The Prodigies War

On the third day after Lin Xun learned of the news the ten supreme Emperor Ancestors of the Crimson Serpent Immortal Sect arrived at the Tianwu Sect. Supreme Elders Qing Heng and Qing Geng personally went to receive them.

Half an hour later, every disciple within the lower five cultivation stages was summoned to the main hall. One by one, they were questioned by the visiting Emperor Ancestors. Even Chun Ning and Dai Yan, who had been stationed outside the Scripture Pavilion, were called over.

This caused Lin Xun to grow more wary. Unexpectedly, his name was never called. It wasn’t until noon that Chun Ning and Dai Yan returned, bringing news that the ten supreme Emperor Ancestors of the Crimson Serpent Immortal Sect had already departed.

Lin Xun couldn’t help but ask, “I am also only at the Cycle Derivation Stage, why was I not summoned?”

Chun Ning’s expression turned odd and he replied with a hint of sarcasm, “Martial Granduncle...what is your status? How could they summon you at their whim?”

Lin Xun cast him a sideways glance. “Who do you think you’re fooling with that? Tell the truth.”

Chun Ning hesitated before lowering his voice, “When they arrived, they had already heard...quite a bit about you. After confirming matters with Senior Martial Granduncle Qing Heng, they unanimously decided there was no need to see you.”

Lin Xun’s brows furrowed slightly. “There is more to it. Continue.”

Chun Ning shifted uneasily, then finally said in a whisper, “Those experts from the Crimson Serpent Immortal Sect said...you are already pitiful enough. They could not bear to embarrass you further in public.”

Dai Yan hurriedly added, “Martial Granduncle, you are a supreme elder of our Tianwu Sect. How could you be interrogated alongside ordinary disciples? Senior Martial Granduncle Qing Heng would never have allowed it.”

Lin Xun let out a soft chuckle. “In the end...they simply look down on me.”

He lowered his gaze, concealing the faint relief in his eyes. Look down on me? That works perfectly in my favor!

Chun Ning and Dai Yan fell silent. Only now does he realize it?

“Very well. You may withdraw.” Lin Xun waved them away.

This crisis had passed. However,But hiLin Xun’s vigilance only deepened. He knew well that his enemies would not give up until he was found.

“I must raise my cultivation as quickly as possible...” A rare urgency stirred in his heart.

A few days later, he went to seek Qing Heng once more. “Senior Brother, I wish to travel for a time.”

“Travel?” Qing Heng repeated, his brows knitting with suspicion.

“Yes,” Lin Xun replied casually. “I’ve grown restless staying in the sect. I’d like to go out and clear my mind.”

Qing Heng’s gaze sharpened. “Are you planning to take a roundabout route to Tian Ruojing?”

Lin Xun gave a wry smile, “Senior Brother, why not have Dai Yan and Chun Ning accompany me? If I so much as head towards the Tianling Sect, they can report to you immediately. Would that satisfy you?.”

Qing Heng pondered for a long moment before finally nodding. “Very well. So long as you do not go to the Tianling Sect to find that woman, I will allow you to leave.”

As he spoke, he drew a jade talisman from within his robes and placed it in Lin Xun’s hand. “Keep this with you. It contains a wisp of my Will Dharma Form. If you encounter danger, crush it.”

Lin Xun accepted the talisman with a smile. “Thank you, Senior Brother!”

As he turned to leave, a thought surfaced in his heart. Qing Feng is truly fortunate to have such a senior brother.

That very day, Lin Xun departed the sect with Chun Ning and Dai Yan.

However, during the ten-odd days they traveled, he could always faintly sense a presence trailing them in the shadows. Only after it became clear that he had no intention of heading towards the Tianling Sect did it quietly withdraw.

Lin Xun did not need to guess. It was Qing Heng. That night, within an inn along the road, Chun Ning and Dai Yan were both meditating in their rooms. They were completely unaware that in the adjoining room, their Martial Granduncle, the very man they had been assigned to watch, suddenly manifested five dao bodies from within himself.

Without a sound, the five figures transformed into streaks of light and slipped quietly out into the night. From this moment onward, those five dao bodies would cultivate in seclusion amidst the wilderness and deep mountains, studying the heavenly dao laws and pooling their combined insights to derive the future dao path.

With Lin Xun’s knowledge and cultivation experience at the Immeasurable Realm, reconstructing his former dao path through the five dao bodies was almost effortless. His speed of advancement would be several times faster than if his true body were to comprehend and cultivate alone.

Ultimately, it came down to the limitations of his cultivation. At his current level, Lin Xun had no choice but to rely on the five dao bodies in order to advance as quickly as possible. Moreover, cultivating through the five dao bodies in the outside world would spare him from countless watchful eyes. Even if they were to break through again and again, it would not cause any disturbance.

It was different within the Tianwu Sect. Too many eyes lingered there. The slightest carelessness could leave behind traces.

“Even if my true body does nothing,” Lin Xun murmured softly, stretching his limbs as a rare sense of ease washed over him, “when the five dao bodies return, my cultivation will rise to the same realm.”

At dawn the next day, he announced his decision to return to the Tianwu Sect. Chun Ning and Dai Yan were both stunned. They had only been traveling for half a month and already they were turning back?

Lin Xun paid their surprise no mind. His objective for this journey had already been achieved. There was no need to linger any more. On the road back, however, they encountered a group of Tianling Sect disciples. They were all at the Cyclic Derivation Stage.

The moment they recognized Lin Xun, laughter erupted. “Senior Brother Wei, isn’t that the shameless old man you beat senseless back then?”

“Shameless old man? Show some respect. He is a sSupreme eElder of the Tianwu Sect, junior brother to Emperor Ancestor Qing Heng. It’s just that his cultivation...leaves rather a lot to be desired.”

“Someone like him dares to covet our Third Supreme Elder? He’s nothing but a toad dreaming of swan’s flesh.”

In an instant, wave after wave of mockery crashed down upon Lin Xun without the slightest restraint. In Qing Feng’s memory, scenes like this had played out countless times. Had it been Qing Feng himself, he would not have cared in the slightest.

As for Lin Xun, though his brows knit faintly, he could only follow Qing Feng’s example and pretend indifference. Lin Xun felt helpless. If he lost his composure now, he would no longer be the Qing Feng everyone believed him to be...

However, this time he happened to come face to face with the Tianling Sect disciple who had beaten Qing Feng unconscious. The man wore robes as white as fresh snow. He carried himself with striking confidence, youthful arrogance flickering between his brows. His name was Wei Xian.

“You’ve gone too far!” Lin Xun could endure the humiliation, but Chun Ning and Dai Yan could not. Their faces flushed crimson and their eyes blazed with shame and indignation.

In their hearts, no matter how incompetent Qing Feng might be, he was still a sSupreme eElder of the Tianwu Sect. To see him mocked so brazenly by Cyclic Derivation cultivators from the Tianling Sect, how could they possibly swallow that insult?

“Too far?” Wei Xian sneered, glancing at them with open disdain. “We merely spoke the truth. If you’re dissatisfied, why don’t we make it interesting? A little exchange?”

“You think I’m afraid of you?”

Rage surged through Chun Ning. He stepped forward, ready to fight, but Lin Xun’s voice stopped him. “Enough. There’s no need to waste breath on them. Let’s head back to the sect first.”

“Martial Granduncle...” Chun Ning’s voice trembled with anger and disappointment. “Martial Granduncle, I’m standing up for you! Can’t you...show at least a little backbone? Even if I get beaten, I’ll accept it gladly!”

Dai Yan exhaled softly. “Chun Ning. Listen to Martial Granduncle. Let’s go.”

After a long moment, Chun Ning clenched his fists and nodded stiffly. Lin Xun said nothing further and turned away.

Behind them, Wei Xian and the others made no move to stop them, but their laughter and biting words followed like arrows. Not only did they continue to mock and humiliate Lin Xun, but they also dragged Chun Ning into it as well.

By the time they walked away, the veins throbbed visibly along Chun Ning’s clenched fists, as though his anger might tear through his skin at any moment.

Even after returning to the Tianwu Sect, Chun Ning remained silent. When he faced Lin Xun, something had changed. He was still outwardly respectful, but there was a subtle distance now. Dai Yan was no different. Both of them were deeply displeased and disappointed.

Lin Xun noticed it clearly. Instead of taking offense, a trace of admiration rose in his heart. In that situation, they had still dared to step forward and defend him, the so-called ‘disgrace of the sect.’ Such a characters werewas rare indeed.

After a moment’s thought, Lin Xun went straight to find Sect Leader Fu Yunzi and recounted everything that had happened on the road.

Fu Yunzi’s expression darkened considerably. Then with visible surprise, he said, “Martial Granduncle...in the past, you never concerned yourself with such matters before. Why...”

Lin Xun gently interrupted him,. “It doesn’t matter if others look down on me. But I cannot allow the disciples of our sect to suffer humiliation because of me.”

Fu Yunzi understood at once. His expression turned solemn. “Martial Granduncle, rest assured. I will speak with them and see that they are properly reassured.”

He had always known that this Martial Granduncle of his was not ill-natured. In truth, he was exceptionally kind at heart. His only flaw was that he was too simple and naive...

Sure enough, the very next day, Chun Ning;s and Dai Yan’s attitudes toward Lin Xun had softened considerably.

The sect leader had already spoken with them the previous day. They learned that it was Lin Xun who had taken the initiative to bring up the matter and that, because of it, the sect had rewarded them with generous cultivation resources.

“Martial Granduncle, we weren’t angry with you. We were angry that they dared look down on the Tianwu Sect. That is what we couldn’t accept.” Chun Ning said in a low voice.

“Exactly!” Dai Yan chimed in. “One day, I’ll challenge them properly and settle it face to face!”

Lin Xun smiled and said nothing more.

......

Time passed like an arrow. A full year had gone by since Lin Xun had entered the Dao Derivation Zone.

“The five dao bodies have been in seclusion for half a year now...I wonder how far their cultivation has progressed.”

Inside the Scripture Pavilion, Lin Xun turned the pages of a bookscroll, though his thoughts had long since drifted far beyond the sect grounds.

“Martial Granduncle! Something terrible has happened! Senior Martial Granduncle Qing Heng has returned injured!” Chun Ning’s anxious voice shattered the stillness outside the pavilion.

Lin Xun’s eyes narrowed instantly. He closed the bookscroll in his hand and rose to his feet. “Wasn’t Senior Brother attending the Hundred Sects Grand Assembly’? How could he have returned wounded?”

A month earlier, the Crimson Serpent Immortal Sect had convened the Hundred Sects Grand Assembly, inviting the supreme Emperors Ancestors of over a hundred second- and third -tier sects across the eastern territory.

As the Tianwu Sect’s representative, Qing Heng had attended as well. NAnd now news had arrived that he had returned injured. Even Lin Xun found this unexpected.

Within the entire Tianwu Sect, Qing Heng was the one who cared for Qing Feng most deeply, treating him as a true brother. If anything were to happen to Qing Heng, Lin Xun would not be able to forgive himself.

Chun Ning shook his head anxiously. “We don’t know the details either. Martial Granduncle, perhaps you should go and see Senior Martial Granduncle?”

Lin Xun nodded and strode off without delay.

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