"I really don’t understand how Lin Yaoyang taught you, brother!" Lin Shangxiu said angrily, beginning to curse up a storm again.
Lin Xin frowned and his hand once again grasped the hilt of his sword at his waist.
He had by now roughly figured out the patterns of the Heaven and Earth’s Elental Energy in the Mortal Realm. Even without utilizing the Sacred Body, he himself possessed significant cultivation.
A re branch Family Head, not even an Elder, dared to bluster in front of the main family’s bloodline.
He had no more patience to deal with the people outside Lin Yaoyang’s direct relatives.
"How I teach my brother is none of your business, Family Head Lin Shangxiu."
Suddenly a hand gently pressed down on Lin Xin’s palm.
Lin Yaoyang had appeared behind him at so point, her pretty face slightly cold. She wore an odd but strikingly exquisite red and black long dress, with a large red ornant on her back that resembled a cluster of roses.
"Lin Yaoyang!" Lin Shangxiu was montarily lost for words, but oddly, seeing the person in question appear, she beca less angry and quickly cald down.
"Your brother has killed a protector of the Imperial Clan, hehe, protect him then. Sooner or later, the Lin Family will be ruined by you, you wasteful woman!"
She turned around with her man and left.
Lin Yaoyang watched her leave and then her gaze turned directly toward the Ninth Prince.
"Ninth Prince, I never expected that within the territory of our Lin Clan, a disguised assassin would infiltrate and attempt to assassinate you.
Luckily, our clan brother acted promptly, ensuring everything was safe, and you were unhard, Your Highness. Otherwise, if a real problem had occurred, it would have been a fault of our Lin Family.
Wouldn’t you say so, Your Highness?"
Lin Yaoyang’s last statent took on a chilly tone.
The Ninth Prince was stunned, a surge of indescribable humiliation rising vehently in his heart.
Not just him, but all the young nobles present who had witnessed the entire event were silent.
This wasn’t a question; it was more like a threat, wasn’t it?
To kill another’s guard and yet claim to have done a ritorious deed... How protective must Lin Yaoyang be to not care even for a Prince of the Imperial Clan, and to openly defend her own brother?
Lin Xin stood behind her, his eyes softening slightly.
At this mont, no one dared to speak out. The Ninth Prince was, after all, only the ’Ninth’Prince. It was rumored that the Lin Family actually supported the Crown Prince, and even if one protector was insufficient, disposing of this Ninth Prince would, at most, cost the Lin Family so resources due to the suppression of the Crown Prince.
The Ninth Prince felt a cold terror from head to toe.
He grasped the situation all too clearly, and cold sweat broke out on his back. If he really angered Lin Yaoyang today, even if he ended up crippled here, it would be just a matter of money.
In fact, today’s affair was really just a minor incident.
He had invited Lin Sherie to join him, and when the latter indifferently ignored him, not willing to small talk, a companion could not bear it and took action in an attempt to teach him a lesson.
As a result, that anger was deflected, and even he himself was pressed down by the montum, causing Uncle An, the Hidden Guard, to intervene and end up being killed instead.
The Ninth Prince hadn’t even had the ti to ease the situation before it escalated to this stage. He was still in a daze.
Everything had changed too quickly.
But at this mont, no matter how much frustration boiled inside, he could only clench his fists.
"Miss Yaoyang speaks truth..."
"It’s good that Your Highness is safe," Lin Yaoyang said indifferently, her gaze coldly sweeping over Lin Shizaki and others.
This child who used to be quite innocent, when had he suddenly beco so calculative? He had seed rather cute as a kid, pity.
"Let’s go." She dropped the comnt casually and turned towards the location of the ceremony.
Lin Xin glanced at the Ninth Prince and followed her to leave.
Leaving behind a group of young n and won silent as cicadas in winter.
Lin Shizaki watched Lin Xin’s retreating figure, biting her lip.
She had actually had a favorable impression of this cousin when they were younger, but as ti passed, she gradually understood the difference between those of Secret Blood and ordinary bloodlines, and a sense of superiority had crept into her heart.
But that was not the key issue; the most important thing was that Lin Xin’s rate of improvent was too fast.
She often saw Lin Hao and Yuan Wanqing continuously bringing vast quantities of valuable resources to Lin Xin. These were things she lusted after and desperately needed but couldn’t obtain. Lin Hao, Yuan Wanqing, or Lin Yaoyang, they were all the sa; any good thing would be first given to Lin Sherie, whose talents were inferior to hers, not vested in her, the one with Secret Blood. Even though she was the most outstanding one in the family!
Why?!
"With Sherie’s horrific rate of improvent, I don’t know how many resources the family poured into him to achieve this effect... If those resources were given to , no, just half! Just half would suffice for to perform far better than him, even surpass him greatly!"
Lin Shizaki bit her lip, gazing at Lin Xin’s recent sword strike, and felt as if her long-parched heart was suddenly ignited by resentnt.
She felt that if she could also have all those resources, she would definitely be stronger than Lin Xin by now, not having to carefully curry favor with a Prince of the Imperial Clan like the Ninth Prince!
********************
The ceremonial site.
At the Lin Family’s back mountain, a round clearing was specially cleared out.
A large crowd split into several groups, each taking their separate positions around the clearing.
Among these people, the Lin Family mbers were positioned at the true north, divided into main and branch families.
Lin Hao sat at the forefront, motionless, ditating peacefully.
To the south were the representatives of the Imperial Clan and so representatives from small and dium-sized factions of the sa alliance.
The representative of the Imperial Clan was a middle-aged man with a refined and scholarly aura, sitting tranquilly in his seat, his complexion serene, eyes slightly closed as if taking a brief rest.
On the eastern side were several representatives of the Faction of Execution, including the young master and his father, conspicuously placed in the most prominent position.
After all, in the world of prestigious families and great clans, they were the strongest, second only to the Lin Family.
To the west sat two peculiar won. Without any attendants nearby, both were dressed in pale blue gowns and sat with gentle smiles on their faces, exuding a charm that naturally endeared them to onlookers.
Beyond these four forces and their subordinate formations, the outer circle was filled with various individuals who had co to observe the excitent—friends and partners close to the internal family mbers, a truly intimate group.
Further out were the heavily guarded Sentry Guards of the Lin Family, the elite warriors composed of the most skilled mbers of the Faction of Execution.
The entire family estate was encompassed by what could be proudly claid as the Lin Family’s strongest defensive Barrier. At this mont, it was slowly unfurling, extending over every inch of the surrounding open grounds and woods.
Lin Yaoyang led Lin Xin and a group of young n and won to their respective places.
Then, two mysterious elders of the Lin Family, garbed in vibrant red and purple robes and carrying thick hemp ropes with innurable copper bells tied to them, summoned all those with Secret Blood to step forward and line up.
Lin Yaoyang also moved forward, taking his position at the center.
"By decree!"
An elder called out loudly.
Lin Hao slowly rose to his feet.
"We can begin now."
He slowly removed his upper garnts, revealing his skin.
Patterns of dark purple encircled his chest and back, now undulating and twisting like living creatures, giving off an indescribably eerie sensation.
The two elders began to draw blood from all with Secret Blood, swiftly and gently making a small cut on each person’s wrist, allowing them to press the hemp rope against the wound.
Thin threads grew instantly from the rope, burrowing into the cuts, greedily absorbing the blood.
In the middle, Lin Yaoyang did not bleed himself; instead, he closed his eyes and remained composed, his expression solemn as he slowly chanted sothing.
Boom!
Suddenly, a large cluster of black flas burst into life behind Lin Yaoyang.
The flas, like a bonfire, twirled and danced at the center of the circular clearing, reaching over two ters in height.
Lin Clan mbers who had been waiting eagerly rushed forward to pour buckets of an unknown liquid into the black fire.
The brightness of the fla surged, and at its peak, a small clump of soil-like substance slowly started to erge.
Lin Xin, watching with keen interest, felt soone’s gaze upon him. Sensing it, he turned his head slightly to look.
He saw the scholarly middle-aged man beside the Ninth Prince of the Imperial Clan, glancing sideways. While observing the ritual’s progress, he also cast surreptitious glances this way.
A subtle pressure emanated from the man’s gaze.
At this mont, Lin Xin stood among the Lin Family’s non-Secret Blood mbers, his status elevated as part of the main branch, surrounded by the strongest seniors of the family branches, all of whom were top-tier experts in the practice of the Rushing Thunder Sword.
"Hmph!"
A branch family elder to the right noticed the man’s scrutiny, snorted coldly, and returned the gaze. A sharp glint flickered in his eyes.
"What? Does Prince Six have so grievance against our young master Sherie?"
Despite the ongoing power struggles between the branch and the main families, most, especially these venerable old-tirs, displayed unity when facing external threats.
The Prince from the Imperial Clan cracked a slight smile, withdrew his gaze, and refocused on the ceremony.
"Elder Four, shouldn’t the ritual be as concealed as possible? Why invite so many spectators?"
Lin Xin nodded slightly towards the elder in gratitude, while casually voicing his question.
"Inviting them as spectators is both a courtesy and an opportunity to recognize faces. After all, appointing a new Family Head is a major event," Elder Four replied indifferently.
"In truth, the ritual cannot be interrupted.
There was a ti when Cloud Heaven Sect sent people to try and disrupt the ritual. The outco, heh heh...," he chuckled darkly, a coldness in his tone.
"Within a hundred miles, save for the Lin Family, all living creatures were slain. Blood flowed like rivers. The Cloud Heaven Sect lost two of their Supre Elders in that battle. After that, they dared not act rashly any longer."
Lin Xin’s eyes narrowed as he slowly nodded.
"The cycle begins."
At that mont, the red rose-like decoration behind Lin Yaoyang slowly blossod.
His body was wrapped in the ringing hemp ropes.
But strangely, despite the constant jingling of the copper bells, not a single sound was heard.
Rip!
Suddenly, a pair of white wings pierced through Lin Yaoyang’s back.
A pair of angelic, pristine white wings!
The wings spread wide, three ters in length, covered in nurous white feathers.
"Awakened!"
A stir went through the crowd of onlookers as the disruption spread.
The Lin Clan, including Lin Hao, appeared pleased with the developnts; the current scene was a promising sign.
Only Yuan Wanqing, standing at the back of the crowd and supported by a Maid, sighed quietly at the sight, her expression growing more troubled.
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