For the past year, not once had Lian Fei forgotten the person who had murdered his father.
For the sake of revenge, he had not relaxed at all and spent nearly all of his time raising his strength.
With Yao Tuohai’s help and support, Lian Fei obtained a tremendous amount of cultivation resources, allowing his cultivation to rapidly progress. When he advanced to the Human Dipper stage, he managed to construct a second-grade aeth power reservoir. It was an event that shook Qingfeng County and made others call him a cultivation genius.
It was also then that Yao Tuohai finally agreed to betroth Yao Susu to Lian Fei, making him the son-in-law of the Yao Clan. His status changed tremendously and could no longer be compared to before.
Although life was going well for him, Lian Fei did not feel the least bit happy because his father’s killer was not dead!
After finally obtaining news about Lin Xun after a year, the long-suppressed hatred in Lian Fei’s heart was lit anew.
Lian Fei took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth, “Susu, he must be somewhere in Haze City. I’ll go search for him now!”
Susu suddenly frowned and scolded, “Brother Fei, you’re being too rash!”
“Susu, are you going to stop me?” Lian Fei’s expression turned ugly.
Yao Susu coldly said, “Do you know Lin Xun’s current cultivation?”Lian Fei was stunned. “He can’t be anything more than the Human Dipper stage!”
Yao Susu said, “Since he can participate in the provincial exam, do you think he's just an ordinary Human Dipper expert?”
Lian Fei’s heart shivered as he began to calm down. He knew that he had overly focused on revenge and had neglected several details.
“In Donglin City, Lin Xun survived despite our constant efforts to crush him. Someone like him isn’t so easy to deal with.”
A cold, calculating light shone in Yao Susu’s eyes as she swiftly said, “Now, he possesses the qualifications to participate in the provincial exam and is definitely going to be even more difficult to deal with. Given these factors, how much of a chance do you think you stand if you seek him out now?”
Lian Feng returned to his senses as if he had been smacked on the head and scolded. “Susu is right. I was too rash.”
Yao Susu smiled as her expression softened. “Brother Fei, your status is different now. How can you allow yourself to be put at risk for mere revenge?”
Lian Fei returned to his seat and asked, “Susu, what do you think I should do?”
“Simple. Send someone to assassinate him!”
A chilling light flashed in Yao Susu’s eyes. “As for us, we only need to patiently wait for news of his assassination.”
Lian Fei frowned. “But I want to personally kill him!”
Yao Susu sighed. “Brother Fei, remember your identity. You’re my husband, my father’s son-in-law, and a core member of the Yao Clan. You should be learning how to solve problems like a bigwig.”
Lian Fei was taken aback. “A bigwig?”
Yao Susu nodded. “That’s right. A bigwig only needs to use his authority and power to make countless people do his bidding. A single command from you will decide others’ life and death! You can have rain or sunshine with a flip of the hand, and a single thought will decide life or death for others!”
An indescribable sensation surged in Lian Fei’s heart. “Susu, do you think I can become a bigwig like that?”
Yao Susu smiled tenderly. “In my heart, Brother Fei definitely can!”
“Alright! I’ll listen to you!” Lian Fei made his decision.
The doors were suddenly pushed open and Yao Tuohai’s tall and slim figure walked in, surprising Yao Susu and Lian Fei as they hurriedly rose to greet him.
“Susu is right.”
Yao Tuohai offhandedly remarked. He looked at Lian Fei and said, “I just received news that Lin Xun defeated Yuan Shi and Qi Yunxiao outside Haze Academy. If you don’t know who they are, Susu will tell you.”
By this time, Yao Tuohai had already turned around. “The two of you shall handle this matter. I will only observe and will not interfere.”
After Yao Tuohai left, Lian Fei could not help but ask, “Susu, who are Yuan Shi and Qi Yunxiao?”
Yao Susu’s expression fluctuated indeterminately as if in disbelief. After a long time, she finally answered in a low voice, “Brother Fei, Lin Xun is stronger than we estimated…”
She began to give a detailed explanation of Yuan Shi’s and Qi Yunxiao’s identities.
After hearing everything, Lian Fei’s expression turned cloudy. “How is this possible? It's only been a year. How can his battle power have grown faster than mine?”
Yao Susu sighed. “Brother Fei, you should understand now that we have no choice but to use our power and authority against him.”
Although Lian Fei still found it hard to accept, he knew that this was the only way for now. He clenched his jaw and asked, “Susu, what should we do?”
A look of resolve surfaced in Yao Susu’s eyes. “Among Haze City’s underground factions, there is a group that specializes in assassination called Rain Listener House…”
……
Rain Listener House.
In a clean room with clear windows, smoke wafted from an incense burner adorned with sacred beasts. A man was currently seated at the table, sampling his tea.
Outside the window was a lush bamboo forest with the dark silhouettes of mountains in the back. It was very peaceful; the only sound to be heard was the occasional chirping of birds.
The man was dressed in blue scholarly robes and was reading an old book in his hand.
He gave off the aura of an elegant intellectual and the sight of him silently seated there made one feel a sense of serenity.
However, his face was covered by a dark golden mask, revealing only a pair of cold black eyes that added a certain strangeness to his presence.
The man was called Rain Listener.
Although it was a poetic name, in the hearts of numerous bigwigs in Haze City, this name represented a frightening power akin to a devil.
This name represented the mysterious master of Rain Listener House!
Suddenly, the tinkling sound of wind chimes rang out.
“Speak.”
Rain Listener’s voice was low and pleasing to the ear. Although it was only a single word, it seemed to cast peculiar magic that drew people toward it.
A respectful voice sounded outside the door, “There’s a rather special request that requires the master’s decision.”
“Okay, tell me.”
Rain Listener slowly closed the book and gently picked up the teacup on the table.
“Someone made a request an incense stick of time ago. They are willing to pay three thousand gold coins to assassinate a Human Dipper stage youngster and have requested Remnant Snow, Ghost Moon, and Gray Marten.”
Rain Listener acknowledged and said, “Remnant Snow is a first-class Human Dipper stage assassin. Since arriving at Rain Listener House, Remnant Snow has undertaken seventy-three missions and has no record of failure.”
“Ghost Moon and Gray Marten have the best teamwork among the Earth Dipper assassins. If they take on this mission together with Remnant Snow, it will be a perfect assassination. It seems that the customer is very well informed about our Rain Listener House.”
Rain Listener put down his teacup and gazed at the bamboo forest outside the window. “Three thousand gold coins is a high price but it is odd to use such power to deal with a mere Human Dipper stage youngster.”
“Master, we’ve already done the preliminary investigation. The youngster is called Lin Xun and comes from Donglin City of Qingfeng County. He is fourteen this year and recently registered for the provincial exam this afternoon at Haze Academy.”
The respectful voice outside the door swiftly elaborated, “It’s said that Lin Xun’s battle power is extremely high. He defeated the Yuan Clan’s First Young Master, Yuan Shi, and Jadelight Pavilion’s Young Master, Qi Yunxiao, outside Haze Academy today.”
Rain Listener chuckled softly. “No wonder they wish to hire Remnant Snow and the others for such a high price. So the target is a young genius who has the qualifications to participate in the provincial exam."
“Master, you might not be aware of this yet but from the information we’ve collected, Lin Xun defeating Yuan Shi and Qi Yunxiao in public has infuriated numerous Young Masters and Young Mistresses from the powerful factions of Haze City. We predict that many of these factions will soon dispatch agents to deal with Lin Xun.”
“Under these circumstances, we do not know if we should accept the request to assassinate Lin Xun.”
Rain Listener said, “Heh, this young man called Lin Xun is quite interesting. He’s only fourteen but so many people are already after his life…”
He gently tapped his teacup as if thinking about something. After a long time, he finally said, “Interesting people are sometimes the most dangerous. Since Lin Xun dared to do this, he must have some trump card to fall back on. Tell the customer that we can accept the request but we will need to wait a while before we move.”
“Wait?”
“Correct. We’ll wait for the factions to move first and see the outcome before we take action. If he dies, there will be no need for us to move but if he doesn’t…”
Rain Listener was silent for a moment before he continued, “If he doesn’t, tell the customer that three thousand gold coins is far from enough. They’ll need at least…ten thousand gold coins.”
“Your subordinate understands!”
The voice outside the door disappeared. Rain Listener sighed and looked out the window again.
After a long time had passed, he unhurriedly said, “That person was not wrong to say it is difficult for cultivators to come from the poor. In the empire, the thing these noble factions will not tolerate the most is a challenge from the low-class commoner cultivators, right?”
His low voice echoed in the quiet room.
Outside the window, rain had begun to fall at some unknown time, the tiny raindrops slowly wetting the bamboo forest like mist.
……
The first day of registration for the provincial exam ended at night. More than eight hundred participants had registered today.
Of course, this was only the first day. Many more cultivators would be registering over the subsequent days.
On this day, news of the Yuan Clan’s First Young Master’s, Yuan Shi, and Jadelight Pavilion’s Young Master’s, Qi Yunxiao, defeat at the hands of a youngster called Lin Xun spread to the entire city, causing countless uproars.
When it was known that Lin Xun was very likely to be a commoner cultivator, numerous cultivators were shocked.
Such an identity was too sensitive!
Since when did the commoner disciples dare to challenge the noble disciples? Moreover, he had won!
Although this made the commoner cultivators feel ecstatic, Lin Xun’s actions had undoubtedly offended the noble factions.
Many people realized that a disaster would soon befall Lin Xun!