Chapter 253 - 44: Drawing the Sword

Chapter 253: Chapter 44: Drawing the Sword

Even the people from the Fifth Branch lost. For the other branches, the only one with any hope left is Brother Mingchen.

"Besides Brother Mingchen... huh... wait, that’s not right!"

Seeing Lin Yan wiping his Abyssal Sword, Lin Mingye suddenly remembered that Lin Yan used a sword too. He had even formed Sword Gang. When it came to talent in the Sword Dao, he was definitely ranked among the best in the clan.

"Lin Yan, why don’t you go and have a match with that guy?"

"Me?"

Lin Yan shook his head. "There are so many powerful swordsmen in the clan, there’s no need for me to step up. If no one in the clan is his opponent, then it’d be useless for me to go up either."

Lin Yan never participated in fights that offered no benefits, to say nothing of the fact that this was just an internal matter for the Fifth Branch. It had nothing to do with him.

"That’s true."

Lin Mingye nodded in agreement. If even Brother Mingchen had lost, then it would be useless for Lin Yan to go up.

And if Brother Mingchen could defeat this person, there would be no need for Lin Yan to go up anyway.

"I was just thinking, if you could defeat him, then Lin Minghao wouldn’t be able to target you anymore. The Fifth Branch would owe you a favor, and Lin Minghao might even get a scolding from the Fifth Branch elders."

"You overestimate me."

Lin Yan was completely unfazed. After seeing Lin Mingye off, he took out the Bone Fragment once again.

Over this period, the Bone Fragment had shrunk a size, and the number of fine, hair-like markings on its surface had increased. In tandem with this, Lin Yan could feel the changes in his spine.

When he used Stone Waist Thunder Ridge, the increase to his height could now reach a full chi, far surpassing the original eight cun.

At this rate, by the time he finished absorbing all the energy from the Bone Fragment, the maximum increase would reach one and a half chi.

Besides the change in height, Lin Yan discovered that his cultivation speed had quickened as well. The growth of his Martial Arts Tree was about ten percent faster than before.

By this calculation, while the other effects of the Bone Fragment were still unclear, once he completely finished its Refinement, his cultivation speed would increase by a full thirty percent.

In other words, if it originally took two years to advance from the Blood Exchange Second Transformation to the Third Transformation, he would now only need a year and a half to break through.

This saved not only time but also the consumption of Martial Arts Resources.

’This is just one Bone Fragment. If I had more, would my cultivation speed get even faster?’

A flicker of regret appeared in Lin Yan’s eyes, but he immediately laughed at himself.

’So greedy!’

’Having a single Bone Fragment is already a massive stroke of fortune, and here I am wanting more. If Bone Fragments were this easy to come by, it’s impossible that no one in the clan would have ever mentioned them.’

’Contentment brings happiness!’

’This is the standard I must hold myself to. The path of Martial Arts is long. If I’m too eager for quick success, I could easily die prematurely while searching for opportunities in some perilous land.’

’I already have plenty of opportunities. What I need most is to be steady.’

「Lin Family, Combat Platform.」

"I said it. When it comes to the Sword Dao, no one is my opponent."

On the platform, Jian Sheng was unbelievably arrogant.

Below, the Lin Clan Members’ eyes blazed with fury. They wanted to retort but couldn’t find any grounds to do so.

For seven straight days, every swordsman in the clan had been defeated. Even Brother Mingchen, who had suppressed his Realm to the Blood Exchange First Transformation, had lost. He hadn’t been able to withstand more than seven of his opponent’s sword strikes.

Not far from the Combat Platform, Lin Minghai curled his lip. "This guy’s mouth is foul. I really want to go up there and slap him a few times."

"You’re one to talk."

Lin Mingcheng gave Lin Minghai a look that said, ’pot, meet kettle.’ Lin Minghai pursed his lips. "What do you mean, I’m one to talk? At least I wouldn’t be this arrogant."

"That’s because you don’t have the right to be that arrogant. If you jumped on that platform and yelled that no one was your equal in the Spear Dao, a dozen guys carrying spears would immediately rush up and poke you full of holes."

When it came to getting on people’s nerves, Lin Minghai was no slouch within the clan either.

"Are there no men left in your Lin Clan? In this entire, vast Lin Clan, is there no one who can force me to get serious? If you ask me, all of you who use swords should just switch to other weapons. The sword... you’re not worthy of it."

Hearing Jian Sheng’s words from the platform, Lin Minghai’s expression instantly turned cold, as did Lin Mingcheng’s beside him.

Before, they had just been watching the spectacle, since this was a matter for the Fifth Branch. But this guy had just dragged the entire Lin Clan into it, insulting the First, Second, and Third Branches all at once.

"In our Lin Clan, is there really no one who can put him in his place?"

"Are there any swordsmen left who haven’t gone up? No matter what, even if it’s a loss, we can’t let him keep acting so arrogantly."

The fury of the Lin Clan Members was completely ignited. If not for an elder of the True Gang Realm acting as referee and guarding the platform, they would have rushed up and beaten the bastard to death long ago.

In all the years the Lin Clan had existed, no one had ever dared to come to their home and act with such arrogance.

"I remember Lin Yan from the Third Branch. Doesn’t he fancy himself as having great talent in the Sword Dao? The Third Branch is always bragging about what a sword genius he is. So how come, at this critical moment, there’s no sign of him?"

"Lin Mingxing, if you’ve got a problem, then send someone from your Fourth Branch up! Stop trying to drag our Third Branch into this. Or what, has the Fourth Branch run out of men, so now you have to covet Lin Yan from my Third Branch?"

Lin Minghai glared directly at him. Lin Mingxing’s expression darkened. Life hadn’t been easy for the Fourth Branch lately; they were constantly being gossiped about by the other branches. And the root cause of it all was Lin Yan, from the branch competition. Lin Mingxing just wanted to use this opportunity to force Lin Yan onto the platform to make a fool of himself.

He hadn’t expected to be shut down so directly by Lin Minghai.

"I’m just thinking about our clan’s reputation! If we let an outsider act so arrogantly and word gets out, what will happen to the Lin Clan’s name? Since Lin Yan is a Sword Dao genius, he should be the one to protect the clan’s honor."