Chapter 988: On the Brink of War
The atmosphere suddenly became tense and confrontational. The old man known as Wang Manzi was notoriously hot-tempered. He raised a middle finger at the Great Elder, saying, "I closed myself off for over ten years. This time I emerged not only to help the younger generation seek justice but also to have a fight with you, you old thing. I don’t believe I can’t beat you like I used to."
The Great Elder ignored the provocation, dismissively saying, "After over ten years of seclusion, your brain must also have turned mushy. I’m afraid a single palm would shatter your old bones!"
"Come on! Fight to the death!"
Just as they were about to start fighting, an old and hollow voice rang out, "Stop!"
The speaker was a man dressed in a black Zhongshan suit, whose age was indiscernible.
The Zhongshan suit seemed quite old, probably faded from frequent washes. As for the man, he stood about 1.7 meters tall. Despite having a head full of silver-white hair, his face bore no wrinkles, especially his deep eyes, which resembled dark pools in the night, unfathomable.
Although he sensed no aura of danger, Lin Tian’s instincts told him to stay away from this guy.
The man in the Zhongshan suit said, "Today, our Wang Family is not here to cause trouble for the Alliance; we are looking for a young person named Lin Tian."
He glanced around arrogantly until his gaze fixed on Lin Tian, coldly saying, "Young man, you’re still young. Opposing our Wang Family is extremely foolish. Shall we talk? Now, if you extract the hidden force from Sijing’s body and treat our Wang Family like any other, giving us pill prescriptions, we will naturally compensate you accordingly."
Lin Tian raised a slight smile, calmly asking, "What if I refuse?"
The man in the Zhongshan suit stepped forward, staring directly at Lin Tian, and said coldly, "Then you’ll be a sworn enemy of the Wang Family! Irreconcilable!"
The threat was heavy—either Lin Tian would die, or the Wang Family would perish.
Opposing someone like Lin Tian, with his connections, resources, and talent, was indeed foolish; the Wang Family knew this too. But what else could they do? The Wang Family was already on the brink of danger, and acting passively would only exacerbate their situation.
In a moment, Lin Tian suddenly felt dozens of sharp gazes upon him. Among the over seventy Wang Family members present, twelve were Golden Core experts. This lineup would easily overpower Lin Tian and the Great Elder in ten moves!
Suddenly, the Great Elder also stepped forward, meeting the eyes of the man in the Zhongshan suit, making everyone’s breath feel stifled.
"Mr. Wang, you’re as domineering as ever," the Great Elder suddenly sneered, "We’re in the True Martial Hall; do you think you can just act as you please and ignore us?"
The Family Alliance was established three hundred years ago, with most of its members composed of twelve families. Only the Elder Council stood as an independent minor force separate from all families. The Elder Council managed the distribution of resources and disputes among the twelve families. Without the Alliance, the families would have long since annihilated each other.
It was due to the Alliance’s existence that other families dared not blatantly target the Wang Family; after all, many people wanted to deal with them now.
But now, with the Wang Family’s masters storming into the Alliance and uttering such irreconcilable threats, the situation became much more severe.
"Our Wang Family is a member of the Alliance, but this Lin Tian is just an outsider. Doesn’t that mean you should take our side?" Wang Manzi shouted.
"He wasn’t before, but he is now."
"Why? From which family is he? He has no legitimacy!"
The Great Elder declared, "He is my master. Is that enough?"
"What?"
Many gasped, voices of doubt were plenty.
The experts present all had keen senses; they’d mistakenly thought they had heard wrong.
Lin Tian is the Great Elder’s master?
This statement seemed backward, didn’t it?
"Martial Sect, have you gone senile? Why would this young boy be your master?" Wang Manzi asked in a deep voice.
After decades of contesting with the Great Elder with mixed victories and losses, discovering he had a young master would suggest even he surpassed him.
Seeing Lin Tian who looked no more than twenty, Wang Manzi found it difficult to accept this fact.
"In martial arts, it’s about who comprehends it first. Not for a reason—just that he understands cultivation better than us," the Great Elder said.
"What?"
"Him?"
Voices of doubt resounded again.
Wang Manzi laughed, "When I was cultivating, this kid was still in his father’s legs. He merely understands some pill prescriptions."
"Wang Manzi, oh Wang Manzi, your brain still isn’t working right. Not to mention you hadn’t even achieved the Golden Core before twenty; the hidden force Lin Tian left in your Wang Family junior’s body—no one in your family can remove it. Just with these two points, Lin Tian can be your master. If you want to become his disciple now, kneel and kowtow twice, and I might put in a good word for you."
Hearing this, not only Wang Manzi but all members of the Wang Family had their expressions turn ugly. Some even pointed and cursed the Great Elder.
"So, you’re insisting on protecting him and opposing our Wang Family?" Mr. Wang asked in a deep voice.
The Great Elder nodded, "So what if I am?"
Then, Lin Tian, who hadn’t spoken, stepped forward, glancing at the crowd before locking eyes on Wang Sijing in the center, smiling, "You woman, think back. Your Wang Family troubled me first, and now you have the nerve to bring so many people to find me. What, do you think I’m easy to bully?"
The Sixth Elder watched in fear. It was already shocking enough for the elder brother to be so arrogant, but why was the master also so fearless? Although there were twenty Golden Core experts in the Alliance now, the Wang Family’s experts were long-renowned, and the gap between them was substantial.
"Kid, you’ve already swallowed most of our Wang Family’s civilian companies. Now you’re using such a vicious method against Sijing. If it weren’t for the True Martial Hall protecting you, you’d already be meat on the chopping block!" Wang Manzi said.
"Vicious?" Lin Tian glanced at Wang Sijing again, looking pale and haggard, devoid of spirit.
Lin Tian shrugged, saying carelessly, "It’s not my fault she can’t eat or sleep well. The hidden force in her body only acts up when she uses Inner Strength. Couldn’t she just live honestly as an ordinary person?"
"Ordinary person?" Hearing this, Mr. Wang’s face muscles trembled with anger. He couldn’t help but shout, "She’s a once-a-century genius in our Wang Family, and you tell her to be an ordinary person? Isn’t that just like being a cripple? Boy, if you don’t give our Wang Family an explanation today, even if the Elder Council protects you, we’ll kill you!"