The magnificent and grand palace buildings stood tall like immortal warriors.
Lin Xun returned alone along the same path.
His meeting with the empress resulted in neither a punishment nor a reward. Surprisingly, however, Mister Lu’s name had been mentioned. He had learned that Mister Lu wasn’t only a reclusive rune master as he had previously thought.
On the contrary, the emperor had paid a huge price to Mister Lu for him to create a rune armament: the Sword of Apocalypse for the Empress!
“Mister Lu can’t be an ordinary person. Even Her Majesty doesn’t know about Mister Lu’s origin. Why did he...why did he live in the mine prison?”
Lin Xun pondered as he navigated the palace paths.
“Kid, wait!”
A voice rang behind him, snapping Lin Xun out of his deep thoughts.
He turned his head around and saw a chubby middle-aged man in a luxurious robe trying to catch up to him.
“Elder, why are you here?”To Lin Xun’s surprise, the middle-aged man was Zhao Tailai, the owner of the Sky Martial Arena.
Zhao Tailai was present when Lin Xun dueled Hua Wuyou and when the Ancient Plum Blossom Sword appeared to stop the conflict between Hua Qinglin and Third Old Zhu.
Moreover, Lin Xun suspected that Zhao Tailai was connected to the ‘influential figure’ of the imperial palace. Unfortunately, he had never received a definite answer.
“Nonsense, I obviously am waiting for you kid!” Zhao Tailai snapped.
“Waiting for me?” Lin Xun became even more puzzled.
Zhao Tailai swept his eyes over Lin Xun and said, “Kid, come with me.”
As he was speaking, he led the way. They took several turns and walked for a long time before they came to a secluded garden. “I came on behalf of someone. There is something I have to tell you.”
Lin Xun narrowed his eyes. “Is it the influential figure who used the Ancient Plum Blossom Sword to help me?”
Zhao Tailai waved his hand dismissively. “You don’t need to guess. I can’t tell you who it is. You just need to know that you only have five years left at most.”
“What?”
“What? Don’t you understand your current situation?”
Zhao Tailai frowned. “You know who caused the bloody tragedy on Mind Cleansing Peak over ten years ago, right?”
Lin Xun took a deep breath, and his dark eyes flashed a cold murderous glint before he said, “Yun Qingbai?”
Zhao Tailai assumed a solemn expression. “Since you know about him, you should know what will happen if he knows that you are still alive.”
Lin Xun fell silent.
He had repeatedly thought about that question in the past. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have cultivated so desperately and tried to strengthen Mind Cleansing Peak as much as possible in the past year.
He wanted to prevent the tragedy that had occurred more than a decade ago from happening again!
“Yun Qingbai is very powerful. At least, if he were to return to the Ziyao Empire, no one could stop him. Not even the Emperor. Not even the Queen of the Black Glory Sacred Hall. Not even the elder of the stargazing platform. You just need to know that you won’t stand a chance against Yun Qingbai with your current strength.”
Zhao Tailai spoke rapidly, but gravely. Lin Xun felt an indescribable suffocating feeling in his heart.
“Of course—”
Zhao Tailai quickly changed his tone, “You have performed very well so far. At least, there are very few people who haven't heard of your name in the Forbidden City. But that’s still not enough.”
Lin Xun’s heart pounded and he patiently listened.
“Didn’t I tell you to do what you want and create all the disturbance you want? The greater the noise, the better, especially in Qinglu Academy. It’s even better if you cause so much disturbance that the principal takes notice of you. It will only be beneficial to your situation.”
Zhao Tailai was only passing along a message. Given his identity and status, he wouldn’t dare to so blatantly encourage Lin Xun to stir up trouble in Qinglu Academy.
Then, the message had to be from the ‘influential figure’ from the imperial palace.
Lin Xun couldn’t help but feel puzzled. He had originally thought that the ‘influential figure’ was the empress.
Now, it didn’t seem so!
The empress’ attitude toward him wasn’t particularly bad, but it also wasn’t good either. She wouldn’t send Zhao Tailai to pass on such a message.
Who was the ‘influential figure?’
“I’ve already caused such a huge scene just now. I forced the Marquis of Rising Sky to kneel and angered the imperial family. If I continue to do so, I’ll become hated by everyone.”
Lin Xun smiled wryly.
“Haha, kid are you scared?” Zhao Tailai said disdainfully.
“Elder, can you tell me what benefits will there be to me if I continue to stir up trouble?”
Lin Xun seized the opportunity to ask a question.
“I can only tell you that the empire will not ignore real talents. You must have the strength worthy of the empire's attention. The more outstanding you are, the more the empire will value you. When a calamity descends upon you, the empire will provide a path for you!”
Zhao Tailai’s words were simple and direct, and even a fool could understand the meaning.
“Then what should I do?” Lin Xun asked.
“That’s something for you to figure out.”
After Zhao Tai finished speaking, he exhaled a long breath, as though he had completed an important mission.
“Then…”
Before Lin Xun finished his sentence, Zhao Tailai interrupted, “Let’s make it clear first. I can’t help you either. Everything depends on yourself.”
Lin Xun was at a loss for words. He could only inwardly complain that the chubby man was too slippery.
Lin Xun drew a deep breath and asked, “Fine. Then, Elder, you should at least tell me what you meant by at most five years?”
“Don’t you understand? You won’t need to worry about Yun Qingbai coming back in the next five years. In other words, there will be only five years left for you to cause trouble.”
Zhao Tailai clapped Lin Xun on the shoulder “Boy, make good use of it. If you can demonstrate earth-shaking strength within five years, I believe your situation will change.”
After saying that, he turned around and left without any hesitation, vanishing like a flash of lightning.
It was as though he was worried about getting into trouble if he said another word to Lin Xun.
“Five years…” Lin Xun stood still, contemplating.
After a long moment, he raised his head and stared at the sky. His handsome face bore a look of unwavering determination.
Five years!
It seems like a long time, but it’s also very short.
However, Lin Xun understood that some things should be faced sooner or later, so instead of dragging it out, it was better to deal with it directly!
……
……
When Lin Xun left the imperial palace and returned to Mind Cleansing Peak, it was already deep into the night.
He didn’t know how many marvelous battles had happened in the martial arts arena.
He didn’t know what other storm had occurred during the empress' birthday banquet.
He only knew that he had little time left.
“Uncle Zhong, can you help me ask Qinglu Academy for leave? Tell them I need to go into closed-door cultivation for a period.”
Lin Xun issued some orders to Lin Zhong the moment he returned to Mind Cleansing Peak.
The entire Mind Cleansing Peak showed an extremely enthusiastic response to his return, as did Lin Zhong.
Lin Xun’s performance was a surprise to everyone. As soon as he returned and handled some matters, he urgently headed into the training room on the third floor of the Mind Cleansing Hall and went into closed-door cultivation.
Everyone was perplexed.
Spirit Vulture, Xiaoke, and Lin Zhong were keenly aware that something huge must have happened to Lin Xun!
He had never looked so abnormal regardless of what difficult problems he had faced in the past.
What happened?
……
On the same night, the news about the empress’ birthday banquet spread throughout the Forbidden City like wildfire and caused a sensation!
“Lin Xun received a reward from the empress with just a jade hairpin! He’s so damn lucky!”
“Yes, he’s also the only one able to receive a reward from the empress. I’m so jealous.”
……
“What? Chi Cangfeng was defeated? Isn’t Lin Xun a rune grandmaster? Why does he have such strong combat power?”
“Not just Chi Cangfeng, even the Marquis of Rising Sky was defeated by him! Also, he was forced to kneel down and apologize. It caused a stir. Even some princes of the imperial family couldn’t stop Lin Xun!”
“Damn it! Why is Lin Xun so fierce?”
“Fierce? I think he has a death wish! Although he has stolen the limelight, he has angered the imperial family!”
“No matter what you say, Lin Xun has still forced the domineering and fierce Marquis of Rising Sky to kneel and apologize. How many people in the younger generation can be compared to him?”
“Indeed.”
Lin Xun’s performance at the empress’ birthday banquet had surprised many people. Some praised his performance, and some gloated on his misfortunes.
……
“The Heaven Pride Song was inspired by Lin Xun? Heavens, that’s so unfair!”
“Could...could Miss Qingyan have fallen in love with Lin Xun? If that’s the case, my heart will shatter.”
Some people discussed the response toward Liu Qingyan’s Heaven Pride Song, and inevitably, Lin Xun was mentioned again.
……
That night, Lin Xun’s name rang in every corner, every sect, and every area in the Forbidden City.
Lin Xun could be said to be the most eye-catching figure at the empress’ Birthday banquet!
He received a reward from the empress for his jade hairpin.
The renowned art cultivator Liu Qingyan had composed a masterpiece song called Heaven Pride Song inspired by Lin Xun.
On the martial arts arena, where heaven prides gathered, the young genius Chi Cangfeng, who possessed the Golden Sea Violet Lotus bloodline, grudgingly accepted defeat against Lin Xun, and the domineering Marquis of Rising Sky was forced to kneel down and apologize.
Each incident quaked the Forbidden City and shook the minds of every cultivator like a clap of thunder!
They were incidents that no one expected to occur at the empress’ birthday banquet.
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