Chapter 968 – To Cause a Stir … … … Phoenix Cry Palace had their own strictly enforced sect rules. Although Phoenix Cry Palace, and even the entire Ancient Phoenix Clan, had their own struggles with intrigue and infighting occurring behind the scenes, the assassination and ruination of talented disciples, and even the murder of others to steal their treasures, had to be done in private; they could not be publicly shown. The reputation of the sect would otherwise suffer irreparable damage. On the surface, the Ancient Phoenix Clan’s rules could not be violated by anyone. Saint Artifact Pavilion forbade private battles inside, and the disciples of Phoenix Cry Palace were absolutely forbidden from killing each other over treasures. Saint Artifact Pavilion’s artifact spirit was equal to a Divine Lord realm master. Although it didn’t have a physical form, it could still manipulate the various great arrays in Saint Artifact Pavilion. As it appeared this time, it immediately suppressed the energy within the disciples present. “Huang Yuegong, the two lackeys behind you were the first to start a fight. According to the palace’s rules, they will be locked away for a thousand years! Do you have any objections?” The artifact spirit icily said. As Huang Yuegong heard this, he almost turned and stormed away. His lackeys were only sixth stage Life Destruction Divine Sea martial artists. Amongst the common mortals of the Divine Realm, they could be considered decent. However, when placed against the standard of Phoenix Cry Palace, they weren’t even gifted enough to be a disciple. If this were ordinary times, he wouldn’t care about the fate of these lackeys. But now Lin Ming had injured them, and the artifact spirit wanted to imprison them; this was the same as slapping him in the face. He came from a noble and distinguished family! Aside from the top disciples of Phoenix Hall, it was always him stepping on others, not others making him eat a loss. But today, his face had been thoroughly ruined. He had been stepped on until he was covered in cuts and bruises! “What about it? Do you refuse my judgment?” The artifact spirit indifferently said. Everything that it did was in line with the palace’s rules. Although Lin Ming had humiliated the two, they were the ones that mocked Lin Ming as a beggar first. The verdict handed down by the artifact spirit could not be questioned by anyone. “I have no opinion!” Huang Yuegong grimaced. He wasn’t an idiot. He simply didn’t have the ability to resist an existence on the level of the Saint Artifact Pavilion artifact spirit. In the face of such a powerful being, Huang Yuegong could only patiently bear the shame. At this point, he actually calmed down. Before now, all the words he spoke were to obtain Lin Ming’s Phoenix Blood Spear. But now, he realized that he had been played by Lin Ming. Lin Ming never planned on selling him the Phoenix Blood Spear, and instead was playing along as if he were a monkey. How could Huang Yuegong not hate him? As Huang Yuegong’s voice fell, an invisible energy surged out from the sky, covering the two lackeys that were lying face down on the ground like dead dogs. The two lackeys then disappeared. A sixth stage Life Destruction Divine Sea martial artist would only have several thousand years of life. Imprisoning them for 1000 years was the same as writing off a good portion of their life. Huang Yuegong coldly watched as his servants disappeared. His eyes, which had been brimming with a thick killing intent when he realized Lin Ming was playing with him, were now containing a stark indifference. But there was actually a deep hatred hidden within. He deeply looked at Lin Ming as if he were scanning him down to the bone. Finally, he turned around and strode away. This left Song Baifeng silently standing behind Lin Ming, covered in cold sweat. His job was to guard Saint Artifact Pavilion, and in other words that was to serve the Saint Artifact Pavilion artifact spirit. Now that he saw that the artifact spirit had the intention of supporting Lin Ming, he became even more afraid. As he recalled the scene of him extorting Jun Yunrue and the others, he had the urge to commit suicide right here and now, in this hall. He wished that he could transform into a lump of poop so that Lin Ming would ignore him. Luckily, Jun Yunrue and the others didn’t seem to care for him, and the artifact spirit also vanished from the skies. “Lin Ming, what Huang Yuegong said is actually not wrong. Since you refused him today, that is the same as offending the entire Huang Family Clan. In addition, Xiao Jiuyang is part of the Xiao Family Clan. Of the Ancient Phoenix Clan’s two great family clans, you’ve managed to offend two.” Jun Yunrue quietly said. Thinking about it, if she were in Lin Ming’s shoes today, she wouldn’t necessarily be able to withstand Huang Yuegong’s threats. Huang Yuegong was rampant and arrogant, but the words he said because he wanted to obtain the Phoenix Blood Spear were perfectly rational. Someone with a weaker will would’ve truly felt fear. Lin Ming smiled, “Senior-apprentice Sister Jun worries for me too much. As for offending the Xiao Family Clan, that is something that will happen in the future. Xiao Jiuyang is vying for the position of Palace Master and he likely has a high status in the Xiao Family Clan too. But my current strength can’t be considered anything great right now, it just isn’t worth it for the Xiao Family Clan to bother with me. As for obtaining the source strength of the old Palace Master, how many people have managed to do so in the past several hundred years? But someone that has the potential to become the Palace Master only appears once every several tens of thousands of years. In my opinion, the Xiao Family Clan will be far more wary of a Divine Lord realm senior that supports Fairy Feng than a junior like me. Most importantly, the Xiao Family Clan is simply too large with too many matters that are occurring every day. When would they have the thoughts to bother with an ant-like existence like me? The current me doesn’t even have the qualifications to offend the Xiao Family Clan.” “As for offending the Huang Family Clan, that is even more unworthy of mentioning. From the start that Huang Yuegong kept on talking like he was so seriously badass, saying that he wanted to introduce me to his family Elders or other such great kindnesses. But the truth is that if I really wanted to join some family clan, I have no need to seek his recommendation. With my talent, I believe anyone would eagerly accept me. In fact, Huang Yuegong recommending me might even bring him more merit in his family clan! Huang Yuegong’s background is truly wonderful, but most of what he says is bragging and blustering used to fool the disciples of common origin. His true status in the Huang Family Clan isn’t as high as Senior-apprentice Sister Jun thinks it is. The shame he received today from me is only a matter between the two of us, just like two little children fighting. How could an Elder of the Huang Family Clan kill another child just because their child was shamed by someone else’s child?” Lin Ming calmly stated his analysis. As Jun Yunrue thought about it, this was also the truth. She hadn’t entered Phoenix Cry Palace for too long. She had no deep background, so she naturally felt a sense of fear towards the three great family clans, always believing that she couldn’t offend them. If anyone from one of the three great family clans approached the common disciples, the pressure was enough to make them bow their heads low. In this sort of situation, Jun Yunrue was deceived by Huang Yuegong. When he made his threat, she had been afraid. She had worried for Lin Ming so she didn’t consider the overall situation too much. Now, after listening to Lin Ming’s reasoning, it seemed that her fears were unfounded. “Junior-apprentice Brother Lin, I never imagined that you would be someone from the lower realms. You just arrived in Phoenix Cry Palace and you have no foundation here, and with your fifth stage Life Destruction cultivation you were even threatened by Huang Yuegong. But not only were you not frightened or panicked, instead you even managed to see through his words. This senior-apprentice sister is really ashamed,” Jun Yunrue sincerely said. For a lower realms martial artist that had no background and was also new to the Divine Realm to stay exceedingly calm in the face of such a terrifying influence was extraordinary. He also managed to maintain his own position and interests while not touching their bottom line. This insight and poise was not something that just anybody had. Lin Ming shook his head, “Senior-apprentice sister praises me too much. In the future I really will encounter a great deal of dangers, so I must be careful. Currently, Senior Fairy Feng alone should be enough to shelter me for some time. When Senior Fairy Feng and Sage Jiuyang’s battle reaches the superheating phase in the future, I should have the ability to protect myself.” “Junior-apprentice Brother Lin, no matter what you say, I must still thank you today for supporting Honorable Master Fairy Feng. If a disciple without much talent was recognized by Honorable Master Fairy Feng, then that would be their good fortune. But for someone like you that has talent, strength, and a mentality stronger than others, it would be easy to seek protection under any influence you wish. Even so, you chose to follow Honorable Master Fairy Feng. About today’s matters, I will report them to Honorable Master from beginning to end so that she can reward you.” Jun Yunrue felt a bit apologetic toward Lin Ming. If Lin Ming chose not to support Fairy Feng and threw his chips in with Sage Jiuyang instead, then not only would he be in no danger in Phoenix Cry Palace, but he would have even more resources available to him than he already did. If he managed to enter Phoenix Hall in the future and break into the Divine Sea realm, he really could do whatever he wanted to. But because he joined Fairy Feng, there were too many variables to account for. This would actually be a loss for Lin Ming. Lin Ming said, “Senior-apprentice Sister Jun, you’re overstating things a bit too much. I’m someone that knows graciousness and knows how to repay it. Senior Fairy Feng recognized me in Timeworn Phoenix City and advised me. She left a lifesoul jade slip on me, and even spent a part of her cultivation to help my wives in the lower realms. Finally, she personally helped me ascend to the Divine Realm. If it weren’t for Senior Fairy Feng, I would’ve needed to waste a great deal of time and reach the Divine Sea before ascending.” When Lin Ming reached the fifth stage of Life Destruction in the Sky Spill Continent, his destiny there already reached the pinnacle. In this case, if he had to wait until he reached the Divine Sea realm to ascend, he would have wasted a great deal of time. …… The matter of Lin Ming obtaining the Phoenix Blood Spear didn’t spread out like a tide as Jun Yunrue had imagined. On the contrary, only very few people knew of it. There weren’t many people that knew of this matter to begin with. The two lackeys that followed Huang Yuegong were imprisoned by Saint Artifact Pavilion’s artifact spirit. As for Huang Yuegong himself, this was the greatest shame of his life and a major blow to his mentality. He certainly wouldn’t spread the news of such a disgraceful matter. Instead, he immediately returned to his palace and holed himself up in seclusion, disappearing from the public eye. As for Song Baifeng, he was scared silent. He was well aware that Saint Artifact Pavilion’s artifact spirit supported Lin Ming, so spreading out any information was only something that would happen if he was tired of living. Song Baifeng certainly knew of the dangers of ‘loose lips sinks ships’, and while it was possible for him to obtain some benefits from revealing what he knew, it was incomparable to the future dangers he might suffer. When anyone asked Song Baifeng, he simply stated that he didn’t know anything. Not just that, but he even made a sacrifice and allowed the other young disciples following Jun Yunrue to freely select a low-grade saint artifact. But paper can’t be used to wrap fire. The disciples that entered Saint Artifact Pavilion after soon discovered that one of the nine top grade saint artifacts, the Phoenix Blood Spear, had disappeared, and in its place was now a halberd. Although the halberd was also a top grade saint artifact, the quality was far inferior to the Phoenix Blood Spear. In other words, that meant someone had taken the Phoenix Blood Spear! The spear had hung within Saint Artifact Pavilion for over 30 years, and was faintly recognized as the top saint artifact of Saint Artifact Pavilion, surpassing even the Sunpierce Sword and Sun Shooting Bow. But that spear was now taken away by someone! The news quickly spread. But no one knew just who had acquired the Phoenix Blood Spear. The Divine Lord realm figures as well as the various Hall Masters and Elders didn’t care about such a minor matter. But to the young disciples of Vermillion Bird Hall and Phoenix Hall, this was an explosive situation!