Chapter 438: With Regards To The Assessment Of Lin Feng
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Yan Mingyue asked, "Big Senior, you wish to use force the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonder to show his hand with immense pressure?"
Lin Daohan replied quietly, "Now is not the time. Whether it is the Great Void Sect or myself, we hope that the Celestial Sect of Wonders can serve the purpose of counterbalancing the power of the Mount Shu Sword Sect. All the better if he’s powerful – if he’s weak, then we will give him a hand."
"Of course, the prerequisite is that he must have adequate potential and ability. Even though it’s still unclear, but I can make out a general picture of it."
Following Lin Daohan’s words, a ray of light drifted in the air in front of Yan Mingyue and began to move around non-stop. Wherever the ray of light passed through, a clear and lasting trace was left behind.
The lines that the ray of light formed seemed to depict a person.
"He seems like he’s trying to obtain publicity, but he actually strategizes before taking action and will consider all aspects of reaction before doing so. He knows when to step in and when to retreat, and will not be annoyingly greedy." Lin Daohan kept going. "However, he may pick fights for reasons of personal sentiment. Sometimes, he’s setting a trap but in others it’s a display of his personality."
The ray of light stopped moving. An illusion of a person floated in the air – it was in the likeness of Lin Feng.
"All in all, his disposition is one of firmness but not rash. Every step he makes has a clear goal or aim and a specific benefit he wishes to obtain. He may occasionally be whimsical but those cases are rare."
Lin Daohan’s voice was still calm and quiet. "Furthermore, this person is adept at making use of advantages – especially so as he knows too much about the Great Void Sect. We have intentions to supporting him, and he followed the current to take advantage of us. Although, the logic is clear that he has no intentions of joining the Great Void Sect."
"As for his personal mastery…" Lin Daohan continued, "Even though nobody has seen his true power to date, one can do a rough assessment."
"Firstly, at the Spiritual Conference of Huang Hai, the Nine Luminaries Heaven-Crushing Formation was slightly limited in its power due to the magic treasures used to lay it out. The offensive strength was similar to the pinnacle of a second-level immortal soul stage cultivator, or better. Still, it was definitely inferior to the third-level immortal soul stage."
"He did not do anything himself but used that giant black umbrella instead – which is a strange magic item."
"Secondly, at the battle of Mount Kunlun, the Nine Heavens Squall Formation that was controlled by the Heavenly Wind Holy Man – and to the best of his ability, may I add – as well as the Golden Crow Grand Sage had the power of the second-level immortal soul stage."
"Once again, he didn’t do anything himself, but used his Mount Yujing to break the Nine Heavens Squall Formation to attack and kill the Heavenly Wind Holy Man and defeat the Golden Crow Grand Sage."
Lin Daohan’s pace was just right – not too fast and not too slow. Every step of his deduction and logic was clear and organized.
"Third, at the battle of the Northern Polar Sea, when the Immemorial Kun Peng revived, its power was that of the third-level of the Undying Demonic Soul. However, the soul and spirit were not completely revived, thus the power was only that of the pinnacle of the second-level Undying Demonic Soul."
"Yet again, the Leader of the Celestial Sect Of Wonders did not do anything with his own ability, but used another method to interrupt the revival of the Immemorial Kun Peng and in the process obtained half of the remains of the Kun Peng."
Lin Daohan continued quietly, "If there was only one instance, then it could be a coincidence, but there were so many – this proves one thing, that this person is deliberately hiding the truth to his mastery. It could be high, and it could be low, but the probability that his power and level of mastery if low is greater."
"At the very least, it can’t be at the third-level Immortal Soul Stage."
Once Yan Mingyue finished listening to the deductions of Lin Daohan, she asked, "He interrupted the revival of the Immemorial Kun Peng with a nascent soul stage avatar. He probably drew on the mystical uses of the Heavenly Oyster Golden Pearl, right?"
Lin Daohan answered, "The Sect’s encyclopedias and archives have recorded that for the Demonic Life and Soul Reversal Ritual to work, three criteria have to be satisfied. Firstly, the destruction of the soul or spirit of the target does not matter, but the blood and shell is required. Secondly, the person performing the ritual needs to be of the same blood or lineage as the target and he or she has to be sacrificed. At the same time, that being has to have a mastery of the Demonic Lord Stage at least. Thirdly, and the most important one as well, the Heavenly Stone of Divine Defiance is required."
"This Ritual has been lost through the course of history, and to date very few people are familiar with it. The reason for all this is because the Heavenly Stone of Divine Defiance has been missing in the past millennia."
"The process of the Ritual cannot be disturbed, or else the Ritual will immediately fail. However, to disturb the Ritual is no easy task." Lin Daohan said, "If Lin Feng did not use the Heavenly Oyster Golden Pearl to re-forge the Heavenly Stone of Divine Defiance to disrupt the process, I honestly have no idea how else that could be done."
"That said, if that is true, it means that the ingenuity of his strategy and tactic way exceeds our expectations. My deductions and estimations from before have to be rejected and I’ll have to start from square one."
Yan Mingyue contemplated for a moment and suddenly said, "Big Senior, you said there’s a possibility that he isn’t even at the immortal soul stage?"
"Back during the battle outside Shazhou City, even though Pang Jie was not even close to challenging him, but when Pang Jie unleashed the Six Appearances Sword magic item, then Lin Feng stopped fighting personally and used his magic formation to overcome Pang Junior’s Six Appearances Sword."
"This could mean that his true level of mastery was not enough to overcome Pang Jie when he had the Six Appearances Sword. Or, if he were to do fight personally it would expose the truth to his level of mastery?"
Lin Daohan answered, "The possibility is always there, but we can’t make a concrete conclusion yet."
"Therefore, according to my deductions and calculations, the level of this person’s mastery is probably only at the first level of the immortal soul stage. If that isn’t the case, then the most likely would be the pinnacle of the nascent soul stage. The likelihood of him being in the second level of the immortal soul stage is extremely small, and him being in the third level of the immortal soul stage is a complete impossibility."
Yan Mingyue muttered under her breath, "Yes, though that Flame Dragon Celestial Armor still cannot be explained."
"That magic armor of his can be used as lead for our investigation. When you follow him to the Middle World to conquer the Qiong Qi, you can take the chance and try to find out the truth to the origins of this magic treasure of his."
Yan Mingyue nodded her head and said, "Yes, I will take note."
The mouth of the young girl clad in green began to curl into a smile, and she twirled the hair beside her ears as she asked, "Big Senior, what if, as in the off chance that our deductions and estimations are wrong? And this person’s level of mastery is higher than the first level of the immortal soul stage?"
Lin Daohan’s tone was plain. "Then I will be happy as the Mount Shu Sword Sect have found themselves a formidable adversary."
Yan Mingyue smiled again and said, "What if his level of mastery is not even at the first level of the Immortal Soul stage?"
Since the beginning of the conversation, the calm and composed Lin Daohan entered a state of silence and solemnity, as if there were a sudden flicker of emotions. After a momentary pause, he said quietly, "If his level of mastery is lower than the first level of the immortal soul stage, that means that the mantras that he practices is more powerful than that of the great mantras of the Great Void Sect."
Yan Mingyue smiled but said no more.
Lin Daohan’s exposed emotions was extremely temporary and he quickly returned to his normal state. His gaze pierced the endless void and landed upon Yan Mingyue’s body.
"Junior Yan, are you sure you wish to continue down that path?"
Yan Mingyue replied plainly, "I am confident that the path I have chosen is correct."
Lin Daohan nodded his head. "In that case, then I shall respect your decision. In the future, there will be many opportunities that we will be on good terms and perhaps travel side by side, but there will come a time when we have to challenge each other."
Yan Mingyue chuckled and replied, "This is worst news I’ve ever heard in my entire life. But that’s no matter – at least in the end, our goal is the same."
She completely understood that if not for the fact that their goal was aligned, she would never have had the chance to walk down Mount Baiyun.
Lin Daohan said quietly, "Yes. Whether it’s us or Pang Junior and the others, our ultimate goal is still the same."
"Junior Yan, I lie in eager wait of your performance. Maybe you will really surprise me."
His voice faded and the light illusion in front of Yan Mingyue disappeared.
Yan Mingyue stood rooted to the ground in silence. After a long while, she cast her vision to the edge of the horizon in the distance, as if she was traversing through endless space and time. There was a tinge of lostness in her eyes as she thought to herself, "Lin Feng, what kind of person are you, exactly?"
.....
Back on Mount Yujing, Lin Feng watched the Black Dragon Jieyu in front of him with amusement as the latter pulled a long face.
With regards to the bracelet brought here by the Jade Dragon Baiguang, Lin Feng was not particularly concerned. In the end, he could intercept or prohibit the transmissions that the bracelet could transmit through mana. To that end, he could prevent individuals with ulterior motives from locking in on the position of Mount Yujing within the Spatial Turbulence.
From the looks of Baiguang, she did not know what was happening, thus Lin Feng did not intend to expose the truth of the matter either.
However, Jieyu began to lose his patience and grew anxious. He glanced at the Transparent Telepathic Ring and lowered his head with heavy sighs of defeat.
Lin Feng continued to watch him with both amusement and frustration. "If the two of you don’t click, why did you choose to engage yourself to her?"
The elder dragon pulled a slanderous face and said, "My leader, this was not what I wanted. It was she who approached a senior and arranged our marriage."
"Oh?" Lin Feng was actually surprised. "It was her that chased you? A book can’t be judged by its cover – you really have a strong game. Seems like I underestimated you."
Jieyu stretched his mouth lazily. "Sir, that statement really hurt. Back in the day when I was still in the Supreme Dragon Roost, I was one of the best…"
Under Lin Feng’s doubtful gaze, Jieyu began to lose his courage of speech and ended up forcing out a painful laugh, "Okay fine, I also didn’t think that it would turn out like this. My bride is also one of the prettiest amongst the younger generation in the Supreme Dragon Roost. When she first chose little old me, I was in cloud nine."
Jieyu continued, "Leader, you should also know that the beings from the Jade Dragon Tribe have to shed their scales non-stop during their growth all the way through adolescence to adulthood?"
Lin Feng nodded. "Yes, I know that."
"The truth is that when she was younger she wasn’t so attractive." The Black Dragon Jieyu began to reminisce and his eyes flickered with nostalgia. "The shedding of scales caused her body to be patched as they didn’t all shed at the same time. She was extremely ugly and quite fat. She seemed short and stocky – almost like a wooden pillar."
At this point, Jieyu seemed to feel a little guilty. His eyes darted left and right like a little thief and scanned his surroundings, fearful of Baiguang’s sudden appearance.
If Baiguang heard what he said, he was definitely in for a beating.
Lin Feng shook his head and laughed, "Your bride is resting back in the stone room. Don’t look so frightened."
Jieyu laughed sheepishly for a moment and glanced towards the stone room with both eyes. "Actually, everybody of the Jade Dragon Race knew how to shed scales. Her plump and robust build was an exception, that’s why she seemed extraordinarily ugly. Back then, some of the dragons the same age as she was would tease and laugh at her."
Lin Feng laughed and said, "So you became the knight in shining armor?"
Jieyu seemed a little embarrassed. "I was relatively old and I started my cultivation early. By that time I was already a Demonic Commander, and my father and hers were pretty much blood brothers. So I just helped her, I guess."
"How dramatic. Oh wait, something doesn’t seem right…" Lin Feng was full of praise inside, and subsequently looked at Jieyu with a weird look. "That’s not right. From my own observation, your wife’s personality should be quite calm and she could also control herself. She only seems to change into a completely different person when she’s around you."
"Is it because she’s jealous?"
The Black Dragon Jieyu began to laugh awkwardly again, and Lin Feng’s mouth curled a little bit as he suddenly thought about the dramatic developments in Tun Tun and the Dark Aqua Xuanming’s relationship. He could suddenly hear his heart pounding as he said, "It’s not possible that all you individuals of the demon race are so queer?"