Chapter 41 - Fleeing before the Fight?
Lin Geng"s awakening ended the Lin family"s gloomy atmosphere. In the Lin family members" hearts, as long as the family head Lin Geng awoke then nothing would be a problem.
At the same time, as a character that was fighting strongly against the crazy tide of life, Lin Haoxue"s impression in the Lin family had become stronger and close to that of her grandfather, this made her an idol that everybody fervently looked up too. She changed from a delicate young miss that always needed protection to the backbone that supports the entire family. This kind of change was like the sky and earth exchanging places. Now, Lin Haoxue"s reputation wasn"t a bit inferior to Lin Geng"s, actually, she seemed to exceed Lin Geng.
About this, Lin Haoxue didn"t know if she should cry or laugh. However, Lin Geng didn"t care at all. He became even happier because Lin Haoxue had brought back everybody"s confidence and pride in the Lin family.
During this time, Lin Haoxue and Lin Geng were busy coming up with a plan to fight the Wu family.
After five days, some astonishing news spread throughout Taixing town. A small third-rate family had a genius amongst them and this new genius was Lin Haoxue. Just a while ago, she had no talent for cultivation. Now, this Second Young Miss stated that she wanted to challenge all the disciples of the Wu family, who were one of the three main families of Taixing town! She also wanted to do this by herself!.
When this news first broke, it immediately became a hot topic to gossip about in Taixing town. People talked about it with each other when they were having tea and also at dinner. People did not fully believe the news, but they were convinced after they heard that the Lin family had invited the Zheng and w.a.n.g heads to watch the matches.
For the att.i.tude towards this issue, the people of Taixing town had split into two sides. One supported Lin Haoxue as they thought that since she dared to issue such a challenge, then she must be ready to fight. These people thought this because they knew a short while ago she had defeated He Long. But, unfortunately, the people that held this point of view didn"t even reach two percent.
The other side thought that Lin Haoxue didn"t know the immensity of the heavens and earth: that she was just frantic and impudent. They believed that even though Lin Haoxue had defeated He Long before, that was because He Long was merely at the Profound Grandmaster realm. Now, what she was going to face was the entire Wu family! This was a family with more than three hundred years of history in Taixing town! They were one of the three major families, but apparently, even that didn"t affect Lin Haoxue"s mind. Furthermore, there weren"t many disciples at the Profound Grandmaster realm, but there were a lot that exceeded this realm, therefore Lin Haoxue"s actions were no different than striking a stone with an egg. Those who had such a point of view reached around eighty percent of the population.
However, of course, this was because the news that Lin Haoxue had challenged Wu Shiyue was public knowledge, but not that she was an incantation master. Otherwise, this situation would probably be completely opposite.
This issue had spread throughout Taixing town and people talked about it constantly. But the Lin and Wu families who were involved were unusually silent about the matter. They acted like nothing was happening, but everybody knew that this was the so-called calm before the storm. The Wu family knew what Lin Haoxue was capable of, therefore they wouldn"t underestimate this battle. But the Lin family didn"t goof off either. According to the response from the Zheng and w.a.n.g families, when the Wu family got the message that Lin Haoxue was going to challenge them, they accepted exceptionally fast. They knew what they were capable of but they still accepted the challenge This meant that they were fully prepared for this battle already. Therefore, Lin Haoxue and Lin Geng were being very careful.
Just as everyone in Taixing town was looking forward to watching this epic fight, the day of truth finally arrived.
On this day, the whole of Taixing town had come. People gathered around the battle arena located on the east side of town. No matter who one supported, Lin Haoxue or the Wu family, they all wanted to watch this show. For many of the cultivators from poor families, they would be able to see the best of the younger generation fight with each other which would definitely help them gain insights and benefit them. Furthermore, both disciples from the Wu family and Lin family were outstanding characters of Taixing town"s younger generation: they were simply a n.o.ble existence for these poorer cultivators. Therefore, they thought that the fight between Lin Haoxue and the Wu family would definitely be unordinary.
This battle arena in Taixing had existed for thousands of years. It was a three feet tall, ninety feet long, and sixty feet wide platform. The entire arena was made of firm granite, and at the edges of the four corners, there was energy from ancient incantations. One didn"t need need to worry about their power when fighting as this platform wouldn"t collapse.
Before the sun was up, someone was already occupying a seat. Now, it was ten in the morning, but neither the Wu family nor the Lin family had arrived yet. However, at this time, the arena was already very crowded.
At this moment, two young men around seventeen to eighteen years old came near the crowd. One looked cold and the other one looked tender. After they showed up, all the people surrounding the arena separated into two sides giving a two meter wide road for them. Some very young kids didn"t know who they were, therefore they asked their older brothers and sisters, and now they knew, "One is Zheng Yucheng from the Zheng family, and the other one is w.a.n.g Mufeng from the w.a.n.g family. Five years ago, they were all as famous as Wu Shiyue, and the three of them were called the three geniuses of Taixing town. However, as time went by and since they didn"t show up much in public anymore they were gradually forgotten by people.
The reason why the Wu family, the Zheng family, and the w.a.n.g family were able to become the three major families were not only because their family heads were strong but also their disciples" talent were all very high. Therefore, they formed a strange balance. This generation, the three most outstanding characters were Wu Shiyue from the Wu family, Zheng Yucheng from the Zheng family, and w.a.n.g Mufeng from the w.a.n.g family.
Zheng Yucheng had a great relationship with w.a.n.g Mufeng. Five years ago, they were both taken away to be trained by a mysterious master who came from somewhere far away. These days were right around the time they left five years ago so it seems like they got permission to come back home. After they heard about what was going on between Lin Haoxue and the Wu family, of course, they had to come watch.
Suddenly, that elegant w.a.n.g Mufeng stopped and greeted a blurred shadow in a crowd, "Brother Wu, you"ve come."
"Aren"t you here as well?" A young man in green responded unhappily. It was Wu Shiyue. Ever since Wu Shiyue failed to ambush Lin Haoxue, he had been feeling shameful to meet people. Now he was hiding in the crowd, but he was called out by w.a.n.g Mufeng; therefore, he could only unhappily responded.
Zheng Yucheng couldn"t help but look at w.a.n.g Mufeng. Zheng Yucheng knew that he was a man with a big smile who was full of evil intentions as he had seen too many of his opponents die from his fake smile.
After meeting Wu Shiyue, people around them started to gossip about the information they had obtained. Wu Shiyue, Zheng Yucheng, and w.a.n.g Mufeng, these three people were the most famous geniuses of Taixing town. Ever since five years ago when Zheng and w.a.n.g went out to gain experience, they hadn"t shown up anymore. Now all three had appeared at the same time, this definitely caused a big commotion.
w.a.n.g Mufeng could tell Wu Shiyue"s mood from his unhappy tone, so he just smiled and didn"t say anything more.
"It"s been five years since I last saw you. Brother Zheng had improved a lot, huh!" Wu Shiyue ignored w.a.n.g Mufeng and just talked to Zheng Yucheng. This was because he found out that w.a.n.g Mufeng"s strength was higher than his own by a little bit, but he could still tell how deep his strength was. However, he wasn"t able to see through Zheng Yucheng"s strength. Now that he knew this, it made him even more unhappy.
"No, no, brother Wu didn"t show his real strength last time. Perhaps the Lin family isn"t qualified to make brother Wu come onto the arena, right?"
Zheng Yucheng answered politely. Even if he responded politely, Wu Shiyue naturally reminded of the fact that he had been defeated by Lin Haoxue. His face turned pale and he said, "I"m not going to fight this time."
After saying this sentence, he immediately changed topics, "I"ve heard that Uncle Zheng is the overseer this time. Why don"t I see him here?"
"Since my father accepted, he won"t break his promise. According to my father, he seemed to view this fight with importance." The calm and introverted Zheng Yucheng smiled and looked forward, "Ha, see? Here he comes."
Wu Shiyue followed the direction where Zheng Yucheng was looking, and as expected, the three who were waiting ahead surrounded three others and walked toward the arena. That three that had just come were Wu Haiping, Zheng Shiling, and w.a.n.g Xunyuan. As these three people arrived, the crowd got more excited.
Zheng Shiling and three others came to the front of the arena and sat down in the chairs.
After they were all seated, Zheng Shiling looked at Lin Geng who had shown up very early. He saw that he didn"t have any reactions to their arrival and then he looked at Wu Haiping saw him nod his head. He had eye contact with w.a.n.g Xunyuan and then cleared his throat saying,
"Everybody! Since the Lin family and the Wu family can"t put aside their grudges, they now are willing to fight each other in the arena to determine who is stronger and put an end to their hatred. It is the Second Young Miss, Lin Haoxue, from the Lin family who will challenge all the younger generation disciples from the Wu family. No matter who wins or loses, they"ll all have to accept the result and not get into this anymore. Now, please, the Lin family and the Wu family come to the stage."
Right after Zheng Shiling finished speaking, a young man from the Wu family jumped out onto the arena platform which gave him warm applause.
"Wu Shiling?" Someone called out this name from the crowd. Wu Shilin was at the Profound Grandmaster realm, and he was also one of the most top-notch cultivators of the upcoming generation in the Wu family. He was pretty proud that he had aroused the crowd and got their applause, so he happily looked out at the crowd.
When he looked around, he immediately turned gloomy. The person he imagined to be trembling with fear and look like she would regret her decision, Lin Haoxue… Wasn"t even here. Even though Wu Shilin hasn"t seen Lin Haoxue, he had seen a picture of her before. Anyone who has seen Lin Haoxue before would never forget her appearance easily.
Now Lin Haoxue wasn"t on stage nor in the crowd... Could it be that she ran away?