Chapter 245: Tit for Tat
Chapter 245: Tit for Tat
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Lin Feng watched Prince Chong Yun saunter over and laughed under his breath. He voice-projected a message to Xiao Yan, "Xiao Yan, this is your rival in love."
Xiao Yan looked stunned. "Zhener and him…?"
"This has nothing to do with Xiao Zhener." Lin Feng was a little surprised at Xiao Yan’s reaction as well but recovered quickly. He laughed as he said, "This is the fiancee the Sword of Radiance Sect has arranged for Murong Yanran. Of course, whether or not he wants Murong Yanran is another thing altogether."
Xiao Yan’s personality was usually rather straightforward but also highly intelligent. He had already understood what the Sword of Radiance had in mind with only a little bit of prodding from Lin Feng.
"Master, what do you think?" Xiao Yan’s eyes sparkled but withheld his attitude towards the issue and just sought Lin Feng’s opinion.
Even though this suggested that the goal that he had so dearly sought after for three years may be hindered, Xiao Yan remained calm. He would still consider Lin Feng’s opinions carefully.
Lin Feng smiled faintly and said, "Xiao Yan, you have to remember that disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders cannot be greedy, but we pay back the debts that we owe."
Xiao Yan contemplated Lin Feng’s words. "Over at Wuzhou City…?"
Lin Feng replied, "That may not be of Prince Chong Yun’s making. It’s quite likely someone else was doing it using his name."
Upon hearing his master’s words, Xiao Yan chortled. "I’m relieved if you meant what you have just said."
While Lin Feng was communicating with Xiao Yan using voice-projection, he was also observing Prince Chong Yun and company.
Ignoring his personality, Prince Chong Yun’s natural talent and prowess matched his status as the crown prince of the Great Qin Empire.
His real age naturally did not match up with his appearance, which was one of a youth, but he was definitely not too senior.
In comparison to the realm of the Nascent Soul stage cultivators, Prince Chong Yun’s age was actually considered very young.
Lin Feng could sense an aura of pressurizing and arousing mana coming from him. Even though it was as veiled and obscure as it could possibly be, it definitely existed.
"Magic treasure?" Lin Feng instantly understood. As the crown prince of the Great Qin Empire, the royal family would be expected to bestow magic treasures as safeguards or as a form of protection.
This particular magic treasure ability to mask was extremely effective. The average Nascent Soul stage cultivator would not be able to detect anything. Only individuals of the Immortal Soul or special cultivators like Lin Feng could pick up on the minute details.
Thoughts spun around Lin Feng’s head as he arrived at the crux of the issue. "The effectiveness of this magic treasure is not due to its low-key nature. Instead, it is because its characteristics complemented that of its owner, Prince Chong Yun. The complementary energies of the magic treasure and the user were able to fool the average person."
Prince Chong Yun emanated an aura of the True Dragon Prince but it was not strong enough. The most conspicuous dispositions one could pick up from Prince Chong Yun was that he was an immensely invasive predator; he was greedy, tyrannical and had an enterprising vitality of extreme ambition.
It was as if he wanted to take all the good things in the world for himself and believed that was the way it should be.
There was no wonder that a person like this was disliked by the majority of the people in the Great Qin Empire, and most of them hoped that he would not ascend to the throne as the Qin Emperor.
Since the essence of the magic treasure was so complementary to the sentient features of Prince Chong Yun’s personality, it must be one of relative ferocity and brutality.
"However, how could such a magic treasure be suitable as an amulet for the crown prince of the Great Qin Empire? Did he choose it for himself?" Lin Feng mulled over the facts. "There must be something else going on here, or maybe he still has another trump card he has yet to show?"
Behind Prince Chong Yun stood a group of servants in black armor. Every single one of them was silent but one could tell from the ripples of mana that the weakest individual among their ranks was already an Aurous Core stage cultivator.
Prince Chong Yun indeed displayed great power with a personal guard formation of individuals who were at least Aurous Core stage cultivators.
Yet, even with Prince Chong Yun included, the whole party attracted only roughly a third of Lin Feng’s attention. A good chunk of his attention was concentrated on an elderly figure beside Prince Chong Yun.
Even though this elderly figure stood behind Prince Chong Yun, he wore an expression of indifference and calm independence and did not seem to be Prince Chong Yun’s follower.
His long robe was embroidered and embellished with multiple diagrams of star constellations of such intricacy that they seemed to come alive under the shine of the Sun. It appeared as if the constellations were moving on their own accord and one could derive from them the most profound and mysterious principles of the universe.
Even though he was standing atop the summit of Xingyun Peak, it seemed as though he had transcended this part of the world into the universe above, and was peering down at the mortal world.
Lin Feng’s eyes squinted slightly. "An Immortal Soul stage cultivator! Prince Chong Yun actually has an immortal soul cultivator following him around as a bodyguard?"
Naturally, this elderly figure could not possibly be Shi Chongyun’s follower, even if Shi Chongyun was the crown prince of the Great Qin empire.
The only possibility was that this elderly figure was the enshrined champion of the Great Qin empire, and was accompanying and protecting Prince Chong Yun at the Qin emperor’s request.
The great immortal soul cultivators could not be ordered around, even by the Qin Emperor. They could only be approached for help in return for something else.
The Qin royal family’s financial background could still afford to hire a person like this.
The Supreme Radiance Swordmaster also noticed the elderly figure at once. He even seemed to recognize the latter. "Ah, it’s the Stellar Holy Man. I thought you were living the life out at Xiling City? What changed your mind?"
The Stellar Holy Man smiled and replied, "I have not seen you in a while, the Supreme Radiance Swordmaster. Prince Chong Yun wanted to come here so I took the initiative to accompany him."
"I am flattered," the Supreme Radiance Swordmaster nodded his head and greeted Prince Chong Yun before turning to Lin Feng. "Master Lin, let me introduce you to the crown prince of the Great Qin Empire, Prince Chong Yun, and this is the Stellar Holy Man."
Prince Chong Yun’s eyes circulated around Lin Feng and company and his gaze stopped at Yue Hongyan. There was no attempt to mask the invasive nature of his vision.
The aura produced by his Nascent Soul stage abilities could not pass Lin Feng, who was standing in front of Yue Hongyan, and hence, he was unable to pressure the latter. Yue Hongyan met his gaze fearlessly with a cold look and a pair of red eyebrows which resembled the color of two swords after killing a man.
Prince Chong Yun chuckled and turned to look at Lin Feng. The grating voice that sounded like two pieces of metal scraping against each other once again rang out to say, "This must be the leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders, Master Lin? Your reputation precedes you."
Lin Feng had no interest to entertain such a self-centered person. Instead, he turned to the Stellar Holy Man and said, "It’s a pleasure to meet you."
Prince Chong Yun’s eyebrows bundled into a frown and a dark and gloomy aura began to flow from within him as he glared at Lin Feng.
The Stellar Holy Man remained expressionless as he glanced towards Prince Chong Yun. "Master Lin’s reputation in recent times has shocked the world, indeed."
Lin Feng could clearly read an undertone of sarcasm and smiled as he replied, "It’s okay if you get used to it."
The eyes of the Stellar Holy Man abruptly exploded with brilliance, much like a supernova or an exploding star. He stared at Lin Feng for a moment before nodding and said, "I hope so."
Prince Chong Yun was still glaring at Lin Feng and the energies coming from his body was increasingly hostile. However, his concentration was forcefully shifted to the other side.
A youth clad in purple clothing and a black robe stood beside Lin Feng and wore a faint smile on his face as he looked at Prince Chong Yun.
Prince Chong Yun observed him for a moment with a look of hostility and arrogance.
Xiao Yan returned his gaze with a similar look of indifference.
Prince Chong Yun turned to Lin Feng and asked, "They are the disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders? They have no sense of respect."
Lin Feng refused to answer and glanced towards the Supreme Radiance Swordmaster. "Those who have to be here are here. When do we start?"
"You…" Prince Chong Yun raised his eyebrows and was about to say something else when he was interrupted by Xiao Yan.
"Disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders have always been courteous and respectful, but only to people who are courteous and respectful as well. Otherwise, we don’t care."
"Politeness is not so cheap."
Only now did Prince Chong Yun stare at Xiao Yan directly, yet it was not because he withdrew his arrogance.
Previously, he treated Xiao Yan with condescension and was too lazy to bother about Xiao Yan’s disrespect, as if it were a human interacting with a dog.
Now, he was annoyed at the dog that was still barking non-stop and he was more than prepared to eliminate it.
Prince Chong Yun said coldly, "Master Lin, your disciple is way too boisterous and noisy. I have no choice but to kill him."
"You?" Xiao Yan scoffed and replied and his pupils lit up with enchanting fiery brilliance. One of it was golden in color while the other a bluish purple.
Prince Chong Yun became more solemn only after he witnessed the golden and purple flames. He nodded and said, "So you are Xiao Yan. To wield the Grand Sun Primordial Flame and the Nefarious Spectral Primordial Flame at the same time is no easy task. You are indeed special."
After the battle at Shazhou, the reputations of the disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders spread across the region. The intelligence branch of the Great Qin Empire was also highly efficient, thus Prince Chong Yun naturally enjoyed information first-hand.
However, his arrogance remained. He continued apathetically, "Yet you are only at the Aurous Core stage. You still pale in comparison."
Lin Feng was rather amused by the attitude Xiao Yan was giving to Prince Chong Yun, and thought to himself, "It looks as if the benefits received by the Xiao family of Wuzhou City was not of Prince Chong Yun’s doing. It even seems as if he doesn’t know a thing about it."
"Heh heh, this is getting more interesting."
If Lin Feng did not say anything, then the Supreme Radiance Swordmaster, the Purple Cloud Grandmaster and the Azure Clouds Grandmaster certainly remained silent. The scene unfolding in front of them was the outcome of their dreams.
Murong Yanran was yet to be dragged into the picture and Prince Chong Yun was already at odds with Xiao Yan. Things were so smooth that the Azure Clouds Grandmaster began to suspect if things were too good to be true and there was something fishy going on.
"The Prince was too fast, it took me a long while to catch up."
All of a sudden, a voice could be heard from beyond the horizon. "I am Tan Yingjie, and hereby give my greetings to the Supreme Radiance Swordmaster, the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders and the Stellar Holy Man."
"Tan Yingjie?" The Supreme Radiance Swordmaster and the Stellar Holy Man exchanged glances, and it appeared that they heard this name before. The Supreme Radiance Swordmaster coolly said, "Xingyun Peak is so lively and happening today."
He swiped his finger across the air and the clouds dissipated once again. A middle-aged man in a blue coat dropped from the sky, and the ripples in the air caused by his mana suggested he was a Nascent Soul stage cultivator.
As Tan Yingjie touched down, he greeted Lin Feng, the Supreme Radiance Swordmaster and the Stellar Holy Man once again.
Prince Chong Yun frowned as Tan Yingjie showed up. "Tan Yingjie, what are you doing here? Was it by Prime Minister Wu’s orders?"
Tan Yingjie laughed and replied, "I was indeed under the instruction of Prime Minister Wu to pass something to the Supreme Radiance Swordmaster, nothing else. Do not worry, my prince."
He looked at Lin Feng with a smile on his face. "However, it looks like something interesting is going down. I wonder if I have the honour to watch from the side?"
Lin Feng eyed Tan Yingjie in silence. At the same time, he received a message from the Black Dragon Jieyu by voice-projection. "Master, this person’s surname is Tan and he has intricate connections with the Great Qin Empire. It is very likely that he belonged to the Tan family, one of the seven great families of the Ancient Yuantian World."