Chapter 531: Chapter 520: The Sword Cultivator Father
Lin Shen stepped onto the arena, facing the defender who had just defeated Ye Sheng.
"I admit defeat." Upon seeing Lin Shen, that person straightforwardly stepped down.
The watching Cultivators exchanged glances, but Lin Shen also felt a surge of excitement in his heart. Ye Sheng had just lost to this man, yet he conceded defeat to him; what did this imply? It implied that Ye Sheng was inferior to him.
In his excitement, he failed to notice the strange look in the defender’s eyes.
This Thousand-Year Ranking competition had brought forth many talents, such as members of the Jiang Family, Ji Family, Feng Family, and others, but the most eye-catching were still Ye Qiu, Ye Sheng, and Lin Shen.
All three came from the Lower Realm, and in a short period of time, they had cultivated to their current state, which couldn’t merely be explained by talent. However, the general perception of Lin Shen wasn’t as favorable as that towards Ye Qiu and his son, Ye Sheng.
Firstly, because he was the direct disciple of the Heartless Dao of Four Seasons Peak, although he himself did not practice the Heartless Dao, his temperament in recent days seemed not conducive to peaceful coexistence. Secondly, it was because of his mysterious Black Flames.
Whenever those flames appeared, they always evoked an extremely uncomfortable feeling, as if it dredged up the darkest aspects of one’s heart. Cultivators live long, and during cultivation, it’s inevitable to encounter unhappy incidents which one may have forgotten, but upon seeing these Black Flames, it felt as if the dark side of their hearts were magnified, possibly giving rise to a Heart Demon. Having a Heart Demon during Tribulation added a layer of danger, hence few Cultivators found these Black Flames appealing.
Moreover, compared to others who steadily fought their way up the arena step by step, Lin Shen seemed to win dishonorably because as soon as the Black Flames were released, everyone automatically conceded defeat. Even though the Black Flames were his own, it always seemed like he didn’t deserve the consecutive victories.
However, Ye Sheng, who also possessed Strange Fire, was very popular. Records of the Dark Blue Ice Flame existed from ancient times and were not evil, and he controlled his attacks well, summoning the Dark Blue Ice Flame without harming the foundation of others; hence, many defenders were eager for Ye Sheng to challenge them, wishing to witness the power of Strange Fire.
So although Ye Sheng didn’t win consecutively like Lin Shen, their reputations were worlds apart.
But Lin Shen never cared about such things as reputation; in his view, as long as one had absolute strength, everything else was illusory.
Of course, this presupposes that he would always be ahead of others; he was the ultimate winner.
But is that likelihood great? At least Ye Qiu would not let him continue unchallenged.
"Father, what do you need to see me for?" After the arena battles concluded, Ye Sheng came to Ye Qiu’s resting area. Out of a hundred arenas, Ye Sheng had won thirty-five battles. The reason it became difficult to win later was firstly because he seldom summoned the Dark Blue Ice Flame, and secondly, the defenders’ strengths were increasingly formidable, and winning more than ten bouts allowed one to challenge the talents of the Thousand-Year Ranking from the Upper Realm, so afterwards he mostly sparred to improve his combat experience.
"There’s a Life and Death Arena following the challenge competition, Sheng’er; I suspect that’s when Lin Shen will provoke you to step up," Ye Qiu deeply trusted Ye Sheng’s strength; based on his observations over the past few days, his son had yet to show his true capabilities, but those Black Flames were definitely to be weary of.
"Can’t I just not accept the challenge?" Ye Sheng felt quite innocent. Why had Lin Shen targeted him? Aside from that time in Yuyang Secret Realm, they didn’t seem to have any conflicts!
And it wasn’t his fault for what happened in the Yuyang Secret Realm. It was the Master who first chose him, and it was Lin Shen who interfered. Why did it make it seem like he was some lifelong nemesis?
Truth be told, Ye Sheng didn’t want to duel with Lin Shen, because he found Lin Shen to be quite insane.
Isn’t peacefully improving his strength good enough? Why must there be senseless fighting to the bitter end?
Perhaps it was the absence of Ye Qiu’s forcing hand, or perhaps it was the joy of learning to refine artifacts that he loved, this lifetime’s Ye Sheng was completely different from his previous life. In his past life, he was the one who always strove for victory, always fighting for the first place in every competition.
However, unlike this lifetime’s Lin Shen, the past life’s Ye Sheng, even though competitive, would never resort to crooked and evil methods, nor would he ever intend to put someone in a life-threatening situation during competitions.
He was compelled by Ye Qiu, as if not being the top among his peers would be a disgrace to Ye Qiu and unworthy of being the son of Lonely Swallow Sword Lord, which is why after being defeated by Lin Shen in his past life, he gradually developed a Heart Demon.
But his Heart Demon wasn’t about needing to kill Lin Shen to resolve it; he just wanted to win a match, to prove that he wasn’t the failure his father described.
"Lin Shen will definitely find a way to force you to battle," Ye Qiu said with a worried look in his eyes as Ye Sheng muttered to himself, "His black flames are very sinister, so we need to prepare early."
"Can’t my Dark Blue Ice Flame withstand it?" Ye Sheng frowned.
"His trump cards are not limited to just that black flame," Ye Qiu said softly. As the Child of Destiny, Lin Shen has more capabilities than what he has shown; such people are often deemed as indestructible, always able to find miraculous escapes from dangerous situations.
However, Little Golden Crow told him that since Lin Shen contracted with the Dark Netherworld Fire, the Heavenly Dao would no longer favor him as before.
But even if his luck dissipates, the current danger to Ye Sheng is still significant.
"I won’t easily admit defeat either, Father. I still have to forge a better Immortal Sword for you! The legacy left by the master also contains methods of making Divine Artifacts, how can I be willing to fall without even trying?" Ye Sheng said boldly.
"I’m pleased that you have such ambition, but we still need to prepare thoroughly," Ye Qiu said before turning to Little Golden Crow, "Little Jin, I’m counting on you."
"Leave it to me, I’ve disliked that Dark Netherworld Fire for a long time now, such flames are a disgrace to our Fire Realm," Little Jin said with a look of disgust, "Perfect for my nourishment."
"How are we going to do it?" Ye Sheng asked curiously, increasingly intrigued by the origins of his Uncle Little Jin.
He knew how formidable Lin Shen’s black flames were from the arena fights, but why did his Uncle Little Jin seem to disdain them, a type of flame that many cultivators avoid at all costs?
Once when he was still at the Qi Cultivation level, he couldn’t fathom Little Jin’s origins; now, as his experiences grow, he feels he understands even less.
"I will imprint a mark on you; if Lin Shen doesn’t use the black flames against you, it’s fine, but if he does make a move, my flames will quickly devour the Dark Netherworld Fire, but the rest is up to you."
"Naturally, if I need the protection from Father and Uncle Little Jin for everything, what’s the point of my cultivation?"
Besides this, Ye Qiu inspected Ye Sheng’s defense magic artifact and frowned, "Are you capable of refining an Immortal Artifact? Why haven’t you forged a defensive Immortal Artifact for yourself."
It had been a long time since Ye Sheng saw Ye Qiu’s stern face, making him somewhat guilty: "I didn’t get a chance to."
"It’s not too late now, the challenge match is expected to last a month or two, you should start refining now, I’ll protect you," Ye Qiu decided with finality.