Young Master broke through?
Lin Zhong’s heart pounded, but when he looked at Lin Xun closer, he found that he didn’t exude the aura unique to the Spirit Sea Stage.
He couldn’t help but feel a little bewildered.
The aura around Young Master is so strong like a raging storm, and his body is like a giant abyss. He doesn’t seem like a Heaven Dipper Stage cultivator at all.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like he has made a breakthrough.
What is happening?
Lin Xun’s dark eyes returned to their usual tranquil state as the storm vortex in his eyes faded. The aura around his body gradually became still and calm.
He rose to his feet and stood tall on the edge of the cliff. The mountainous wind whipped his long, messy hair around, adding an ethereal and detached air to him.
He brought out his blade and made several slashing motions, swiftly cutting his straw-like hair and beard. Then, he casually tied up his hair with a silk string.
His appearance had become like it was in the past. His weather-beaten face was suddenly full of vigor.Lin Zhong couldn’t help but ask, “Young Master, did you break through?”
Lin Xun shook his head with a smile. “There’s no rush. I haven’t seen enough of the phenomena between heaven and earth. I will break through when there is a need.”
His voice was calm and indifferent and seemed to contain absolute confidence. It was as though it was a trivial matter to break through and Lin Zhong shouldn’t worry.
A strange feeling rose in Lin Zhong’s heart. His young master looked the same as before, but he felt that his young master had undergone a drastic transformation after his twenty days of closed-door cultivation.
He had become calmer, more unemotional, and more unfathomable.
“Uncle Zhong, tell me what happened during my cultivation.”
Lin Xun came over, treading along the winding mountainous path from the edge of the cliff.
“Young Master, a lot has happened…” Lin Zhong hurriedly stood beside him and reported all the incidents.
When Lin Xun returned to the study on the second floor of Mind Cleansing Hall, he had gained a good understanding of what happened in the Forbidden City while he was gone.
The auction successfully happened in Stone Cauldron Alms, which was undoubtedly a good thing for Lin Xun. He would be able to find out how much money his extraordinary rare treasures had fetched from the auction the next time he visited them.
Lin Xun had no interest in the duel between Monk Yinian from the Fullmoon Kingdom and Little Sword Lord Xie Yutang.
However, he was surprised to hear that Yinian was evenly matched with Xie Yutang.
He knew that the Fullmoon Kingdom, a small kingdom more than ten thousand miles west of the empire, was a sacred cultivation place for monks.
The Fullmoon Kingdom was far inferior to the Violet Glory Empire in terms of strength, and many cultivators thought little of it given that it was only a small kingdom.
However, Yinian had proved that extremely outstanding people also existed outside of the empire.
Lin Xun was most curious about the result of the national examination.
Lin Xun was familiar with two of the top three candidates in the national exam. The first one was Bai Lingxi, the eldest granddaughter of the Marquis Jinghai and the blessed maiden of heaven, whom he had met in Blood Kill Camp.
He distinctly remembered that Bai Lingxi was born with the innate talent of Eternal Shining Stars!
It was a mysterious and extremely rare spirit talent.
According to the classification of talents in the empire, Forever Shining Stars was ranked grade 4.
Even though the innate talent was only grade 4, it still helped her surpass the vast majority of cultivators in the empire.
After all, very few cultivators in the empire possessed innate talents.
Moreover, Bai Lingxi had formed a supreme-grade aeth power reservoir when she broke through to the Human Dipper Stage!
Bai Lingxi had told Lin Xun about that secret, so he knew very well how terrifying Bai Lingxi’s talent and foundation were.
However, he had never thought that she could achieve third place in the national examination!
Undoubtedly, Bai Lingxi had improved massively after leaving Blood Kill Camp and had become completely different to in the past.
The person ranked second in the national exam was Chi Cangfeng. Lin Xun scrunched his eyebrows when he heard the name. He remembered that Chi Cangfeng was younger than him, so he was very surprised to hear that he achieved second place in the national examination. That kid must have some talent.
The person who obtained first place was someone Lin Xun was very unfamiliar with—Song Yi. He couldn’t imagine what sort of peerless genius he was to be able to surpass people like Chi Cangfeng and Bai Lingxi.
Lin Xun couldn't help but sigh. There is indeed no shortage of demonic talents. There’s always someone better, and there is always a sky beyond the sky.
“Young Master, there is one more thing I want to tell you. Miss Xiaoke has already found out that the ambush on the night we returned from Stone Cauldron Alms was an operation carried out by three collateral branches of the Lin Clan—the West Creek, Cloud Weight and Flying Peak,” Lin Zhong suddenly said.
“The Heaven Ascension leader has the nickname Old Devil Qu. He is a notorious old devil in the empire and is an expert in spirit searching and soul seizing arts.”
Lin Xun narrowed his eyes. He had thought that the Chi Family was behind the ambush that night. Apparently, he had underestimated how despicable the other branches of the Lin Family were!
“According to Mister Spirit Vulture, the three collateral branches of the Lin Clan intend to use some underhanded methods to control you and make you their puppet. That would not only put your life at risk but also help them regain control of Mind Cleansing Peak and the power of the clan. It’s such a sinister move.” Lin Zhong’s voice contained a hint of chilling intent. Their malicious action had infuriated him.
“In other words, if I leave Mind Cleansing Peak, I might be attacked or ambushed by them?” A cold glint flashed in Lin Xun’s dark eyes.
“That’s correct. Mister Spirit Vulture suggests you bring Third Old Zhu when you go out in the future to avoid any accidents.”
Lin Xun nodded and then asked thoughtfully, “Uncle Zhong, if I kill some members of the Lin family, will you... stop me?”
Lin Zhong’s body went stiff and his face clouded over. “Young Master, you are the master of Mind Cleansing Peak. I will not go against your will, but I will have to ask you to do your best to restrain yourself. After all, it’s not good to kill your own family.”
A cold smile curved Lin Xun’s lips. “Let’s see.”
Lin Zhong sighed inwardly, knowing that the three collateral branches of the Lin Family had completely angered Lin Xun.
……
Early in the morning.
Lin Xun left Mind Cleansing Peak with Lin Zhong on the jeweled carriage from Shi Yu.
The driver of the carriage was Third Old Zhu.
It was the day of the duel that they had agreed on with the North Light Lin Clan. Lin Xun was heading to them to have a duel with Lin Xuefeng.
Lin Xun didn’t dare to be careless this time, so he brought Third Old Zhu and Lin Zhong with him in case of an ambush from the other collateral branches of the Lin Clan.
Most importantly, he was worried that he would encounter danger on the way to the North Light Lin Clan! Although the North Light Lin Clan had shown a relatively kinder attitude towards him compared to the other Lin Clan branches, they could still turn hostile all of a sudden. After all, Lin Xun was heading to their headquarters. The consequences were unimaginable if they suddenly changed their attitude and attacked him instead.
Lin Xun had to keep his guard up even if the possibility of that happening was very low. He was confident that the North Light Lin Clan wouldn’t act rashly with Third Old Zhu and Lin Zhong, who was once known as White Casanova, accompanying him.
“Young Master, here is some information about Lin Xuefeng.”
Lin Zhong handed a piece of paper to Lin Xun.
[Lin Xuefeng, eighteen years old, the son of Lin Huaiyuan, the head of the North Light Lin Clan. He formed a first-grade aeth power reservoir Misty Rain Mountain when he broke through to the Human Dipper Stage. He is the most dazzling and leading figure among the younger generation of the North Light Lin Clan.
Currently cultivation level: Spirit Sea Stage.
Lin Xuefeng successfully passed the national examination with a ranking of seventy-nine and is one of only two descendants of the Lin Family who had passed the national examination.]
Lin Xun exclaimed, “There is another person besides Lin Xuefeng who passed?”
Lin Zhong said casually, “The other is a descendant of the Cloud Weight Lin Family. She is called Lin Qinglan and is your older cousin. She is eighteen years old this year and is very talented. She was ranked seventy-two in the national examination and has been enrolled into Qinglu Academy for cultivation next year along with Lin Xuefeng.”
Lin Xun nodded and said with a smile, “I’m just a little surprised that people of the Lin Clan can still pass the national examination after the Lin Clan’s decline.”
Lin Zhong sighed, “Young Master, when Duke Daochen was still around, the top ten places were all occupied by the descendants of our clan. Master was...was second in the national exam and Lady was first!”
Lin Xun fell silent. Indescribable emotions swirled in his heart at the mention of his father and mother.
After a while, he shook his head and smiled. “I will also give the national examination a try next year. I have to obtain a dazzling result for the Mind Cleansing Peak Lin Clan!”
Lin Zhong beamed. “Young Master, next year you will be at the Spirit Sea Stage and will no doubt be in the top five of the national exam!”
In his view, Lin Xun was the son of Lin Wenjing and Luo Qingxun, so he would no doubt take first place in the national examination given the fact that his mother Luo Qingxun had been first in the national examination and his father Lin Wenjing had taken second in the national examination.
Of course, this was only Lin Zhong’s view. He didn’t dare to talk nonsense in order to not give Lin Xun too much pressure.
At that moment, Third Old Zhu said bluntly, “We’re here.”