Chapter 1368: Chapter 1368: Let Me Introduce You to a Good Friend!

"Lord Yun Xiao, then I’ll continue my patrol!"

Seeing that even that irascible Huashan Elder retreated three steps under the overwhelming presence of this genius at his side, Guard Captain Dai Ming felt a kind of pride in sharing the honor. He cupped his fists toward Yun Xiao on the spot and spoke respectfully.

"Remember, this is Lianyun Mountain!"

With Yun Xiao’s shrewdness, how could he not know what Dai Ming was thinking in his heart? However, he naturally would not meddle in such matters, merely offering a pointed reminder.

"Yes, I shall strictly heed Lord Yun Xiao’s teaching and will never let the prestige of our Meridian Refining Master Association be diminished!"

Dai Ming’s body trembled, yet he did not dare show the slightest neglect in his words. At the same time, he gained some new insight; as he left with the many guards, their postures all seemed to straighten a little.

To be honest, during this period, these guards of Lianyun Mountain seemed imposing, but only when dealing with cultivators below the Earth Rank Level.

Once they encountered those Heavenly Rank Meridian Refining Masters who had come to attend the Meridian Refining Conference, even Dai Ming, the Guard Captain, did not dare provoke them lightly and sometimes could only watch helplessly as those old fellows threw their seniority around.

Yet after what happened today, Dai Ming suddenly understood where his duty lay. With the Meridian Refining Master Association at his back and this being the stronghold of Lianyun Mountain, why should he be so apprehensive?

Could it be that those Heavenly Rank Meridian Refining Masters would really dare to beat him to death here? If they did, it would no longer be a matter of him alone, but a question of face for the entire Lianyun Mountain.

On this Tenglong Continent, there were hardly any who dared openly offend Lianyun Mountain; at most it was only the recently rising Wuyan Palace and Douling Commerce, which were among the four great top powers.

"Brother Yun Xiao, I truly have to thank you this time!"

Watching Dai Ming leave with the group of guards, Lin Xuanhao finally turned his head, bent at the waist, and saluted Yun Xiao, voicing his thanks. But just as the words fell, Yun Xiao helped him up.

"Xuan Hao, after a few years apart, you’ve really made me look at you in a new light!"

Yun Xiao held quite a bit of fondness for this younger brother he had met just after entering the Tenglong Continent. Hearing his praise, Lin Xuanhao felt a little embarrassed.

"It’s just a small achievement, nothing compared to you, Brother Yun Xiao!"

Sensing the youth beside him who, though restraining his aura, still gave him a sense of oppression, Lin Xuanhao felt that the talent which had shocked the entire Yujiang City and even Yuyang City suddenly seemed not so impressive.

To be honest, in the span of two or three years, to raise his cultivation from the Spirit Vein Realm to the Seeking Origin Realm and even become a Spiritual Rank Advanced Meridian Refining Master—Lin Xuanhao’s talent was already enough to be called terrifying.

But compared to Yun Xiao, all this was like a firefly before the bright moon, utterly incomparable. Precisely because of this contrast, Lin Xuanhao felt that his achievements were simply insignificant.

However, though Lin Xuanhao spoke modestly, some cultivators standing nearby still heard him. They subconsciously curled their lips, secretly thinking that this youth named Xuan Hao was too ignorant of his own limits, to dare mention himself in the same breath as Yun Xiao?

Since the great battle on Impermanence Island, no one had considered Yun Xiao merely a genius of the younger generation. Together with his stunning companions, this group made even the top experts of some Top Sects feel shame.

After all, those who had once been hailed as top geniuses on the Tenglong Continent—figures like Gu Changsheng and Ye Ku—were still struggling bitterly in the early to middle stages of the Earth Bending Realm.

And this freak called Yun Xiao could already slaughter Heavenly Spirits and had even killed the Vice President of Douling Commerce, Lu Tianrun, under his hand. With such battle merits, how could any ordinary young genius match him?

"You came to Lianyun Mountain this time because you want to join the Meridian Refining Master Association?"

Yun Xiao did not share the many thoughts of the onlookers and directly shifted the topic. At his words, Lin Xuanhao nodded. As a Meridian Refining Master, Lianyun Mountain had always been his sacred land of longing.

"But the triennial Refining Cloud Mountain Disciple selection should still be some time away, right?"

Yun Xiao recalled the time when he had taken part in the Refining Cloud Mountain Disciple selection. After pondering for a moment, he made up his mind and said, "Just follow me for now. I imagine the Elders in the mountain will give me some face!"

Hearing Yun Xiao’s decision, Lin Xuanhao was first stunned, then overjoyed. To be honest, with the Refining Cloud Mountain Disciple selection not yet begun, he had only come to Lianyun Mountain to try his luck.

Joining the Meridian Refining Master Association was not limited to the path of the Disciple selection. If some Elders of the Association, while out traveling, discovered promising meridian refining seedlings, they would bring them directly back to Lianyun Mountain.

As long as one passed a special assessment, one could still become a Disciple of an Elder. Yun Xiao had been in Lianyun Mountain for quite some time and was well acquainted with this rule.

It’s worth mentioning that Yun Xiao had clearly somewhat underestimated his current status in Lianyun Mountain; if those Elders knew that Lin Xuanhao was his sworn brother, they would probably be scrambling to take him in as their own Direct Disciple.

You have to know, among Yun Xiao’s companions, which one of them isn’t a peerless genius? Anyone who has anything to do with this guy is without exception a top-tier prodigy on the Hidden Dragon Continent.

Not to mention others, just take Liu Hanyi and Mo Qing for example: their current Meridian Refining Technique is even more formidable than that of some Elders at Earth Rank Advanced.

What’s more, it’s said those two women are both in seclusion impacting the Heavenly Rank Realm; once they succeed, they’ll be two Deans-level Heavenly Rank Meridian Refining Masters.

Although at this moment Lin Xuanhao only appeared to be at the level of a Spirit-grade Advanced Meridian Refining Master, the fact that he could be associated with Yun Xiao made things completely different. Add to that how young this boy was—who could guarantee what height he might reach in a few years?

"Let’s walk around a bit more. I’ll introduce a good friend to you later!"

Since his identity had been recognized, Yun Xiao also lost some interest, so he spoke directly, taking Lin Xuanhao and disappearing into the crowd, while the murmurs of those onlooking Cultivators behind them went on for quite some time.

Originally Yun Xiao had only planned to take a quick stroll around this trading fair and had not intended to reveal his identity, but he hadn’t expected mishaps to occur one after another, causing many people to recognize him.

Therefore Yun Xiao just wanted to find Ling Wan as quickly as possible, so he wouldn’t be surrounded like some monkey on display. However, after they walked for a certain distance, the events from earlier gradually faded from everyone’s sight.

About an hour later, Yun Xiao brought Lin Xuanhao to roughly the other end of this trading fair, but when he saw a crowd gathered up ahead, a slightly strange smile couldn’t help but appear on his face.

"Why are there so many incidents today?"

Although Yun Xiao’s expression was odd, he wasn’t afraid of trouble. Especially when he spotted a familiar little fatty arguing with someone in the middle of the crowd, he directly pushed in with Lin Xuanhao in tow.

......

"Old geezer, hand that thing back to me and I can pretend nothing ever happened!"

Within this section of the trading fair, the little fatty Ling Wan wore an expression full of anger as he glared at the arrogant-looking old man opposite him, shouting angrily, his voice containing a forcibly suppressed fury.

Today Ling Wan had come to the trading fair together with Yun Xiao. His biggest goal was to find a Mixed Element Grass of at least Earth Rank Advanced. And wouldn’t you know it, he really did find one.

Moreover, the Mixed Element Grass Ling Wan found wasn’t just Earth Rank Advanced—it had actually reached Heavenly Rank Low Level. This both shocked and delighted him, and he immediately came to an agreement with the stall owner, paying with another Heavenly Rank Low Level Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure in exchange.

Nowadays Ling Wan was no longer the poor kid on the Hidden Dragon Continent who wasn’t valued by his family. Back in Xuanyin Hall, he had already overshadowed the former number one genius Gu Changsheng, and together with Xue Ningxiang, they were known as the dual peerless geniuses of Xuanyin Hall.

Xue Tianao had clearly seen Ling Wan’s Talent, and coupled with his relationship with Yun Xiao, all the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures of Xuanyin Hall were supplied to him without stinginess. Thus, Ling Wan was now a genuine little rich man.

Taking out a Heavenly Rank Low Level Treasure to trade for the Mixed Element Grass, Ling Wan even felt he was taking advantage of the deal. However, just as he was about to receive the Mixed Element Grass from the stall owner’s hand, he hadn’t expected a sudden twist—someone cut in and snatched it.

A hand reached in from the side and directly seized the Mixed Element Grass from the stall owner’s hand, then casually tossed out an item exactly identical to the Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure that Ling Wan had just produced.

This development infuriated Ling Wan in no small way. Now that he was a bona fide Floating Life Realm Early Stage expert, how could he swallow such a humiliation?

But when Ling Wan turned his head and saw that it was an old man, a faintly strange feeling rose in his heart, because this old man actually seemed vaguely familiar to him.

From his appearance, this old man looked seven or eight-tenths similar to Lu Tianrun, the Vice President of the Spirit Fighting Trading Land who had died at Yun Xiao’s hands on Impermanence Island back then, and the aura he exuded was terrifying to the extreme.

Although Ling Wan wasn’t a Meridian Refining Master, he could clearly sense the Meridian Qi Cultivation faintly emanating from this person, knowing that the other party was a Super Expert who had reached Floating Life Realm Peak. His strength was even above that of the two Deans of Lianyun Mountain and Vice President Qian Sanyuan.

Ling Wan might be simple and honest by nature, but when others took the initiative to provoke him, he wasn’t afraid of trouble. Besides, when it came to that Mixed Element Grass, he had never once thought about letting go.

If this were somewhere else, perhaps Ling Wan would still have some scruples toward a Floating Life Realm Peak expert. But this was Lianyun Mountain, his big brother Yun Xiao’s turf—why should he be overly wary?

What’s more, besides his status as Yun Xiao’s brother, Ling Wan was also a One-shot Saint Son of Xuanyin Hall, a dignified Floating Life Realm Early Stage expert. If he compromised just like that, it would be far too unreasonable. Therefore, he roared out in anger at the first possible moment.

In an instant, many more onlooking Cultivators gathered around here.