Chapter 373 The Gathering of Geniuses
Two days later, Lin Dong and the Lin Clan’s entourage finally reached the Imperial City smoothly. They then had a rest in the Imperial City for three days. During these three days, Lin Dong had roughly experienced the grandiose and prestige of the legendary Imperial City.
However, upon reaching the third day, the time for leisure was finally over. As Lin Dong saw Lin Fan, whose face suddenly looked tense and imposing, he knew that the Battle of Seeds was about to start soon.
Within these three days, there had been a continuous arrivals of entourages from various Great Yan Empire’s reputable sects. This in turn ignited the atmosphere in the Imperial City. Even though the Battle of Seeds was an internal affair, news of this matter still spread wide and far. Anyone who did the math could guess that other than the Great Yan Empire’s legendary Battle of Seeds, what else could be responsible for the influx of great sects from various provinces and regions scattered across the empire?
As the news spread, it undoubtedly became the hottest topic in the entire Imperial City instantly. Everyone was discussing about the Battle of Seeds with zest. Topics like which clan or sect would win a spot came up in the discussions. At the same time, information on each and every talented individuals from various factions were being digged out to discuss about their capabilities. Rough predictions were also made based on these discussions.
No matter what, Lin Dong knew that the Battle of Seeds, which Lin Fan considered to be a secret, had already been circulating actively in the Imperial City.
…
For the journey this time around, Lin Fan did not bring much people along with him. He only brought Lin Dong, Lin Langtian and a few outstanding fighters to the imperial palace.
The Battle of Seeds would be taking place in the inner sanctum of the imperial palace. It was under strict security and only those powerful factions were allowed access. Of course, there was also a tight limit on the number of people allowed to access the place. After all, it was the imperial palace and rules had to be strictly followed.
By the time Lin Dong and his counterparts reached the inner sanctum of the imperial palace, there were already many entourages. Lin Fan was not surprised by this scene. He then led Lin Dong and his counterparts to occupy their seats.
It was at this moment that Lin Dong had the time to observe the arena in front of him. There was a monumental and imposing hall. However, there was something baffling. There were many passageways around the hall and these passageways provided access into the hall.
“During the Battle of Seeds, everyone will draw lots. The lot drawn does not determine your opponent, instead, it determines the ordinal number of the passageway you are to enter through into the hall. Once inside the hall, these passageways will meander and intertwine extensively. Towards the end, there will be five passageways left and they will provide access to the main hall. Only the five individuals who can survive the trails in the hall will walk out of the five passageways and win a spot to participate in the Hundred Empire War!” Lin Fan said to Lin Dong while pointing to the towering hall.
After hearing what was said, Lin Dong suddenly came to a realization and scanned his surroundings. A few factions had arrived at this place and from their auras, all of them were not easy to deal with. However, he did know know any of them…
There were up to ten provinces in the Great Yan Empire. Those who made it here were at least the overlord of a province. Their strength far exceeds that of Ghastly Puppet Cult, Great Devil Sect and etc. However, among these factions, the strongest were still the four great clans, Imperial Family and the three great sects.
Therefore, the opponents whom Lin Dong must be wary of were from these factions. Naturally, one could not exclude the possibility of a black horse, just like the time where one individual emerged from the Heavenly Luo Sect a few hundred years ago. However, the odds of such an event occurring again was really small.
Lin Dong sat quietly on his seat with both his eyes closed, trying to get some rest. However, this did not last long as he was suddenly awakened by a deafening sound nearby. A few figures began to appear on a nearby platform.
Lin Dong’s gaze followed the origin of the sound. Meanwhile, he felt a mind-petrifying aura from these figures.
There was a total of four people who had just arrived. The person leading them was an elderly man with white hair and white beard. His face was serene, yet Lin Dong could sense a powerful aura emitting from his body. This aura indicated an individual who was more powerful than those who were at the peak of the Manifestation Stage, yet at the same time, lacking a small distance before reaching the Nirvana Stage.
“Half-step-to Nirvana Stage.”
Lin Dong squinted his eyes slightly. This white-haired elder was a half-step-to Nirvana Stage’s practitioner. This kind of aura also showed that he possessed the ability to break through to Nirvana Stage. As long as he possessed enough Nirvana pills, his success rate would be above sixty percent.
“That’s the leader of the Heavenly Luo Sect, Liu Luo. Do you see the white-clothed youth behind him? He is a strong competitor who is expected to win a spot this time around,” Lin Fan’s voice rang out in Lin Dong’s ear as the latter was observing the white-haired elder.
Hearing these words, Lin Dong’s gaze shifted towards the white-clothed youth behind the white-haired elder. This youth looked handsome and refined. However, what tensed up Lin Dong was that the youth’s aura was at advanced Manifestation Stage!
“White-clothed Heavenly Luo Sword, Du Yun!” Lin Dong exclaimed.
On the way here, Lin Fan had told him stories of these sects’ younger generation. The White-clothed Heavenly Luo Sword was an outstanding talent among the younger generation of the Heavenly Luo Sect. He was an exceptional talent, whose level of swordplay had reached perfection!
As Lin Dong was watching the white-clothed youth attentively, the latter turned his head around, as if he sensed something. As his gaze met with Lin Dong’s, a sharp but formless blade shadow flew across.
This kind of blade shadow was not shot out intentionally by the white-clothed youth. But rather, it was shot out automatically after one’s level of swordplay had reached an exceptional level.
Lin Dong’s face remained composed and his body did not move at all. A few feet before it reached Lin Dong’s body, the white-clothed youth’s blade shadow disappeared as if it had hit some kind of invisible barrier.
“Eh? Mental energy, interesting…” the white-clothed youth muttered to himself, with a smile on his face as the blade shadow disappeared.
“Du Yun, don’t underestimate that young man. If I am not wrong, he is Lin Dong, whose reputation shook the Great Yan Empire recently. Even Lin Langtian can’t handle him. This time around, the Lin Clan actually has two remarkable geniuses, truly an envy of everyone,” the white-haired elder said as he took a glance at Lin Dong.
“Oh? So he is that Lin Dong? Indeed a formidable opponent,” the white-clothed youth was startled after hearing him. Immediately, he smiled as he replied.
“Unless you are unlucky enough to encounter him, don’t look for trouble. We will decide what to do again after we have obtained a spot,” the white-haired elder reminded him.
“Yes,” the white-clothed youth nodded his head. After giving Lin Dong a faint smile, he then withdrew his gaze.
Lin Dong also withdrew his gaze, with a sense of lamentation in his heart. Upon witnessing the extent of these geniuses, he realised how shortchanged he was in the past. These people were born with exceptional innate skills, and with the resources from their sects, they naturally obtained remarkable accomplishments. In contrast, Lin Dong had to climb up by himself to where he was now and endured hardships alone in the process. As compared to these people, his journey was far more intense.
After the arrival of the Heavenly Luo Sect’s entourage, more and more factions began to arrive. A slightest movement from these factions could tremble the entire Great Yan Empire. They were the real powerhouses of this empire!
As more entourages arrived, Lin Dong spotted another two great sects, the Barbarian King Sect and the Great Sorrow Valley.
The participants for the Battle of Seeds from these two sects were definitely as strong as the white-clothed youth. They were strong competitors for the Battle of Seeds.
While Lin Dong was observing these opponents, not far away, there were people observing him too.
“Is he the Lin Dong whom Qingzhu mentioned before?”
The person who was observing Lin Dong was an black-robed youth. He was quite handsome, yet there was an unconcealable tinge of arrogance between his eyebrows. He seemed to be the type of guy who thinks he was a genius and was full of himself.
Standing beside the young man, there was a beautiful figure whom Lin Dong was familiar with. She was Huangpu Jing from the Huangpu Clan. Her eyes were solemn as she stared right at Lin Dong. She had heard of the recent news regarding Lin Dong and she had never expected that the latter would improve so dramatically within a year.
After all, at the time when they were at the Great Wastelands Ancient Tablet, Lin Dong was not even qualified to challenge Lin Langtian. Now, he was on equal footing with the latter.
“Could you not say her name with such intimacy? Sister Qingzhu is not interested in you!” Huangpu Jing took a look at the youth beside her and knitted her eyebrows. She could not understand why their Huangpu Clan’s strongest genius was her crazy cousin.
“In the future, I will definitely distinguish myself in the Hundred Empire War and when that moment comes, a super sect will select me to join their ranks. At that time, I will be fully qualified to woo Qingzhu,” the black-robed youth chuckled. He was quite irritated with Huangpu Jing’s attitude. However, he would have to bear with it since she was the daughter of the clan leader.
“Let’s talk about it after you have won a spot in the Battle of Seeds. These opponents are not easy to deal with!” Huangpu Jing said coldly.
“This time around, I actually hope to be in the same group as that lad, Lin Dong. I want to test his ability and see if he is worthy to be mentioned in the same breath as Qingzhu,” the black-robed young man said indifferently as he stared spitefully at Lin Dong.
“You better not provoke Lin Dong on purpose!” Huangpu Jing exclaimed hastily.
“Humph.”
Hearing what was said, the black-robed youth grumbled, with both his hands placed behind his back. On the surface, he declined to comment on Huangpu Jing’s reminder. However, in his mind, he had already made up his mind. If he met Lin Dong this time around, he will let the latter understand that only he can talk about Ling Qingzhu!
“Oh?”
Lin Dong turned around, as if he sensed something, and looked at the black-robed youth whose face was ice-cold. Immediately, he furrowed his brows as he could not remember what grudges he had with this youth.
After no conclusion was made, Lin dong withdrew his gaze. Just as he was able to close his eyes and take a rest, an overbearing ray of golden light, accompanied by waves of laughter, flashed upon the site suddenly.
“The members of the Wang Clan have arrived…”
As he heard Lin Fan’s words, the outer corner of Lin Dong’s eyes twitched and his gaze shifted rapidly to the direction of the ruckus. He was extremely interested in the Wang Clan’s exceptional genius who even Lin Langtian could not handle, Wang Zhong.