Chapter 431 – No Choice Left
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Divine Phoenix Island, back mountains, Vermillion Bird Palace –
Divine Phoenix Island’s Third Elder, Mu Yanzhuo, strode out of the Vermillion Bird Palace, scowling.
“Third Elder!”
A pair of maids outside of the Vermillion Bird Palace bowed to Mu Yanzhuo.
Mu Yanzhuo only gave a light humph, not bothering to reply to them. As he stepped 100 feet away from the entrance of the main hall, Mu Yanzhuo waved his sleeves and then flew away.
Although there were no rules stating that one could not fly at the Vermilion Bird Palace’s front square, Vermillion Bird Palace was still the palace of Mu Yuhuang, and also where the supreme power of the Vermillion Bird Faction lay. A normal person would only fly outside of the square and then walk in, but Mu Yanzhuo no longer bothered to pay attention to any manners or rules. The conversation he had with Mu Yuhuang just a while ago had left him very unhappy.
The Saintess engagement ceremony that he had proposed had been pushed back by Mu Yuhuang. She had found some random excuse to turn it down, and now it was extended indefinitely!
Hu!
A sound transmission talisman lit in front of Mu Yanzhuo; the one who had contacted him was Great Elder Mu Chihuo.
Mu Yanzhuo frowned. His relationship with the Great Elder was average. There were many complex power struggles within the intricate internal stage of Divine Phoenix Island. Mu Yanzhuo was the Third Elder, and represented a faction. As for Mu Chihuo, he also represented another faction.
Between these two great factions, there were many places in which they naturally conflicted. This had led to the relationship between Mu Yanzhuo and Mu Chihuo being discordant – this was unavoidable.
Mu Yanzhuo hesitated and then flew to the Fire Soul Palace where the Great Elder was waiting.
“Haha, Brother Yanzhuo, it’s been a while since we met each other like this. How have you been?” Outside of Fire Soul Palace, Mu Chihuo was wearing a long red robe as he waited there with a smile on his face.
“I thank Brother Chihuo for your concern. I’m fine.” Mu Yanzhuo lightly landed and then cupped his hands together in greetings.
“Fine? What fine, I’m afraid you’re not fine at all!” The Great Elder said with a faint smile.
Mu Yanzhuo frowned, not refuting anything.
“Brother Yanzhuo, I know that you’ve worked very hard for Qingshu’s wedding. But if I could speak frankly, Brother Yanzhuo should just forget about this. It seems that Mu Yuhuang has already decided to have Mu Qianyu marry Lin Ming. Not only that, but looking at how close Mu Qianyu and Lin Ming are, they are both likely willing to agree to this marriage. It seems that Qingshu will have to make other plans in the future!”
Mu Chihuo’s words were harsh. Mu Yanzhuo was very sullen. He already knew this, but he was still having trouble accepting this truth.
Mu Chihuo smiled and said, “Brother Yanzhuo is a sensible man. Before, there really were some unpleasant problems between us, but in the end, we are both surnamed Mu. Within the last 3000 years of Divine Phoenix Island, there have been many disciples with different last names that have joined, but in the end they aren’t Elders with the same surname. I’m afraid that in the future, Lin Ming will continue to progress and will become an Elder! Lin Ming’s status is becoming more and more important. In the future, if he marries Mu Qianyu, he might even become the Island Master of Divine Phoenix Island.”
Mu Yanzhuo said, “In these last 3000 years, there has never been someone whose last name was not Mu who became the Island Master. This is basically no different from handing Divine Phoenix Island to others. The Council of Elders would never agree to this; who could guarantee that an outsider wouldn’t be harboring evil intentions?”
Divine Phoenix Island was a sect, but in truth they took bloodline heritage very importantly. Most of those on the island had the last name Mu, and it was very similar to a family clan.
A family clan would never hand over the position of family head to an outsider. Therefore, Divine Phoenix Island’s Elders would also not accept someone with a different last name becoming the Island Master.
“Hehe, that’s not necessarily true. Mu Fengxian very much favors this Lin Ming, and Mu Yuhuang also places a great deal of faith in him too. Not only that, but Lin Ming’s potential is simply too terrifying. Brother Yanzhuo may not know, but this time Lin Ming forced his way into the Seven Profound Valleys’ Acacia Faction and fought seven or eight Elders of the Acacia Faction by himself. He even defeated the extreme Xiantian Acacia Faction Sovereign!”
“What!?” Mu Yanzhuo’s complexion immediately changed. “You say that the late Houtian realm Lin Ming defeated an extreme Xiantian master!?”
“Yes! This is a level of talent that only a future Emperor powerhouse will have. Thus, that is why I said that Lin Ming would become the Island Master of Divine Phoenix Island in the future. Even controlling all of Divine Phoenix Island is not impossible. At that time, we really won’t have anywhere to go!”
Mu Yanzhuo’s complexion was extremely ugly. He grit his teeth, “If that’s the case, then this old man has nothing to say. Lin Ming’s rise is simply unstoppable. I will try to advise Qingshu to give up this engagement and focus on cultivating. If his talent is inferior to others, then he can do nothing but accept this fate! Although in the future I will be under the control of others and my influence will slowly decline, I will still be able to survive. It is far better than being destroyed! I urge Brother Chihuo to also not bother with Lin Ming! Such a character will become extremely terrifying once they grow up in the future! If anyone offends him, their deaths later will be extremely miserable!”
Mu Chihuo disdainfully said, “Brother Yanzhuo, why do you try to protect yourself? We have already offended him!”
“Humph, it is only Brother Chihuo that has offended him. Brother Chihuo is like water and fire with Island Master Yuhuang. I, Mu Yanzhuo, do not have the courage to struggle for authority with others. I’m fine with being subject to others. Brother Chihuo should best not try to pull me down too!”
“Hehe,” Mu Chihuo suddenly sneered, “Brother Yanzhuo is too naïve. Does Brother Yanzhuo know why Lin Ming killed his way into the Seven Profound Valleys’ Acacia Faction?”
Mu Yanzhuo paused. He gave a light humph and then didn’t reply. He didn’t know the circumstances between Lin Ming and Ouyang Boyan. To Divine Phoenix Island, anything like these minor matters that happened within Sky Fortune Kingdom were no different than little ants fighting. It was not enough to arouse the interest of Divine Phoenix Island, not to mention that Divine Phoenix Island was already busy with the chaos caused by the war they were in.
Mu Chihuo laughed and said, “Several months ago, news of Lin Ming’s death had been passed onto the Seven Profound territory. One of Lin Ming’s enemies wanted to use this chance to take some revenge, and decided to retaliate against the Lin Family and also forced a little girl that Lin Ming is extremely close to into a dead end. The ones who did this were the Seven Profound Valleys’ Acacia Faction. This was the reason that Lin Ming killed his way into the Acacia Faction. In fact, all of the people that he killed were Elders of the Acacia Faction, Xiantian masters.”
“And? So what?”
“Hehe, it seems that Brother Yanzhuo really doesn’t know. Brother Yanzhuo, think for a bit. If Lin Ming’s family and friends were forced to the brink of death, why would they not ask for help from Divine Phoenix Island? After all, they know that Lin Ming and Mu Qianyu are friends. However, what is unfortunate is that Mu Qianyu was together with your grandson Mu Qingshu. Then, for some unknown reason, your grandson decided to burn away the letter that was sent to Mu Qianyu. In fact, he burned away multiple letters, not giving any of them to Mu Qianyu. Afterwards, this almost caused that girl who has an intimate relation with Lin Ming to die on the battlefield.”
As Mu Chihuo slowly spoke, Mu Yanzhuo’s expression didn’t change at all. Mu Chihuo wouldn’t lie about something like this, and there was a very high chance this was true. Mu Chihuo was aware of what sort of personality Mu Qingshu had, and it was likely that he would do something like this.
Mu Yanzhuo’s eyebrows rose. He flared at the Great Elder, and then coldly said, “You have someone spying on my arrangements?”
If this Great Elder hadn’t hidden some spy within his own people, then he would never know such trivial matters.
“Haha, Brother Yanzhuo shouldn’t speak so harshly. It’s best to spend this time to think about how to deal with Lin Ming’s anger. This Lin Ming is a person who will definitely take vengeance on any grudges he has; one just needs to look at the miserable state of the Acacia Faction to find out. Once Lin Ming returns to Divine Phoenix Island, he will inevitably investigate this matter and try to trace back clues. In the past, your grandson thought that Lin Ming had died, so he was very casual in his actions and wasn’t clean in erasing his traces. If Lin Ming investigates this matter, it won’t be difficult to find out who it was. With Lin Ming’s current ability, he won’t be able to harm Qingshu. But in the future, after Lin Ming reaches the Revolving Core realm, will Brother Yanzhuo still be able to protect Qingshu? At that time, perhaps Qingshu…”
As Mu Chihuo spoke he began to shake his head. Mu Yanzhuo grimaced. Mu Qingshu was his bloodline’s most outstanding character. If there weren’t any accidents, he would become an Elder in the future and take over his position.
The position of an Elder was extremely important. If a faction didn’t have an Elder, they would have no power within the upper echelons of the sect. The result was that they would slowly wither away, and finally disappear.
If this was a normal conflict, Mu Yanzhuo would apologize. But in this matter, even if it were Mu Yanzhuo who had committed it, Lin Ming still might not forget it!
Mu Yanzhuo’s expression changed several times. Finally, he asked with a true essence sound transmission, “Does Brother Chihuo have a plan?” In Mu Yanzhuo’s opinion, with Lin Ming’s current talent and strength, in addition to Mu Fengxian’s support, it was impossible to pose a threat to Lin Ming even if he joined with Mu Chihuo.
“Brother Yanzhuo, there is no need to worry. There is always a way. Brother Yanzhuo, how about we return to my Fire Soul Palace and then slowly discuss this matter?”
Mu Yanzhuo nodded. He simply had no choice left.
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On an island 1000 miles away from Divine Phoenix Island, the reef was rugged and the waves surged against the beach.
A squad of Divine Phoenix Island disciples were carrying out a routine patrol. Just before noon, the Xiantian leader of this squad suddenly saw a bright flame in the distant skies. His eyesight was exceptional, so he was the first one to see that it was a Vermillion Bird!
And also a fully grown Vermillion Bird!
Divine Phoenix Island only had a few grown Vermillion Birds. Those that could ride a Vermillion Bird out to travel were most likely Elders.
The disciple immediately lit a sound transmitting talisman.
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In the center of a small island, in an elegant small building, Mu Qianyu was watering flowers.
These past days, Mu Qianyu had been in a very good mood. When she had spare time, she would plant some flowers and plants.
Mu Qingshu was standing in the courtyard, silently looking at Mu Qianyu watering flowers.
These days, Mu Qianyu’s attitude towards him was much better than before. But this sudden change in attitude did not make Mu Qingshu happy.
Since Mu Qingshu had learned that Lin Ming was still alive, he had a very poor complexion. It wasn’t that Lin Ming was still alive, but because his cultivation had already reached the late Houtian realm.
A 17 year old with a late Houtian realm cultivation had already surpassed Mu Qianyu when she was at this age.
This caused Mu Qingshu to feel a deep sense of crisis. If this speed continued, then perhaps in a few years, Lin Ming’s strength would outstrip his own.
When that time came, he would not have the slightest advantage.
These next few years were his last chance.
Mu Qingshu already has his grandfather try to make final effort. Although the chances weren’t great, his still had a glimmer of hope. That was because he had an enormous advantage over Lin Ming, and that was that his last name was Mu.
At this moment, a flame suddenly shone in front of Mu Qingshu.
“Mm? Some people are coming here on a Vermillion Bird?”
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