Zhao Xuan’s request surprised Lin Xun a little.
“Come on, it’s just a friendly match to learn from each other.” Zhao Xuan smiled.
His purple robe fluttered around him as he drew his hand across the air in a peculiar and graceful motion. It was as though he was picking a flower in the air.
Buzz—
The airflow suddenly buzzed and distorted as it formed a terrifying, destructive force around Zhao Xuan to oppress Lin Xun.
The fact that Zhao Xuan could summon such terrifying earth-shattering power with just a casual wave of his hand indicated that he had reached a terrifying level in his cultivation.
Without much thought, Lin Xun resorted to the Hornless Ice Dragon Step. He stepped forward, balled his hand into a fist, and slammed a punch forward. Not only was it simple, swift and direct, but it also targeted the flaw in Zhao Xuan’s strike.
With a boom, currents of air blasted in all directions.
“Not bad.”
Zhao Xuan’s eyes were alight with amazement. Then, like a breeze, he stepped forward, and his fingers aimed for Lin Xun’s throat.Lin Xun’s heart went cold. Without any hesitation, he rapidly spun around and catapulted high into the air like a spinning top.
To Lin Xun’s surprise, Zhao Xuan leaned forward like a dragon emerging from an abyss and swiftly folded his fingers in a hand seal and met Lin Xun’s punch head-on.
Bang!
When the two collided, Lin Xun felt his bones being hammered and going numb. He winced. His physique had been tempered to an almost perfect state and was comparable to a divine weapon, but Zhao Xuan’s strike still managed to paralyze his body. It was too bizarre.
“What tyrannical physical strength. Do you also practice body tempering arts?” Zhao Xuan’s eyes were bright and dazzling like stars
As he was speaking, he strode forward, and his every step sent purple dragon patterns spreading across the ground. His imposing bearing soared. It was as though an ancient dragon was being revived.
That only ignited Lin Xun’s fighting spirit. He activated the Nine Heavenshaking Destructions Art to meet the attack head-on.
All of a sudden, the two of them darted across the hall, leaving blurred images in the air and creating violent blasts of wind. Both rapidly exchanged fists and kicks at a great speed. If they hadn’t consciously restrained their strength, the hall would have collapsed long ago.
After a while, Zhao Xuan’s figure flickered, and a palm spliced the air like a mighty dragon charging forward, suppressing all four poles.
Boom!
The strike launched Lin Xun three steps backwards. He tottered as blood and qi tumbled all over his body.
His face grew grave. It was the first time that he had encountered such a powerful opponent and faced unprecedented pressure since reaching the Perfect Spirit Sea Stage.
Everyone regarded him as an abnormal monster due to his heaven-defying strength, but it seemed that Zhao Xuan was in no way inferior to him. In fact, the youth might be even more terrifying than him!
Who is this guy?
Why have I never heard of him before?
Compared to Gu Yunting…he is much superior!
With that thought, he no longer dared to hold back his strength and displayed his powers to their fullest.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Lin Xun blasted his fist across the hall. Occasionally, it seemed to be smashing a mountain or splitting the sea, and sometimes it resembled a dragon breaking through the sky. Regardless, it seemed to contain the power to devour the world.
“Not bad!”
Zhao Xuan’s eyes brightened, and his purple robe billowed around him like flickering flames. He didn’t try to disguise his compliment.
Compared to Lin Xun, he was like an azure dragon roaring across the sky without any obstruction and looking over the mountains and rivers. He was overflowing with superiority.
Lin Xun felt a little awkward when he heard his compliment.
Ever since he had started his cultivation path, he had always been a leading figure among his peers. In fact, he had even killed cultivators of a higher cultivation level. His success along the way had built an invincible self-confidence in his heart, so he couldn’t agree with the compliment.
Boom!
Lin Xun didn’t utter a word as his aura drastically changed. He adopted more natural and ancient moves. Each one was simple and unremarkable and without any sparks.
However, the power was much stronger than the previous fist strikes and even demonstrated the wonders of returning to the natural state.
Even so, Lin Xun’s brows were still knitted together. This was because Zhao Xuan also became stronger, and he had failed to get the upper hand.
“That guy is so abnormal!” Lin Xun muttered to himself.
He just didn’t know that Zhao Xuan was more shocked than him.
Zhao Xuan had only wanted to have a friendly match and find out whether Lin Xun was as powerful as rumored, but, to his surprise, Lin Xun’s strength was even more terrifying than the rumors!
“What a freak!” Zhao Xuan muttered.
Zhao Tailai had the same thought. He was also flabbergasted to see Lin Xun evenly matched with Zhao Xuan.
He knew very well how terrifyingly strong Zhao Xuan was, but Lin Xun was able to match his skill. The word ‘freak’ described Lin Xun perfectly!
Boom!
Zhao Xuan abruptly stopped when he again countered Lin Xun’s attack.
“You don’t want to fight anymore?” Lin Xun frowned.
“If we continue, it won’t be a friendly match anymore,” Zhao Xuan replied, his smile as bright and pure as the sun.
“Boy, don’t look so frustrated. You are already very impressive,” remarked Zhao Tailai.
Lin Xun simply smiled. He hadn’t brought out his true trump card yet, so he couldn’t agree with the remark.
“You are indeed very good. At least, it will be very hard to find someone as strong as you in the Spirit Sea Stage.”
Zhao Xuan seemed to have acknowledged Lin Xun’s strength as his words and tone became much gentler. He said softly, “If there is a chance, I hope you will go to the Ancient Wasteland Domain. Countless peerless geniuses are there and only there can you understand the true meaning of the Great Dao.” His eyes were full of longing.
“If there is a chance, I will go there.” Lin Xun nodded, his fighting spirit calming.
Zhao Xuan smiled slightly and turned around to leave.
Only Zhao Tailai stayed behind to discuss the Nine Dragons Cauldron with Lin Xun.
As Lin Xun watched Zhao Xuan depart, he contemplated for a moment and then suddenly asked, “Who is she?”
Zhao Tailai was startled at first then he answered, “As I expected, you saw through the disguise. She is Princess Jingxuan, the only child of the current emperor and empress.”
Princess Jingxuan?
The name was very unfamiliar to Lin Xun. He had only met Princess Linghuang before and found her annoyingly proud and arrogant.
“It’s normal that you haven’t heard about Princess Jingxuan. Shortly after she was born, she was sent to train in an ancient sacred land in the Ancient Wasteland Domain. She only returned to the empire last year. Very few people in the world know about her existence.
Zhao Tailai sighed. “But Her Highness Princess Jingxuan is unquestionably outstanding and has an exceptional appearance. The blood of the emperor and the empress runs in her body, and she has studied supreme inheritance arts of the imperial family such as the Imperial Dragon Scripture and the True Immortal Art.”
“Most of all, Her Highness Princess Jingxuan is extremely intelligent and has unparalleled talent. She was already at the Spirit Sea Stage at the age of seven.”
“When she was thirteen years old, she stepped into the Heaven Ascension Stage. This is considered a miracle even in the Ancient Wasteland Domain.”
“It was only later that the emperor thought that her cultivation path was too smooth and worried that she would face unpredictable danger if she encountered a cultivation setback, so he suppressed her cultivation level. It has been ten years since then.”
“If she hadn’t been suppressed for ten years, she likely would have reached the Cyclic Derivation Stage!”
Lin Xun couldn’t maintain his calm anymore.
As expected, there is never a shortage of geniuses in the world. If Zhao Tailai is telling the truth, then Princess Jingxuan is indeed born to be a cultivator given her unimaginable talent and foundation.
Additionally, her father is the great emperor and her mother is the great empress. She has been training in an ancient pure land in the Ancient Wasteland Domain since she was a child, so her cultivation path has been smooth sailing all along!
Perhaps, only such a peerless genius maiden can be called a true heaven pride. Her presence makes countless cultivators in the world dim like the sun and the moon.
“Now, you should understand how lucky you are to be acknowledged by Princess Jingxuan, right?” Zhao Tailai sighed emotionally.
“She has her way, and I have my path. It makes no difference whether she approves of me or not,” Lin Xun remarked.
A cultivator should always stick to their Dao, otherwise, they would lose their spirit and will!
Who would be the first to attain the Dao?
It was still too soon to tell!
Seeing Lin Xun so calmly handle the situation and remain unaffected, Zhao Tailai couldn’t help but smack his lips. “Amazing, you are the most special one among the younger generation of geniuses I have ever seen.”
Lin Xun smiled. “Elder, you are also the most unfathomable expert I have ever seen. Why don’t we talk about it now—Was it your idea or Her Highness Princess Jingxuan or the influential figure in the imperial palace to come to find me?”
Zhao Tailai laughed. “You have already received acknowledgement from Her Highness Princess Jingxuan, so what difference does it make? Do you remember what I told you last time? The more outstanding you are, the more attention you will receive from the empire. Isn’t that true?”
Lin Xun suddenly felt a headache coming on, and he couldn’t help but glare at Zhao Tailai. This old guy is too cunning. It’s more difficult to get a clear answer from him than ascending to the sky.
“In a few days, after your conference in Stone Cauldron Alms is over, I will send you the rune materials and diagram for refining the Nine Dragons Cauldron.”
“Don’t screw up. Compared to upsetting Her Highness Princess Jingxuan, annoying the Marquis of Rising Sky and Her Highness Princess Linghuang is a small issue. I can’t help you anymore if that happens.”
After a brief chat, Zhao Tailai said goodbye and left in a hurry. He bolted faster than anyone else as though he was worried about Lin Xun finding out anything more.
“It seems that Princess Jingxuan has a truly unparalleled status in the imperial family. Even the Marquis of Rising Sky and Princess Linghuang can’t compare to her...” Lin Xun said ruminatively.
He knew that Zhao Tailai had told him that information on purpose.
Then, he shook his head and stopped thinking about it. He decided to meet up with Lin Zhong and Third Old Zhu as soon as possible.
He wanted to solve Third Old Zhu’s breakthrough problem. In addition, he wanted to hand over the completed rune armament to Lin Zhong in preparation for the upcoming conference in Stone Cauldron Alms!