Martial World (Web Novel)
chapter-147

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“Damn it, Yang Zhen!” Murong Zi clenched her teeth, heart filled with hate. Although the grand banquet was held at the Imperial Palace, the one responsible for organizing it was the Cloud Prince, Yang Zhen. It was no wonder that before tonight, no one knew the identity of the great guest from the Seven Profound Valleys. It seemed that Yang Zhen had already taken Ouyang Dihua’s side, and offered to help him look for beautiful women!

When Ouyang Dihua arrived on scene, he immediately attracted the attention of everyone present. Even the emperor slightly rose and nodded.

But the first person Ouyang Dihua laid his eyes upon was Lin Ming. He diabolically smiled at him with a thoughtful expression.

Seeing Ouyang Dihua look at him, Lin Ming frowned. This look was obviously the same as when someone at a superior standing looked down upon someone beneath them; it was a look filled with mockery and pity.

As Ouyang Dihua slowly came on stage, his eyes took in the entire room. He eyes slightly paused upon Bai Jingyun, Wang Yuhan, and even Qin Xingxuan’s body before leaving.

This slight pause filled Bai Jingyun with trembling anxiousness. This was bad, even Yuhan had been dragged in!

Qin Xingxuan had no fear because she was already a core disciple of the Seven Profound Martial House. Although her status was lower than Ouyang Dihua’s, in light of her reputation as a sixth-grade talent, Ouyang Dihua would not attempt to aggress on her. In the future, Qin Xingxuan was very likely to become a direct disciple of some elder from the Seven Profound Valleys.

But Wang Yuhan was different. In the front of Ouyang Dihua, she had no deep background to protect herself with.

Ouyang Dihua coughed to clear his throat, and said, “I am delighted to be here at Sky Fortune Kingdom. Tonight, I am very happy that I am able to meet all the elites of the Sky Fortune Kingdom…

“The reason I came to the Sky Fortune Kingdom today, is mainly to look at the major developments in the Sky Fortune Kingdom, and take a look at the strong, young heroes of this great country.”

“In addition, the Seven Profound Envoy of the Sky Fortune Kingdom will be returning to the main sect. So, for these next six months, I will be temporarily substituting as the Seven Profound Envoy.”

As Ouyang Dihua said this, Bai Jingyun felt an immediate burst of painful dizziness. Ouyang Dihua was actually going to be the Sky Fortune Kingdom’s Seven Profound Envoy!?

This… this was simply dire news that couldn’t have gotten any worse!

She already expected that the next six months would be the nightmare of all the beautiful girls within Sky Fortune City!

All the girls with even a bit of fame, like Murong Zi or Wang Yuhan, would become Ouyang Dihua’s target. Even if they wanted to hide, they could not!

They were already too famous. It was possible that even before Ouyang Dihua had come to the Sky Fortune Kingdom, that he had already set a goal and decided that Murong Zi and Wang Yuhan were to be his prey!

In the winding corridor outside of the banquet hall, Murong Zi heard Ouyang Dihua’s opening statement. She now knew, there was simply no meaning in hiding. The reason that Ouyang Dihua had come to Sky Fortune Kingdom as the Seven Profound Envoy was because of them.

Murong Zi clenched her teeth and thought aloud, “You damn sexual harasser, if you dare to make a move on me or lay a finger on my body, I will cut off your d*ck and I will die with you!”

After Crown Prince Yang Lin heard this news, he also didn’t look very good. He knew that this banquet was arranged by his tenth younger brother, the Cloud Prince! What did it mean that Ouyang Dihua’s welcoming had been arranged by Yang Zhen? It was obvious that Yang Zhen had already managed to make some sort of deal ahead of time with Ouyang Dihua concerning the future throne!

Today, Yang Zhen had not hesitated to conceal the identity of Ouyang Dihua, and invited so many beautiful daughters of great and respected families; this was a great offense to all those families. The reason he could do this was because Ouyang Dihua would take over the role of the Seven Profound Envoy, and thus Yang Zhen had found a backer!

Yang Lin certainly knew that Zhang Guanyu and Yang Zhen were close. Without a doubt, these two had formed an alliance, and the one who had promoted them to form this alliance was Lin Ming.

Lin Ming was the common enemy of Yang Zhen and Zhang Guanyu!

In all likelihood, the one that had invited Ouyang Dihua was Zhang Guanyu. To somehow manage to obtain him as their backer, he could not imagine what sort of price that Zhang Guanyu had paid for this.

Thinking of this, Yang Lin took a deep breath. When he had obtained Lin Ming’s support, he thought that he had already won half the battle. But, after experiencing Zhang Guanyu and Yang Zhen’s latest move, he had already lost the game before he could think of a comeback.

Whether it was Zhang Guanyu or Yang Zhen, they were not people that would easily concede. How was it possible that they would sit and wait to die just because of Lin Ming?

Lin Ming noted the change in Yang Lin’s expression, as well as Zhang Guanyu and Yang Zhen’s faces filled with elation, and immediately understood that this was because of Ouyang Dihua. It was now clear to him why as soon as Ouyang Dihua had walked in, he had looked at Lin Ming like a cat that was teasing a mouse.

“So that’s how it is… I was the mouse…” Lin Ming’s expression didn’t change, and he was still calmly sitting in his chair as he was before.

But at this moment, Zhang Guanyu, swinging his fan, walked over to the Crown Prince. Lin Ming and the Crown Prince were sitting very near each other, and Zhang Guanyu’s gaze fell upon Lin Ming. There was an happiness implied in that look, as if it were the exact same expression that Ouyang Dihua had, of a cat playing with a mouse. If one were to think there was something different about it, it would be that there was a hint of murderous intent lurking beneath that smiling facade.

“Crown Prince, Your Highness.” Zhang Guanyu bowed.

“Sir Zhang.” Although Yang Lin wished to kill Zhang Guanyu in his heart, Yang Lin maintained his friendly and smiling demeanor.

“Crown Prince, Your Highness, it seems that Lan Yunyue, Miss Lan, is in the Crown Prince’s palace. Mister Ouyang would like to see Miss Lan. I was wondering what your highness thought of this?”

Although Zhang Guanyu spoke quietly, how could Lin Ming, who was sitting by the side of the Crown Prince not hear?

Although Lan Yunyue no longer had anything to do with Lin Ming, this disgusting Zhang Guanyu repeatedly kept trying to use this matter to attack Lin Ming’s heart of martial arts in vain. Lin Ming only felt as if there was a blowfly flying around it; it was just annoying and extremely bothersome.

As soon as Yang Lin heard Zhang Guanyu say this, there was a slight change in his expression, but it was immediately restored to a congenial smile. “I’m truly sorry, but this prince has already sent Miss Lan away. As to where she has gone, even this prince does not know.”

Zhang Guanyu cunningly laughed, smiled, and said “Your Highness, since I came to such a important person as yourself, that means that I have obtained accurate news. I’m not a person that likes to beat around the bush, so I will give Your Highness some advice. Lan Yunyue is very important to Mister Ouyang’s cultivation. Mister Ouyang has already expressed that he will be single-mindedly focused on his cultivation and has no intention to participate in the struggle for the throne. As long as your highness the Crown Prince hands over Lan Yunyue, then Mister Ouyang will remain neutral in Your Highness and the Cloud Prince’s struggle for the throne. I wonder what the Crown Prince thinks of this?”

As Zhang Guanyu said this, Lin Ming’s face sank. He could not help but admire how truly tricky, insidious, and utterly vicious this Zhang Guanyu was.

He was trying to alienate the Crown Prince’s relationship with Lin Ming.

The present situation was that the Crown Prince did not want Ouyang Dihua as his enemy. This matter was because of Lin Ming. If Lin Ming and Zhang Guanyu were not enemies, then he would not resort to having Ouyang Dihua personally appear, and thus let the Tenth Prince have the support of a future Seven Profound Envoy. This attack on the Crown Prince’s influence was simply too drastic!

In other words, the Crown Prince had looked towards Lin Ming to help him, but instead, not only had he not benefitted from their relationship, but he had ended up following the devil.

If it was anyone else, they would have already readily trampled Lin Ming underneath their foot.

At this moment, Zhang Guanyu had offered Ouyang Dihua’s neutrality as bait. Even though the Crown Prince knew perfectly well that his was an attempt to alienate him and Lin Ming, he was unable to reject, because the threat of Ouyang Dihua was simply too big! The Crown Prince did not dare to disobey him!

This move of Zhang Guanyu’s could only be described as vicious; he was slowly trying to isolate Lin Ming.

Zhu Yan was the best example. The reason why Zhu Yan had ended up in such a miserable state was because of Lin Ming’s great strength, which caused the Tenth Prince and the Zhu Family to fear Lin Ming, so they had directly expelled Zhu Yan from the family!

Now, Zhang Guanyu was trying to deal with Lin Ming in a similar method, and had brought out Ouyang Dihua. Not only would Lin Ming fail the Seven Profound Martial House’s core disciple test, but he would also lose the backing and asylum of the Crown Prince, and eventually follow the same fate as Zhu Yan!

After Zhang Guanyu said these words, Yang Lin could no longer maintain his calm. If he could think of this, then Lin Ming could also think of this.

‘Zhang Guanyu! What a sinister villain!’ Yang Lin cursed angrily in his mind. He couldn’t help but glance at Lin Ming.

Lin Ming indifferently said, “Lan Yunyue was originally rescued by Your Highness the Crown Prince. In that case, I have no right to interfere with Your Highness’ decision. Your Highness, please decide on your own.”

Yang Lin took a deep breath. Even though he was usually calm, at this moment his palms were oozing with sweat. He had a faint foreboding feeling that this would be the most important decision in his entire life; whether he decides to stand by Lin Ming’s side, or willingly submit to the Sky Fortune Kingdom’s Seven Profound Envoy – Ouyang Dihua!

There was a deep silence that lasted for a full ten breaths of time, before Yang Lin finally said, “My influence is inferior to my tenth younger brother, my military force is inferior to my tenth younger brother, and my finances are inferior to my tenth younger brother. When I was at my lowest, and all I had was inferior to my tenth younger brother, Brother Lin chose to stand on my side and support me in my difficult position. I, Yang Lin, will always bear the timely graciousness when he helped me in my heart. Since ancient times, emperors have been ambitious and fierce. According to that, perhaps I may not be suitable to be an emperor, but if one day I were to really ascend to the throne, then I would surely regard the officials as my brothers, and the common citizens as my own benevolent parents.”

Even though Yang Lin’s remarks placed him a terribly unfavorable situation, he still said it. As Lin Ming heard this, his heart moved; he also had not expected Yang Lin to suddenly utter these words.

Even in this kind of situation, Yang Lin had continued to stand by his side, and revolted against Ouyang Dihua, the Seven Profound Envoy. Depending on just this, Yang Lin was truly a person worth knowing.

If an emperor took an official as a brother, the official would take the emperor as a friend. If the emperor regarded the official as worthless, then the official would regard the emperor as a foe.

Now, Lin Ming had completely decided to help Yang Lin ascend the throne. The Sky Fortune Kingdom was Lin Ming’s home, and his family was still here. Naturally, he hoped that his country would also have a kind and just ruler.

“Oh? So Your Highness does not plan on handing over Lan Yunyue?” Zhang Guanyu smiled as he asked.

But this time, not far behind from Zhang Guanyu, Ouyang Dihua was also looking in their direction. He was smiling, but his smile was a bit cold.

“This prince has said that Miss Lan is no longer in the palace!”

“Haha, since Your Highness the Crown Prince says so, then would you dare to allow people to search?”

“Presumptuous!”

“Hehe, of course I would not dare to search myself. But, what if this was Mister Ouyang’s order?”

As Zhang Guanyu said this, the Crown Prince’s complexion changed. If Ouyang Dihua wished to search the palace, there was nothing he could do!

At this moment, the thick tension in the room was palpable; the entire banquet hall had turned to watch this unfold.

Suddenly, Lin Ming opened his mouth to say, “Sir Zhang, I suddenly recalled that there was the matter of a duel between us.”

Li Ming’s idea was very simple. Since Zhang Guanyu had formed an alliance and found someone to deal with him, then he who stuck the first blow would have the advantage. Tonight, he would duel Zhang Guanyu and utterly waste him, so that he could no longer play such clever little tricks again.