Chapter 121: The Uncle Causes Trouble

"You..." For several heartbeats, Shui Hanmeng’s beautiful almond-shaped eyes first faltered, then she averted her gaze.

Deep within her, a fierce anger burned. Lin Zhan had "lured" her into drinking until she was drunk, then sneaked away without a word. Not only that, he left her utterly unconscious, nearly falling prey to her senior brother’s grasp. It was this emotional turmoil that caused her to lose control and accidentally kill her senior brother.

All of this was because of Lin Zhan! Yet she dared not say it aloud; speaking would do nothing to change the desperate situation she faced.

There was no turning back to the Shadowless Sect. Even if she returned, how could she face her master? How could she face the teachings of her sect?

Thus, killing Lin Zhan and completing the Shadowless Sect’s inheritance mission became the final obsession in Shui Hanmeng’s heart.

As for where she would go or what would become of her afterward, Shui Hanmeng truly did not know.

“If you don’t leave now, I’ll really kill you!” After a long silence, Shui Hanmeng finally spoke again.

At that moment, Lin Zhan suddenly felt a pang of empathy for Shui Hanmeng. He thought of how he had inexplicably arrived in the Blue Ice World and might be carrying some unseen mission. Perhaps he was merely a minor pawn in a larger game, controlled by a great power behind the scenes, guiding him through all these ordeals.

Similarly, Shui Hanmeng was also trapped, raised from childhood with cultivation and indoctrinated with the sect’s inheritance ideology, sworn to annihilate travelers from other worlds. Was this not also a form of control?

“Sigh, we’re all just pitiable people,” Lin Zhan muttered.

He stood up, abandoning any plan to sway Shui Hanmeng.

“Alright, I’m leaving. I hope you learn to take care of yourself... If you want to kill me, you’d better hurry, or when I grow stronger, you won’t have the chance...”

No matter how one looked at it, Lin Zhan was the victim in this matter. Continuing to fuss over Shui Hanmeng would be pointless. Since he couldn’t avoid being hunted, it was better to leave first.

“Lin Zhan!”

Before he had gone far, Shui Hanmeng called out to him. He stopped but didn’t turn around.

“After the Flame Peak disciple competition finals, if you’re still alive, then I’ll come kill you!” Her voice was resolute and powerful.

Lin Zhan made no reply. With a flick of his body, he summoned a thousand blossoms and soared away on his sword.

Shui Hanmeng leapt to the peak of a rock, gazing long into the direction Lin Zhan had departed, her black hair fluttering in the wind...

At last, Lin Zhan felt a small measure of relief. Since Shui Hanmeng had promised to come after the competition, he believed her.

***

In the days that followed, Lin Zhan and his companions returned to the gathering point, preparing seriously for the final battle of the competition.

On the eve of the finals, trouble came knocking. It was the Death Sword Peak disciples!

Not earlier, not later—but precisely the day before the finals, they showed up. Clearly, they intended to prevent Lin Zhan from participating in the decisive battle.

“Flame Peak disciple Lin Zhan, come out at once!”

“Lin Zhan, get out here!”

Only the winners from the preliminary round of Region Two remained here, along with a few officials in charge of the competition.

Among the top ten, Fan Ning and Ji Mubai had not yet returned, their injuries unknown. The rest were the eight disciples led by Lin Zhan.

At hearing the shouts, the eight gathered together, asking what was going on.

The officials from Wangxi Peak stood with arms crossed, clearly just spectators with no intention of intervening.

“Who’s looking for me?” Lin Zhan never shied away from such matters.

Two middle-aged cultivators appeared, accompanied by a dozen young disciples.

Lin Zhan recognized those dozen youths—they were Death Sword Peak disciples whose swords he had confiscated during the preliminaries.

“You’re Lin Zhan?” One middle-aged man in a white robe with sharp eyes sized Lin Zhan up.

“Indeed, I am Lin Zhan!” Lin Zhan replied, neither humble nor arrogant, standing tall with hands behind his back.

They came looking for trouble, so Lin Zhan knew he must not lose face.

“You lowly disciple! You see our Senior Uncles Chong Guang and Chong Liang of Death Sword Peak and don’t dare kowtow? What audacity!” shouted the disciple with the number 144, whose testicles Lin Zhan had once kicked.

Several others who had also been humbled by Lin Zhan rubbed their fists and glared, eager to join in.

As sword-wielding disciples, losing their swords meant losing their status. To them, Lin Zhan was their mortal enemy.

After their elimination, they immediately sought out the two senior uncles who had led them to the competition, hoping to have them retrieve their swords and restore their dignity—even if it meant punishment afterward.

More than that, they wanted their senior uncles to cripple the arrogant Lin Zhan so he could not compete in the finals. That would be true satisfaction and vengeance!

“Oh, so it’s the two senior uncles. Flame Peak’s lowly disciple Lin Zhan salutes you!” Lin Zhan smiled faintly, clasping his fists in greeting, “What instructions do you have for me?”

Kowtowing? What a joke.

The sharp-eyed white-robed man was Senior Uncle Chong Guang. His eyes flickered with a sharp light as he calmly said, “Flame Peak’s disciple certainly has talent and aptitude. In the preliminaries, young Lin Zhan truly shone brilliantly, trampling Death Sword Peak’s face into the dust...”

“Cough, cough, senior uncle flatters me. It was pure luck, pure luck...” Lin Zhan grinned.

While speaking polite words, he fully unleashed his spiritual awareness. The situation within the arena was perfectly clear.

When Lin Zhan faced the strong and clearly hostile Death Sword Peak disciples, Fang Daguang and Ye Xiaoyao stood immediately beside him. Lian Ming and Liang Siqi, slightly hesitant, followed after a moment’s thought.

Two other Flame Peak disciples stepped back cautiously, fearing trouble might spill onto them.

Another top ten Death Sword Peak disciple had returned silently to his senior brothers’ side.

Meanwhile, the officials from Wangxi Peak had all vanished, no doubt excusing themselves to let the Death Sword Peak handle things as they pleased.

A smile curled at Lin Zhan’s lips. True character only reveals itself in times of crisis.

Hearing Lin Zhan modestly claim it was luck, the other senior uncle, the round-faced Chong Liang, was not pleased.

“Don’t give me that luck nonsense! You stole the swords of Death Sword Peak disciples—that’s contempt and a grave provocation against our sect! Today, I’ll settle the score for Flame Peak once and for all!”

Chong Liang was hot-tempered and once set in his views, impossible to sway. Saying this, he sprang into action, launching a palm strike directly at Lin Zhan.

The palm wind crackled with a thunderous sonic boom...