Woowoowoo~
A long rune shuttle traveled through the air in Haze City like a dragon, releasing a bold whistling noise.
It was early morning and there were already many people up and about. The carriage was full, leaving Lin Xun no choice but to stand as he listened to the various conversations around him.
More than ten days had passed since the duel. Over this period, the duel had been broadcasted all over Haze City and its popularity showed no signs of receding even until today.
For Lin Xun, however, this period was very peaceful. Everything had returned to normal. Besides doing his daily cultivation, Lin Xun would head to the Rune Master Association to accept requests and earn money. When he was free, he would sometimes have a drink with Xue Jin.
Evidently, Lin Xun’s earlier prediction was correct. After the duel, the noble clan disciples did not dare to openly target him in Haze City.
This undoubtedly allowed Lin Xun to relax. Since there were no longer any troubles coming his way, he only needed to focus on his training and wait for the provincial exam to begin.
“Ah Mei, what’s so good about Lin Xun? Can he give you pocket money? Can he accompany you like me? Can he love you so single-mindedly like me?”
“Tch, you’re too tacky. Lin Xun is my role model. Don’t you know that all my friends have begun to idolize Lin Xun? I can’t get left behind.”
“Ah Mei, role models won’t fill your stomach. Have you seen Lin Xun before? Do you know what he looks like? What if he’s a swindler?”“Enough! I will ignore you if you keep trying to lecture me.”
Lin Xun suddenly noticed a boy and girl mention his name amidst their bickering.
He could not help but laugh. Since when had he become a figure to be idolized?
Who could have imagined that his actions would catch the eye of the girl? She immediately shot him a vicious glare. “What are you laughing at? Did you hear something funny? Is it a problem that I like and idolize Lin Xun?”
Lin Xun was taken aback, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Fortunately, the rune shuttle had arrived at the Rune Master Association and he quickly turned around to get off.
Before he left, he heard the girl angrily say, “That guy doesn't even have the courage to answer me. He has no backbone at all. Such a man can’t even compare to a thousandth of Lin Xun…”
Lin Xun did not know whether he should feel happy or angry. It was a rather strange sensation.
Is this the feeling of becoming famous?
Lin Xun pondered as he walked into the association.
Despite being one of the hottest topics in Haze City, no one recognized him along the way. No one would link a boy who took the rune shuttle every day with the radiant star, Lin Xun.
After all, Haze City was far too big and only a small portion of the population had seen Lin Xun before.
Rune shuttles were the most common form of public transport in the city and most of its users were ordinary folk. Cultivators would rather travel in artifact carriages or ride aeth mounts as they were unwilling to queue up with the common people. Due to these circumstances, the chances of Lin Xun being recognized were infinitesimally small.
However, he was thankful for this. If he was recognized everywhere he went, it would undoubtedly be a huge pain in the ass.
Lin Xun entered the private room on the second floor of the association. Just as he was about to select one of the requests, he saw Chu Feng approach in a friendly manner as he mysteriously said, “Brother, the Haze City Stone Cauldron Alms branch will be holding their hundred-year celebration in a month. Miss Liu Qingyan will be personally appearing at the event to perform one of her amazing pieces. Do you not have any thoughts about this?”
Lin Xun was stunned. “What does that have to do with me?”
Chu Feng nearly rolled his eyes in response. “Brother, do you know how difficult it is to obtain an invitation from Stone Cauldron Alms? You can’t even buy one no matter how much you offer on the black market! Can you imagine how grand of an event it will be? It’ll definitely be a gathering of bigwigs and VIPs!”
Annoyed, Lin Xun retorted, “Why should we care when we didn’t receive any invitations? Moreover, I have no interest in such events.”
Chu Feng naturally was not going to give up. “Brother, you’re friends with Miss Liu Qingyan and will be helping her repair her ocarina. Can’t you obtain an invitation from her?”
Lin Xun raised his brow. He stared at Chu Feng for a moment and said, “Brother, you’re the one who wants to go, right? If so, I can try to help.”
Chu Feng was overjoyed. These were the very words he had been waiting for. He took a deep breath to suppress his excitement and said, “Then I’ll have to trouble you Brother.”
Lin Xun said, “I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to obtain an invitation so don’t celebrate too early.”
Chu Feng grinned and said, “I’m sure you can. If she doesn’t give face to you, who will help her repair her ocarina?”
Lin Xun forced a smile. Looks like he’s pretty insistent on taking advantage of me.
Chu Feng could not help but ask, “Are you really not going? A performance by Miss Liu Qingyan is a rare treat. It will be such a pity to miss out on it.”
“Nope.”
Lin Xun shook his head. In another month, it would be about time to attempt the third trial of the Omega Secret-Realm’s Great Azure Cloud Path. How could he possibly have time to think about other things?
Chu Feng did not push any further. He soon bid farewell and left.
Lin Xun returned to selecting crafting requests.
Unlike in the past, he no longer selected only human-grade mid-tier requests. Instead, he chose to take on crafting requests he had never tried that also seemed interesting.
For example, crafting peculiar weapons such as the thunder-fire ball, water-splitting needle, nine-bend whip, or equipment such as the mind-guard mirror, capes, boots, and armors.
There were even specialized tools such as hoes, array discs, beast summoning seals, rune puppets, and other similar items. These were important equipment used by horticulturists, beast summoners, puppet masters, and other unique professions.
Lin Xun did this to improve his proficiency in the rune arts. A true master needed to practice crafting various aeth tools in order to deepen their understanding of runes through exposure.
Most importantly, the experience would be hugely beneficial when he eventually crafted rune armaments in the future!
Rune armaments were ultimate treasures that all Heaven Ascension experts in the empire would do almost anything to get their hands on!
If he could craft rune armaments, Lin Xun would never need to worry about money because people would desperately try to shove it into his hands.
Of course, such ultimate treasures were naturally difficult to make.
At the very least, Lin Xun was still far from being able to make one. Everything he currently did was for the sake of shortening this distance as soon as possible.
However, rune art was not something that could be rushed and required a steady accumulation of practice and study. Even geniuses with superb comprehension abilities would find it difficult to progress on this path.
The reason why rune masters enjoyed superior status in the empire was that far too few cultivators could become rune masters!
Those who could craft rune armaments were even fewer!
……
After accepting two crafting requests, Lin Xun rose and prepared to leave. Who could have expected that Chu Feng would appear again with a strange look on his face?
Lin Xun could not help but ask, “What is it?”
“Stone Cauldron Alms sent an invitation specially for you.”
Chu Feng’s expression was a mix of disbelief and worry.
Lin Xun sensed that there was something amiss about Chu Feng’s tone. “Is it for Great Master Xun or me?”
Chu Feng looked straight at Lin Xun and answered, “You!”
Soon after, he hurriedly tried to explain, “Brother, I’ve never divulged your identity. Could Miss Liu Qingyan have sent you an invitation through them?”
Lin Xun shook his head. “I haven’t visited her for the past few days. There should be no reason for such a good thing to happen. Hmm, did the sender say anything else?”
Chu Feng slapped his forehead and exclaimed, “Right! The sender specially told me that the invitation was from their Chief Manager.”
Lin Xun was shocked. “Who is their Chief Manager? I don’t believe I know such a person.”
Chu Feng also found this very strange. “The Haze City branch had a change of Chief Manager a month ago, I believe she’s called Mu Wansu and was transferred from Donglin City…”
Before he could finish, Lin Xun chuckled and said, “So it’s her. It all adds up now. Only she would know who Great Master Xun is.”
Chu Feng was taken aback. “You’re acquainted?”
Lin Xun nodded but did not explain. “Don’t worry, Brother, she will not expose my identity.”
Chu Feng breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear.”
He was honestly still somewhat shocked. Lin Xun had given him far too many surprises. Chu Feng never imagined that Lin Xun would even be acquainted with a Stone Cauldron Alms Chief Manager. This made him increasingly unfathomable in Chu Feng’s eyes.
How many more secrets did Lin Xun have?
Lin Xun patted Chu Feng’s shoulder. “Brother, this is perfect. I got an invitation without needing to visit Liu Qingyan. Here, take it.”
Chu Feng hurriedly said, “It’s for you, how can I?”
Lin Xun smiled. “Can’t you take it as going as my representative? Relax, I’m sure they won’t think too much about it.”
With these words, he turned around and left.
Chu Feng stood there for a moment. In the end, he decided to accept.
Meanwhile, inside an elegant hall in the Stone Cauldron Alms Haze City branch.
Mu Wansu offhandedly asked, “Has the matter been settled?”
An attendant hurriedly answered, “It’s been done according to your instructions. We’ve sent the invitation to the Rune Master Association’s Young Master Lin Xun.”
Mu Wansu acknowledged, still feeling somewhat dazed inside. She had received news from the Forbidden City headquarters several days ago that Third Young Master Shi Yu wanted to invite Lin Xun to the upcoming celebrations and even requested a VIP seat for him. Mu Wansu could not help but feel astonished.
It might have made some sense to her if it had been instructions from First Young Master Shi Xuan. After all, he had displayed some admiration toward Lin Xun back then.
However, it was not First Young Master Shi Xuan this time but Third Young Master Shi Yu!
From what Mu Wansu knew, Third Young Master Shi Yu was a pampered son who was fond of indulgence and showed no interest in power. Although he was First Young Master Shi Xuan’s brother, they were not close at all.
However, Third Young Master Shi Yu was now also showing high regard for Lin Xun. This was rather inconceivable to Mu Wansu. Since when had that little bastard Lin Xun managed to curry favor with the Third Young Master as well?