Chapter 55: Elder Ba is about to give gifts again

After exiting the illusion, Lin Fan showed no sign of surprise at being the first to emerge. With an expressionless face, he found a corner and sat down in meditation.

Watching Lin Fan act so pretentious, Lin Xuan couldn't help but curse his son inwardly, "You brat, you're even more of a poser than your old man."

Not long after Lin Fan exited the illusion, Sword Eleven also broke free from it, appearing relatively relaxed.

Following him was actually Lin Chang'an. Lin Chang'an had actually secured another third place, leaving everyone marveling at the feat.

However, the expressions of Ba Li and Cui Yongzhou were not so pleasant.

Ba Li and the Cui family had already formed a great enmity with the Lin family. Especially for Ba Li, the grudge of a slain son was irreconcilable.

This grudge was one that Ba Tong had brought upon himself, so the Lingwu Sect would not openly seek justice for him. However, that did not stop Ba Li from seeking revenge for his son himself, provided it did not damage the reputation of the Lingwu Sect.

As for the Cui family, while there was still a possibility of reconciliation with the Lin family, doing so would clearly place the Cui family in direct opposition to Ba Li.

Setting aside the fact that Cui Yongzhou and Ba Li had been close friends for decades, offending Ba Li for the sake of the mere Lin family would be a losing proposition.

Furthermore, a genius who has not yet grown is nothing more than an ant that can be easily crushed.

Seeing Lin Fan meditating nearby, Lin Chang'an walked toward him with a smile. As he passed Sword Eleven, Lin Chang'an gave him a friendly nod.

The habitually cold Sword Eleven actually gave a rare nod back to Lin Chang'an before lowering his eyes slightly and returning to his cold demeanor.

Lin Chang'an smiled helplessly and sat down cross-legged beside Lin Fan.

After another dozen breaths, Shangguan Chan emerged from the illusion, followed by Cui Wu and Qiu Chen.

Upon exiting, Cui Wu saw that only Sword Eleven was standing there striking a pose while everyone else was sitting. He looked quite smug; after all, he was in second place.

"Ahem, Cui Wu, we are sitting right here. Don't ignore us."

Suddenly, Shangguan Chan, sitting beside Lin Chang'an, turned her head and gave Cui Wu a playful wink.

Cui Wu froze. Looking at the expressions of Lin Fan and the other two, he felt a sense of embarrassment—the fun was over.

Qiu Chen also smiled helplessly. It seemed he truly could not compete with this group of youths who were only sixteen or seventeen; indeed, there is always a higher mountain.

Subsequently, Yang Hong and Yin Jun also emerged from the illusion. However, when the two saw several people already standing on the sacrificial platform, their expressions became so grim they could have dripped water.

It was one thing to lose the previous round, but how could they suffer such a crushing defeat in this round as well?!

"Ahem, I believe the Lingwu Sect must be teeming with geniuses, but it seems these two geniuses of the Lingwu Sect aren't much, otherwise they wouldn't fall behind so repeatedly."

Lin Xuan leaned back in his chair with a chuckle, his words completely unrestrained.

"You!"

Ba Li was furious, but he found himself speechless, utterly unable to refute the claim.

What could he say now? The performances of Yang Hong and Yin Jun were indeed unsatisfactory. He had lost all face; he would certainly demand punishment according to sect rules upon his return!

"Haha, my son Lin Fan has already secured two consecutive crowns. I suspect that even without competing in the third match, my Lin Fan will win."

Lin Xuan ignored the grim-faced Ba Li entirely, instead turning to Xia Yi with a smile.

"Ah, it is too early to say. If your Lin Fan performs poorly in the third match, then overall, he cannot be considered the winner!"

Cui Yongzhou raised his hand and laughed.

Everyone was stunned; it did indeed seem to make sense.

"Oh? Then what is the final match? This old man is quite curious," Lin Xuan asked, smiling at Cui Yongzhou.

"How about this: the final match was originally meant to be a different project, but I feel it isn't exciting enough. Let's change the final match to a duel instead; it's more direct."

This sudden change to a duel left everyone startled.

Generally speaking, before the Eighteen Prefectures Grand Competition, the internal family gatherings of the various prefectures would not use duels between geniuses as a format. This was because it easily exposed a family's trump cards; if other prefectures found out, it would be a disadvantage.

"This..."

Xia Yi clearly understood this logic and appeared somewhat hesitant.

"Prefect Xia, I believe this will stimulate their potential. Besides, there is still more than half a year before the Eighteen Prefectures Grand Competition. They have plenty of time to improve themselves. In half a year, everything will be different," Cui Yongzhou explained with a smile, though his reasoning was somewhat forced.

"Haha, I feel the same way. Let's do this: for the third round of competition, I will personally reward the first place winner with an additional ninth-grade Mortal-rank inner armor!"

Ba Li was determined to regain some ground, even if it meant spending a fortune to ensure the final match was a duel, because his two disciples held a significant advantage in rank.

The crowd erupted in an uproar.

A ninth-grade Mortal-rank weapon was worth tens of thousands of spirit stones on the market. Especially for armor—inner armor being life-saving equipment—the most expensive pieces could sell for sixty to eighty thousand spirit stones, and in Huaqing Prefecture, they were often unavailable even if one had the money!

Even Lin Xuan was shocked by this grand gesture. Did Ba Li just throw away seventy or eighty thousand spirit stones casually?

Had Ba Li lost his mind?

Lin Xuan cast a strange glance at Ba Li.

To everyone's surprise, Ba Li actually pulled a ninth-grade inner armor from his storage bag. Looking at its quality, it was top-tier—extraordinary even among ninth-grade items. On the market, it would certainly not be worth less than seventy thousand spirit stones!

In reality, most practitioners in the Tongxing Realm used ninth-grade items, with only a few able to use Spirit Weapons or Pseudo-Spirit Weapons.

There were simply too few weapon masters in the Great Desolation, and Spirit Weapons were far too expensive.

Lin Xuan had once attended an auction at the Jixia Academy where a single high-grade Spirit Weapon caused a fight among over a dozen Lingwu Realm experts, eventually selling for the astronomical price of ten million spirit stones.

Even the poorest low-grade Spirit Weapon generally cost upwards of a million spirit stones, and even a Pseudo-Spirit Weapon would cost two or three hundred thousand.

In any case, an average Tongxing Realm practitioner truly could not afford Spirit Weapons. Even an Elder in silver robes of the Lingwu Sect like Ba Li likely only used a Pseudo-Spirit Weapon.

Producing such a piece of inner armor must have been extremely painful for Ba Li.

Lin Xuan's lips curled slightly. This was exactly the effect he wanted. Lin Xuan had immense confidence in his son.

In Lin Fan, Lin Xuan sensed a very miraculous power.

Lin Xuan believed that Lin Fan possessed his own extraordinary qualities and superior talents.

This ninth-grade inner armor would likely serve as a trophy for the Lin family.

"Very well then, let's do it this way."

After thinking it over, Xia Yi waved his hand helplessly. Since they had finished last in the last Eighteen Prefectures Grand Competition, how much worse could they possibly get this time?!