Blake Lin stood silently before the man, saying nothing, his head lowered.
"Losing to Jian Han isn’t shameful."
The man looked at Blake Lin, his expression utterly calm: "This time you left the Lin family to compete for a spot on the Divine Ranking."
"Before you left the Lin family, I made an agreement with you: if you lost even once, you’d return home and enter secluded cultivation for a year."
The man’s tone was gentle and soft, as if he felt little emotion at all. Yet when he looked at Blake Lin, there was a faint warmth in his gaze.
"I know."
Blake Lin nodded.
"If you know, why were you so eager to challenge Jian Han?"
The man shook his head. Behind him, on that seemingly desolate wilderness, the four seasons shifted unpredictably.
Spring brings life to all things, summer ignites blazing fire, autumn echoes with cicada songs, winter covers rivers for miles in drifting snow.
The scenery shifted, dazzling and beautiful—truly a marvel.
Yet the man paid no attention whatsoever to his surroundings.
His gaze remained fixed on Blake Lin as he spoke calmly: "I always thought, given your nature, you’d know what should be done—and what shouldn’t."
"As you are now, you couldn’t possibly be a match for Jian Han."
"Not to mention, you left most of your strength behind when you departed."
"Xiao Jian Han may lack a superior bloodline, but his talent is extraordinary and his will is unbreakable. I told you this before you left the Lin family."
"Besides, you’ve been thinking about finding the Ye family girl—I know that, and I didn’t stop you. I thought you’d at least temper yourself for a few years outside, wait until your cultivation deepened, then fight for the Divine Ranking and seek out Jian Han. But I didn’t expect you’d return so soon."
The man’s voice remained steady as he looked at Blake Lin’s face.
Left most of your strength behind.
That phrase sounded rather strange.
Strength is something intangible, formless—let alone something that can be left behind.
Yet when those words reached Blake Lin’s ears, he showed not the slightest sign of discomfort.
To him, it sounded perfectly natural.
"The one who defeated me wasn’t Azure Dragon."
Blake Lin closed his eyes slightly and spoke.
Hearing this, the man’s expression paused: "Was it Vermilion Bird? Black Tortoise? White Tiger?"
"These people are all top experts on the Divine Ranking. With your current strength, I’m afraid you’re still not enough."
All these years, the man had never left the Lin family.
He had countless ways to learn any news he wanted, but he never asked, never listened.
Not because he couldn’t, not because he didn’t want to—just because he simply didn’t care.
"It wasn’t anyone from the Divine Ranking, either."
Blake Lin kept shaking his head: "The person who beat me also has the surname Lin."
"He’s younger than me."
As Blake Lin spoke, the man standing there raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Younger than you?"
The man pondered, then shook his head: "Impossible."
"The superior Lin family blood can rival any mundane blood on Earth today."
"It’s power flowing in your veins—you know what that means."
"Maybe it was some hidden old monster pretending to be young, who struck to break your fighting spirit."
"If you truly admit defeat, then you really have lost."
The man’s voice was indifferent.
"Maybe so."
Blake Lin had no intention of arguing—he was never one for many words: "Before that, I need to sleep. Kind of craving roast chicken, actually."
Blake Lin walked forward, passing by the man’s side.
He’d been thinking about a lot along the way.
Ever since the day he lost to that so-called Master Lin from Seacrest, Blake Lin had been replaying the events in his mind.
Blake Lin just couldn’t figure out how he lost so completely that day.
When Master Lin from Seacrest first appeared, he had absolutely no oppressive aura—he looked like nothing more than an ordinary teenager.
But it was precisely that ordinary appearance that let him use the most extraordinary methods.
From decisively breaking the Four Seasons formation, to later sealing the heavens in ice and snow—each move caught Blake Lin completely off guard.
By the end, Blake Lin had already used every bit of qi he could muster at the time, yet he still couldn’t turn the tide.
But in Blake Lin’s mind, that didn’t really count as losing.
He hadn’t used the Lin family’s secret arts.
He’d been holding back.
First, because the secret arts consumed too much.
Second, Blake Lin felt that unleashing such techniques against a so-called Master Lin from Seacrest would honestly be kind of embarrassing.
After leaving the Ju family’s estate in Beijing...
Blake Lin made his way home on foot, not by car—just his own two legs.
Only today did he finally arrive at the Lin family’s gates.
He kept his head down, passing by the man standing before him.
The Lin family was right in front of him. Blake Lin really was a bit hungry—he wanted to go home, eat some roast chicken, maybe have a cup of tea, or even a steak.
"When will you come out again?"
The man looked at Blake Lin: "You should know—the war that belongs to our Lin family is just around the corner."
"You need to get stronger, keep getting stronger, become unimaginably strong—only then will you have a chance to survive what’s coming."
Survive.
The man said those three words so lightly.
But if any outsider were here, hearing those three words, they’d feel a weight like a mountain.
What kind of existence is the superior Lin family, anyway?
Any one of them could shake all of Beijing just by showing up.
They’re the most mysterious, most powerful clan in all the rumors and legends.
This was the terrifying family that produced the leader of the Four Hidden Dragon Saints—Azure Dragon.
If Blake Lin wanted, he could casually spread a rumor or tell a lie, and all of China would dance to his words.
The blood of this family is power.
The surname of this family is status.
Even the flowers, grass, and trees of this family are legends.
Yet even in such a powerful clan, everyone must consider how to survive the future.
If these words got out, it would shake all of China.
"Yeah, being alive is pretty nice."
Blake Lin nodded, as if he’d long since gotten used to it.
He kept walking.