Chapter 711: Standoff
When Lin Dong stood before the gray-robed man, the flowing air above the gigantic platform instantly showed signs of solidifying. The surrounding Dao Sect disciples felt as though their hearts were being tightly grasped by a giant hand.
Amongst the two people before their eyes, one was once a renowned genius of Sky Hall, who now had an infamous reputation within Eastern Xuan Region. The other was also a surprising talent that was becoming extremely famous in Dao Sect.
Both of them were outstanding and have displayed their capabilities. However, when these two sharp spears came in contact with each other, it would be unavoidable for them to pierce at the other.
Due to the sudden appearance of a figure in front of him, Wang Yan’s footsteps came to a halt. His unfocused eyes slightly shifted once, before his gaze came to rest on Lin Dong’s body.
The indifference on Wang Yan’s face was unchanged by Lin Dong’s appearance. His numb eyes stared at Lin Dong, before a majestic and imposing aura that reeked of blood slowly unfurled from his body.
Wang Yan’s aura was filled with malignant intent. This was a malignant aura that had been acquired after fighting and killing through countless life or death situations. This was undoubtedly extremely frightening for the disciples who mostly stayed in the sect to train. Therefore, some of the surrounding disciples’ faces instantly turned pale white.
The current Wang Yan truly felt like a person who had climbed out from a pile of corpses. To them, such a person was the truly terrifying one.
Lin Dong frowned a little as he stood before Wang Yan. He could feel the baleful and gloomy pressure from Wang Yan’s body trying to envelope him. He had no choice but to acknowledge that Wang Yan was indeed extremely dangerous. After all, Wang Yan had experienced countless life or death situations and had even crawled out from a pile of corpses. However, Lin Dong was similarly not a disciple that grew up in a greenhouse like the Dao Sect.
He did not have any background and had walked out from Qingyang Town. Step by step, he had finally reached this point today. What he had experienced was not lacking even when compared to what Wang Yan had been through.
Therefore, although Wang Yan’s baleful and gloomy aura was able to intimidate other Dao Sect disciples, it had no effect on Lin Dong.
Lin Dongs eyes were like the deep abyss within an ancient well as he stared back at Wang Yan without showing any signs of yielding. At the same time, there were no indications of him backing off.
When he saw how Lin Dong was as unmoving as a mountain, Wang Yan was momentarily astonished. But soon after, his eyebrows knitted together, pulling some of the scars on his face. A faint and terrible aura started to appear.
“Senior brother Wang Yan.”
Just as Wang Yan’s expression was about to reach the limits of his patience. Ying Huanhuan hastily appeared in front of Lin Dong with a forced smile on her face as she spoke, “Senior brother Wang Yan, this is Lin Dong and he has just joined our Dao Sect for less than a year.”
“Lin Dong?”
When this name entered his ear, Wang Yan’s expression changed. His gaze rested on Lin Dong’s face as he replied in a hoarse voice, “The Lin Dong that fought with Yao Ling and both ended up seriously injured?”
Ying Huanhuan nodded her head. She did not expect that even Wang Yan had heard of this matter.
“I had once tried to chase and kill Yao Ling for two months. However, he still managed to escape in the end despite suffering severe injuries. I never imagined that he would fall at your hands.”
Wang Yan continued to look at Lin Dong as he continued, “Dao Sect managed to produce a pretty decent disciple this time around. I know what you want to say, however, there is no one who can change my decision.”
Lin Dong fell silent for a while. Soon after, his soft voice rang out, “Senior brother Wang Yan, aren’t you being a little selfish?”
When Ying Huanhuan heard his words, her expression immediately changed as she hastily tried to signal Lin Dong with her eyes. However, he turned a blind eye to her and instead extended his hand out and pulled her behind him. A ferocious glint could be faintly seen in his eyes, as he fearlessly looked straight at Wang Yan.
Wang Yan’s gloomy eyes stared back at Lin Dong. A moment later, he said in an indifferent manner, “After accomplishing my heart’s desire, I will express gratitude to Dao Sect with my life.”
Lin Dong frowned. He could sense the extreme prejudice and deep hatred in senior brother Wang Yan’s heart. The deep hatred within his heart had already corroded his mind. When a person like him made a decision, it would not be easy anyone to change it.
“If you want to stop me, you will have to defeat me. However, I will not show mercy.” said Wang Yan as he looked towards Lin Dong and Ying Huanhuan.
Ying Huanhuan bit her lip as her jade-like hands involuntarily clenched tightly.
“Huff.”
Lin Dong deeply breathed out in a slightly helpless manner. After that, under the gazes of the surrounding people, he slowly nodded his head and replied, “In that case, let us meet in the Hall Competition, senior brother Wang Yan.”
Wang Yan’s face twitched once as he gazed at Lin Dong. It seemed that he wanted to know the source of Lin Dong’s confidence, however, he did not say anything in the end. He nodded his head indifferently, before walking around Lin Dong and Ying Huanhuan as he gradually departed.
Quite some time had passed after Wang Yan had walked away, before the atmosphere on the platform gradually started to relax. However, a majority of the disciples had complex expressions on their faces. They knew that the upcoming Hall Competition might become quite troublesome due to the return of Wang Yan…
Lin Dong tilted his head over and looked at Ying Huanhuan’s dull and dim face. He smiled and said, “There’s no need to be too worried. Although senior brother Wang Yan is powerful, big senior sister Xiaoxiao is also someone that is not easy to deal with. The eventual victor is still up in the air.”
“I hope so.”
Ying Huanhuan softly sighed. Right now, the only thing she could do was to hope that Ying Xiaoxiao was able to stop the crazy Wang Yan. If Wang Yan was allowed to acquire the commanding authority, the Great Sect Competition might turn into quite a bloodbath. Although it was already a very bloody event…
Most importantly, Wang Yan held a high degree of respect, particularly amongst the experienced older Dao Sect disciples. After all, in the past, the outstanding disciples from the four halls like Ying Xiaoxiao, Qing Ye and Mu Li could only look up to him from behind.
In addition, there was a deep grudge between Dao Sect and Yuan Gate and there were many disciples who bored hatred towards Yuan Gate. Although they would normally not create too huge of a disturbance due to Ying Xuanzi’s efforts, it would be a different story if Wang Yan were to acquire the commanding authority. He would perhaps lead these disciples in a fight to the death against Yuan Gate.
In all their previous clashes, the average strength of all the Dao Sect disciples would always be weaker than Yuan Gate. Therefore, such a death battle would no doubt lead to certain death.
“I have to go and report this to big sis.”
Ying Huanhuan still felt somewhat uneasy. Although she knew that the present Ying Xiaoxiao was different from the past, Wang Yan was still someone that could not be dealt with easily. Some of the news that was transmitted back to the sect from time to time caused even Ying Xuanzi to be astonished…
Lin Dong nodded his head and did not say anything else. As he watched Ying Huanhuan hurriedly leaving figure, his eyebrows started to wrinkle. In the end, he sighed. An ordinary Hall Competition had suddenly became so complicated…
In the few days that followed, Lin Dong did not manage to see Ying Huanhuan again. As news of Wang Yan’s return started to spread across the sect, it quite a disturbance. Although the newer disciples did not know who this senior brother Wang Yan was, when they found out that he was actually ranked second on that sects’ wanted list, all of them had faces full of shock.
However, some of the sharper disciples were able to think on a deeper level. For example, the reason why Wang Yan would suddenly return after disappearing for so many years. After surmising a few answers, their expressions changed. However, they did not speak about it in the end, and could only sigh secretly. Looks like this years Hall Competition would become rather chaotic…
However, as the disciples excitedly discussed news of this matter amongst themselves, the higher echelons of Dao Sect maintained their silence. As for Wang Yan, after returning to the sect, he did not go and pay his respect to any elders. Instead, he returned to his residential mountain peak and locked the doors as he quietly waited for the Hall Competition to arrive.
When faced with such an extreme person, even Lin Dong felt somewhat helpless. He knew about the past incident from Ying Huanhuan. Wang Yan’s sister was surrounded and killed by Yuan Gate while she was trying to protect the Dao Sect disciples as they scattered and retreated. In the end, Dao Sect chose to make peace with the involved parties. It was obvious that even the higher levels of Dao Sect felt somewhat guilty to Wang Yan due to this incident.
Therefore, typically speaking, Dao Sect would not use other methods to remove Wang Yan from the upcoming Hall Competition. After all, Wang Yan was still a Dao Sect disciple.
Under such an atmosphere, time rapidly elapsed, while the atmosphere within the sect, that was seething with excitement, started to inflate. This inflation continued till the one day when it finally reached its peak…
Creak.
A door was pushed open as Lin Dong stepped out from within. Spreading his hands, he allowed the warm sunlight to envelope him. Faintly closing his eyes, he basked in the boiling atmosphere that was surging through the skies. Finally, he breathed in deeply before opening his eyes. Within his eyes, was a fearsome glint.
The Hall Competition had finally arrived.