Chapter 273: An Unhappy Gathering
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The speaker was a youth clad in gray. When Wang Lin looked at him, he recognized him as a brother of his tribe. Initially, they had both joined the Hengyue Faction. However, while the speaker was exceptionally talented and was accepted immediately by the master, Wang Lin himself had to threaten suicide before he was accepted.
After Pu Beizi of the Xuandao Sect overran the Hengyue Faction, many disciples of the Hengyue Faction transferred their loyalty to the Xuandao Sect, except for him.
Since then, the two of them had not met.
Afterwards, Wang Lin's life experienced a drastic change. He joined Lin Feng's sect and bade goodbye to his previous life.
Now, when Wang Lin met this person again, while he recognised who he was immediately he felt strangely distant from him as if they had been separated for a generation.
The gray-robed youth looked at Wang Lin as if he had called the wrong person. To him, Wang Lin appeared even more unfamiliar. While the two of them had been separated for only two years, Wang Lin's body had undergone a drastic transformation.
The incompetent, weak and skinny Wang Lin who was unable to be accepted by the Hengyue Faction earlier on and had only gained admission through threatening suicide had changed into a heroic and mature young man.
What made him look twice was the powerful aura that cloaked Wang Lin's body, deeply shocking him.
Initially, Wang Lin, who had been the joke of the Hengyue Faction, was now a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator. On the other hand, he, who had been acknowledged as a genius by the Hengyue Faction, did not progress much beyond the Qi Training stage. Looking at this scene before him, the gray robed youth felt as if he was in a dream.
While his heart was extremely panicky, Wang Lin's determination and aspiration were already stable. He was not the least affected, as he said, "Wang Zhuo? Long time no see I hope you are doing fine."
Wang Zhuo, the gray robed youth, opened his mouth and was about to say something. However, the reality was so different from his expectations and he was so stunned by the scene before him that he could not utter a sound.
During the sect-opening ceremony at Shazhou, the disciples under Lin Feng were all well-known by everyone. Wang Zhuo had heard Wang Lin's name as he doubted if it was 'that' Wang Lin. Could it really be his brother?
He always thought it to be impossible, and so when reality was placed starkly before him it was like a slap.
"He was obviously a trash with no skills in cultivation, how could he become a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator in such a short time?" Wang Zhuo agonized in his heart. "Could it be that the Celestial Sect of Wonders is truly so powerful? Could it be that the master of the Celestial Sect of Wonders does actually possess the Midas' Touch?"
At that moment, a black-robed youth walked over and stared coldly at Wang Lin. He said nonchalantly, "Wang Zhuo, is this your brother Wang Lin whom you always mentioned?"
Wang Zhuo said, "Yes, 17th Master, he is my brother Wang Lin."
Wang Lin raised his head to look at the black-robed youth. It was like looking at a razor-sharp steel sword out of its sheath. He was brimming with killing intent.
"The disciple of the Huo Family?" Wang Lin understood immediately. The Huo Family is the strongest force in the southern region of the Great Qin Empire. All other sects must show them due respect, including the Xuandao Sect. No matter how strong Pu Beizi was, he still must behave in front of them.
After Wang Zhuo joined the Xuandao Sect and through some mysterious circumstances, he managed to obtain the admiration of the Huo Family. Right now, he should be an auxiliary disciple of the Huo Family.
This situation was pretty common for cultivator families like the Huo Family and the Yu Family. While maintaining the solidarity between its core members, they would constantly attract other cultivators to join them as auxiliary disciples to create a strong auxiliary force.
With a strong trunk, the branches would flourish and absorb new blood to ensure the longevity of the family.
Looking at Wang Zhuo, Wang Lin shook his head. In his memories, his brother was such a carefree, proud and aspirational youth back then.
Now, he was under the boots of the Huo Family. His pride and dignity were all gone.
Joining the Huo Family could ensure that one obtain the resources and the guidance for cultivation that exceeded those provided by the Xuandao Sect. In comparison to the Hengyue Faction, it was definitely a few hundred times more. However, what one must sacrifice was one's sense of dignity and pride.
Only Wang Zhuo truly knew the cost-benefits of such an arrangement.
Looking at Wang Lin shaking his head, tears glistened in Wang Zhuo's eyes. He gradually clenched his fist and did not say anything.
However, the black-robed youth who was addressed as the '17th Master' by Wang Zhuo, Huo Chen, arched his eyebrows and smiled coldly at Wang Lin, "Looking at your body now, you should be around middle age."
"Wang Zhuo said that the two of you had separated for not more than two years, which means that you could have undergone accelerated training in these two years in some holy abode." Huo Chen smiled and looked at him deviously. "After 10 years or maybe decades of training, you are no more than a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator."
"Everyone keeps saying that the disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders are prodigious. It appears not. Rumors are ultimately just rumors."
He released his mana in that instant. Immediately, the space within 10 meters of his body was enveloped by a powerful aura brimming with death and despair, making it hard for people to breathe. Ordinary people without cultivation would die upon coming into contact with this aura.
By releasing his mana, Huo Chen was showing off his cultivation, which was in the later stages of Foundation Establishment and probably about to build his crucible.
While Wang Lin could not tell the grade of his crucible, he could feel, from the power of the mana, that it should be of a high grade.
Huo Chen was actually only around 20 years old. Forming a crucible at that age was considered rare even amongst the Huo Family, which also explains his arrogance.
Wang Lin was the main target of Huo Chen's killing aura. However, he appeared to have felt nothing as he looked calmly back at Huo Chen.
Huo Chen's thick eyebrows furrowed as his cold smile grew. He was filled with experience in killing others and could tell that Wang Lin was not bearing the pain; he really did feel nothing. Even with that, Huo Chen's killing intent became even stronger.
"17, what's the matter?" A cold voice sounded suddenly. With it, a man who looked similar to Huo Chen appeared. He resembled Huo Chen closely, but his killing intent appeared even stronger than Huo Chen's.
Looking at this black-robed man, Wang Zhuo lowered his head and Huo Chen recalled his powers. He said respectfully, "Second Brother."
The only thing that could calm the bloodthirsty disciples of the Huo Family down was another even more powerful disciple of the Huo Family, attacking whom would mean a death sentence.
This black-robed young man was definitely someone who could make Huo Chen turn into an obedient little rabbit in an instant.
He was the Second Master of the Huo Family, Huo Ming.
Just by standing there and doing nothing without even releasing his killing aura, he could already make those in his surrounding feel as if they had been submerged in a depressing, bloodthirsty Hell.
Wang Lin looked at Huo Ming and arched his eyebrows as he thought, "Aurous Core stage. Furthermore, he is in his late Aurous Core stage. Just a little bit more and he would be a Nascent Soul stage cultivator."
In cultivator families, due to longevity reasons, they may have children at vastly different ages. Brothers around the same age could already have grandchildren or still be single. As a result, there existed great disparities between brothers of the same generation.
Huo Ming, who stood before him, had undergone long periods of training in the Huo Family's holy abode. Hence, he was over 100 years old and much older than Huo Chen.
However, that was not the reason they were ranked number two or number seventeen. There were many brothers of the same generation as Huo Ming who were much older than him.
In the Huo Family, the ranking of brothers of the same generation was determined by martial prowess. The more powerful one was the higher his ranking.
Facing Huo Ming, Wang Lin could feel the pressure.
"Third Junior, did you meet someone from your past?"
A purple-robed scholar suddenly strolled slowly on-scene and stood next to Wang Lin. It was Zhu Yi.
Looking at Zhu Yi, Huo Ming's eyes shone as he released his killing aura. It burst from his body like a torrential flood.
In that instant, the entire Yuzhou City trembled.
However, Zhu Yi, who stood facing him, appeared impervious. He stood there like a faint gust of wind and smiled calmly, "A member of the Huo Family, eh? Why? Do you want to spar here?"
"If that's the case, then bring it," his voice was natural and peaceful as if he was talking to a random person. He appeared to have completely ignored the killing aura bursting from Huo Ming's body.
Huo Ming stared at Zhu Yi as his throat gurgled. He said coldly, "In your entire Celestial Sect of Wonders, I was only interested in your Big Senior Xiao Yan. Now, it appears that you too are worth the effort."
Zhu Yi frowned as he said calmly, "However, you aren't worth the effort to me."
Huo Ming, after hearing that, did not become angry. Instead, his killing aura became even stronger as he said, "Very good, I shall not even care about the restriction my grandmaster had set. I don't care, I'll kill you and apologize to him later."
Huo Chen, who was next to him, smiled coldly too and said, "As the fish finds the other fish, the shrimp shall find the other shrimp. Since Second Brother has found his opponent, I shall play with the two of you."
Wang Lin's expressions did not change as he replied, "Alright, sure."
Who knew that Huo Chen smiled coldly and replied, "Do you think I'm talking about you? Heh, you aren't qualified. I am talking about the person behind you."
Wang Lin's expressions were calm as he knew that Yue Hongyan, who stood behind him, came to the scene together with Zhu Yi.
Yue Hongyan, with her blazing red pupils, after arriving on the scene, did not say anything. She maintained a respectful distance from Zhu Yi and Wang Lin as she decided to leave the matter to them.
However, with her fiery personality, she would not concede to anyone who sought trouble from her. She was furious like a storm and her mana, blazing hot like fire, burned from her body as it countered Huo Chen's killing aura.
Huo Chen's gaze was fixated on her. "The later phase of the Foundation Establishment stage? This girl is no more than 20?"
The two sides stared and faced each other as a big battle was about to commence. Suddenly, two voices sounded from the sky.
One of them was the cold voice of the Immortal Soul stage master of the Huo Family, Huo Xiu, which said, "Huo Ming, Huo Chen, get back here right now or I'll kill you both!"
The other voice was Lin Feng, who said calmly, "There will be a chance for you to fight during the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai."
Huo Ming and Huo Chen looked at each other with a look of regret appeared in both of their eyes. Huo Ming grunted in reply and flew towards the sky without saying anything.
"Your fellow disciples are already in the Aurous Core stage right? You, however, are still stuck in the Foundation Establishment stage." Before Huo Chen left, he turned his head to Wang Lin and said, "The b*tch next you, I heard that she joined after you. She too was already in the later phase of the Foundation Establishment stage. What's your stage now? Where's your progress after all these years?"
Amidst his wild laughter, Huo Chen walked off along with Wang Zhuo.
Zhu Yi and Yue Hongyan's face were solemn. Zhu Yi almost wanted to stop Huo Chen. How could a disciple of the Celestial Sect of Wonders suffer such a humiliation?
"Master already said that there'll be a chance during the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai." Wang Lin, however, stopped Zhu Yi. As he looked at Huo Chen departing, his gaze became increasingly cold.