History's Number 1 Founder

Lin Feng looked at Murong Yanran with much interest as his mind raced with calculations.

"Why would she run away privately from Sword of Radiance Sect? Based on what she said earlier, she didn’t do it to avoid fighting with Xiao Yan."

If she did not do it to avoid the fight, it only meant that the Sword of Radiance Sect took measures of some sort and she could not accept the new change of plans.

This girl did not want to follow through with the bet, yet she was willing to give her life for it.

Although it could be that she was temporarily withdrawing as a stepping stone to progress his attitude already showed that her personality was rather strong and resilient.

"Do we decide on our own marriages?" Lin Feng thought to himself as he slowly worked things out in his head. "If I were the Sword of Radiance Sect and I was faced with a problem like this, what would I do?"

If I were no match for my adversary and I did not want to be bullied, the best solution would be to seek help elsewhere and reduce the pressure.

Lin Feng watched the distressed and restless Murong Yanran and suddenly asked, "Tell me, who did the Sword of Radiance Sect want to send you to and connect by marriage? Was it the Mount Shu Sword Sect or the Great Qin Empire?"

Murong Yanran raised her head to look at Lin Feng in trepidation. Lin Feng was calm; the only two entities that were suitable to help the Sword of Radiance Sect resist the pressure from the Celestial Sect of Wonders were the Mount Shu Sword Sect and the Great Qin Empire.

"I... I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir." Murong Yanran lowered her head.

The corner of Lin Feng’s mouth curved into a faint smile and his voice was warm and amiable. Yet, every word that he had said to Murong Yanran seemed to send shivers down her spine.

"You could not accept being a slave girl to one of my disciples for the sake of avoiding embarrassment for your family and your Sect. But did you consider the consequences? Did you consider the fact that your escape from the arranged marriage will cause irreparable damage between the Sword of Radiance Sect and the other party?"

"It is still okay if it’s the Mount Shu Sword Sect, but if the other party is the Great Qin Empire, your actions may bring demise to your entire family. If I recall correctly, even though the Murong family isn’t considered within the four big families of the Great Qin Empire, its reputation is still rather considerable."

"Furthermore, the base of your Murong family is right under the nose of the Great Qin Emperor, inside the capital of the Great Qin Empire, Xiling City."

Murong Yanran’s body trembled in shock as she began to see stars. Previously, her mind was a mess and all she thought about was to escape the marriage and run from Xingyun Peak as far as possible. She had failed to consider the fact that she was supposed to be married to Prince Chong Yun, the crown prince of the Great Qin Empire.

There was a huge possibility that her escape from the marriage would incur severe consequences for her family.

Grief arose from within as she heaved a heavy sigh. "Is this my fate? Is there no way to escape it?"

Lin Feng observed Murong Yanran in silence as he twitched his lips in his mind.

Her predicament could be viewed from two different perspectives. Put nicely, she was seeking freedom, independence of thought and wanted to make choices for herself.

On the other hand, she had many privileges in status and finances as the prized daughter of the Murong family and a disciple of the Sword of Radiance Sect that most people could only dream of, yet she did not want to pay any price for it.

Be it the normal world or the world of cultivation, arranged marriages or marriages for the alliance between renowned families and sects were commonplace and the opposite was, in contrast, a minority.

As the saying goes, you reap what you sow. In other words, one should be willing to take responsibility for the privileges bestowed upon him or her.

Murong Yanran was disgusted by the marriage arranged by her family and sect, but she forgot that it was only because she was the prized daughter of the Murong family and a disciple of the Sword of Radiance Sect that she could enjoy such privileges.

Of course, maybe she just wanted to be born into a normal family.

This was no longer something that Lin Feng could guess. He could only deduce based on the clues presented to him; he could not possibly see through her heart.

Lin Feng was not sure and he could not possibly be about Murong Yanran’s state of mind. Approaching the question with different perspectives usually produced different conclusions.

The only issue that Lin Feng was concerned about was how this problem affected him, Xiao Yan and the others.

At this point in time, Murong Yanran had calmed down. Even though she was frantic and her face was as pale as paper, she still greeted Lin Feng with due respect. "Sir, please point me in the direction of the Azure Clouds Grandmaster."

"Sir, you and your company have travelled far and are considered our guests here. As a disciple of the Sword of Radiance Sect, I am willing to be your guide and take everyone around Xingyun Peak."

Lin Feng shot a faint smile at Murong Yanran but said nothing.

Murong Yanran suddenly grew anxious as she realized that if Lin Feng knew the intentions of her grandmasters and masters, why would he let her go so easily?

The Great Qin Empire and the Sword of Radiance Sect would fall foul of each other if she were taken hostage. The Azure Clouds Grandmaster’s plan would be thwarted and the Celestial Sect of Wonders could take this chance to cause the Sword of Radiance Sect some trouble with incredible ease.

The Sword of Radiance Sect had to be held accountable as Lin Feng brought Xiao Yan to Xingyun Peak to follow through with the gamble but Murong Yanran was a no-show. How could they explain themselves?

Following the opening ceremony of the mountain outside Shazhou City, Lin Feng and the Celestial Sect of Wonders had garnered some reputation. Lin Feng aside, the backgrounds of the rest of his disciples were no longer secrets.

Before everything, Xiao Yan squandered his talent and wasted his life away until he was taken in by Lin Feng, and his prowess skyrocketed. He became a role model as his story became the inspiration of today’s youths.

It was inevitable that old accounts were spaded on the day of Murong Yanran’s escape from her arranged marriage. In the end, everybody loved some juicy gossip and this kind of stories was the most welcome.

Initially, the circulation was minimal and within a small circle. However, with Lin Feng’s growing reputation and him personally accompanying Xiao Yan to Xingyun Peak to follow through with the gamble, increasingly more people knew about this.

The Sword of Radiance Sect was getting more headaches from this as they could feel the trouble piling up.

If Murong Yanran was unable to show during the day of the fight, outsiders would think she was afraid; this result was more humiliating than actually losing the battle.

Furthermore, the Sword of Radiance Sect had already released Prince Chong Yun’s dove. The Sword of Radiance would crumble under the pressure from both sides.

Murong Yanran looked up and met Lin Feng’s gaze as her thoughts stopped there. It was obvious that there was fear in her eyes.

Lin Feng’s attention was not on her, however, as he released a stream of consciousness and pinched a voice-projecting crystal to communicate with the other party through silent voice-projection.

"Did anything interesting happen recently?"

On the other side of the crystal, a crisp female voice could be heard. It seemed like the voice of the former holy priestess of the Great Void Sect, Yan Mingyue. "If you are looking for something interesting then it is you, Master Lin. You crossed half of the Great Qin Empire to accompany your disciple to Xingyin Peak."

Lin Feng was already accustomed to Yan Mingyue’s teasing as they had spent a lot of time together. "You know what I’m asking."

Of course, Yan Mingyue knew. Lin Feng was referring the responses of the relevant powers to him crossing multiple territories on a dragon.

"The Crown Prince of the Great Qin Empire, Prince Chong Yun, left Xiling City recently but nobody knows where he is." Yan Mingyue said quietly, "People have been saying that he’s on his way towards the South-Eastern territories of the Great Qin Empire."

The South-Eastern areas of the Great Qin Empire were the territory of the Sword of Radiance Sect and Xingyun Peak was there as well.

"He’s coming personally?" Lin Feng thought for awhile and asked all of a sudden. "I heard there was a up and rising star from the Great Qin Empire?"

Yan Mingyue answered, "Master Lin must be referring to their new prime minister? Rumour has it that he does not possess and form of cultivation mastery and yet he has been able to subdue the subjects of the Great Qin Empire and bring them under his wing."

"He was able to create an uproar without being a cultivator himself. There is definitely something special about this person." Lin Feng smiled as he began to calculate again. "Thank you, cultivator Yan."

Yan Mingyue’s voice was calm as she asked, "You’re welcome, Master Lin. May I ask, when is your disciple Zhu Yi returning to Tianjing City? He has not visited Master Meng’s grave in a while."

Lin Feng asked plainly, "Are you asking for yourself or for the Marquis Xuanji, Zhu Hongwu?"

Yan Mingyue replied, "I’m asking for Zhou Diliang."

Lin Feng laughed and said, "I see you intend to enter the palace directly instead of following in the Meng Bingyun’s footsteps and marrying Zhu Hongwu?"

"Master Lin must be joking." There was a hint of glee in Yan Mingyue’s voice. "The person I seek, similar to Master Meng, is poles apart. Naturally, I wouldn’t use the same method."

Lin Feng’s pupils contracted. To his knowledge, Meng Bingyun and Yan Mingyue should be on the same side in the Great Void Sect. What Yan Mingyue was saying now seemed to suggest that she intended to break off. Did she develop other ideas?

Lin Feng did not betray any clues in his tone as thoughts spun around in his head. "I see. It is my bad, then."

Yan Mingyue continued and said, "Yes, there are some things that I have to let you know beforehand. After a few days, I am going to return to Mount Baiyun. When that happens, I won’t be able to contact Master Lin like this."

Lin Feng nodded. What Yan Mingyue informed him about beforehand was good enough as he could now plan ahead and avoid being caught off guard by unforeseen circumstances.

"I pray that you have a safe journey." Lin Feng said as he smiled plainly.

Yan Mingyue laughed and said, "I am already satisfied that I’m not being chased out. Speaking of which, Junior Pang’s has returned to Mount Baiyun. With his talent and the benefits he’s received from his journey to Shazhou, he must have a breakthrough pretty soon."

Lin Feng smiled but did not continue with the topic at hand and breezed over it. "Bon Voyage, my friend."

"I wish you all the best in your journey to Xingyun Peak as well." Yan Mingyue understood. She did not went on about Pang Jie and cut off communication immediately after.

Lin Feng pondered for a while and mumbled to himself, "I just have to make a trip to a certain place if I want to test my theory."

He raised his head and looked at Murong Yanran and met her anxious gaze. He smiled as he swept her with a stream of purple energy without explanation and Murong Yanran immediately lost consciousness.

Lin Feng called Xiao Yan and company back and released the mana barrier to let the Azure Clouds Grandmaster come near.

The Azure Clouds Grandmaster had a similar apprehension. Even though he tried his best to show a calm and composed expression, he scrutinized Lin Feng and his disciples constantly as he was afraid they had already met Murong Yanran.

Xiao Yan and company had already received instructions from Lin Feng and controlled their emotions and did not let the Azure Clouds Grandmaster read any clues off them.

Because of this, the Azure Clouds Grandmaster became warier.

Lin Feng took the initiative and smiled as he said, "Before we proceed to Xingyun Peak, I wish to go somewhere else on the way. Are you willing to follow us, friend?"