If Lin Xuanzhi heard Tong Le right now, he would certainly burst out laughing.

　　He was not weak, nor was he someone who could be easily bullied by others. In the past, he was only proud and disdained interacting with rascals and thieves. As long as his bottom line wasn’t touched, he didn’t bother wasting words and energy arguing.

　　Lin Xuanzhi became the head of the Profound Sky Four Swords not only because of his talent, but also through his own efforts.

　　Lin Xuanzhi could be called a sword fanatic. He wasn’t so much fond of cultivation as he was obsessed with cultivating the sword path. The sword was his wife, his son, his everything. He devoted all his time and experience studying the ways of the sword without reservation and would not relax for even a moment.

　　But how could he expect that people like Tong Le who didn’t know much about Lin Xuanzhi would treat his indifference as weakness and cowardice?

　　It was a great joke!

　　After all, Du Qiying and Lin Xuanzhi studied under the same master, so he had a lot of contact with him on the everyday and knew Lin Xuanzhi better than Tong Le.

　　Du Qiying looked pale and uncertain. He ground his teeth together and said with a dark face, “You know shit. Lin Xuanzhi has never been a soft persimmon. Moreover, at the Hundred Families Gathering, he was in the limelight this time. He made friends with many disciples of big families and even the Bai family favors him. His backers are much stronger than before.”

　　“Heaven is high and the emperor is far away. Who can control whom?” Tong Le still didn’t take Lin Xuanzhi too seriously.

　　No matter how powerful Lin Xuanzhi was, didn’t he still suffer a disaster back then? He endured bitter losses and almost couldn’t recover again after merely one stumble.

　　If he could fall the first time, then he could fall a second or a third time.

　　Tong Le’s jealousy was strong. He didn’t have any good impressions of Lin Xuanzhi and even felt some indescribable hatred against him, especially when he found out that Lin Xuanzhi had awakened his craftsman soulfire and could easily craft powerful magical weapons. His jealousy became even more severe and he vented it by showing his contempt and disdain for Lin Xuanzhi.

　　Du Qiying was not optimistic and he shook his head, “The man who invited him to the mountain this time is the Peak Master of Sinking Sword Peak.”

　　The Peak Master of Sinking Sword Peak was a strange man. He never played by the cards according to common sense and his whole being was always shrouded in mystery. People couldn’t help but want to avoid him. It was said that he was related to a family that could look into the heavens and divine the future.

　　Most importantly, even the Sect Master of Profound Sky Sect claimed that he couldn’t control this person.

　　If Lin Xuanzhi followed him …

　　Du Qiying’s face grew dark once more.

　　Tong Le thought for a moment and then said, “There’s another way to control Lin Xuanzhi.”

　　Du Qiying asked, “How?”

　　With a proud smile, Tong Le told him, “Beat a snake, beat seven inches. Lin Xuanzhi’s seven inches is a person with an extremely ugly appearance. “

　　Du Qiying was stunned. Yan Tianhen’s strange face instantly appeared in his mind.

　　“You mean his adopted younger brother, Yan Tianhen?” he asked.

　　“Yes.” Tong Le hooked his lips into a smile, “Although he is ugly and lame, Lin Xuanzhi can’t hide his affection for that darling of his. It’s said that there are countless high-grade and top-grade magic tools on Yan Tianhen’s body. This time, the Peak Master of Sinking Sword Peak sent Lin Xuanzhi an invitation to go up the mountain. Lin Xuanzhi brought a request to bring Yan Tianhen with him.”

　　Du Qiying also thought of a sinister trick, “If we controlled Yan Tianhen in our hands, and let the Broken Sword Peak accept him …”

　　“Then, Lin Xuanzhi will dare not act rashly anymore.” Tong Le finished for Du Qiying.

　　Du Qiying laughed for a moment. He pinched Tong Le’s face in front of him, saying, “Your mind is still good. If you were born in a good family, your achievements would definitely be much higher than they are now.”

　　Tong Le was quite gifted in crafting weapons but his childhood life was rough. His parents died when he was young so he was often beaten and scolded by his uncle and aunt. When Tong Le was twelve years old, he was taken to Profound Sky Sect by the Peak Master of Thousand Hammer Peak who would pass by occasionally. From then on, he rose through the ranks and made friends with many disciples of influential families in Profound Sky Sect. However, he did not come from an influential family after all. When he first came to the sect, he was suppressed by these aristocratic disciples everywhere. Even now, Tong Le still failed to fully integrate himself into the circle of the most elite families, and his entourage was comprised of mostly branch family members. A real main branch son of a big family like Yuan Tianwen, who was a young master from a second generation of immortals, would never put Tong Le in his eyes.

　　Du Qiying’s words touched Tong Le’s sore spot and he froze a little. He secretly hated these disciples from distinguished families who could get everything they wanted without any effort. At the same time, he was even more indignant with Lin Xuanzhi.

　　Tong Le smiled awkwardly, “Don’t I still have you? With you, what more background do I need? Wouldn’t it be unnecessary?”

　　Du Qiying listened to his words and nodded, “Yes, you just have to take good care of me and when I become the Sect Master of Profound Sky Sect, you will benefit a lot.  “

　　Tong Le smiled, “Of course.”

　　The two were soon entangled.

　　As the sun rose high and far in the sky, the gates of Sky Peak City were wide open. Aristocratic families filed out one after another, some flying through the sky while others ran on the ground. Their Luan birds and steeds looked valiant and heroic, making the scene truly spectacular.

　　The Lin family’s horses and chariots were among them. Today was the day when most of the aristocratic families would leave Sky Peak City. Many cultivators stood on both sides of the city to bid them farewell.

　　Lin Yan would not return to Qing City with them and instead would travel directly to the North Continent with an elder from the Heavenly Fire Sect. Lin Xuanzhi gave him many life-saving magical weapons before he left. Lin Yan was specially instructed to contact him if he encountered any problems in Heavenly Fire Sect.

　　After bidding Ji Yunwei goodbye five miles outside of the city gate, the Lin family raced towards the East with full power.

　　Their return could be considered a great victory, as if they were bringing glorious honor to one’s hometown.

　　On the way back, the Lin family suffered a lot of ambushes and assassinations. Most of them came for the Hepta-Brilliant Sacred Fire in Yan Tianhen’s body while others came for the small Mingyin fire Lin Xuanzhi took from the Bai family. However, both the Bai family and Sky Peak City sent many escorts with them. After a bloody battle, there was no more danger.

　　Half a month later, the Lin family’s disciples finally stepped onto Qing City’s mountain.

　　On the long street, several people and cultivators in the Qing City stopped to watch them and began to gossip–

　　“Lin Xuanzhi, part of the Lin family’s main branch, was said to be very popular in this year’s Hundred Families Gathering. He even beat the Bai family in crafting weapons.”

　　“That’s right! Former Young Master Lin Zhan’s adopted son used to be called a waste. This time, he showed off his talent in the alchemist competition and was also instructed by an alchemist from Sky Peak Sect. “

　　“From now on, we will have another first-class family in Qing City.”

　　“Why not an elite family? Lin Xuanzhi won first place in crafting!”

　　“Do you think becoming an elite family is easy?  Apart from having people who can dominate the competition, a family also has to show good performance in categories like martial arts, business, and family influence. It’s not easy for Lin Xuanzhi to pull the Lin family directly from the third-class to first-class with his strength alone. To be an elite family … ah, the Lin family is still a little behind.  “

　　The carriage was not moving fast so all these comments fell into the ears of those inside.

　　Lin Zezhi felt very proud. Although he didn’t bring glory to the Lin family, he thought of the fact that his own family had become a first-class family on the same level as the Duan family. Lin Zezhi felt that he could hold his head high.

　　The same was true for the other Lin family disciples.

　　When they arrived at the Lin family’s gate, all three elders except for the First Elder and Fourth Elder were already there waiting for them.

　　The gate opened and the rest of the Lin family stood behind the three elders to greet their disciples.

　　As the Chasing Sun horses stopped, the curtain of the first carriage was lifted and Lin Liuchun flew out lightly, landing directly in front of Fifth Elder.

　　“Fourth Brother, this trip was really hard on you.” The smile on Fifth Elder Lin Runru’s face had not fallen since the last few days.

　　Lin Liuchun nodded, “It was really hard. The two boys you especially asked me to look after, each of them is better at causing trouble for me than the other. On the way from Sky Peak City to Qing City alone, I encountered seven pursuits and seven assassinations, once a day on average. It really wasn’t easy to come back alive.”

　　Second Elder touched his chin with great relief, “It can’t be helped that out of all of us old folks, you have the highest cultivation and have nothing important to do.”

　　Lin Liuchun said, “What do you mean I have nothing to do? I am very busy every day. “

　　“Busy touring the mountains and rivers, fighting cocks and walking dogs, eating, drinking, and gambling?”  Second Elder looked askance at Lin Liuchun.

　　Lin Liuchun lowered his voice awkwardly, “Second Uncle, can’t you leave me some face in front of the younger generation?”

　　Everyone couldn’t help but laugh.

　　Yan Tianhen got off the second carriage and pulled Lin Xuanzhi out.

　　Seeing the two young people who earned enough face for the Lin family, Fifth Elder was all smiles.

　　“Xuanzhi greets Fifth Elder, Second Elder, Third Elder, and all the elders in the family.”  Lin Xuanzhi bowed.

　　Fifth Elder hurriedly said, “Dear grandson, don’t be too courteous. I was far away in Qing City but I heard about your performance in Sky Peak City. We, the Lin family, have become a first-class family on the rankings. From now on, our regulations can be built according to that of a first-class family. This is all your credit. “

　　Behind Fifth Elder, everyone nodded with smiles on their faces.

　　What were the benefits of being a first-class family?

　　Not only could their prestige surpass that of second-class families and gain pride and glory, but they were also already qualified to participate in various high-end activities organized by first-class families.

　　The most important thing was that the other four major sects aside from Sky Peak Sect had special treatment for first-class families. Not only did they have more quota to send in Lin disciples to the sect, but their treatment after entering the sect would be akin to a rising tide lifting all boats. It was completely different from that of third-class families.

　　In the Five Continents, the status of a sect was far higher than that of distinguished families. To be able to import more disciples into a sect was undoubtedly a way to ensure the great development of aristocratic families and benefit their future generations.

　　This was also the most important reason why the Lin family, from the elders on top to the younger disciples below, was very happy.

　　Lin Xuanzhi modestly replied, “The Lin family’s achievements in the Hundred Families Gathering is inseparable from the earnest teachings of the family head, the support of all the elders, and the concentrated efforts of our fellow disciples. How can one say that it is the power of Xuanzhi alone? Xuanzhi doesn’t deserve family head’s praise.”

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