True Martial World
chapter-410

“Of course, Matriarch, please have a look!”

Shen Tu Nantian was all smiles as he handed the Great Empress relic over to the servant girl beside the Matriarch.

The Matriarch held the relic with her thumb and index finger. Under the sunlight, this ring-shaped relic turned crystal clear. It was like it was a ring constructed from immortal jade. The snake on the relic’s surface even gave off a pervasive spiritual feeling.

“Good relic!”

A Lin family Elder could not help but praise it. The Matriarch opened her Heaven’s Eye and sank her mental energies into it before slightly nodding. She was very satisfied with it.

With her perception, she could feel the hot energy flowing within the relic. It was extremely pure Yang energy.

Seeing the Matriarch’s expression, Yi Yun’s heart sank.

He had been hoping that the Matriarch would discover something odd with the relic, but in the end he was disappointed.

It was needless to say how good the Matriarch’s knowledge of the Desolate Heaven technique was. However, that was only limited to the understanding of the Tian Yuan world’s Desolate Heaven technique heritage. As for ancient Desolate Heaven techniques, the Matriarch did not know much.

The reason there was a problem with the relic was likely not because the Shen Tu family clan had poisoned it, but was likely that the ancient Desolate Heaven technique itself possessed extreme danger!

If the Shen Tu family clan had poisoned it, the Matriarch would naturally have been able to sniff it out. However, with regards to the ancient Desolate Heaven technique, it was a domain that the Matriarch had never been exposed to. Hence, she could not see the defect in the relic.

This made Yi Yun’s expression turn ugly. If the Matriarch had seen through it, everything would have been easier, but now, she had acknowledged that the relic was fine.

“Great!” A kind smile appeared on the Matriarch’s face, “The Shen Tu family clan has really worked hard for this!”

Seeing this relic, the Matriarch’s attitude towards Shen Tu Nantian turned kinder. It was like an attitude of an elder to a member of the younger generation.

This attitude made Shen Tu Nantian very excited.

“This is necessary of us. With the two families entering an alliance, we should trust each other and seek the future together.”

As Shen Tu Nantian said this, his eyes landed on Lin Xintong, “What say you, Xintong?”

Feeling that his marriage with Lin Xintong was 90% in the bag, Shen Tu Nantian addressed Lin Xintong in a more cordial manner.

And this addressment made Lin Xintong frown slightly.

She did not respond, which resulted in the Matriarch being dissatisfied with her attitude, let alone those Elders who had supported the Shen Tu family clan, like Lin Xintong’s grandaunt.

After all, the Great Empress relic that could cure Lin Xintong of her naturally terminated meridians was right in front of them. This opportunity was not to be missed!

Previously, the Matriarch had taken Lin Xintong’s personal wishes into account and wanted to drag out the matter, hoping to see if there would be a opportunity for change.

However, with Shen Tu Nantian’s introduction of the twelve relics, he had sealed their road to back down.

If they did not trial the relic today, then there would be no chance in the future. It was equivalent to rejecting the Shen Tu family clan.

The Matriarch did not dare to take that risk. After all, to cure Lin Xintong of her naturally terminated meridians after missing such an opportunity would be as difficult as ascending to the Heavens.

A desolate bone relic of such a grade, and even made from an ancient recipe, was not something that the Lin family could refine.

“Xintong!”

The Matriarch’s voice turned a little harsh.

And at this moment, Shen Tu Nantian added on, “Miss Xintong, it is not that I am pressing you. Previously, I said that when my Shen Tu family clan refined this Great Empress relic, we especially used Everlasting Purple Gold to build the box containing the relic to prevent the loss of its medicinal properties. This was why there were a total of seven seals on the relic box!”

“These seven seals are no trifling matter. Even so, the Great Empress relic can only be stored inside the Everlasting Purple Gold relic box for a year. Now, I have opened the relic box. As such, this relic can only be kept for less than an hour. Its medicinal properties are gradually being depleted. The more time passes, the lower its effect!”

By saying this, Shen Tu Nantian’s words were like the final straw that broke the camel’s back. The Elders of the upper echelon of the Lin family who were still hesitating immediately leaned towards the Shen Tu family clan.

Even Su Jie could only let out a long sigh as he helplessly shook his head. He used his Yuan Qi to speak to Lin Xintong, “Xintong, your master is useless. I could not find a divine medicine to join up your terminated meridians. Even if you give your master another 500 years, I do not have any confidence. Now that the Shen Tu family clan has found it, it is probably fate. Sometimes, one has to pay the price for certain things…”

“Master…” Lin Xintong slightly turned her head over to look at Su Jie. There seemed to be a thousand words in her watery eyes, “You think so too?”

Su Jie sighed, “Warriors practice martial arts to compete with the Heavens, but… looking at the past hundred million years of the Tian Yuan world, how many of them have the right to say that they have defeated the Heavens?”

“Competing with the Heavens is not as simple as just shouting out some brave words, one has to first experience long years of humiliation and stress to slowly sharpen oneself, slowly pushing oneself to an extreme, eventually climbing up to the peak of martial arts. Only then can a person really say that ‘Humans can Defeat the Heavens’. A sharp sword is formed from endless sharpening. No one can defeat the Heavens the moment they were born…”

Su Jie’s tone was sincere, and it contained the insight he had gained from his 30,000 years of experience.

The currently slick and unreliable Su Jie’s talent in martial arts and the Desolate Heaven technique far exceeded that of his peers when he was young. He too had been a high-spirited and arrogant proud son of Heaven once.

Slowly, through his experiences in martial arts and life, Su Jie had slowly changed into a character in the game of life.

Lin Xintong took a deep breath of air as she smiled wrily.

Two years ago, when she first returned to her family, she had heard of the Shen Tu family clan trying to form a marriage alliance with the Lin family by having her marry Shen Tu Nantian. Her first reaction was that it was preposterous. Lin Xintong believed that, with the relationship between the Lin family and the Shen Tu family clan, and her own understanding of Shen Tu Nantian, this was something that was impossible.

And back then, there were several Elders in the Lin family who stood by Lin Xintong’s side.

Now, after two years, there was no one standing on her side anymore.

Even the Matriarch who had loved her so much, and Su Jie who had treated her as his own daughter, had begun to support the marriage.

However, the Matriarch and Su Jie had not bowed down to the Shen Tu family clan, but they had succumbed to fate. They yielded to to the powers of Nature!

When warriors succumbed to their enemy, it was shameful.

When warriors succumbed to the Heavens, it was very normal.

As Su Jie said, looking back at the Tian Yuan world’s past hundred million years, how many would dare say that they had defeated the Heavens?

Lin Xintong shook her head deep down before she stood up. She knew that there was no one who supported her at this moment.

As she was about to open her mouth and say something, a faint voice sounded out from the corner of the venue.

This sound was familiar to her, yet different from her memory.

“Wait! I have something to say.”

Lin Xintong was shocked as she turned her head over. She saw that a hundred feet away, a youth dressed in green had stood up from his seat.

He was wearing a cold-looking silver mask. There were two grim-looking lines in the color of blood where the eyes should be. However, at this moment, Lin Xintong could feel infinite warmth from the grim and cold mask.

Aware of Lin Xintong’s gaze, Yi Yun nodded solemnly.

This tiny action was enough for Lin Xintong to understand that Yi Yun wanted to say something to support her.

This made Lin Xintong slightly dazed. At the final moment, when she was the most helpless, with no one supporting her, including Su Jie and the Matriarch, this youth stood up and spoke with a different voice.

Even if Lin Xintong knew that this youth could not do anything, nor could he change anything, but him standing up and sounding out was enough for Lin Xintong.

This voice seemed to be a tiny candlelight in a cold, dark winter night.

It could not provide much warmth or light, nor could it bring the spring or dawn, but… it brought Hope.

Lin Xintong looked at Yi Yun and piercing through the mask, saw Yi Yun’s eyes. She could see her own reflection in his dark pupils.

She remembered what Yi Yun had said to her on the night of the victory party.

She had never known that Yi Yun swore to find the method to join up her terminated meridians that night in the Desolate Human Valley two years ago.

Even though the chances of him succeeding were extremely slim, he had still worked hard for it. And at this moment, in front of the Shen Tu family clan and the Lin family’s pressure, he had sounded out with a difference voice with his tiny capacity.

This touched Lin Xintong.

“Thank you, but… there is no need.”

Lin Xintong shook her head and transmitted her voice to Yi Yun.

She knew that under these circumstances, Yi Yun could not change a thing.

Furthermore, if he said anything inappropriate, he would suffer the wrath of others.

After all, with a matter that was decided by the two large family clans, against the pressure from all the Elders present, anything Yi Yun said could anger some people.

Without mincing words, with his status, he did not even have the right to make a sound.

This was especially so with Shen Tu Nantian, who had the intent to kill Yi Yun. If the Lin family decided to cooperate with the Shen Tu family clan, then Shen Tu Nantian would have considerable influence in the Lin family, so when that came to be, Yi Yun would be in extreme danger.

“Oh?”

With someone suddenly interrupting, Shen Tu Nantian’s expression sank as he turned to look towards the source of the voice.

Upon seeing Yi Yun, Shen Tu Nantian’s blood immediately boiled. It was… that kid!

He still remembered Yi Yun’s mask clearly. Although his failure at the Desolate Heaven technique tea session had nothing to do with Yi Yun, Shen Tu Nantian had already connected his failure with that mask.

Once he saw Yi Yun, he remembered his failure. The words he had said before failing ended up smacking him right back in his face. It was the greatest disgrace of his life!

Author’s Note: Thank you for everyone’s concern. Actually, it’s not tough for me to write. It’s just that due to chronic stress, I easily suffer from insomnia. And once I suffer from insomnia, my mental facilities will be lacking the next day. Yesterday, I had already written about 2000+ words before sleeping, but I was unsatisfied with it, so I didn’t post it. I slept in the day again today, but the sleep quality was much better, so I re-wrote a lot of what I wrote. I’m also more satisfied with what I wrote.

I will try to adjust.