Special thanks to Jasim A, he enjoys reading this during his classes. So he was nice enough to sponsor this chapter and the next completely! Thank you for the support xo Another chapter to be released after this. Then I will finally get a break aka hibernation. I hope you all enjoy xoxox Lin Hai and Lin Feng were moving towards the host who was standing on the large stage. On a platform to the side with a raised seating area sat Lin Ba Dao, Lin Zhen, Lin Hao Ran and Lin Qian. They were sitting upright with their heads held high, setting themselves high above the others as if they were the masters of the Lin family. When the clan elder Lin Zhen saw that Lin Hai and Lin Feng were approaching, he stood up and said in a clear loud voice: “you have finally arrived, we are thus ready to start the annual meeting.” When Lin Hai heard Lin Zhen, he stopped walking and stared at him. Everybody then stared at Lin Hai stupefied wondering what was wrong with him. “Lin Hai, what’s wrong, what are you doing?” asked Lin Zhen seeing that Lin Hai had stopped walking. “Hmmm, Lin Ba Dao, I would like to ask you, who’s the current head of the Lin Clan?” asked Lin Hai in an icy tone. Lin Ba Dao was stunned but he pretended to be calm as he replied: “You, Lin Hai, of course.” “Then, I have another question for you, isn’t the annual meeting of the Lin Clan of paramount importance?” continued Lin Hai looking straight into Lin Zhen’s eyes. “Of course, it is. Every year, the annual meeting of our clan is the most important event of the year.” “Very good, then I have another question, who is charge of managing that major event?” Lin Zhen’s face started to look desperate when hearing all of Lin Hai’s questions. He obviously knew what in Hai meant with all those questions. “The Clan Head is in charge.” “Since I have a clear understanding now that everything is handled by the Clan Head, Lin Zhen, I would like to ask you, what on earth do you think you are doing up there?... I am still the head of our Lin Clan, correct?” Lin Hai’s tone was extremely harsh. Lin Zhen and Lin Ba Dao had been acting hand in hand with each other to try and force Lin Hai to abdicate. It was not a secret and had been going on for such a long time that almost everybody knew about it. Lin Zhen was becoming more and more impertinent. Today he even announced the beginning of the event without waiting for Lin Hai to be seated. “Hehe, uncle, you came a bit too late. The esteemed elder is just doing what he’s supposed to do, is it wrong for him to carry out his duties? Uncle shows no understanding.” Lin Qian said in a neutral tone. “SHUT UP!” shouted Lin Hai who had released his temper. “You dare to interrupt the head of the family while he’s talking? Lin Ba Dao, take good care of your daughter... what kind of terrible education has she received until now?” Lin Qian had a ugly face which was twisted in anger. She insulted Lin Hai deep in her heart. That guy hasn’t been the clan head for a long time and he is already starting to lose his temper? “She’s at least much stronger than your son, that piece of trash is the one who should be educated.” Lin Ba Dao said while staring Lin Feng in the eyes and smiling coldly. Everyone in the Lin clan had complimented Lin Qian for her achievements, how could Lin Hai dare to insult her? “Watch your words. A very small clan head of the Lin Family, in the eyes of my Sect, is a tiny individual with no power.” said a girl of the Hao Yue Sect who was standing next to Lin Qian while smiling coldly. That girl was wearing magnificent robes. She had a very unkind look on her face, much like Lin Qian. She was an elite disciple of the Hao Yue Sect. She had a low opinion of the Lin Clan and did not believe it was worth giving them face. “You’re saying that your Yue Hao Sect is really extraordinary, then why are you sitting equally with Lin clan members? It seems that my father, the only head of the Lin Clan, never actually invited you to join us. You seem to be a really shameless person, I see that the Yue Hao Sect is extraordinarily shameless.” said Lin Feng who had remained silent until now. He couldn’t bear it anymore so he decided to open his mouth. Who could compete with him when it came to wits? He had the experience of two lifetimes. In that world, language had a profound meaning. “You...” the facial expression of the mean girl suddenly changed but she immediately smiled coldly after and said: “The piece of trash of the Yun Hai Sect also dares to open his big mouth.” “Whether or not I am a piece of trash is not the problem at the moment. I, at least, have honor and a sense of integrity, not like a certain person, coming to someone’s clan and insulting the head of their clan. Are all the Hao Yue Sect’s disciples like this? How extraordinary indeed.” Lin Feng was being incredibly sarcastic. Everybody’s face immediately changed. “You animal, you dare insult and humiliate the Hao Yue Sect.” said a Lin clan elder who had stood up. He was furious. “This is truly hilarious, she is in the middle of the Lin Clan and stands before you all and insults the head of the Lin Clan and there’s immediately someone standing up to defend her. I would like to ask you, Seventh Elder, are you a member of the Lin Clan or a whipped dog of the Hao Yue Sect?” Lin Feng’s words were sharp and incisive like a sword cutting deep into the Elders pride. Lin Feng had been firm when saying these words and questioned the integrity of the elder. “My son is correct. I also want to ask you a question, Seventh Elder, is your family name also Lin?” asked Lin Hai continuing Lin Feng’s argumentation. Lin Hai was extremely surprised at that moment too. Not only had his son made huge progress on the path of cultivation but his way of speaking had also become extremely eloquent. Lin Feng’s words had become as flowing as blood. “Alright, I made a mistake, you are indeed the head of the clan. The annual meeting is of paramount importance. It cannot be delayed. So please come up and manage it as a head of Lin Clan.” said Lin Zhen who had received Lin Ba Dao’s approbation. They had found a compromise. Actually, they wanted to see how long Lin Hai and Lin Feng could be that aggressive. “Hum.” Lin Hai wiped his sleeves then walked over to the platform and then sat amongst them. “How long are you still going to be so proud? You dare to insult the elite disciples of my sect. Lin Hai, I want you to pay attention to the fate of that piece of trash you call a son.” Lin Qian thought to herself. “Let the annual meeting begin.” Lin Hai looked at the stages which were created for practice battles between clan members. The Lin Clan was composed of over five hundred people. Around eighteen of them were young people of the youngest generation of the clan but there were about seventy young people who belonged to the golden age of talent within the Lin Clan. Unfortunately, there were some clan members who were unpredictable and would try to harm his son. The Lin Clan was not a single entity and there were smaller factions attempting to increase their power. If Lin Hai had abdicated, that would have been a mistake and would have driven the clan into chaos. Lin Hai had bitter feelings. Why did he need to have all these worries about the Lin Clan and its future? “Father, don’t worry. I will not let anyone do me any harm.” Thought Lin Hai who was feeling guilty. He remembered what his father had said to him on his deathbed. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to apply it. The annual meeting was actually a big test for all the juniors of the Lin Clan to see how much they had progressed and to see what the future prospects of the Lin Clan looked like. There was also some fighting involved in the annual meeting to test the strength of the junior generation. The Second Elder of the Clan went on the fighting stage and said in a clear and loud voice: “The first round of the annual meeting will be as such: it’s a free for all, everyone comes on the fighting stage and the last thirty-two members left can continue to the next round.” The Second Elder of the Lin Clan stepped down from the stage and the junior disciples of the Lin Clan all went on to the fighting stage. Lin Feng nodded while looking at his father, Lin Hai. He also stepped on the stage. “I don’t know if Lin Qian will be focused on me from the very start.” Thought Lin Feng who was standing on the stage with complete concentration on his surroundings. Seventy three young disciples had arrived on the stage. Everyone was extremely vigilant, especially the weaker ones. They were easy targets for the others to quickly reduce the numbers. Lin Qian was still standing there unmoving on the stage. Many other disciples were giving up and leaving the stage. They didn’t dare provoke others who were stronger than themselves. The goal of the first round was to eliminate the weakest ones. The strong ones rarely really attacked at that stage except for if they were looking for trouble. Lin Qian was without a doubt one of the strongest disciples on the stage. Most of the disciples on the stage couldn’t compete with her. As far as Lin Feng was concerned, he quickly noticed that many people were staring at him. Many people had twinkling eyes when looking at Lin Feng as if they were looking at a pile of gold with greed in their eyes. They all considered him an easy target. Some battles had already started on the stage. A young clan member who was wielding a spear was rushing towards Lin Feng. Everyone near him started to surround him. Lin Feng obviously knew they were not worth his time. “Get lost, get down off the stage. If you stay here then we will force you to lose face.” said Lin Wu with an expression revealing how much he despised Lin Feng. He was the son of the Seventh Elder, with whom Lin Feng had argued and humiliated. Lin Wu was at the seventh Qi layer six month ago when they had last met, with his ongoing training, he had probably reached the eighth Qi layer already. His strength was similar to that of Lin Yu. “He’s mine.” said an ice cold voice, sending shivers down the spines of many clan members. Lin Feng then saw Lin Qian wearing her red robes looking as arrogant as ever. “It’s all the same to me.” Lin Wu was obviously not going to argue with Lin Qian and opened the way for her. Lin Qian walked over to Lin Feng and said: “Don’t worry, nobody will touch you during the first round. You will successfully move forward to the next rounds. If you were to be knocked out this early, there would be no fun at all.” “Huh?” Lin Feng said stupefied. He wouldn’t have expected Lin Qian to protect him and prevent him from getting knocked out of the competition so early. That was amusing but not losing so early... what could he have against that? Of course Lin Feng understood, if Lin Qian hadn’t been protecting him, he could have lost during the first round due to the sheer numbers he was facing. However, in the Life or Death Arena of the Yun Hai Sect, Lin Feng had defeated a cultivator of the ninth Qi layer in one hit. “What is Lin Qian doing, why is she taking care of that piece of trash and protecting him?” said Lin Zhen who was ready to watch Lin Feng make a fool of himself but instead saw Lin Qian protect him. He couldn’t help but ask Lin Ba Dao about the turn of events. “Don’t you think that seeing such a piece of trash making it to the second round is a really funny joke? Besides, the second round is composed of several small fights, everyone has to fight a few times. In this kind of situation do you think that a piece of trash will be able to return unharmed when the time comes for the numerous fights of the second round? We just have to wait for the second round, which is where the real fun will begin.” “Hehe, how could I not think about that? This will be an entertaining event indeed.” Lin Zhen was delighted by the explanation. He could already imagine Lin Feng getting completely crippled in one hit during the second round.