Chapter 71: True Intentions
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
It was a peaceful night in Qingye City.
Lin family's mansion was located in the central of the city. After the incident of Song Zhong and the collapse of Zhou family, Lin Benchu and Lin Dayuan were successful and managed to hold a strong image for the family. They even redecorated their entrance door and added a pair of green lion statues right outside the door.
Fang Yuan was familiar with this place. Back when he was a child, he visited this place before with Master Wenxin.
At this point, Elder Han and a few disciples from the Spirit Returning Sect were seeking shelter here as well.
Fang Yuan waited till the right time before he changed into his night combat outfit. He then snuck into the Lin family's mansion and ignored the guards and the disciples from the Spirit Returning Sect.
Even though it was late into the night, a few rooms were still lit.
Fang Yuan randomly glanced at his surroundings and snuck into Minister Lin's study room.
"Hoo! Hoo!"
He jumped softly and reached the roof. He then lifted one of the green tiles from the roof and looked inside the room.
Minister Lin was rich all of a sudden. Although his study room was messy and the books were piled up at a corner, there were many expensive decorations and antiques placed around the room.
Also, there was another person standing right in front of Elder Lin.
"Lin Leiyue! She is here also?"
Fang Yuan wavered slightly.
Of course, he was a [Martial Artist (9th Gate)] and both the father and the daughter didn't notice him yet.
"What? You haven't make a breakthrough?"
Minister Lin listened to what his daughter said and he gave a worried face.
Even though he became rich overnight, he knew that if his daughter still did not manage to make a breakthrough in time, her position in the Spirit Returning Sect would not be stable.
She was representing the Lin family, and if she did lose her position, the consequences would be dire.
"Don't worry daughter….what exactly happened? With your talents….with your talents….."
Minister Lin wanted to add on but he knew nothing about the concept of her being a spiritual being. He could only keep walking around and then he waved his hand. "If you need anything, you can just tell me!"
Even though Minister Lin clearly understood that even with the help from the Spirit Returning Sect and Shi Yutong, Lin Leiyue was not able to make a breakthrough, what could he do about it if the Lin family became bankrupt from this in the end? However, he felt that he shouldn't mention this now and he gave a ferocious look.
"Father….there is no use…."
Lin Leiyue looked down at her dress and sighed.
"You…..sigh….."
Minister Lin pitied his daughter and said, "You do know that Fang Yuan has just become an expert in inner force and he is well known in Qingye City. The Zhou and Zhang families now are taking orders from him….."
Their disengagement was not a secret.
Obviously, it was like a tight slap in the face for the Lin family as Fang Yuan now managed to improve tremendously and become more well known.
Also, this happened when Lin Leiyue was still alive.
If she was dead or she was trapped in one of the gates for too long, Shi Yutong might lose confidence in her and by then, there would be no bright future for the Lin family.
If one managed to reach a very high level but fell from it, in the end, it would be a very big problem.
"Sigh….."
Minister Lin sighed and said, "If we had known this would happen, we should not have even…."
"What was supposed to happen has already happened. You should say no more, Father!"
Minister Lin didn't expect Lin Leiyue's reaction to be this big after he said his sentence.
"Leiyue…..is it that you….."
Minister Lin was surprised and seemed to have thought of something. He then shook his head and left the room silently.
Now, Lin Leiyue was the only person left in the room.
"Fang Yuan…..Fang Yuan….."
From the silence, Fang Yuan could hear a whisper from Lin Leiyue. She then sighed emotionally.
"..."
Fang Yuan unintentionally heard her secret and left after covering the tile back.
With Lin Leiyue's talents, it was indeed strange for her to be stuck at the Pain Gate for so long.
Only now then he realised he was one of the reasons why she had failed to break through.
"No wonder you came to inquire about me previously…."
Fang Yuan wasn't that narcissistic to a level that he would think Lin Leiyue still had feelings for him. Now, he could make a guess easily. "Was it because of her evil side? I didn't expect that I would affect her that much!"
During training, when one meets his or her evil side, there were only two solutions to this problem.
One could forcefully deal and remove her evil side, or one could…..
Upon thinking about the other solution, Fang Yuan was speechless and had a wonderful feeling about such happenings.
"Could this be her punishment to herself? Then this will be none of my business already..."
With his character, the opponent would not be able to deal with him in any way.
Fang Yuan could conclude that with his tremendous improvement, he would surpass Lin Leiyue and even Shi Yutong. This would also mean that Lin Leiyue would feel guilty of herself for her entire life for not being able to make that breakthrough.
Such punishment was crueler than taking her life away.
.....
Fang Yuan couldn't be bothered with what Lin Leiyue was feeling right now.
From the start, he was already not concerned with her matters and he could easily not be bothered by her. He then continued to search for Elder Han.
'From my acupuncture, he should have just woken up!'
Fang Yuan waited silently and suddenly heard a laughter from the courtyard below him. He then knew he located Elder Han and sneaked there.
"With my skills now, there will be a chance of me being discovered only when Elder Han fully recovers!"
Fang Yuan bypassed a few whispers and came to a room. He then concentrated his magical energy between his eyebrows and focused it outwards.
He had learnt this trick from the scroll in the Blood Magic Technique. After he executed this trick, he could see clearly what was inside the room. The furniture were placed nicely in the room and there was an old man lying down on the bed. The old man got up fiercely and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Elder Han!"
A person came in anxiously and Fang Yuan could recognise that the person was Lu Zhisen.
"It is nothing…...I'm okay!"
Elder Han coughed out another mouthful of blood but he then felt better. "I'm hungry. Can I have a bowl of ginseng porridge…."
"Coming up!"
Lu Zhisen replied happily and asked, "You are better now, Elder Han?"
"I have recovered partially. This doctor Fang is indeed powerful. As compared to him, all the doctors back in our sect are useless!"
One could see that Elder Han's resentment for the doctors back in the sect was big. Elder Han then observed his surroundings and asked, "Are we back in the Lin family's mansion?"
"Yes, you have been asleep from the acupuncture till now. The doctor has prescribed you with medicine and reminded you to take a good rest. We will then go back to him after 7 days!"
"Hmm!"
Elder Han acknowledged and swallowed a spoonful of the porridge. He suddenly said, "Guan Feng, keep a lookout outside. I will need to speak to Elder Lu!"
"Yes, Elder Han!"
A voice from the outside acknowledged Elder Han's order and a few of the disciples from the Spirit Returning Sect then came to patrol the surroundings.
As such, to spy on them, one would either have to go head-on with the guards or find a way to sneak in.
Fang Yuan laughed and moved further away from the room. However, with the concentration of his magical energy, he was still able to hear the conversation inside the room clearly.
"With Guan Feng guarding outside, I feel much safer to speak to you…."
Elder Han nodded and his expression suddenly became gloomy. "How is Fang Yuan's…..skills? You have duelled with him before so you should know?"
Lu Zhisen was surprised by Elder Han's question and replied, "He is [Martial Artist (7th Gate)] and has not broken through the 4 Heavenly Gates…..I am ashamed that I couldn't survive through a few of his moves!"
"Hehe…. I see, a [Martial Artist (7th Gate)]. He is well known in Qinghe County but with what I have seen now…..Fang Yuan has not revealed his full power yet….."
Elder Han laughed and imagined a scene which Fang Yuan was charging right at him.
In fact, he had no intention to repel his attacks as he knew that he was injured badly and if Fang Yuan really had intentions to kill him, he would not be able to repel Fang Yuan's attack.
However, Fang Yuan had a secret technique and if he executed it, his skills would be on par with a [Martial Artist (8th Gate)]! This would be his true power.
"Did you just mention…..the Death….the Death Gate? That….is impossible. He is still so young! This is only possible if he had started training while he was in his mother's womb..."
Lu Zhisen's voice was trembling, which clearly showed that he was surprised by Fang Yuan's achievements.
He spoke halfway and realised that according to what the Lin family had learnt, Fang Yuan had only trained martial arts for a year!
"Do you understand my point? Even if the Lin family's intel on Fang Yuan was wrong, he must be extremely talented to achieve such level even if he had started training since young…..If the sect head was not busy, she would have taken this matter into her own hands….."
Elder Han closed his eyes and said, "You have known enough about him for now. I have duelled with him previously and I shall tell you more after I have recovered!"
"Yes, Elder Han!"
Lu Zhisen acknowledged and was worried.
"Haha….you thought I had done something funny to the Xuan Yin Heart Technique?"
Elder Han seemed to have seen through him and laughed. "I will still need his help to recover from my injuries. How could I do such thing and betray him at this point in time? What I gave him was indeed the original one!"
However, Elder Han did not mention that even though the technique he gave was original, through Shi Yutong's authentication, when this technique was trained to a high level, there would be side effects. The side effects include a change in personality and the condition of the body and many more.
Such changes were gradual and would not be discovered if one did not train the technique to a high level.
But if one were to do so, it would be impossible to revert.
'Lin Leiyue is the next successor to the throne of the sect head. Fang Yuan can be persuaded to join their side and in future, it will be sufficient to just reward him. How will he then be able to improve further and become a threat to the new successor?'
'Furthermore…...the presence of Fang Yuan is just a big obstacle to Lin Leiyue. Lin Leiyue still haven't realised that I have been advised by the sect head before about this…..'
'After my recovery, I shall help to solve Lin Leiyue's problems!'
'As for Fang Yuan, I will need to know all his secrets and if I am successful, maybe I can reward him and have him by my side. If I am not…...hehe…..'
...
Under the flame, Lu Zhisen saw Elder Han's dull face darken. He instantly felt a cold stream rush down his spine and he shuddered.