Chapter 322: Hidden Dragon List (II)

Deng An was forthright in nature and had a booming voice, giving off a carefree and unrestrained impression. His younger sister Deng Rou, on the other hand, had a gentle temperament and appeared delicate and frail, making people instinctively feel protective toward her.

Lin Zheyu sensed the strength of the two and discovered that the blood qi power within Deng Rou was no weaker than that of Huang Youwei's. She was by no means a fragile, weak woman. The two seemed extremely familiar with Huang Youwei and the others and sat down without any restraint.

"Let me introduce him to the two of you. This is my little martial uncle, named Lin Zheyu," Huang Youwei said with a smile.

"Little Martial Uncle? Could it be that he is the true disciple exceptionally recruited by the Wuji Sect? I did not expect him to be so young!" Deng An exclaimed.

All of the major forces had long since received the news of this new true disciple of the Wuji Sect. Deng An had heard of it as well. At the time, he had been curious about what kind of person this unknown martial artist might be, and he did not expect him to be this young. If not for Huang Youwei's introduction, he would have thought him to be a martial artist who had just advanced to the Marrow Refining realm.

Deng Rou, who sat quietly to the side, also looked at Lin Zheyu with curiosity upon hearing this. She also seemed surprised that this person, who looked even younger than her brother, would actually be the newly promoted true disciple of the Wuji Sect.

"

Haha

, isn't it surprising? I was also shocked. When I had to call him my martial uncle, I almost could not bring myself to say it," Huang Youwei said with a hearty laugh.

"May I ask where you're from? With strength like yours, Young Master Lin, how is it that I have never heard of your deeds before?" Deng Rou asked curiously. She blinked her eyes and stared straight at Lin Zheyu, her voice exceedingly gentle, like a spring breeze brushing past.

"I am nothing more than a rustic fellow, cultivating deep in the mountains all year round. It is only natural that Miss Deng has not heard of me," Lin Zheyu said with a smile.

"Brother Lin was exceptionally accepted by the Wuji Sect as a true disciple. Your strength must be quite remarkable. I wonder if you would be interested in sparring later?" Deng An said with a hearty laugh.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

He was eager to test just what kind of strength this person possessed, to be able to directly become a true disciple. As a member of the Azure Rainbow Sect, one of the four top-tier sects, Deng An knew very well how stringent the Wuji Sect's requirements were for exceptionally recruiting wild martial artists.

To be exceptionally recruited and then directly taken as a disciple by Sect Master Huang Baizhong was even more extraordinary.

"Deng An! What do you mean by that? I call him Martial Uncle, and you call him Brother Lin. Are you trying to take advantage of us?"

Before Lin Zheyu could speak, Xu Kai'en began to scold him loudly.

"

Uh

, then what should I call him? I cannot possibly call him Martial Uncle as you do, can I?" Deng An said helplessly, an innocent expression appearing on his face.

As the group chatted and joked around, the banquet finally began. A refined young man dressed in white slowly stepped forward. With a smile on his face, he walked to the center of the crowd, and the entire Grand View Tower instantly fell silent.

"I am very pleased that everyone has graced this gathering with their presence. It is my honor. You have surely all heard about the recent disturbances caused by yao martial artists outside Wuling City, have you not? As martial artists, we must uproot the strong and aid the weak..."

Jii Weicheng spoke with passion and fervor, filling his speech with lofty righteousness and placing himself firmly upon the moral high ground.

"This Young Master Jii has quite a way with words," Lin Zheyu could not help but praise as he listened to the speech.

"Of course. Young Master Jii comes from the Confucian Sect and cultivates the Righteous Vast true intent. He is genuinely devoted to the people and has done many good deeds. That is also why he can rally so many genius martial artists," Huang Youwei explained.

"No wonder. I was wondering what true intent he cultivated to make his words so compelling. So it turns out to be the Confucian Sect's Righteous Vast true intent," Lin Zheyu said in realization.

He suddenly thought of Xu Shixin. That fellow was also a Confucian Sect martial artist and had even passed the palace examination.

"Well said. Young Master Jii is right. We martial artists should uphold justice, slay yaos, demons, and shoulder responsibility for the world," many martial artists loudly echoed.

Even Lin Zheyu could not help but feel a spontaneous sense of agreement upon hearing it.

"Thank you all for your recognition. After the banquet ends, those willing to follow me out of the city to search for yao martial artists may come forward to sign up."

Lin Zheyu glanced at Huang Youwei and asked, "Are you going too?"

"No. It is far too dangerous outside right now. Most of the yao martial artists who have survived are experts at the Force Transformation realm. With my level of strength, going would be no different from seeking death," Huang Youwei shrugged and said with clear self-awareness.

"You are not going, yet you still came?" Lin Zheyu said somewhat speechlessly. He saw many martial artists eager to try, rubbing their fists and preparing themselves.

"Is it not allowed to come if I am not going? If Heng Qiming were not coming as well, I would not have come at all," Huang Youwei said with a chuckle.

This time, he had come specifically for Heng Qiming. After much difficulty, he had finally found an expert willing to act on his behalf. Upon hearing that the other party would be attending today's banquet, he had someone secure an invitation for him as well and followed along.

Lin Zheyu could not help but feel a little speechless. This style of doing things was truly very Huang Youwei.

"Is Young Master Lin going? Actually, this operation will not be as dangerous as Young Master Huang described. With Young Master Jii backed by the City Guard, once we go out, they should dispatch City Guard troops to act together. Although the City Guard is strong, their experts need to remain behind to guard Wuling City, so they cannot spare many experts to search and suppress the villages outside the city. That is why they need assistance from sect disciples like us. Once we are there, by cooperating with the army's formations, it should not be a problem to barely hold off the Force Transformation realm martial artists. With the protection of military formations, there will not be too much danger," Deng Rou said.

For them, this was also a good form of training. With the assistance of military formations, being able to personally engage the Force Transformation realm yao martial artists was a valuable experience. Many martial artists likely wished they could encounter a few yao martial artists outside the city and use them to hone their skills. Without even thinking about it, one could tell that Luo Manghan was certainly among them.

"I will not be going. I have just joined the Wuji Sect and need to transition to a new cultivation technique. Time is a bit tight," Lin Zheyu said, shaking his head.

Although he had cultivated the Azure Tide Boundless True Technique to the fourth stage of Perfection, he was still far from sufficient when it came to tempering and enhancing his physique. If he wanted to cultivate the Boundless Azure Sea Body upon advancing to the Marrow Refining realm, he would need to continue soaking in the Waterfall Deep Pool for some time.

Many martial artists wished to respond to Jii Weicheng's mobilization. At Lin Zheyu's table, only Wei Dongguang and Deng An planned to participate in this operation. The others were not going.

***

Time slowly passed. This banquet was quite lively, and Jii Weicheng had prepared multiple programs, which Lin Zheyu watched with great interest. After burying himself in hard training within the Wuji Sect for several months, coming out now to relax was not a bad thing. Soon, a song and dance performance ended, and the martial cultivation sparring segment began. For martial artists, sparring was indispensable at every gathering.

"Martial uncle, hurry and go up. If no one challenges Heng Qiming, that guy will not step onto the stage," Huang Youwei hurriedly called out. He turned his head to look at Heng Qiming, a smug smile appearing on his face.

Lin Zheyu glanced at Heng Qiming, not far away, and asked curiously, "What kind of grudge do you actually have with him? He does not look like someone who would stir up trouble."

Heng Qiming sat in his seat, appearing quiet and taciturn, merely listening to his companions' conversation and rarely speaking.

"

Pfft...

"

"

Hahaha...

"

Upon hearing this, Deng An, Wei Dongguang, and Xu Kai'en all could not help but burst into laughter. Such a reaction struck Lin Zheyu as rather amusing.

"What are you laughing at? None of you is allowed to say it. You all swore an oath." Huang Youwei glared, his face stern as he spoke.

"Are we not even allowed to laugh now?

"That’s right. We are just laughing a little. We did not say anything," Xu Kai'en and the others said with suppressed snickers.

Seeing their expressions, Lin Zheyu immediately understood. It must have been because of Heng Qiming that Huang Youwei had suffered some embarrassing incident, one that he had held a grudge over ever since.

"Is it not just some trivial matter? Is there really a need to hold a grudge?" Deng An said with a smile.

"How could it possibly be a trivial matter? If it happened to you, you might be even harsher than I am," Huang Youwei retorted.

"Little Martial Uncle, I do not want to talk about this matter. You promised me back then. You cannot go back on your word," Huang Youwei said hurriedly, worried that Lin Zheyu might change his mind.

"Relax. I did not say I would go back on it. If you do not want to say it, then forget it. After cultivating with full focus for so long, I am also curious about what level my strength has reached now," Lin Zheyu said with a smile.

After cultivating the Azure Tide Boundless True Technique and the Great Strength Vajra Fist, his combat power had increased greatly. Previously, he had only practiced ordinary martial cultivation techniques, and his ability to unleash strong combat power mainly relied on the enhancement of blood qi burst techniques. By making use of the characteristics of Origin Force, he had turned blood qi burst techniques that could only be used a few times into something usable daily. However, this had also resulted in a lack of endurance.

After joining the Wuji Sect and cultivating the Azure Tide Boundless True Technique and the Great Strength Vajra Fist, this shortcoming was made up for. Moreover, after his blood qi reached the fifteenth transformation, not only did the golden blood qi within his body increase to an astonishing level of nearly half of his total amount of blood qi, but even his physique underwent terrifying improvement.

Suddenly thinking of something, Lin Zheyu asked curiously, "By the way, has this Heng Qiming made it onto the Hidden Dragon List?"

"

Mhm

, he has. But his ranking is relatively low. Some time ago, he almost broke into the top ninety. After those monks from the Western Regions appeared, he has now become the gatekeeper of the Hidden Dragon List," Huang Youwei said with a smile.

He felt a bit of schadenfreude about Heng Qiming becoming the gatekeeper of the Hidden Dragon List. If Heng Qiming were defeated by Lin Zheyu, he would fall off the Hidden Dragon List entirely, which would be immensely satisfying.

Deng An had originally wanted to spar with Lin Zheyu, but upon learning that Lin Zheyu was going to fight Heng Qiming, he immediately suppressed that thought.

When he thought about the scene of the two about to clash, he could not help but feel impatient with anticipation. He was extremely curious about Lin Zheyu, who had been exceptionally recruited by the Wuji Sect as a true disciple.

"Then that works perfectly. After defeating him, I can conveniently experience what it feels like to get onto the Hidden Dragon List. Let us see whether, as you say, it truly promotes martial cultivation training," Lin Zheyu said with a smile.

Seeing that the battle on the martial arena had ended, he stood up and lightly leapt onto the stage.