Chapter 88: 88. Shangguan family.
Greenpeak City stood near the very heart of the Loushi Kingdom.
Several major roads met within the city, connecting it to Blue River City in the south, Stonegate City in the north, and Clearbrook City to the east.
A well-maintained paved road also stretched westward toward Violet Log City, the frontier city bordering the dangerous Yew Woods and countless spirit beasts.
Because of its central location, Greenpeak City had gradually become one of the kingdom’s busiest trade hubs.
It was also the home and main seat of the Shangguan family.
Inside the grand reception hall of the Shangguan family estate, two middle-aged men sat across from one another with cups of fragrant spirit wine resting between them.
One wore robes embroidered with the Shangguan family’s emblem.
He was the current Patriarch of the Shangguan family, Shangguan Zhengxu.
The other man calmly swirled the wine inside his cup before looking toward Zhengxu.
"Do you think your plan will fail?"
Shangguan Zhengxu merely shook his head.
"He may be intelligent, but in the end, he’s still a young man."
His lips curled into a faint smile.
"Young people cling to their pride more than anything else."
He slowly lifted his wine cup.
"I deliberately sent the most arrogant messenger under my command."
He took a leisurely sip before continuing.
"Who knows? By the time we’ve finished drinking this wine, that messenger may already be dead."
The other man slowly nodded and a smile appeared on his face.
This was the Shangguan Zhengxu he knew.
Always having a way to find reasons to start a war within reason.
"I knew I could trust you."
Shangguan Zhengxu smiled faintly before asking,
"If you don’t mind me asking... why are the Qin family so interested in Lin Xuan after all these years? It has already been eleven years since that incident."
The man quietly placed his wine cup onto the table.
For a while, he said nothing and only after releasing a deep breath did he finally speak.
"Since we’re already on the same boat, I suppose there’s no harm in telling you."
His gaze became unusually serious.
"Lin Xuan is not an ordinary person."
Shangguan Zhengxu blinked in confusion.
That much was already common knowledge.
Who in the Loushi Kingdom didn’t know the Lin Clan Patriarch was extraordinary?
Seeing his expression, the man smiled faintly.
"I don’t mean merely talented, I mean... abnormal. He was only eighteen years old when he became the Lin Clan Patriarch and then only a year later, he personally led the construction of a road through the Yew Woods, opening a direct trade route between Azure Willow City and Violet Log City."
Shangguan Zhengxu’s eyes narrowed.
That feat alone had been enough to shock the entire kingdom.
The Yew Woods were filled with spirit beasts, poisonous miasma, and wandering rogue cultivators.
Countless caravans had disappeared there over the years.
Yet somehow... Lin Xuan had carved out a safe route through that nightmare.
The man leaned back slightly.
"Whenever someone mentions the Lin Clan Patriarch, only one sentence comes to my mind. The Lin’s Patriarch is weird."
"I agree that he’s unusual, but is all this planning really necessary?"
Shangguan Zhengxu frowned slightly as he looked across the table.
The man slowly shook his head.
"You still don’t understand, old friend."
His expression gradually became solemn.
"I once joined forces with the Qin family and organized an assassination during one of the Lin family’s merchant expeditions to Violet Log City."
Shangguan Zhengxu’s eyes widened in surprise.
"The incident that forced the Lin family to temporarily close the trade route to Violet Log City?"
He leaned forward slightly.
"I always thought that was nothing more than a rumor spread by the Lin family to elevate their own prestige."
The man slowly shook his head.
"It was real."
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
"And as you can see... we failed."
His expression turned increasingly complicated as memories resurfaced.
"We mobilized fifty cultivators for that operation. Most of them were in the Qi Refinement Realm but ten of us were at the Golden Core Realm."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"We even brought a Peak Golden Core expert who possessed a Seventh-Grade Mortal Rank Martial Spirit.
Since it was a joint operation with the Qin family, we made sure everything was foolproof. At least, that was what we believed at the time."
He slowly raised a finger.
"The Lin family only had a single Golden Core cultivator accompanying the caravan. They also had only two Qi Refinement cultivators.
In contrast, we had ten Golden Core experts and every remaining member of our force was in the Qi Refinement Realm."
He let out a quiet sigh.
"The battle unfolded exactly as we expected, it was a complete massacre. The Lin family cultivators were cut down one after another with almost no chance to resist."
His expression gradually turned solemn.
"But after everyone else had been killed, we turned our attention toward Lin Xuan."
His fingers slowly tightened around the wine cup.
"To our disbelief, our Peak Golden Core expert was still fighting him. From the very beginning of the battle, he had personally gone to eliminate Lin Xuan. By all accounts, the fight should have ended within moments. Yet there he was, still standing. He was exchanging blows with our Peak Golden Core expert as though they were equals."
The man’s voice became noticeably heavier.
"He was only at the Second Layer of the Golden Core Realm at that time."
The room fell silent.
Shangguan Zhengxu unconsciously held his breath.
A Second Layer Golden Core cultivator fighting equally against a Peak Golden Core expert?
Such a thing completely overturned common sense.
If someone else had told him this story, he would have laughed and dismissed it as nonsense.
Yet the man sitting before him had no reason to fabricate such an unbelievable tale.
After taking another sip of wine, the man continued.
"And yet, just as we were preparing to join the battle and finish Lin Xuan off..."
His eyes narrowed as the memory resurfaced.
"Three snake spirit beasts suddenly emerged from the surrounding forest. Each one possessing strength comparable to a Peak Golden Core cultivator."
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