Chapter 87 First Meeting with Linghu Feng
Lin Yi stood outside the city gates and looked into the distance. 300 Huashan disciples were riding on their horses as they approached the city.
The one leading them was dressed in a violet robe and carrying a sword on his back. A sapphire gourd was hanging on his waist and his long hair fluttered in the wind. With strong facial features and prominent eyebrows, he was a handsome man.
This man was Linghu Feng.
As he saw Linghu Feng, Lin Yi did not feel much about it. He did not harbor any grudges against Linghu Feng, and the only reason he competed with him was purely for the sake of the position of chief disciple.
If not for that, Lin Yi quite admired Linghu Feng actually.
He was a wanderer of Jianghu, and he was romantic, cool, and handsome. His only interests were drinking and being good at swordplay. From this, Lin Yi was similar to Linghu Feng.
If Jianghu was calm and peaceful, Lin Yi would never have the need to become his rival, and they might even become friends.
But the cruel and harsh era of chaos was arriving.
They were not fated to be friends.
Lin Yi had to obtain the position of chief disciple at all costs.
Linghu Feng was unsuited for the position because his heart was not in managing Huashan. Therefore, there was no way he could grow Huashan strong enough to resist the invasion of the demonic cults.
Although he was incredibly talented, he was only suited to be a sharp sword of Huashan and not its leader.
As he thought so, Lin Yi's expression was unchanging. Gazing towards the rest of the disciples, he was pleasantly surprised. He discovered Yu Zecheng also dressed in a violet robe and tagging behind Linghu Feng.
Immediately, suspicions rose in Lin Yi's heart.
Including Huashan, there were now a total of five major sects gathered at Lanzhou City and more than a hundred second-rate experts who came. What exactly happened for them to make such a move?
One had to know, even during the era of chaos, a gathering of a hundred second-rate experts was a rare occurrence.
Invasion of the demonic cults?
Not likely.
Although the demonic cults were trying to stage a comeback by starting a war between both factions, there was no need for the five sects to pay such great attention was there?
With doubts in his mind, Lin Yi approached Yu Zecheng who had dismounted with a smile. Before he could speak, Yu Zecheng laughed heartily: "Hahaha, Junior Brother Lin Yi, we meet again. Are you surprised?"
"Senior Brother Yu, I have yet to congratulate you on becoming a second-rate expert as well as a core disciple!" Lin Yi laughed and greeted him.
Yu Zecheng waved his hands: "What is there to congratulate? Core disciple? It will be your turn soon! I should be the one to congratulate you instead for killing an elder of the demonic cult. Surpassing your level to battle a second-rate expert and creating a sensation in Jianghu, you have acquired plenty of face for our upper courtyard!"
"Did you know, when news of your amazing feat reached Huashan, the entire sect was in an uproar! Everyone in the upper courtyard was constantly talking about you!"
"As for those little rascals in the lower courtyard, needless to say, they have already started worshipping you like their ancestors, hahaha!"
Yu Zecheng's loud laughter attracted the attention of all those around him.
Among the 300 disciples, more than ten of them were wearing violet robes. This meant that they were core disciples.
There were both males and females, and many of them had a curious expression as they looked at Lin Yi. There were also others who gazed at Lin Yi with a hostile expression. Linghu Feng had an indifferent expression instead, and after glancing at Lin Yi, he started examining the city.
Noticing the hostile gazes, Lin Yi raised his brows and asked Yu Zecheng: "Senior Brother Yu, who are those people?"
Following Lin Yi's gaze, a look of interest flashed in his eyes and he brightly stated: "Junior Brother Lin Yi, it's time to let you know. This one with a sapphire gourd on his waist is the great and famous Senior Brother Linghu Feng!"
As soon as Lin Yi saw Yu Zecheng's behavior, he knew what he was trying to do. Playing along, Lin Yi approached Linghu Feng and bowed politely: "Lin Yi greets Senior Brother Linghu!"
Linghu Feng merely nodded his head and replied: "Junior Brother Lin Yi, I have heard of your name. Slaying the devil with three swords, another famous young hero of Jianghu has now appeared in Huashan."
"It is nothing at all, I'm greatly inferior when compared to Senior Brother Linghu." Lin Yi humbly said. Linghu Feng frowned when he saw Lin Yi's behavior as he had imagined Lin Yi to be a hotblooded and proud person. Linghu Feng instantly lost his interest and was slightly disappointed.
Yu Zecheng hurriedly introduced those behind Linghu Feng and prevented the situation from becoming awkward. "These six people, heh heh, they are the Six Great Talents of Huashan. Together with Senior Brother Linghu, they are known as the Seven Heroes of Huashan in Jianghu!"
"So it's the Seven Heroes of Huashan, these six senior brothers and sisters look awe-inspiring!" Lin Yi quickly replied.
"Hmph!" The only female among them, Liang Rulu, snorted coldly. The remaining five also did not reply, showing their hostile intent obviously.
Lin Yi did not pay much heed to it, as he knew they were the fellow disciples of Linghu Feng who grew up together. In his previous life, it was because of them that Linghu Feng caved in under their constant pressure and became the chief disciple.
It was also because of them that after Huashan was decimated, Linghu Feng continued to protect these six people and gave up on everyone else in Huashan.
Having acquired great fame in Jianghu and being proclaimed as one of the two heavenly talents of Huashan by Sect Master Ouyang, Lin Yi naturally earned the ire and hostility of these six people who supported Linghu Feng fervently.
Similarly, Lin Yi also did not view them kindly.
In the future, on his path to becoming the chief disciple, he would surely have to deal with these six people. Therefore, he did not care whether they were friendly or hostile.
With Yu Zecheng's deliberate introductions, Lin Yi very quickly identified those who were hostile and those who were friendly among the 300 Huashan disciples.
The Seven Heroes of Huashan were obviously hostile.
The other core disciples were divided into two types.
The first type made their way to the core disciples from the lower courtyard, while the second type was directly accepted as core disciples due to their talent.
The former was obviously friendly to Lin Yi as he had walked the same path as them, and Yu Zecheng also belonged to this faction.
As for the latter, the majority of them were simply curious about Lin Yi and were neither hostile nor friendly.
Maybe Yu Zecheng simply wanted Lin Yi to understand which faction he belonged to. However, Lin Yi was very grateful to Yu Zecheng for doing so, as he had saved him a great deal of trouble. If he were to figure it out by himself, he would surely have to waste a lot of time and energy.
The 300 disciples dismounted and entered the city.
Lin Yi walked together with Yu Zecheng and pointed out his doubts: "Senior Brother Yu, exactly what has happened for the five major sects to bring so many second-rate experts to Lanzhou City under such short notice?"
"Junior Brother Lin, let me tell you, this matter happened very suddenly. Not long after you left Huashan, demonic cult members appeared to cause trouble and commit arson in various territories controlled by major sects. The major sects sent large forces to exterminate these demonic cult members, but once we arrived, they immediately went into hiding like rats. That was truly a tough period, as we tired ourselves out putting out the fires."
"At first we thought that they were only here to cause trouble. Who knew that we would suddenly receive news that large numbers of demonic cult members were invading the area of Lanzhou City and that they had even sent a second-rate expert who wiped out the forces of Shaolin and various other major sects. Only then did we realize that the arsons were simply a distraction, and their true aim was the geniuses of our righteous faction."
"Fortunately, Junior Brother Lin managed to display your prowess and slew the second-rate expert from the demonic faction, thus saving the lives of countless geniuses from our righteous faction."
"Just when we thought that we could finally catch a breather, only half a month later, we received news that many second-rate experts from the demonic faction have gathered outside Lanzhou City. Being unable to sit back and watch, the five major sects immediately sent the five heavenly talents along with other second-rate experts and third-rate experts to rush to Lanzhou City, fearing that the third-rate experts in Lanzhou City would be completely wiped out."
Yu Zecheng had a bitter expression as he explained, indicating that he had suffered quite a bit during this period.
Lin Yi was surprised when he heard the explanation. It seemed that Lanzhou City had suddenly turned into the battleground for the heavenly talents of the two factions.
Currently, the highest classed heavenly talents were second-rate experts. There still wasn't anyone from the younger generation who had managed to become a first-rate expert.
Lin Yi began to have doubts deep in his heart. He suspected the presence of a sinister plot, but he could not tell what it was. The only thing he was sure of was that in his previous life, he had never heard of a battle between heavenly talents in Lanzhou City before the era of chaos arrived.
Maybe things were different now that the game had turned into reality?
Lin Yi could only make guesses, but the doubts in his heart remained.
As the two of them continued walking and talking, they were left behind by the others and ended up at the rear. When they finished talking, they had reached Liushanmen.
Just as they entered, they saw Shaolin's chief disciple Monk Juexing approaching with several men.
The Shaolin disciples were clearly coming for the Huashan disciples.