Inside the restaurant, two young men gazed at each other from across the room, both wearing warm smiles. If bystanders didn’t know their identities, they would have assumed the two were old friends of many years.
However, the crowd present was secretly shocked. They wondered how this country bumpkin could actually be the Young Master of the Divine General’s Mansion—the guy who had been bedridden for two years. And the one wrapped in the frost-white cloak was actually the reigning Crown Prince!
"This is going to be a good show. These two are born sworn enemies."
"When enemies meet, they always see red."
"Prince Qin is truly pitiful. He definitely didn’t expect to provoke a little tyrant like Lin Huang!"
Whispers echoed throughout the building, yet Lin Huang and Crown Prince Lingyun walked into the private room, beaming with smiles.
"Actually, it’s no coincidence. I came here specifically to wait for the Young Master. Hearing that you woke up today, I was inexplicably overjoyed and thought I’d come take a look!" Crown Prince Lingyun said with a gentle expression.
"So, Your Highness, you sent a dog to scout the way?" Lin Huang laughed. "It’s just that his nose isn’t working well, and he likes to bite people randomly. Out of sheer necessity, I could only help you discipline him!"
"In that case, the Young Master can stop now. Doesn’t one have to look at the master before beating their dog?" Crown Prince Lingyun smiled with pursed lips, though a cold, sinister sharpness seeped from his eyes.
"Makes sense!" Lin Huang nodded in agreement. He then turned his head and called out, "Fatty Bai, did you hear that? You have to consider the master before beating their dog... which means you can’t stop, understand?"
Fatty Bai looked up and grinned with a naive, honest smile.
"Your Highness..." Prince Qin cried out, his eyes brimming with venomous resentment. He hadn’t expected Lin Huang to be so audacious as to act arrogantly right in front of the Crown Prince.
Crown Prince Lingyun’s expression chilled slightly as he swept an unkind gaze over Lin Huang.
"Your Highness must have a purpose for coming here. You might as well speak plainly," Lin Huang chuckled.
"I came to discuss with the Young Master whether we should cancel the three-year agreement," Crown Prince Lingyun said, narrowing his eyes as a trace of gloomy coldness leaked out. He hadn’t expected Lin Huang to be so unappreciative of favors. Even after he had spoken up, Lin Huang still refused to let Prince Qin off.
"The Divine General’s Mansion is a pillar of the Great Xia Dynasty, and the Young Master is a pillar of the Divine General’s Mansion. If the Young Master were to truly die by my hands, wouldn’t I become a sinner of the dynasty?
"I wouldn’t want today’s Prince Qin to become the Young Master one year from now," Crown Prince Lingyun added with a beaming smile.
"In that case, Your Highness is absolutely confident in defeating me?" Lin Huang asked, clapping his hands together as he looked up and stared at Crown Prince Lingyun.
"You should know that I have been through dozens of duels and have never been defeated. Even Miss Cangxue, who was such an energetic and brilliant genius back then—didn’t she also suffer a miserable defeat when she fought her way into my Eastern Palace?
"Besides, even if the Young Master had your sister’s natural talent, it would be impossible to break through to the Human Element Ninth Heaven within a year. To me, killing a Martial Artist below the Human Element Ninth Heaven is as easy as swatting a fly," Crown Prince Lingyun smiled as he sipped his wine.
Crown Prince Lingyun’s expression was mild, yet every single word was extremely grating.
Lin Cangxue was Lin Huang’s older sister, once an unparalleled prodigy of the Great Xia Dynasty.
"I am only at the Human Element Ninth Heaven, and in a year, I will only be at the Earth Element Realm. My Martial Soul is quite ordinary, just a Profound Tier Martial Soul. However, relying on just these, it is still impossible for the Young Master to defeat me," Crown Prince Lingyun continued.
"There is still a year until the agreed time, yet Your Highness is already beginning to enjoy victory so early. I once met someone like this; his name was Liu Cangsheng, and he ended up having his head chopped off by me with a single slash," Lin Huang said calmly, though he was quite shaken inwardly.
Human Element Ninth Heaven.
Profound Tier Martial Soul.
To his current self, this couldn’t just be considered strong—it was incredibly strong!
"Your Highness coming to Tianxiang Tower is precisely out of fear that my Divine General’s Mansion won’t honor the three-year agreement, right? Such a brilliant provocation could only be thought up by a mind as clever as Your Highness’s," Lin Huang complimented.
Now, everyone in the Imperial City knew about the three-year agreement between the two. With less than a year left until the life-and-death battle, anyone with half a brain knew that Lin Huang was doomed to die in this clash.
Lin Huang had only just entered the Human Element Realm. Meanwhile, Crown Prince Lingyun was at the Human Element Ninth Heaven.
The gap was like the difference between heaven and earth. When the actual duel took place, if Lin Huang could survive three moves from Crown Prince Lingyun, the public would view it as a miracle. Therefore, Crown Prince Lingyun was afraid the Divine General’s Mansion would go back on the three-year agreement, allowing Lin Huang to avoid the fight.
That was what led to the current scene.
Crown Prince Lingyun narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Since you know it’s a provocation, I wonder if the Young Master will take the bait?"
"Rest assured, Your Highness. I will naturally honor the three-year agreement. However, I must remind you that judging the victor now is perhaps a bit premature. Your Highness has forced me into a corner with no way out today. I will accept this great gift, and I hope that in a year, Your Highness will also be able to calmly accept the surprise I give you," Lin Huang said, his eyes slightly narrowed as he revealed a sincere smile.
"By all means, make it as surprising as possible! I would actually dislike it if it were too bland. HAHAHA... Let’s go!" Crown Prince Lingyun laughed heartily. With a sweep of his sleeve, he led his entourage out of Tianxiang Tower.
"Your Highness, take your dog with you, or else he’ll become the next Lin Haoran!" Lin Huang shouted.
"If the Young Master likes him, I’ll give him to you," Crown Prince Lingyun said with a gloomy face before disappearing from Lin Huang’s line of sight.
Watching Crown Prince Lingyun’s retreating figure, Lin Huang narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze carrying a hint of ruthlessness.
"Boss Lin, do you have a screw loose? You knew this son of a bitch was setting a trap for you, yet you still jumped right in," Fatty Bai said after Crown Prince Lingyun and his men had left. "The three-year agreement is a battle of life and death! If you lose, your head will roll. Going all out against him now—have you completely lost your marbles?"
Fatty Bai kept shouting and squawking from the side.
"Sometimes, there are more important things to protect than just preserving one’s life. I can throw away my dignity to save my life, but Crown Prince Lingyun must pay back what he owes my sister. The life-and-death battle in a year is absolutely imperative!
"Besides, there’s still a year left. I might not necessarily lack a chance," Lin Huang said with absolute certainty as he patted Fatty Bai’s massive bulk.
"Are you an idiot?" Fatty Bai said exasperatedly, looking at Lin Huang speechlessly. He felt boundless grief in his heart, wondering how someone as peerlessly brilliant as himself ended up with such a stupid brother.
Lin Huang merely smiled at Fatty Bai’s reaction.
Perhaps everyone shared Fatty Bai’s view, but Lin Huang didn’t think so. He still remembered something a guy named Qin Xuance had once said: "Nothing in this world is absolute; even in a situation of certain death, there are always flaws to exploit."
After casually eating some food at Tianxiang Tower, Lin Huang returned to the Divine General’s Mansion and plunged straight into the mansion’s Scripture Pavilion.
For Lin Huang now, the most urgent matter was cultivation. There was nothing more important than this.
"Young Master!"
Upon seeing Lin Huang, the elderly man in the Scripture Pavilion revealed a smile on his deeply wrinkled face. "The Mansion Master knew the Young Master would definitely come to the Scripture Pavilion and specifically instructed that all high-level Martial Techniques are in the underground secret chamber.
"According to the Mansion Master, there are quite a few Profound Tier Martial Techniques inside. Whether you can obtain them will depend on your own abilities, Young Master."
"Mm. Thank you, Elder Sun," Lin Huang nodded. Under the elderly man’s guidance, he entered the underground secret chamber.
Back when Lin Beichen rode his horse across the world and campaigned through the Four Dynasties and Six Kingdoms, he had collected as many as thirty thousand scrolls of Martial Techniques. This immense amount accounted for more than seventy percent of the Great Xia Dynasty’s secret scrolls of Martial Techniques.
Among them, quite a few were rare, one-of-a-kind copies.
Over the years, an unknown number of Martial Artists had dreamed of entering the Scripture Pavilion just to catch a glimpse of one or two of these techniques.
On the continent, the strength of Martial Techniques was categorized in the same way as Martial Souls, divided into Yellow Tier, Profound Tier, and Earth Tier, with each tier further divided into Lower, Middle, and Upper Grades.
The Martial Technique Lin Huang cultivated in his previous life was called the Godslaying One Slash. It was a genuine Earth-Tier Martial Technique. Let alone the Great Xia Dynasty, even the Four Great Sects of the East Spirit Realm, which were at the height of their power, likely didn’t possess an Earth-Tier Martial Technique.
However, the Godslaying One Slash consumed an immense amount of Primordial Qi. Below the Earth Element Realm, it was very difficult to unleash its true power, making it inferior to some ordinary Martial Techniques.
Therefore, Lin Huang had decided to come to the Scripture Pavilion to find a suitable Martial Technique scroll.
Upon entering the secret chamber, waves of powerful pressure surged forward like a tide, instantly causing Lin Huang’s qi and blood to churn.
"Be careful, Young Master. Martial Techniques carry their own pressure. The higher the grade, the stronger the pressure. Moreover, this secret chamber is full of Profound Tier Martial Techniques; the power of their pressure is not to be underestimated."
Lin Huang nodded. Looking up at the secret chamber laid out in a Nine Palace Bagua Formation, he was immensely amazed. A black box rested on every Eight Trigrams Array position.
Waves of sounds emanated from the boxes, quite piercing to the ear if one listened closely. There was the ringing of swords, the howling of blades, the crackling of blazing fire, roaring gusts of wind...
Each sound represented a kind of Martial Technique, truly profoundly Xuan Miao.
Overlord Blade Martial Technique, Profound Tier Lower Grade.
Blazing Palm, Profound Tier Lower Grade.
Withered Sword Martial Technique, Profound Tier Middle Grade.
Listening to the sounds of these Martial Techniques, Lin Huang shook his head. Within the Great Xia Dynasty, these Martial Techniques were already rare solitary copies, but for him, they were of little use.
Executing these Martial Techniques would consume a massive amount of Primordial Qi. Especially at the Human Element Realm, just using one once would likely drain him completely.
Lin Huang’s goal in coming to the Scripture Pavilion was not to find a powerful Martial Technique, but to find a scroll that could help him defeat Crown Prince Lingyun.
"Huh?"
Just then, the clashing sound of metal weapons suddenly rang in Lin Huang’s ears. Though the sound was faint, it was extremely clear.
Lin Huang turned his head, his gaze following the source of the sound until it finally landed on the black box situated at the Qian Position of the Eight Trigrams Array.
"Elder Sun... what Martial Technique is this?" Lin Huang asked.
The elderly man’s body paused for a moment. He looked at Lin Huang with some hesitation before replying, "The Great Vajra Technique. It is an ordinary Body Refining Technique, merely a Body Refining Technique of the Upper Grade of Yellow Tier."
"A Body Refining Technique? Upper Grade of Yellow Tier?" Lin Huang’s interest was suddenly piqued. To be able to secure a place among the numerous Profound Tier Martial Techniques, this Great Vajra Technique must have its extraordinary aspects.
"Young Master, practicing a Body Refining Technique is particularly painful. Would you like to look around some more?" Elder Sun urged.
"There’s no need. I’ll choose this one!" Lin Huang smiled. He wiped the dust off the black box and used both hands to take out the jade slip inside.
Right now, the gap in cultivation realms between him and Crown Prince Lingyun was too immense. If he wanted to defeat the latter, walking the ordinary path would be very difficult. A Body Refining Technique, however, was known as a shortcut below the Celestial Element Realm.
Below the Celestial Element Realm, the Primordial Qi within a Martial Artist’s body wasn’t sharp and powerful enough. In the face of a Martial Artist who practiced Horizontal Body Training, they would find it very difficult to claim victory.
For Lin Huang to defeat Crown Prince Lingyun, the Great Vajra Technique was a rather excellent choice.
"Truly worthy of being a descendant of the Lin Family! Back when your father entered the secret chamber, he chose this scroll of Martial Technique with the same calm determination as you," Elder Sun suddenly laughed, his wizened face bunching up in a smile.
"Father?" Lin Huang’s body paused, slightly zoning out. The word "father" was exceptionally unfamiliar in his mind. From his birth until now, Lin Huang had never seen his father once.
In his past life, Lin Huang had also attempted to search for the man named Lin Changtian, but the Azure Sky Continent spanned tens of billions of miles. Where was he supposed to begin looking?
"It’s all in the past, let’s not talk about it! Let’s not talk about it!" Knowing he had misspoken, the old man waved his hands and smiled awkwardly. Lin Changtian was a taboo name throughout the entire East Spirit Realm. That man, who had once turned the East Spirit Realm upside down, had vanished without a trace sixteen years ago!
"Young Master, let us head out!" Elder Sun smiled.
Lin Huang silently nodded. His originally good mood had been agitated by the sudden mention of his father. This man who had abandoned his family and children—should he love him or hate him?
Just what kind of person was Lin Changtian? And where was he now?
Just as the two were about to leave the secret chamber, Lin Huang’s body jolted. He very clearly felt the Celestial Asura within his body produce a trace of a tremor.
It was as if something in this secret chamber was attracting it.
"Elder Sun, this secret chamber is laid out as a Nine Palace Bagua Formation, and on the Eight Trigrams Array are Martial Techniques. I wonder what is in the Nine Palace Array..." Lin Huang turned around, staring at the Nine Palace Array in the secret chamber.
"This old man doesn’t know," Elder Sun shook his head. "I only heard the Mansion Master say that the item inside this Nine Palace Array was left behind by your father."
Lin Huang looked thoughtful as he felt the Celestial Asura inside his body vibrating more and more intensely, seeming rather excited...