Chapter 312: The Message From Xiao Yan
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Lin Feng had not received any messages from Xiao Yan ever since he left.
But Lin Feng had nothing to worry about regarding Xiao Yan. Mavericks of the Heaven's Destiny Sect like him have always been in the position to threaten others, and not the other way around. Even if he did get bullied, he would eventually get back what he had lost previously and more.
In the depths of Lin Feng's heart, he was even secretly looking forward to seeing just how much trouble Xiao Yan could churn up.
If there was any real danger, Lin Feng had left Xiao Yan a talisman. Once Xiao Yan crushes the talisman, Lin Feng can determine his location and immediately traverse space over to Xiao Yan and lend his eldest disciple a helping hand.
Lin Feng was a little surprised to receive Xiao Yan's message now. He crumbed the Voice-Projecting Crystal and quickly used his mana to contain it, then relied on mana voice-relaying to converse with Xiao Yan on the other side of the crystal.
From the outside, Lin Feng was still standing motionlessly at his original spot, seemingly observing the new battle unfolding in the Hidden Dragon Gorge attentively.
Once the communication line was established, without Lin Feng saying a word yet, Xiao Yan who was on the other side of the line already sounded quite flustered and exasperated. "Master, among the Seven Legendary Primordial Fires, besides the Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire, the Grand Sun Primordial Flame, and the Pure Yang Primordial Fire, what are the other fires like?"
Lin Feng smiled, "What happened, did you encounter a flame that withstood your Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire and your Grand Sun Primordial Flame?"
Xiao Yan replied, "Indeed so, the base colour of the flame was gold like the Grand Sun Primordial Flame, but it wasn't gathered from the heavenly rays of the Sun. It's just a regular kindling, and the surface of the flame is still dyed with red and blue light."
When Lin Feng heard Xiao Yan's description, he went over the characteristics of each of the Seven Legendary Primordial Fires previously mentioned by the System, and instantly locked onto an answer.
He suddenly recalled that, when he visited Wuzhou City for the first time and had yet to accept Xiao Yan as his disciple, he saw a strange golden blaze flickering in Xiao Zhener's eyes.
Lin Feng smiled, "Your wife's family actually trained to yield the Nanming Primordial Fire of the Seven Legendary Primordial Fires."
"The Nanming Primordial Fire?" Xiao Yan slowly disgested the name as Lin Feng continued, "Yes, based on your descriptions, that would indeed be the Nanming Primordial Fire of the Seven Legendary Primordial Fires."
"The flame itself is golden, dyed with red and blue hues. It may not look strong, but that's because its firepower is compressed and concentrated. In fact, this flame possesses immense destructive power, and can blaze through and incinerate space."
Xiao Yan let out a muffled grunt. "So that's the case, I almost got pulverised by it."
"Did you cross swords with your father-in-law?" Lin Feng's words were casual but his tone was very serious. Initially, when he read the letter that Xiao Zhener left for Xiao Yan, Lin Feng knew that Xiao Yan's journey would not be a smooth one. If he did stir a conflict with Xiao Zhener's family, things would become even more complicated.
Xiao Yan said dejectedly, "It's hard to explain. I'll elaborate on the details to Master after I return."
Lin Feng said, "If the opponent's mastery levels are not a lot stronger than yours, then the best method to counter the Nanming Primordial Fire would be to use the Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire. When comparing offensive destructive power, the Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire is the best of the Seven Legendary Primordial Fires, even the Nanming Primordial Fire is no match for it."
"Among the Seven Legendary Primordial Fires, the Nanming Primordial Fire is the most suitable flame for crafting weapons and elixirs. Although it has substantial intensity for battle, it cannot rival the Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire at equal quantities."
After a moment of silence, Xiao Yan said, "But the Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire's innate power is too overwhelming and uncontrollable, an instance of carelessness could result in a disastrous outcome. I don't actually wish to harm Zhener's family for real."
Lin Feng replied, "I fully understand your feelings, but think about it carefully, letting your father-in-law experience a few setbacks may perhaps influence the direction of their strategies to a certain degree. This may in fact be a good thing for them."
Xiao Yan livened back up and his voice became peppy. "Master is right, I understand now."
Lin Feng nodded contentedly, "The exact degree, however, requires your own judgement."
Xiao Yan smiled, "Don't worry, Master. I did not understand my opponents fully last time, but now that I do, it'll be much easier for me. I've always remembered Master's words: Members of the Celestial Sect of Wonders can do anything except suffer defeat!"
Lin Feng thought to himself, I don't have to worry about you. I still have to worry about Yue Hongyan and Yang Qing, but as for you four mavericks, I have nothing to worry about.
"Right, have you met your wife yet?" After discussing the important matters, Lin Feng's thirst for gossip was reinvigorated again.
Xiao Yan's voice instantly withered, and replied gloomily, "Not yet."
Lin Feng snickered to himself, but still maintained a dignified, proper facade. "Hm, the revolution has not succeeded yet. Xiao Yan, you must continue to work hard."
He wanted to blurt out something else, but he swallowed his words back down again.
After ending his conversation with Xiao Yan, Lin Feng lifted his head towards the sky and pondered silently. "The situation is gradually becoming more complicated. For me and the Celestial Sect of Wonders, this brings both advantages and disadvantages. Whether these are ultimately beneficial or harmful, I'm afraid I'll need to see the measures taken when things finally come to a head."
"But it's still good to take precautions early. Just that, what should I do exactly?"
Lin Feng pondered for a long while before gradually forming some ideas. Beside him, Zhu Yi, Xiao Budian and the rest wanted to ask him some questions, but sensed that Lin Feng was deep in thought, so did not dare to disturb him.
After he weighed his options, Lin Feng turned to face his disciples and asked with a smile, "What is it, did you all have things to ask me just now?"
The disciples looked at each other, then Zhu Yi stood up and asked, "Master, we wish to ask, what are the inner workings of the swordplay demonstrated by the sword duo from the Sun Moon Sword Sect just now?"
Although Lin Feng was mulling over his own matters, based on his soul's current strength, multi-tasking was no big deal, and he still witnessed everything that happened in the Hidden Dragon Gorge clearly.
In the time that Lin Feng conversed with Xiao Yan and pondered to himself, two matches had already concluded in the Hidden Dragon Gorge.
Coincidentally, sword duos from the Sun Moon Sword Sect participated in both these matches, with one win and one loss.
For the first match, their opponent was Tao Yaoyao of the Sword of Radiance Sect.
And Tao Yaoyao's partner caused an uproar among all the cultivators present, because she did not select someone similarly in the Aurous Core stage to pair up with. Her partner, impressively, was a Sword of Radiance Sect disciple in the Foundation Establishment stage.
This was just blatantly announcing that she intended to fight one-against-two, and her partner was just here to fill the numbers.
This was different from the time Yue Hongyan paired with Zhuge Fengling. At least Zhuge Fengling achieved the effect of confusing their opponents, but now, Tao Yaoyao was just flaunting her dominance.
The final outcome proved Tao Yaoyao's overwhelming confidence in her abilities. She displayed her wildly crowd-pleasing prowess and relied on her individual strength to overcome the dual swords of the Sun Moon Sword Sect. She brought a Foundation Establishment stage junior with the label 'Full-time Soy Sauce Maker' pasted on his face and clinched a victory.
In this battle, Tao Yaoyao shone radiantly and dazzled the entire arena.
During the Foundation Establishment stage Disciple Matches, the Sword of Radiance Sect embarrassingly had no representatives in the Top 8, so none of them attained the right to enter the Ancient Huanghai World.
But with this battle, Tao Yaoyao salvaged all the pride lost by the Sword of Radiance Sect previously, and gained them even more.
Lin Feng glimpsed at the Sword of Radiance Sect's delegation. The sect's Swordmaster appeared calm, seemingly aloof, while their various Nascent Soul and Aurous Core stage elders wore a variety of troubled and perplexed expressions.
"Forcefully dragging a Foundation Establishment stage disciple who only knows how to stir soy sauce onto the battlefield seems to be Tao Yaoyao's own idea, without uniform agreement within the ranks of the Sword of Radiance Sect." Lin Feng realized, "There would always be disputes and agreements within a group of people."
Tao Yaoyao's brilliant performance awed the crowd, and the Sun Moon Sword Sect that faded into the background was naturally unhappy. But fortunately for them, another pair of their disciples swiftly secured a one-sided victory against a pair from the Huo Family in the following match, successfully advancing into the Top 8.
And in this match, the Sun Moon Sword Sect's disciples suddenly demonstrated swordplay that was starkly different from before.
Their Sun Radiance swordplay, originally overflowing with vigorous sword radiance, became the dim and bizarre, dark and cold Lunar Glow swordplay, yet still shining forth with countless rays of light.
They also completely reversed their model of relying on the Sun Radiance swordplay for offence and the Lunar Glow swordplay for support.
"Master, it feels as though the reversal of the Sun and Moon swordplay isn't just about exchanging the roles of offence and support. The swordplay itself is completely different from before." Zhu Yi frowned slightly and said, "The battle strategy does not determine the swordplay. Instead, the changes in swordplay results in changing strategies."
Lin Feng smiled, "Your intuition is correct. The swords used by that duo are not the traditional Dual Swords of the Sun and Moon."
"They are hybrids of the Sun Radiance and Lunar Glow swordplay - the Solar Eclipse and Full Moon Holy Light swordplay. Technically speaking, they are respective branches of the Sun Radiance and Lunar Glow swordplay. Although they originated from the Dual Swords of the Sun and Moon, they each produced their own unique traits and mysteries."
The disciples nodded slowly. Xiao Budian commented, "These two types of swordplay are probably sword skills learnt by the Sun Moon Sword Sect's disciples after they have formed their Aurous Core. No wonder Master had mentioned previously that the higher the sword duo's personal mastery levels were, the stronger the combined force of the dual swords would be."
"Raising one's mastery level allows one to yield stronger swordplay and Abhijna, and also allows the dual sword combination to gain versatility."
Lin Feng nodded, "That is indeed the case."
As he helped clarify the doubts of his disciples, he gazed at the Hidden Dragon Gorge. There, a new match had already begun.
And for many, this duel was the most talked-about, thrilling, and eye-catching match of all the battles between the Top 16.
The match between sworn enemies: Song Qingyuan of the Heaven Lake Sect versus Dou Kun of the Royal House of the Northern Tribes.
The cultivators from the Heaven Lake Sect and the Royal House of the Northern Tribes had sparked another round of rivalry. Previously during the Foundation Establishment stage matches, Dao Yuting defeated Zhamu Zeluo of the Northern Tribes, heightening the conflict between the two sides. And now, it has already reached its boiling point.
If not for the elders on both sides restraining their disciples, a fight would already have erupted between the lower-level cultivators.
Lin Feng glanced at the Hidden Dragon Gorge and his eyes flickered.