Chapter 984: Balance Disrupted
"Hahaha, Sixth Elder, your praise is really killing me with kindness. I’m just a minor character, where would I have the courage?" Lin Tian laughed and said, "I was forced into it."
"Was your mutual destruction with my elder brother also forced?" the Sixth Elder asked.
Lin Tian gave a light hum and said, "At that time, it was either you die or I live. Wasn’t that forced too? If I hadn’t made a timely breakthrough, I’d already be a dead man. This should be considered an undeserved disaster, right? I don’t recall there being any hatred between your elder brother and me."
"Hehe, but wasn’t the situation too complicated? Who knew your relationship with the Xu Family was so deep? Alright, alright, let’s not talk about this topic anymore. Come with me inside, my elder brother’s been waiting for you a long time." The Sixth Elder said with a smile, knowing that if this topic continued, the young master in front of him might just turn around and leave.
Lin Tian followed up, glanced around, and asked, "Hey, why exactly did your elder brother call me here?"
"Lin, I really don’t know. I’m just my elder brother’s errand boy. You’ll know once you come with me."
He didn’t answer, and Lin Tian couldn’t be bothered to ask further.
Suddenly, Lin Tian took a huge step forward, clenched his fist with his right hand and protruded his middle knuckle, aiming to strike at the Sixth Elder’s spine. If this punch landed, the old man would either be dead or paralyzed.
Though the Sixth Elder was already eighty years old, his sensory awareness was still as sharp as a young man. Hearing the sound of the attack from behind, he quickly turned his body, dodging the blow.
Lin Tian’s assault wasn’t diminished. His left foot lightly tapped the ground and his whole body soared high, his hands gathering at his belly, with only his right leg swinging down like a sharpened steel blade from above.
He was incredibly fast; Nanqiu blinked and almost lost track of Lin Tian’s rhythm, only seeing a fleeting blur of motion.
The Sixth Elder noticed, his pupils contracted sharply, then raised both hands high, using his arms to shield above his head.
Bam!~
Lin Tian’s whiplash leg descended with immense force, impacting onto the Sixth Elder’s arms.
Clatter~
The Sixth Elder staggered back five steps awkwardly before finally steadying his stance.
Meanwhile, Lin Tian took advantage of the counter-force from the leg and flipped back gracefully, landing stably on the ground like a swallow.
Everything happened so fast that Nanqiu didn’t even understand how the two suddenly started fighting. Weren’t they just fine moments ago?
However, what surprised Nanqiu was that despite just two exchanges, her heart was racing, and sweat formed on her forehead. If it had been her, she wouldn’t even have withstood a single move from Lin Tian, she would have ended up on the ground.
Swish swish swish...
Meanwhile, a group of young men dressed in white and wielding three-foot-long swords suddenly leaped from the red-tiled eaves towards them in quick succession.
Whoosh~
A cold gust of wind passed, and the group of white-robed youths simultaneously descended from the eaves, slashing diagonally with their swords, their tips pointing towards Lin Tian’s vital points, ready for battle.
Seeing this, Nanqiu’s heart raced once more, as if witnessing the flourishing scenes of ancient martial prosperity, secretly wishing she could have such Lightweight Skill.
However, that thought only flickered through her mind briefly, for there was still a deadly battle in front of her!
Lin Tian crossed his arms over his chest and, looking at the twelve dazzling swords before him, laughed and asked, "Yo, judging by your stance, are you playing house?"
The one leading with a sword was a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, around thirty years old. Hearing Lin Tian’s mocking words, he said solemnly, "We are the Eastern Twelve Swords. Young man, prepare to die!"
As soon as he finished, the young man’s sword shook and stabbed forward. Simultaneously, the eleven people behind him moved, brandishing their swords and closing in on Lin Tian.
Suddenly, a powerful voice rang out, "Retreat, all of you!"
Swish~
Those imposing swords simultaneously halted their offensive as the twelve, despite their reluctance, dared not disobey the Elder’s words.
Lin Tian squinted and said with a smile, "No problem, they can’t hurt me anyway. It’s a good chance for me to see how strong your Alliance is."
"You jest, Lin," the Sixth Elder waved his hand and shouted, "Withdraw at once, this is a guest invited by the Grand Elder, do not be rude."
"But..."
"Withdraw!"
"Yes!"
After the twelve white-clothed figures retreated, Lin Tian laughed and said, "I just made two killer moves on you, and you just let me off like that?"
The Sixth Elder wasn’t angry; he dusted off his sleeve and said, "You are a Golden Core expert, able to fight my elder brother to a draw. If you really wanted to kill me, I wouldn’t have any chance to resist, the intent to probe was too obvious."
Lin Tian smiled wryly, not expecting his sudden assault to still have flaws. "It’s only been two months, and you’ve already broken through to the Golden Core, Sixth Elder. It’s worthy of congratulations."
"Ah," the Sixth Elder waved his hand, "what’s there to congratulate? It’s all thanks to the elixir formula you sold us that I was able to break through. My strength in this lifetime can only stay at this level. Unlike you, so young and already a Golden Core, your future is boundless."
Lin Tian said, "So, in your Alliance, there must be quite a few who consumed elixirs to advance to Golden Core, right?"
The Sixth Elder shook his head and said, "Not really, there are many in the Alliance who can’t break through to Golden Core, but these elixirs aren’t something that can be freely given away. If too many people took them, it would cause big problems."
Lin Tian laughed and said, "I’m quite curious, how many Golden Core experts have emerged in your Alliance?"
Hearing this, the Sixth Elder turned his head like an old thief, looked around, and then held up two fingers, whispering, "Twenty."
"What the hell?!" Lin Tian couldn’t help but curse, "That’s not considered many?"
The Sixth Elder chuckled, "Not many, not many. These are all folks with great merit, they must be rewarded!"
"It seems selling you the elixir formula for ten billion was a bargain," Lin Tian said.
The current situation in the ancient martial world isn’t optimistic, Golden Core experts are very rare, and this sudden emergence of so many was indeed unexpected. Perhaps in time, Golden Core experts will become the norm within the entire Alliance.
Moreover, the Tang Family also possesses this elixir formula, enabling a large number of their disciples to advance to Golden Core. As for other families, without this elixir formula, they would fall behind.
Lin Tian really didn’t expect that his small action would disrupt the balance maintained by ancient martial families for a hundred years. Fortunately, now other families have obtained his elixir formula, allowing them to refine rare medicinal materials stored in their vaults into elixirs.
These elixirs are enough to greatly elevate everyone’s realm!