HSSB198: A recurring year, performing something major
On Clear Concealed Lake, the battle had finally come to an end. The peak experts of the various Sacred Grounds met up, consolidating all the new information that they had gathered, while also discussing the problem of the Nine Underworlds and the Decimating Abyss a step further.
Although this time’s incident had been resolved, the various Sacred Grounds had all had losses.
The martial practitioners with a lower cultivation base also did not have it free and easy, as they were all communicating and interacting with those they knew.
The younger generation geniuses who had attended the Heavenly Connection Meet earlier were no longer the main characters at this moment.
However, as the core descendants of the various Sacred Grounds whom they groomed with much care, their vision and their knowledge as well as their grasp of the situation far surpassed others of the same age.
Regarding this time’s Nine Underworlds descent, they generally all had their own thoughts on the matter.
Of these, some had died in this incident, and no matter their relationship, as their fellow disciples thought of them, they would inevitably feel desolate.
Of course, their gazes also frequently fell on Yan Zhaoge.
Currently looking at Yan Zhaoge, the crowd of young geniuses all had complicated feelings within their hearts.
Even though he had shone brightly in the Heavenly Connection Meet, even though his talent and strength presided over many, earlier, when looking at Yan Zhaoge, it had not been any different from looking at themselves.
Yan Zhaoge’s brilliance had caused many to, amidst their admiration, think to want to chase him with all their might, contending with him once more in the future.
However, after coming to know everything that had happened, many of them gradually had changes in their thoughts.
There seemed to be a division between them and Yan Zhaoge, who no longer seemed to be the same type of person as them.
While he was still a Martial Scholar, he was able to resolve a problem that many Martial Grandmasters also might not be able to solve.
Such a person’s performance in the Heavenly Connection Meet earlier then seemed like it was only totally natural.
It was even to the point that the sparring between members of the same generation in the Heavenly Connection Meet might actually have been insufficient in displaying Yan Zhaoge’s brilliance.
The young geniuses who thought thus were all silent for a time, innumerable thoughts springing up their minds as they wrestled with a feeling that was hard to explain.
Many people placed their attention on the Nine Underworlds and the Decimating Abyss, on Yan Zhaoge, to the point that very few noticed that a person who shouldn’t even have appeared on Clear Concealed Lake had also come here.
A handsome youth, his expression quiet, his gaze piercing, in the garb of a core, direct disciple of the Heavenly Thunder Hall.
The son of the Heavenly Thunder Hall’s First Seat Elder Lin Tianfeng, a Heaven’s favoured son of the Heavenly Thunder Hall’s younger generation, hailed as one of the Four Young Masters alongside Yan Zhaoge, Huang Jie, and Song Chao, the Thunder Rumbling Young Master, Lin Zhou!
His face was rather pale as he appeared weak.
Having been injured by Yan Zhaoge earlier, then forced to use the Blood Transforming Streaking Light Jade to activate a forbidden art to escape, Lin Zhou had suffered a huge blow to his vitality which had not completely recovered even now.
Therefore, in this time’s Heavenly Connection Meet, like Yan Shan, Lin Zhou had also not participated in it.
That’s not to mention the matter of Jade Sea City’s direct lineage martial art, One Line Edge, for which they had always been wanting to find trouble for Lin Zhou.
Although the Heavenly Thunder Hall had supplied the vital information on the Nine Underworlds this time, letting Jade Sea City at least to be indebted to them a little, not pressing him so tightly, Lin Zhou himself still avoided appearing before the eyes of Jade Sea City’s bigwigs as much as possible.
However, for this time’s surrounding and capturing of Decimating Abyss experts, Lin Zhou had still secretly travelled alongside the Heavenly Thunder Hall experts in secret, coming to Clear Concealed Lake.
Him coming here was not for the Heavenly Connection Meet, not for the Nine Underworlds nor the Decimating Abyss, and also not to seek revenge on Yan Zhaoge.
Lin Zhou was here for another person.
From far, far away, concealing himself, Lin Zhou gazed far into the distance, at the figure of a girl who had already returned to the side of Jade Sea City’s experts.
Seeing the other full of injuries, a pained look appeared in Lin Zhou’s eyes, but seeing that she was still basically fine, he let out a breath of relief, “Jingwan, it’s good that you are alright…”
Lin Zhou gazed at Li Jingwan sentimentally, only recovering after a long time as he sighed, “A pity, you don’t recognise me now. Originally, we were supposed to have met during this Heavenly Connection Meet.”
Thinking about the Heavenly Connection Meet, Lin Zhou’s face darkened as his gaze swept past Yan Zhaoge’s figure.
In order to avoid arousing attention, his gaze swept past him immediately, not lingering, but Yan Zhaoge’s figure was still firmly etched within his mind.
“While you, Yan Zhaoge-your life should originally have come to an end here at Clear Concealed Lake…”
Lin Zhou closed his eyes, sucking in a deep breath, “The encroachment of the Decimating Abyss is indeed great, with them also being proficient at concealing themselves. I exposed the identities of some of them in order to force them to change their plans, making it so those more deeply concealed had to reveal themselves. Otherwise, if the matter of Clear Concealed Lake had gone smoothly, they would still have continued hiding amongst the Sacred Grounds.”
“This means that this time’s Clear Concealed Lake incident was only a beginning, and they still have a larger plan.”
Thinking till here, Lin Zhou frowned.
In seizing the initiative this time, he and the Heavenly Thunder Hall could originally not only quell the chaos of the Decimating Abyss, but also receive benefits and remuneration from the other five Sacred Grounds.
However, because of the counterplan of the Decimating Abyss, things had swung greatly and they had very nearly failed.
Finally, it had been Yan Zhaoge who rose up against the raging waves, deciding the matter with a single stroke.
This way, while the others still had to thank the Heavenly Thunder Hall, many would believe that Yan Zhaoge had played a greater role.
The debts of gratitude of the other Sacred Grounds to the Heavenly Thunder Hall would immediately decrease by a lot.
Lin Zhou slowly opened his eyes, his eyelids lowered as his gaze was calm and without fluctuations, “This time, was only a beginning!”
The people of the Sacred Sun Clan were similarly also focused on Yan Zhaoge.
Broad Creed Mountain’s younger generation having produced such a figure, the Sacred Sun Clan couldn’t help but attach more importance to it.
Moreover, pursuing the root of the matter, the previous War of the Eastern Tang, as well as Infinite Boundless Mountain falling out with the Heavenly Thunder Hall over the Thunder Element Revival Art and the Giant Spirit Magnetite vein and finally allying itself with Broad Creed Mountain and Jade Sea City, thereby becoming their enemy, none of this could be separated from Yan Zhaoge.
The Sacred Sun Clan’s higher-up who had been in charge of ambushing the Decimating Abyss experts this time was precisely the Twilight Lord of the Seven Reigning Suns.
Earlier, the Sacred Sun Clan’s Elder who had accompanied Tang Yonghao, Huang Jie and the others over to Clear Concealed Lake to participate in the Heavenly Connection Meet had been the Dawn Lord, also of the Seven Reigning Suns.
At the same time, the Dawn Lord had also been the Decimating Abyss Organisation’s spy in the Sacred Sun Clan.
In the end, in the great battle earlier, the Dawn Lord had been personally slain by the Twilight Lord.
The Twilight Lord’s expression was completely calm and still as he only silently looked at Yan Zhaoge in the distance.
In the Eastern Tang, he had previously tried to kill Yan Zhoage, but eventually was instead countered by Broad Creed Mountain. Not only having failed to kill, he even suffered consecutive heavy injuries at the hands of Shi Tie and Yan Di.
After looking for a while, without even turning back his head, the Twilight Lord sent a sound transmission with his aura-qi to Huang Jie behind him, “You specifically made a trip to Clear Concealed Lake, and have seen what you wanted to see. What are your thoughts?”
Behind him, the serene and quiet youth did not answer his question, only saying, “My second recurring year is soon arriving.”
While the words had no head or tail, the Twilight Lord understood the meaning within.
Because he was one of the very few who understood the youth behind him.
“Usually being low-key is fine, but recurring years should be a little special, performing something major to commemorate the occasion.”
These were words that Huang Jie had said.
What few people knew was that in his first recurring year, at the mere age of twelve, Huang Jie had been confirmed as the Sacred Sun Clan’s next Chief.
This made it such that the position of the Sacred Sun Clan’s Chief would have been consecutively held for three generations by the Huang Family, virtually as though it had been inherited.
However, the core experts of the Sacred Sun Clan at its highest echelons had unanimously supported this decision.
[1] There are twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac, and every twelve years, you get back to the year of the animal that you were born in. Hence recurring year.