Chapter 524: Heartless Conditions
Lin Feng was coldly staring at Duan Wu Ya.
It was all about face, the Imperial City Clan only cared about their own prestige, they didn’t care about Xin Ye.
“I would like to ask you, if I hadn’t saved Xin Ye, what would have happened?” Asked Lin Feng in an ice-cold tone which surprised Duan Wu Ya. She would have died, or even if somebody else had saved her, the humiliation would have been the same, they would either lose face or lose the princess.
“Shouldn’t you go and find out who really gave the poison to her instead of groundlessly accusing me? Besides, attaching importance to a concept such as face is useless, you can’t change what happened. Do you think that if you kill me, you will regain the prestige you lost? Have you thought about Xin Ye?” Shouted Lin Feng furiously. Duan Wu Ya couldn’t refute Lin Feng’s words.
“What you mean is that we should let you off that easily?” Said Yue Tian Ming.
“Shut the hell up.” Shouted Lin Feng. He then added: “You have nothing to say here! Nobody gives a shit about your crappy marriage agreement! I’ve already told you, Xin Ye is mine. Even if the incident of yesterday evening had never happened, she would have still remained mine and only mine!”
Yue Tian Ming pulled a long face, he hated Lin Feng, he hated him so much! And Lin Feng wasn’t even giving him face.
Besides, for Yue Tian Ming, it was more embarrassing that his own grandfather, Yue Qing Shan had told him to stop blocking Lin Feng. He didn’t want him to directly oppose Lin Feng.
His grandfather, by doing that, had implied that Yue Tian Ming wasn’t a match for Lin Feng.
When Duan Wu Ya heard Lin Feng’s aggressive tone of speech, he remained silent for a long time and then said: “How do you want to solve the problem then?”
“What do you think? Do you have any ideas?” Asked Lin Feng. Duan Wu Ya probably already had an idea.
“I want you to marry Xin Ye immediately and tell everyone. That is the only solution which will regain our prestige.” Said Duan Wu Ya looking firm.
Yue Tian Ming was astonished, he wanted Lin Feng to immediately marry Duan Xin Ye?! What about the marriage contract!?
Lin Feng looked stupefied for less than a second but immediately returned to normal. That solution was probably the best, killing Lin Feng gave no advantages, it would only cause more damage.
“Let me think.” Replied Lin Feng. He was, of course, going to marry Duan Xin Ye, but time was a problem.
“Think? You need to think?? My sister’s reputation has been tarnished! Everybody knows about what happened! And you’re still thinking of a way to flee from your responsibility?! Lin Feng, give me your answer immediately.” Said Duan Wu Ya looked firm and tenacious.
“I will marry Xin Ye.” Said Lin Feng completely certain. He, of course, had to bear that responsibility for his actions. Duan Xin Ye was a princess and he had taken away her virginity, besides, everybody already knew about it. Duan Xin Ye would be considered an easy woman if he didn’t marry her. He had to marry her for her reputation.
“You must marry her, but also quickly!” Said Duan Wu Ya while staring at Lin Feng: “Besides, you have to show to everyone that you are determined. Everybody must know that you are going to marry her.”
Duan Wu Ya continued: “Everybody knows that my sister is not a virgin anymore. If you don’t marry her right away, she will never regain her reputation. Everything is now in your hands, the only solution is for you to show to everybody that you are determined to be with her and quickly, that is the only way for my sister to regain her reputation.”
Lin Feng felt tense and nervous, but Duan Wu Ya was absolutely right.
If he didn’t marry Duan Xin Ye quickly enough, she wouldn’t regain her reputation. Lin Feng had to prove to everybody that he wanted to be with Duan Xin Ye, but also that he was the perfect man for her. He had to impress everyone and show them that he had what it took to marry a princess, however, how could he do that? How could he prove that he had what was required to marry her?
“Brother, you are so mean to Lin Feng, I don’t care if he doesn’t want to marry me, it doesn’t matter!” Said Duan Xin Ye while running out of her residence. If Lin Feng was willing to marry her, that was already enough. She would be happy to share everything with him. Initially, she didn’t even want to be his first wife, she just wanted to stay by his side. She didn’t care about prestige or reputation.
“Xin Ye, you have nothing to say here. We’re not talking to you.” Said Duan Wu Ya aggressively.
Considering Duan Wu Ya’s behaviour and statements, it seemed like he had planned everything from the beginning… Lin Feng then asked: “Your Highness, tell me, how I can prove it to everyone then.”
“I want you to participate in the Great Competition of Xue Yu and become the glory of Xue Yue, you must show everyone the power of our country. Then you must return and marry my sister.” Said Duan Wu Ya slowly. Then he added: “You, Lin Feng, must participate in the Great Competition of Xue Yu and place amongst the top ten participants, but not at the bottom of the list, only ninth place or above. Otherwise, it would be better for you to die in the competition, there would be no need to return, my sister can’t marry someone who is not worthy.”
“Brother, you’re asking too much! That’s too exaggerated!” Shouted Duan Xin Ye. It would be extremely difficult to finish in the top nine.
Lin Feng was from Xue Yue and it was just a small and normal country amongst the thirteen countries of Xue Yu. There were four empires and nine countries, and they all had extremely strong cultivators participating. Those chosen to participate in the Great Competition of Xue Yu were all the strongest cultivators from those countries. If all those countries had chosen only their strongest cultivator, there would have been thirteen powerhouses. In that case, Lin Feng would have to beat several powerhouses to reach the top nine.
In other words, Lin Feng had to defeat several cultivators, who might be stronger than the crown prince of Xue Yue, finishing in the top nine would be extremely difficult.
Besides, Duan Wu Ya was saying that if Lin Feng failed, he should die abroad, during the Great Competition of Xue Yu.
“I’m not done talking.” Said Duan Wu Ya indifferently which made Duan Xin Ye feel even more tense. He wasn’t done? Wasn’t all of this enough already?
“The one who wants to marry my sister must be the strongest cultivator in Xue Yue. After finishing amongst the nine best cultivators of Xue Yu, I want you to return and become the first high-official of Xue Yue. That is the only way for you to prove to everyone that you are worthy, and for people to respect and admire you. Then, you will be able to marry my sister, then we will regain our prestige and nobody will be able to say a word in retort.”
Duan Wu Ya’s words made everybody shiver, his requirements were extremely high. Duan Wu Ya’s requirements were extremely difficult and cruel.
The Great Competition of Xue Yu was a true competition between geniuses, Lin Feng was only eighteen years old, finishing in the top nine would be difficult. Besides, that wasn’t enough, Duan Wu Ya wanted him to become the first high-official of Xue Yue which meant that Duan Wu Ya was asking him to… Defeat Duan Wu Dao, the crown prince! Nobody in Xue Yue was allowed to be stronger than Lin Feng, that was the requirement.
Nobody could imagine such things from a young man like Lin Feng but Duan Wu Ya was saying that Lin Feng had to achieve them.
Yue Tian Ming was also scared by Duan Wu Ya’s requests, he also thought that finishing amongst the top nine cultivators of the Great Competition of Xue Yu was extremely difficult.
Duan Wu Dao, the crown prince, killed anyone who offends him, but he is good to those who don’t. He had been the first high-official of Xue Yue for a long time. Nobody had ever surpassed him. Yue Tian Ming was also aware that he would be unable to match Duan Wu Dao. Duan Wu Ya wanted him to defeat Duan Wu Dao and become the first high-official, that was almost impossible.
“Brother, how can you be that cruel to Lin Feng?” Said Duan Xin Ye, she was extremely worried Duan Wu Ya’s requests were almost impossible.
“If he can’t do those things, why should he be allowed to marry you?” Said Duan Wu Ya while shaking his head and staring at Lin Feng.
At that moment, Lin Feng looked puzzled, what did Duan Wu Ya mean with those requirements? What was his goal?
If he finished amongst the top cultivators in the Great Competition of Xue Yu, he would definitely return to Xue Yue as a glorious hero, defeating Duan Wu Dao however was extremely complicated, but if he managed to do that, nobody would dare disrespect him.
“Is there a time limit for the second request?” Asked Lin Feng.
“You have one year to marry my sister.” Said Duan Wu Ya. Lin Feng had only one year to do it!
The Great Competition of Xue Yu would start soon, so it would, of course, not require one year to complete. However, Lin Feng also had to become the first high-official in the same year.
One could also understand, from Duan Wu Ya’s tone of speech and behaviour, that becoming the first high-official of Xue Yue was even more difficult than finishing in the top nine of the Great Competition. What Duan Wu Ya seemed to think was that Duan Wu Dao, his brother, was even stronger than the people who finished in the top nine of the Great Competition of Xue Yu. At least, Duan Wu Ya thought so, he had faith in his brother.
Even if Lin Feng finished in the top nine, he would still be very far from being able to compete with Duan Wu Dao.
“I have no choice, right?” Said Lin Feng.
“Indeed, no choice.” Said Duan Wu Ya while shaking his head.
Lin Feng remained silent for a moment and then grabbed Duan Xin Ye’s hand, he then said: “I’m going somewhere with Duan Xin Ye for a few days.”
“Where?”
“The Lovesick Forest.” Replied Lin Feng calmly. Duan Wu Ya nodded and said: “No problem, bring her back in a few days time. I don’t want the same things, which happened in the past, to happen again.”
Lin Feng remained silent, he obviously understood that Duan Wu Ya was talking about the fact that Yue Meng He and Lin Hai left Xue Yue, but the result was Lin Hai’s cultivation was sealed and he was unable to enter the Imperial City. Because of what had happened eighteen years before, Lin Hai had to hide in the Lovesick Forest.