.

Xing Xing Youning descended from Mount Dengwudao, left his courtyard immediately, fell into deep thought for a while, then headed toward the Elder Hall.

As an inner sect disciple, Xing Xing Youning had the privilege to request an audience with the Elders.

"Disciple Xing Xing Youning seeks an audience with the Elder—I have urgent news to report."

Outside the Elder Hall, Xing Xing Youning stood respectfully until a voice from within said, "Enter," whereupon he stepped inside.

Inside the Elder Hall, three Elders were present; facing their gazes, Du Du Xiaofeng felt pressure and did not delay, quickly saying, "Disciple encountered Du Zhanglao's personal disciple, Lin Chen, my junior brother."

At these words, two of the three Elders looked puzzled—Du Zhanglao had only three personal disciples, and none was named Lin Chen.

"Two elder brothers, I am aware of this matter. Just recently, when I was with Zhao Jingchuan in Brother Du's courtyard, we heard that this Lin Chen has not yet joined our sect—he was encountered by Brother Du outside, and Brother Du judged his potential to be excellent and wished to take him as a personal disciple."

Qu Qu Guanfu smiled and said, "Under Zhao Jingchuan's persuasion, Brother Du finally decided on this matter, even going to the Name Registration Hall to register Lin Chen's name under his own."

"Oh? If Brother Du took notice of him, and Zhao Jingchuan had to persuade him, this Lin Chen's potential must be considerable."

"Decent. Just over half a month ago, Lin Chen was ranked forty thousandth on Mount Dengwudao."

Forty thousandth?

At this, the great hall fell silent for several breaths.

Xing Xing Youning's pupils contracted sharply, disbelief flashing in his eyes—Senior Qu would not lie; this meant his junior brother Lin Chen had been ranked forty thousandth on Mount Dengwudao just a month ago, and now, in barely a month, he had surged into the top ten thousand.

This rate of rank advancement was terrifying—even Lin Lin Shixiong and the others hadn't risen this fast.

The two Elders above, hearing Qu Qu Guanfu's words, immediately deduced what had happened.

Zhao Jingchuan had used provocation to push Brother Du into taking Lin Chen as a disciple; only under pressure had Brother Du accepted him—otherwise, a rank of forty thousandth would never have caught their attention.

As for why Zhao Jingchuan did this, the motive was easy to guess: the sect's Grand Competition was approaching, and each Grand Competition was when Elders took disciples. Brother Du had already taken one personal disciple, so he could not take another; thus, Zhao Jingchuan eliminated one rival.

Not every Elder takes disciples during each Grand Competition. Take the two of us—we each took a personal disciple in the last two cycles, so we won't take any this time. Thus, Zhao Jingchuan's only rivals this cycle are Du Zhanglao and a few others.

Oh yes, even you, Lin Lin Shidi Qu.

I suspect you, Lin Lin Shidi Qu, were not innocent either—you secretly aided Zhao Jingchuan in goading Brother Du into taking Lin Chen as a disciple.

"Brother Du, such a seasoned and unyielding man—he naturally chooses disciples well."

The Elder who spoke noticed Xing Xing Youning was still present and immediately corrected his wording.

"If you wish to report on Lin Chen, you should go to Du Zhanglao."

Qu Qu Guanfu smiled at Xing Xing Youning: "I'm sure Du Zhanglao would be glad to hear your report on Lin Chen."

"I originally intended to seek out Du Zhanglao, but then I realized Lin Chen's matter is of great importance—it must be reported to the sect."

At these words, Qu Qu Guanfu and the other two Elders looked puzzled—how could a personal disciple be of "great importance"?

"Senior Zhao just said Lin Chen was ranked forty thousandth on Mount Dengwudao, but I am ranked nine thousand nine hundred ninety-seventh. When I encountered Lin Chen, I chose to surrender voluntarily—his current rank has now entered the top ten thousand."

Qu Qu Guanfu's smile faded slowly as Xing Xing Youning spoke; the other two Elders also showed keen interest.

Forty thousandth and ten thousandth are two entirely different tiers.

Anyone entering the top ten thousand on Mount Dengwudao is already worthy of our attention as Elders.

"Is it because Lin Chen is Du Zhanglao's personal disciple that you surrendered voluntarily? Trying to curry favor with Du Zhanglao?"

The lead Elder seized another point and his expression darkened.

Xing Xing Youning immediately realized the Elder had misunderstood him and hurried to explain: "I did not surrender to flatter Du Zhanglao—I surrendered because Lin Chen challenged me out of urgent need to seek the sect's aid; after I inquired about his consecutive victory record on Mount Dengwudao, I chose to surrender."

"How many consecutive victories has Lin Chen achieved on Mount Dengwudao?"

Compared to the plea for aid, the Elders now cared far more about this.

"According to Lin Chen himself, since entering Mount Dengwudao, he has never lost a match—before encountering me, he had ninety thousand consecutive victories."

Gasp!

The atmosphere in the great hall froze. Qu Qu Guanfu's lips twitched uncontrollably—he had been deceived.

He and Zhao Jingchuan had both been tricked by Brother Du.

It wasn't they who goaded Brother Du into taking Lin Chen—it was the old man's cunning, using their words to lock in Lin Chen's status as his personal disciple.

They thought they were the hunters, but they were the prey.

The other two Elders, seeing Qu Qu Guanfu's expression, sighed inwardly—no wonder Brother Du was so crafty.

Zhao Jingchuan and Lin Lin Shidi Qu thought they could gain advantage over Brother Du—they were still too young.

Ninety thousand consecutive victories. Entered the top ten thousand.

This disciple is definitely worth taking.

Xing Xing Youning was observing the three Elders' expressions—he knew nothing of the affairs between Qu and Du, but seeing their reactions were not overly excited, he continued: "The reason I say this matter is of great importance is because this Lin Chen is not from within the Yan Emperor's realm—he comes from a remote overseas island and has never entered the Yan Emperor's realm."

"According to Lin Chen, when he first encountered the power of Li Huo, Du Zhanglao transmitted to him through a sect disciple the Wujin Shenxiang Scripture, promising that if Lin Chen could master this technique, he would take him as a personal disciple."

"Now Lin Chen seeks aid because many Yan Emperor's realm sects have appeared on his remote island; their arrival has disrupted the power balance there and directly threatened Lin Chen's own interests."

Whoosh!

The great hall fell utterly silent for a breath. Then, Xing Xing Youning heard Qu Qu Guanfu's voice, teeth clenched: "Brother Du, what a fine 'discoverer of talent' you are, wandering outside!"

Wandering outside? More like wandering in your dreams.

He also heard the other two Elders speak.

"That old devil is truly deceitful!"

"The old rascal wants to hoard this talent all for himself!"

The three of them knew exactly what the Wujin Shenxiang Scripture was—a technique so rare in Canglan Sect's history that few disciples ever succeeded in mastering it, let alone while immersed in Li Huo, and solely through distant oral transmission from Mount Dengwudao. That Lin Chen succeeded proves his martial talent is extraordinary.

Even without mastering the Wujin Shenxiang Scripture, achieving such results on a remote island where martial cultivation is negligible already proves Lin Chen's potential.

"No, this cannot stand. I will confront Brother Du."

"Lin Lin Shidi Qu, calm down."

The two Elders, seeing Qu Qu Guanfu's rage, quickly tried to stop him.

"Given Brother Du's nature, do you think arguing will help?"

No use!

Qu Qu Guanfu could imagine—should he confront Brother Du, he would gain nothing but mockery and scorn.

"Then let's bring this before the Sect Master."

"That might work."

The lead Elder nodded, but knowing Brother Du as he did, even appealing to the Sect Master would be useless—at least for Qu and Zhao.

But if Qu and Zhao have no chance, that doesn't mean the rest of us don't.

Originally, it was Qu and Zhao who urged Brother Du to take Lin Chen as a disciple—but they never agreed to it. Brother Du, learning of Lin Chen's situation, secretly claimed him as his disciple first—this violates sect rules.

"You said the island where Lin Chen is now has seen the appearance of other Yan Emperor's realm sects—what sects are they?"

"Mostly insignificant sects. I asked Lin Chen their names, but I've never heard of any. I believe that if Lin Chen shows his Canglan Token, none of those sects would dare touch him. But from Lin Chen's tone, he doesn't just want to protect himself and his family—he wants to protect his kingdom too."

Hearing this, the three Elders understood Lin Chen's true purpose in seeking aid.

As a Canglan Sect disciple, his personal safety and that of his family were assured—no sect cultivator would dare harm him. But his kingdom? That was another matter.

A single Canglan Sect disciple—even an inner sect disciple—could not stop these sect cultivators.

After all, among Canglan Sect's three thousand inner disciples, not all reach the Primordial stage, and most spend their entire lives stuck at Primordial Stage One.

The sect would not expend great effort to protect a single ordinary disciple.

Otherwise, with three thousand inner disciples—and disciples from other super sects—each protecting a territory, other sects would have no room to survive.

To earn the sect's protection, one must offer value worthy of its intervention.

Clearly, Lin Chen's demonstrated potential already meets this standard.

"Lin Chen fears that if he claims to be Du Zhanglao's personal disciple, those sects won't believe him—they'll think he's bluffing, right?"

"Yes. That's precisely why Lin Chen sought the sect's aid."

"This is simple."

The lead Elder smiled: "Go back into Mount Dengwudao. Have Lin Chen channel Canglan energy into his Canglan Token, then have him show you the number revealed on the token's reverse engraving. I will personally infuse his Canglan Token with energy—then, when facing those sects, he can simply channel energy into it again."

"Yes, I'll go do it immediately."

Xing Xing Youning nodded and turned to leave the hall—but Qu Qu Guanfu called out to stop him.

"No need to leave. Enter Mount Dengwudao right here."

Seeing the other two Elders nod, Xing Xing Youning wasted no time, pulled out his Mount Dengwudao Seal, and with a thought, entered Mount Dengwudao.

"Zhou Lin Shixiong, no need to trouble you—let me handle the energy infusion into the Canglan Token."

"Lin Lin Shidi Mei, as a sect Elder, helping disciples is my duty—how could it be a bother?"

Nearby, Qu Qu Guanfu listened to the two Elders' words, feeling helpless—he now realized that regardless of whether Lin Chen ultimately became Brother Du's personal disciple, he himself had no chance.

The two senior Elders were already plotting.

For geniuses like Lin Chen, who are nearly at the prodigy level, the sect will consider his own preference when choosing which Elder to take him as a disciple; these two senior brothers hope to win Lin Chen's favor through this opportunity.

The Canglan Orders issued by the sect are not single pieces, but pairs.

The primary Canglan Order is held outside the sect; the secondary one remains within the sect.

Only then can the sect detect when a Canglan Order has been activated—and only if a disciple fails to return to the sect within five years, will they dispatch someone to investigate.

Each Canglan Order bears a unique serial number; once the sect knows the number of the one Lin Chen holds, they can manipulate it through the secondary Canglan Order.

"Brother Mei, I've spent years seeking a successor to carry on my legacy—I humbly beg you to…"

"Zhou Lin Shixiong, last time you took a disciple, you said the exact same thing. So is your successor someone you need to find every time you change your robe?"

…

"Senior Brothers, whether Lin Chen takes one of you as his master should wait until he arrives at the sect—there's no need to argue now."

As the two senior brothers were about to escalate from words to fists, Qu Guan stepped forward to stop them.

After a few minutes, Xing Xing Youning stepped out of Mount Dengwudao.

"Lin Lin Shidi has gone to confirm his serial number; I will enter Mount Dengwudao again shortly."

Fortunately, Mount Dengwudao allows a disciple to challenge the same opponent twice in succession; if exceeded, they may not challenge that person again for a full month.

Again facing the three Elders' eager gazes upon emerging from Mount Dengwudao, Xing Xing Youning said directly: "The engraved number on Lin Lin Shidi's Canglan Order is 7460."

"Good, we understand. You may step down now."

Zhou Zhou Zhifeng nodded slowly: "Keep this quiet. When Lin Chen arrives at the sect, the sect will reward you."

(End of Chapter)