Chapter 971: I'm Happy

"That's the young master of the Lin family, isn't it? What is he trying to do?"

"No idea. He's carrying a sword—could he be planning to cut someone down?"

"This young master Lin rarely comes out. In the past few years, I've only seen him once or twice."

The commoners pointed at Lin Fan, not knowing what was about to happen.

At that moment, in a tavern.

Several men and women sat around a table. Among them, an old man sat calmly, unhurried and unruffled.

"Elder, we came out this time to recruit promising disciples. But it seems the only ones with potential are those from the eight great families, don't you think?" said a man with a square face, speaking respectfully to the old man.

"No rush. Take your time, watch and wait. Among ordinary commoners, there are also many talented youths. The children of the eight great families have been built up by pills since childhood. Though their cultivation is high among their peers, their potential is lacking, and the road ahead will be difficult." The old man spoke calmly.

"Understood." The man nodded.

The several young women beside them, all stunning beauties, were utterly engrossed in the delicacies. They had merely followed the elder on a sightseeing trip, leaving the task of selecting junior apprentices to their senior brother and the elder.

Why would they care about such matters?

Just then, a sudden commotion arose downstairs in the tavern.

"What's happening?" The female disciples grew curious, then leaned over the wooden railing to look below.

"Who is that youth? Carrying a sword—who is he going to find?"

The commoners who had just come up from below buzzed with chatter.

"Isn't that the young master of the Lin family? Rumor has it he's a waste. What do you suppose he's up to?"

"Who knows."

...

The old man glanced over but paid no further attention.

Because Lin Fan possessed the system, his aura was completely concealed.

The old man took one look and then ignored him—the boy's aptitude was insufficient.

"Elder, that youth has delicate features and is not bad-looking, but his strength is unremarkable," said the square-faced man.

"Mm." The old man nodded, then dismissed it and continued waiting.

He believed that he would eventually find a disciple worthy of his notice.

...

West of the city.

The Huang family.

After a round of debauchery outside, Huang Tailong returned home. He went straight to see his father and declared that he wanted to go to the Lin family to propose marriage, taking all three girls as his wives.

This was not a major matter, so Huang Tailong's father naturally nodded in agreement.

The Lin family's status in Shenglong City was indeed unremarkable. Though they were considered a great family in the eyes of ordinary commoners, in the Huang family's view, the Lin family was nothing special.

First, they had no experts to guard them; second, they had no foundation.

Whatever foundation they had was squandered by Lin Haoming.

If it were fifty years ago, things might have been different. But it was all because Lin Haoming had stirred up trouble in his youth, causing the Lin family's experts to be crippled.

Since then, the Lin family had no experts to protect them.

Outside the gate.

Lin Fan stood there, looking at the building before him.

It was resplendent and magnificent, even more imposing than the Lin residence.

"What are you doing?"

The guards at the gate, seeing a youth standing there with a sword, shouted angrily.

The surrounding commoners, however, whispered among themselves.

They hadn't expected the young master of the Lin family to come to the Huang residence. What could have happened?

Hearing the commoners' chatter, the guards at the gate looked at Lin Fan with some curiosity. They hadn't expected this kid to be the young master of the Lin family.

But although the Lin family was one of the eight great families, the guards didn't take them seriously.

Lin Fan then raised his hand, and the long sword in his grip suddenly let out a sharp cry, bursting forth with a brilliant sword light.

Boom!

A towering sword intent rose from the ground, as if the entire world were being split apart.

This sword intent was vast and mighty, carrying an aura that could break through anything.

The old man far away in the tavern suddenly stood up, his eyes flashing with disbelief. He then fixed his gaze into the distance.

"Such a domineering sword intent."

The old man was greatly shocked. Such sword intent, with an extremely strong will, could be said to be the supreme realm of the sword.

Without any hesitation, the old man's figure flickered as he rushed toward the direction from which the sword intent had erupted.

"Elder!"

The many disciples followed closely behind; they too had sensed the presence of this sword intent.

At this moment, at the Huang residence.

The surrounding crowd sat paralyzed on the ground, their faces filled with terror.

Lin Haoming, who had just arrived, was utterly dumbfounded by the sight before him.

"Little brother..." Lin Hanyu was speechless with shock.

At that moment, the old Huang residence had been split in two by a single sword stroke, and a crack had opened in the ground. This crack was the result of Lin Fan holding back; otherwise, it would have been tens of thousands of feet deep at the very least.

"Heh, strange. This sword intent is even stronger than it was in the Ancient Saint Realm." Lin Fan was slightly surprised, but he didn't dwell on it.

What Lin Fan didn't know was that over these eleven years, because the laws of heaven and earth here were more complete, his strength had been slowly increasing.

"My son, you... you." Lin Haoming came to Lin Fan's side, his face full of shock and disbelief.

How could his own son be so domineering?

"How dare you!"

Just then, a furious roar suddenly came from within the Huang residence.

A powerful aura struck directly, overwhelming everyone.

Lin Fan had long sensed that the Huang family had an expert, a cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Supreme Realm.

For the Huang family, this was already at the level of an ancestor.

This one sword strike had cleaved the entire Huang residence in two. If it hadn't alarmed him, that would have been truly strange.

"You brat of the Lin family, you've destroyed my Huang residence—you're asking for death!" A sharp edge suddenly burst forth.

"Be careful!" Lin Haoming was greatly alarmed; this aura seemed terrifying to him.

But Lin Fan just smiled calmly, reached out with five fingers into the void, and instantly snatched the old man hidden in the depths.

"You..."

Before anyone knew it, the void in front of Lin Fan cracked slightly, and the Huang family ancestor was violently pulled out by Lin Fan, without even the slightest power to resist.

"Who exactly are you?" The Huang family ancestor was horrified. He couldn't believe that the young master of the Lin family possessed such strength.

"Lin Fan." Lin Fan said calmly, then spoke in a level tone, as if stating something ordinary: "Huang Tailong, come out."

At that moment, in the main hall of the Huang residence, Huang Tailong was as if struck dumb, sitting paralyzed on the ground, staring at the deep chasm beneath his feet. Hearing his name called, he turned pale with fear.

"I never thought this old man would misjudge someone." The elder who had rushed over from the tavern looked at the scene before him in shock.

"What exactly do you want?" The Huang family ancestor's voice trembled.

"Nothing much. I heard that Huang Tailong was coming to the Lin family to propose marriage, wanting to forcibly marry the three golden flowers of the Lin family. I, Lin Fan, just came to see what abilities he has." Lin Fan said.

"Then why did you destroy my Huang residence?" When the Huang family ancestor heard that this was the reason, he was filled with grief and indignation. Such a trivial matter—was it necessary?

"My hand slipped." Lin Fan smiled faintly.

Hearing this, the Huang family ancestor nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood. Hand slipped? And that destroyed my Huang residence? This... this...