At the foremost position below the main hall sat an elderly man clad in a yellow robe, his white hair framing a resolute face. Robust despite his age, his aura surpassed that of the elder in the main hall, astonishingly reaching the Third Stage of Martial Emperor.
Behind this vigorous elder stood two young individuals, a man and a woman. The woman, in her early twenties, possessed striking beauty and a cultivation at the Sixth Stage of Martial King.
The man, around twenty-five or twenty-six, was at the peak of Martial King. His appearance bore a slight resemblance to the vigorous elder.
In the same row of seats as the vigorous elder were several other yellow-robed elders.
“Third Stage Martial Emperor, Guo Xiong of the Guo family?” Lin Xiao was slightly startled inwardly. Seated among the guests with a cultivation at the Third Stage of Martial Emperor, it must undoubtedly be Guo Xiong, the head of the Guo family, he thought.
With the Su and Guo families preparing for a marriage alliance, and the sudden news of Su Yun’s death, it seemed likely that the Guo family had come to confront them.
This was somewhat unexpected, but it didn’t disrupt his plans.
At this moment, as Lin Xiao and his companion entered, the scene fell silent. All eyes were fixed intently on the pair.
The young man’s face already showed a stunned expression, clearly captivated by Mei Tianmo’s beauty.
“You are the hidden mysterious genius of the Xu clan, Xu Changkong?” Su Shan, seated in the main hall, spoke as they approached, his tone thick with disbelief and tinged with anger.
Others also displayed glares of resentment, as if they could instantly tell Lin Xiao was a fraud.
Lin Xiao gave a wry smile inwardly. It seemed the name Xu Changkong carried too much weight. Using it here, not a single person present would likely believe him.
Yet, he wasn’t fazed by their gazes and nodded calmly, saying, “Indeed!”
Su Shan’s face darkened slightly, and he said, “Xu Changkong is said to be the most mysterious genius of the clan Xu clan, rumoured to be even more fearsome and enigmatic than Xu Wei Feng, Xu Rong Feng, and Xu Shijie. How could the most mysterious genius of the clan Xu clan suddenly appear in our modest Su family today?”
As he spoke, a wisp of Martial Emperor’s pressure enveloped Lin Xiao. To Su Shan and the crowd’s astonishment, this pressure had no effect on him whatsoever.
Lin Xiao, unfazed, said, “I’ve come for a reason, and it’s urgent.”
“What reason?” Su Shan retracted his aura. Most young cultivators couldn’t withstand that wisp of pressure, and he couldn’t sense this youth’s aura, which piqued his curiosity.
Seeing the crowd’s expressions, Lin Xiao knew they still didn’t believe him. He could only blame himself for impersonating someone too extraordinary.
No wonder, when he devised this plan, the Ling clan elder had warned that this name would be hard to sell.
But Lin Xiao wouldn’t back down. With a serious expression, he said, “I won’t beat around the bush. I have my reasons for being here, but that’s not important. What matters is that, according to my information, the Xu clan’s rival, the Cao clan, has a Third Stage and a Fourth Stage Martial Emperor planning to come here in two days, leading the Ling clan to unify this region.”
At this, the crowd frowned. Cao clan’s Third and Fourth Stage Martial Emperors were coming?
Though skeptical of Lin Xiao’s words, they couldn’t rule out the possibility.
“In truth, even if the clan Xu clan stays out of it, the impact on us is minimal, just letting the Cao clan expand into another region,” Lin Xiao continued slowly. “But for you all, the consequences could be dire, perhaps even leading to your downfall.”
He added, “Of course, since the Cao clan is our rival, the clan Xu clan naturally doesn’t want their influence to extend here. Thus, we propose a collaboration with the Su and Guo families to jointly confront the Cao clan’s two Martial Emperors and strike a blow against them. What do the two family heads think?”
“How can we trust that you’re from the clan Xu clan? That you’re Xu Changkong?” Guo Xiong, seated below the main hall, spoke up, circling back to the issue.
“Then how would you have me prove it?” Lin Xiao countered.
Guo Xiong glanced at the young man behind him and then at Lin Xiao, saying, “Jin Ming, test his strength.” He continued, “The mysterious genius of the clan Xu clan must have extraordinary strength, no? Defeating a genius from our region should be effortless, right?”
Guo Jinming’s face showed a mocking smirk. He didn’t believe this ordinary-looking youth could be the clan Xu clan’s mysterious genius.
“Naturally,” Lin Xiao replied with a faint smile, appearing nonchalant.
At Lin Xiao’s composure, Guo Jinming’s mocking expression faltered, a trace of anger surfacing. He stepped forward, bowing slightly to Lin Xiao, saying, “Please enlighten me!”
With that, he moved swiftly, charging at Lin Xiao. His fist swung fiercely, radiant golden light bursting from it as the unstoppable punch hurtled toward Lin Xiao.
In the hall, direct combat was most suitable, especially with a vast gap in strength, otherwise the entire hall could be razed.
The Su family’s choice to let them fight here clearly assumed one side was far stronger, and they believed that side was Guo Jinming.
At this moment, it seemed their assumption was about to be confirmed. They saw Guo Jinming’s fist heading straight for Lin Xiao’s chest, while Lin Xiao stood motionless.
It appeared his strength was too weak to keep up with Guo Jinming’s speed, unable even to react.
Bang!
Guo Jinming’s fist indeed struck Lin Xiao’s chest heavily. Yet, to everyone’s shock, Lin Xiao didn’t fly backward as they’d imagined.
Instead, he stood rooted to the spot, as if the punch held no power at all.
“How is this possible?” Guo Jinming was stunned. A punch with the full force of a peak Martial King couldn’t budge his opponent?
This punch, landing undefended, should have injured even a Martial Venerable, shouldn’t it?
This youth, not yet twenty, withstood his strike unscathed?
Guo Jinming felt a collapse within, his pride as the region’s top genius shattered.
“How is this possible?” Even Guo Xiong, Su Shan, and everyone present were dumbfounded.
They knew Guo Jinming’s strength well. To take his punch without flinching, this youth was terrifyingly powerful.
“Your strength is too weak,” Lin Xiao said with a faint smile, throwing a punch at Guo Jinming.
Guo Jinming frowned, raising his other hand to block. Yet, against Lin Xiao’s fist, his strength was useless. With a “bang,” Guo Jinming’s body was sent crashing to the floor near the main hall, looking utterly disheveled.
“You!” Guo Jinming scrambled up, his face flushed with anger, but faced with Lin Xiao’s strength, he retreated.
He couldn’t fathom how he, a genius bathed in glory, had fallen so low, unable to block a casual strike.
“Family heads, do you believe me now?” After defeating Guo Jinming, Lin Xiao spoke calmly, as if it were a trivial matter.
“You have some strength,” Su Shan said measuredly. “But setting aside whether we believe you, even if we do, what strength do you have to make us ally against the Cao clan’s Martial Emperors? This so-called collaboration isn’t just about using us as your fighters, is it?”
Others nodded in agreement. Whether this youth was Xu Changkong or not, with just two young people and no Martial Emperor among them, how could they ally to face the Cao clan’s two Martial Emperors and the Ling clan’s Martial Emperor?
