"Master!"
Zhao Feng quickly walked into the courtyard. As he approached, he bent his knees and dropped to the ground with a heavy thud, bowing in deep reverence.
"Stand up and speak."
Lin Yan leaned back in his rocking chair and waved his hand.
"Yes!"
Zhao Feng stood up and waited respectfully to the side with his hands lowered.
His gaze subconsciously fell on the green tangerine in Lin Yan's hand, then glanced at the pile of tangerine peels on the stone table. His mouth twitched slightly, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
"Zhao Feng, why do you think there's been absolutely no movement from the Tianyan Sect and the Earth Blade Sect?"
Lin Yan didn't notice his gaze. He casually broke off a segment of the green tangerine and popped it into his mouth, squinting his eyes at the sourness.
"Zhao Feng, why do you think there's been absolutely no movement from the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Earth Blade Sect?"
Zhao Feng withdrew his gaze and carefully considered his words.
"To answer the Master, in this old servant's opinion, they are afraid."
"Afraid?"
"Yes! Word is spreading outside right now that Master is at the Great Circle of the Golden Core realm, or perhaps even a Nascent Soul True Monarch. Those few Golden Core Patriarchs of the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Earth Blade Sect probably don't have the guts to show up."
Lin Yan raised an eyebrow.
"So cowardly?"
Zhao Feng smiled bitterly.
"There is something Master might not know. Cultivation is no easy feat, and the higher one's cultivation level, the more they cherish their life!"
"Having painstakingly reached such a realm, they still have several centuries of good days ahead of them. No one is willing to gamble with their own life."
"Unless they encounter a heaven-defying opportunity, or are forced into a corner with absolutely no other choice, high-level cultivators rarely fight to the death with others."
Lin Yan leaned against his rocking chair, tapping his fingers against the armrest in thought.
"The longer you survive in the martial world, the smaller your courage gets?"
"Master is brilliant!"
Lin Yan thought about it, and it made sense.
Setting aside those above the Nascent Soul realm, Golden Core Patriarchs were at least over a hundred years old. Their temperaments naturally wouldn't be like hot-blooded youths, ready to exterminate entire clans over the slightest disagreement.
Anyone who could survive long enough to reach the Golden Core realm was undoubtedly a cunning fox.
However...
Didn't this mean he couldn't rob their spirit veins?
He had originally planned that if the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Earth Blade Sect dared to come looking for trouble, he would have the perfect excuse to move their spirit veins away.
In the end, these two factions were playing it safer than the other. Let alone looking for trouble, they didn't even dare to let out a fart.
How was he supposed to make a move now?
Seeing Lin Yan's thoughtful expression, Zhao Feng rolled his eyes and dropped to his knees with another heavy thud.
"Master, this old servant is guilty! There is something I have been hiding from you, not daring to speak of it."
Lin Yan glanced at him.
"What is it?"
Zhao Feng kept his head down, lowering his voice a few degrees.
"Thirty years ago, it was precisely this old servant who destroyed the Tianyan Sect of that time with a single palm strike."
Lin Yan raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? Tell me about it."
"At the time, this old servant had just been promoted to an Outer Sect Elder of the Heavenly Sword Sect, taking charge of all affairs in Qingyun City. Later, the sect passed down an order, stating that there was a small sect on Qingyun Mountain called the Tianyan Sect. Its name was only one character different from the Heavenly Sword Sect, showing no respect for taboos and offending the majesty of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Therefore, they had to be destroyed!"
"So, this old servant led people up the mountain, shattered their mountain gate with a single palm, and drove away all their disciples."
After Zhao Feng finished speaking, he pressed his forehead against the bluestone floor, not daring to look up.
The courtyard fell silent for a few breaths.
Lin Yan put down the green tangerine in his hand, looking at the kneeling Zhao Feng, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.
"Then what do you think should be done now?"
Zhao Feng raised his head, his gaze resolute.
"The Heavenly Sword Sect and the Tianyan Sect differ by only one character. They show no respect for taboos and have offended the Master's majesty. They ought to be destroyed!"
Lin Yan clapped his hands and laughed aloud.
"Good, good, good!"
What a Zhao Feng! What a master of reading the room! What a lack of respect for taboos!
"Stand up. You are not to blame for this matter; you were merely serving your master at the time."
But Zhao Feng didn't get up. Instead, he kowtowed once more. "Master, this old servant has one more request."
Lin Yan leaned back in his rocking chair, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.
"Speak."
"This old servant has a daughter, nineteen years of age this year. While she may not be a breathtaking beauty that could topple nations, her looks and figure are absolutely no inferior to the top courtesan of the Joyous Union Pavilion."
"This old servant makes bold to ask that, when it is convenient for Master in the future, you might casually offer her a pointer or two!"
"I do not ask that she be taken as a disciple, only that she may stay by Master's side to serve tea, pour water, sweep the courtyard, and do some miscellaneous chores."
Lin Yan raised an eyebrow.
Zhao Feng quickly added, "This old servant has already hired someone to tutor her for half a month. She has learned everything she needs to know and will absolutely not cause Master any extra trouble!"
Lin Yan shook his head, rendered speechless.
"You, oh, you."
Zhao Feng hastily kowtowed, his forehead thumping loudly against the ground.
"This old servant is clumsy with words and doesn't know how to speak prettily, but I beg Master to help guide my little girl..."
Lin Yan clicked his tongue.
This was called being clumsy with words?
He was clearly the one pushing his daughter over, yet he made it sound as if Lin Yan owed him a massive favor.
"Fine, fine."
Lin Yan sighed. "Seeing how diligent you are, I will offer her a pointer or two in the future."
Overjoyed, Zhao Feng kowtowed three more times.
"Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!"
He paused for a moment, then added cautiously, "Master, this old servant also has a wife who possesses some beauty."
"It's not good for her to show her face in public down the mountain. Do you think... she could also move up the mountain? She could do some chores alongside our daughter..."
This time, Lin Yan flatly waved his hand.
"The daughter is fine, but forget about the wife."
Zhao Feng was stunned.
Lin Yan leaned back in his rocking chair, his tone flat.
"I simply like eating tangerines, and I simply like listening to music. You don't need to go to such lengths!"
"As long as you do not betray me, I will not treat your family unfairly."
Zhao Feng's body trembled slightly, his eyes turning red as he kowtowed heavily.
"This old servant understands! Thank you, Master!"
Lin Yan waved his hand.
"Stand up."
Zhao Feng stood up, took two steps back, entirely unable to suppress the joy on his face.
"Master, this old servant will head down the mountain right now to bring Xiangru up."
He turned to leave.
Just as he took a single step, his movements abruptly halted.
Zhao Feng's expression changed drastically, all the hairs on his body standing on end.
A majestic and boundless aura, heavy as a mountain range, swept in from the horizon, pressing down so hard he could barely breathe.
"Mas... Master..."
Lin Yan frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"Nascent Soul... It's a Nascent Soul aura! A Nascent Soul has come!"
Zhao Feng's voice was trembling.
He had only seen a Nascent Soul expert from afar once in his entire life.
That was twenty years ago when an ancestor of the Biluo Sect passed by Qingyun City. The release of their aura had suffocated all the cultivators in the city.
He would never forget that feeling for the rest of his life.
Right now, that aura had returned.
And it was stronger and closer than twenty years ago.
Was it a friend or a foe?
Before Zhao Feng could recover from his shock, a loud shout echoed from outside the mountain gate, shaking the leaves of the old locust tree until they rustled violently.
Immediately after, an invincible presence was unleashed, whipping up fierce winds!
"Sect Master of the Tianyan Sect! Come out and face your death!"
Zhao Feng's legs gave out, almost dropping him to his knees again.
Nascent Soul!
It really was a Nascent Soul!
At this moment, he was both terrified and furious!
Damn it! You didn't come earlier, you didn't come later, you had to come right after I just gave away my daughter!
Gritting his teeth, Zhao Feng stood in front of Lin Yan, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. His legs were shaking, his hands were shaking, but he did not step aside.
From behind him came Lin Yan's indifferent voice.
"Zhao Feng."
"This old servant is here!"
"You go and annihilate that Nascent Soul."
Zhao Feng was dumbfounded.
He turned his head, looking at Lin Yan with his mouth wide open, pointing at himself.
"Huh?"
"Annihilate that Nascent Soul?"
"Me?"
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
