NOVEL NEXT Chapter 165: The Weakness
Chapter 165: The Weakness
“Is he talking about me?” Xu Lian stepped out of the corner and walked into the middle of the room. “What do you want from me?”
Fu Ye glanced at him indifferently and continued drinking his wine. “Not much. I just want to remind you that many grandmaster-level geniuses have come to the capital, all of them keeping a low profile. You, a mere Transformation Rank 9 cultivator, should tone down your performance. Otherwise, you might not live long.”
All the geniuses present could tell that Fu Ye seemed to have a problem with Xu Lian. His words were a clear warning.
Xu Lian smiled. “Do you want me to tone it down so that you can take the spotlight instead? Are you even capable of that?”
The geniuses were surprised. They hadn’t expected Xu Lian, a cultivator at the Transformation Rank 9th Stage, to be so fearless in the face of a grandmaster-level genius like Fu Ye. It was unexpected.
“Do you want to test whether I’m capable or not?”
Fu Ye’s eyes narrowed as he lowered the wolf tooth bone club from his shoulder. With a loud thud, the ground shook slightly, showing how heavy the weapon was.
Seeing the two of them confront each other on the verge of a fight, Ying Ming stepped forward with a smile to mediate. “For the sake of Duke Ying and Duke Jing’s households, could the two of you please let this meeting go smoothly?”
Jing Que also stepped forward, and although he didn’t speak, his presence alone made Duke Jing’s stance clear.
“During the elimination round, you better pray that you don’t run into me.”
Fu Ye sneered and hoisted the wolf-toothed bone club back onto his shoulder.
The barbarian tribe might not be afraid of the two ducal households, but they were still in the capital, the territory of the Yin Dynasty’s royal family and nobility. It wouldn’t be wise to completely ignore their face.
Throwing out threats? Who couldn’t do that?
Of course, Xu Lian could do the same. He calmly said, “I look forward to meeting you. After all, I know the principle of picking the softest persimmon to squeeze.”
Someone couldn’t help but laugh. Fu Ye, a grandmaster, was called a soft persimmon?
The other geniuses were also taken aback, unsure if Xu Lian was really confident or just talking big.
Fu Ye was furious. If it weren’t for the face of the two ducal households, he would have already taken action.
“I smell a familiar scent. He once offered his blood to our Ghost Soul Sect.”
A strange voice suddenly rang out.
Everyone turned to look and saw the young master of the Ghost Soul Sect, Nian, with one of the small heads growing from his hair, staring at Xu Lian.
Offered blood to the Ghost Soul Sect?
Everyone was puzzled, not understanding why he would say something like that.
Even Xu Lian himself was confused. He had never offered any blood to the Ghost Soul Sect. It was always Wang Cuiyun and Li Xiya who took turns to bleed for him. Why would Nian say that he had offered blood?
After some thought, he understood vaguely. Before the original host joined Wang Cuiyun and Li Xiya’s household, he had lived alone and had indeed offered blood.
But even if he had offered blood, it would have been to an ordinary descendant of the Ghost Soul Sect, not to the young master himself. How did Nian know about it?
From this, he inferred that the Ghost Soul Sect might have some secret method of connecting its members.
The young master of the Ghost Soul Sect, Nian, also seemed a bit surprised. “The stage where our Ghost Soul Sect’s descendants need to be fed with blood is during their childhood. The children are raised in Green Bamboo Town, Pingyang County. Is this man from Green Bamboo Town, Pingyang County?
Besides, only commoners are required to sacrifice blood. Did he truly rise up from the commoners?”
At these words, the expressions of the geniuses changed.
Although the commoners of the capital had been hyping up Xu Lian as a genius who rose from the bottom, they hadn’t fully believed it.
After all, the commoners lacked cultivation techniques and resources. Becoming a cultivator was difficult enough, let alone rising to the ninth level of transformation at such a young age. It seemed almost impossible.
However, the facts were right in front of them, and they had no choice but to believe it. A genius rising from the ranks of commoners – this was the first time they had encountered such a thing.
“Haha, I thought he had some impressive background.”
Fu Ye immediately picked up on this point and sneered. “So he’s just a commoner from some backwater town who offered blood to the descendants of the Ghost Soul Sect!”
Nian, the young master of the Ghost Soul Sect, chuckled. “How interesting. A commoner who offered blood to our Ghost Soul Sect is now competing on the same stage as me, the young master. Isn’t this a case of a servant rebelling against his master?”
His words were clearly meant to belittle Xu Lian. It seemed like Nian was trying to curry favor with Fu Ye and didn’t mind stepping on Xu Lian to do so.
Ying Ming and Jing Que were also surprised. They hadn’t expected Xu Lian to have such a background and were at a loss for words.
“What’s wrong with being a commoner?”
Xu Lian looked at Fu Ye and then at Nian, the young master of the Ghost Soul Sect, and said indifferently, “A barbarian tribe that doesn’t even understand basic manners, and a Ghost Soul Sect that doesn’t even have its own place to raise its descendants and has to rent from the Yi Sect-do you really think you’re top tier powers?
In my eyes, your so-called barbarian tribe and the Ghost Soul Sect are third- or fourth-rate powers at best, maybe even fifth- or sixth-rate powers. You’re not much different from a commoner like me. I don’t know where you get your sense of superiority from.”
Since he couldn’t take action due to the face of the two ducal households, he had no choice but to engage in a war of words. Having lived through the “keyboard warrior era”, Xu Lian’s ability to talk trash was certainly not inferior to anyone in this world.
Sure enough, his words hit Fu Ye and Nian right where it hurt. Their faces turned ashen, as if they had swallowed a live fly, and they glared at him with cold eyes.
The other geniuses found it amusing. The barbarian tribe and the Ghost Soul Sect were no different from commoners…
Ying Ming and Jing Que were at a loss. Shouldn’t a gathering of the top young geniuses be more elegant? How had it come to this?
After this commotion, the atmosphere became too tense, and the meeting ended shortly after.
On his way back from the manor, Xu Lian used his two progression points to add ingredients and advance to Grandmaster Rank 2nd Stage!
This was to prevent Fu Ye and Nian from secretly making a move against him…
Earlier, he hadn’t chosen to take direct action, not only out of respect for the two Ducal Houses, but also because there was a significant gap in strength.
At Transformation Rank 9th Stage, his chances of winning against a Grandmaster were slim.
Although he had mastered the sacred techniques of the Sacred Spirit Record and could defeat opponents above his level, Fu Ye and Nian were also top-tier geniuses. They undoubtedly possessed powerful combat techniques that allowed them to fight above their rank as well.
If it came to a real fight, the outcome would be uncertain. That’s why he had chosen to engage in a war of words instead…
Of course, even at Transformation Rank 9th Stage , he could definitely protect himself with the movement techniques of the Sacred Spirit Record. Engaging in a war of words still required strength as a foundation. Otherwise, it would be better to remain silent and endure.
Back at the inn.
Xu Lian continued to take Jiang Yunyan, Miao Yueyue, and Huo Xin’er out to explore and build their affection.
Of course, the trips were mainly to build affection with Jiang Yunyan and Miao Yueyue.
Huo Xin’er’s affection was a bit special. It was tied to his strength and couldn’t be increased through outings.
Xu Lian had been on the lookout for Fu Ye and Nian making a move against him, but after twenty days, with the elimination round approaching, nothing had happened. It seemed that Fu Ye and Nian were still wary of the Yin Dynasty royal family and didn’t dare to cause trouble in the capital.
During these twenty days, he had made both Jiang Yunyan and Miao Yueyue very happy. Jiang Yunyan’s affection had risen from 91 to 92, and Miao Yueyue’s affection had broken through the 90 mark, giving him two more progression points.
Without hesitation, he added them to his rank, using ingredients to complete his advancement. The elimination round was about to begin, and he might face Grandmaster-level geniuses. He couldn’t afford to be careless.
[Name: Xu Lian]
[Rank: Grandmaster Rank 4]
[Techniques: Sacred Spirit Record (Complete Immortal Technique), Breaking Wind Sword Technique (Volumes 1-3), Seven Styles of Primal Gang (Complete), Short Strikes – Shadow Chase…]
[Item: Sword of Destruction (Not Equipped)]
Feeling the immense power within him, Xu Lian’s eyes gleamed with determination.
“Grandmaster Rank 4th Stage, combined with the Sacred Spirit Record, I now have the power to compete with the top geniuses in the world!”
After all, the Sacred Spirit Record was directly imprinted in his mind, so there were no issues with proficiency. From the moment he used it, it was already at its peak, flawless and perfect. Even if the ancestors of the Thirteen Clans were resurrected, they couldn’t use it better than him.
Therefore, in terms of combat techniques, he was unmatched among his peers and could even challenge those above his level.
That is, unless other top geniuses had combat techniques superior to the Sacred Spirit Record, which was unlikely since the Sacred Spirit Record was already an immortal technique.
The only thing that he had been lacking was his rank. Now that his rank had caught up with him, he had filled in his weakness.