Divine Emperor Demon Emperor
Chapter 257: Wind Forest City
Half a month passed, leaving only twenty days until the Green Talent List competition. All the powers in the Southeast Domain, large and small, were now rushing to one place: Celestial Eagle Valley, the sole major power in the region.
After a week of travel, Lin Yun finally arrived at the capital of the Nan Feng Kingdom, Wind Forest City, the home of the Wind Forest Sect.
Knowing his identity was on the verge of being exposed, Lin Yun had sent the Black-striped Tiger to Iron Gate Pass a week earlier to protect his parents. He had also written a letter for the tiger to carry back.
With his identity exposed, Lin Yun’s first thought was that the Royal Family would use his parents to threaten him. That was why he had sent the Black-striped Tiger to protect them.
It wouldn’t matter if the Royal Family placed him under house arrest. As long as they didn’t harm Lin Xiaotian and Zhang Jingxiang, Lin Yun still had a chance.
Once the Green Talent List began, if he could display sufficient talent and strength to be noticed by one of the major powers, the Yanhuang Royal Family wouldn’t dare to move against him so openly. This was the only way Lin Yun could think of at the moment.
「Meanwhile, in the Yanhuang Capital.」
Inside Qing Zhu Tavern, Qing Zhu listened as the maid beside her finished her report. A smile curled her lips as she spoke slowly.
"Young Master Lin, you certainly know how to hide your secrets. To think you’re Lin Xiaotian’s only son, the one who inherited the legacy of the Thunder God Hall."
"My lady, what should we do now?" the maid asked respectfully.
"Pass the information to the Royal Family. I trust they’ll be very interested in Lin Yun. As for our time here in Yanhuang Country, there’s no need to linger. Leave a few people behind. We’ll return to the Eastern Domain tomorrow," Qing Zhu replied.
At her words, the maid nodded, then her figure vanished from the room in a bizarre fashion.
"’Lin Yun, I wonder what your confrontation with the Yanhuang Royal Family will look like. If you can actually defeat them... well, then I will truly be impressed.’ Qing Zhu smiled and mused to herself."
Unaware of the events unfolding in Yanhuang Country, Lin Yun had already entered Wind Forest City. He found a tavern where he could both gather information about recent events and wait for the arrival of the Celestial Eagle Valley’s escorts for the Green Talent List participants.
Celestial Eagle Valley held the Green Talent List once every ten years. Though it was merely a ranking for the younger generation, it was a competition that every power in the Southeast Domain vied for with all their might.
The rankings of a power’s disciples on the Green Talent List directly determined the division of resources throughout the entire Southeast Domain.
To put it bluntly, Celestial Eagle Valley was the only major power in the entire Southeast Domain. As one of the Five Great Forces of the Eastern Domain, it held absolute hegemony over the Southeast Domain.
All resources in the Southeast Domain were under Celestial Eagle Valley’s control; the Green Talent List was, in essence, the mechanism for dividing them.
The better a faction’s disciples performed, the more resources they would receive from Celestial Eagle Valley.
As he drank, he listened to the surrounding conversations. Most of the chatter was about the Green Talent List, which was of little use to him. The only valuable piece of information he gleaned was that the experts from Celestial Eagle Valley would arrive in Wind Forest City in three days. At that time, anyone wishing to participate in the Green Talent List could travel under their escort.
Of course, there were requirements for participating in the Green Talent List. At a minimum, one had to be a renowned genius on their nation’s ranking, such as one of the top ten prodigies on the Wind Forest List or the Yanhuang List.
Lin Yun fully met this requirement. He continued to listen in, hoping to catch any other news, but ultimately heard nothing else of use.
He found an inn and settled in. With three days to spare, Lin Yun planned to get some proper rest. He had spent a year in the Mysterious Forest, and besides, he had far too much to think about now.
’Why did the Ghost-faced Masked Man try to kill me? What was that fragment? And what does Qing Zhu sending me into the Mysterious Forest to retrieve her family’s Supreme Treasure have to do with any of this? Or is it possible that Qing Zhu is the one pulling the strings?’
There was a mountain of questions. Lin Yun had considered many possibilities during this time, and in the end, everything pointed to Qing Zhu.
’First of all, the woman is a complete mystery. Not even Wangcai knows her true identity. What’s more, even the Yanhuang Royal Family is wary of her. Her background must be anything but simple.’
’If Qing Zhu is the one pulling the strings, then what is her relationship with the Ghost-faced Masked Man?’
His thoughts were a tangled mess. Though Lin Yun suspected Qing Zhu, he had no proof that she was behind everything.
Since he couldn’t figure it out, Lin Yun decided to stop thinking about it for now. The most urgent matter was how to deal with the Yanhuang Royal Family once his identity was fully exposed.
Instead of continuing his cultivation, Lin Yun left the inn early the next morning and started wandering through Wind Forest City.
Like the Yanhuang Capital, Wind Forest City—as the home of the Wind Forest Sect—was equally magnificent and vast. The one thing that set it apart from the capital was its level of chaos, which was nearly on par with the Mysterious City.
Due to the schism within the Wind Forest Sect, Wind Forest City had been divided into three distinct zones, each governed by one of the sect’s three factions.
In such an environment, one could see brawls almost everywhere in Wind Forest City. The disciples of the Wind Forest Sect were especially brazen and unrestrained.
Chaos aside, Wind Forest City and the Yanhuang Capital each had their own merits. The lawlessness of Wind Forest City attracted a large number of Martial Artists from all walks of life.
With so many Martial Artists gathered in one place, Wind Forest City was full of all sorts of strange and exotic goods, many of which Lin Yun had never seen even in the Yanhuang Capital.
Take, for instance, the bottle of powder he was currently holding.
The powder was called "Hallucination," and it could knock out even a Primordial Ocean Realm expert. For anyone below the Primordial Ocean Realm, a single puff would cause them to pass out instantly.
The sale and purchase of this Hallucinogenic Powder was forbidden in the Yanhuang Capital; one could only find it in a place like Wind Forest City.
Of course, the price was far from cheap. This small bottle alone had cost Lin Yun ten thousand Low Grade Primordial Stones.
After stowing the Hallucinogenic Powder in his Space Ring, Lin Yun found a rather large Elixir Shop. He had a great many Spirit Grasses and Spirit Fruits and wanted to sell some of the ones he didn’t need in exchange for Primordial Stones.
The Elixir Shop stood a full three stories high and was called the Spirit Pill Shop. Occupying a vast plot of land, the Spirit Pill Shop was considered one of the more famous pharmacies in Wind Forest City.
As soon as Lin Yun walked into the shop, an exquisitely beautiful young woman came forward to greet him.
"Sir, are you looking to purchase any elixirs?" the young woman asked with a smile.
"Oh, I’m not buying. I’d like to sell some Spirit Grasses and Spirit Fruits. I was wondering if you purchase them here," Lin Yun replied.
"We do, but they’ll need to be appraised by our Alchemist first."
"No problem," Lin Yun agreed.
Lin Yun then followed the young woman toward the third floor.
It was the same at any pharmacy: if you wanted to sell your own Spirit Grasses and Spirit Fruits, they had to be appraised by the house Alchemist. A deal could be struck only after both parties agreed on the price.
(Author’s Note: Fifth update of the day! I’ve been writing nonstop. It’s the second day since the novel went premium, and the number of you readers supporting Wufeng is still growing. The increase might be slow, but the numbers are rising, and that makes me incredibly happy to be working so hard. It proves that many of you have chosen to stick with Wufeng to the very end. Trust me, Divine Emperor Demon Emperor will not disappoint you! I’ll be working just as hard tomorrow. My friends, please hit me with your collection saves, subscriptions, donations, Monthly Passes, and recommendations! Wufeng needs your support! Divine Emperor Demon Emperor needs your support!)