The three Qian Li Xue horses were galloping at full speed down the large road.
Inside the carriage, Duan Feng and Jing Yun were sitting next to each while Lin Feng and Meng Qing were sitting next to each. Both pairs were sat face to face.
"Lin Feng, how did Meng Qing and you get to know each other?"
Jing Yun was staring at Meng Qing but Meng Qing remained expressionless since the beginning. It seemed like the muscles on her face hadn't moved at all. The fact that she was expressionless though actually made her even more beautiful. Her beauty was truly breathtaking.
Jing Yun didn't ask Lin Feng how he had survived the massacre of the Yun Hai Sect because she was scared to touch on Lin Feng's fresh wound. It was obvious that he was still greatly wounded in his heart. It was strange though, Lin Feng had survived and all the others had died.
Of course, Jing Yun wasn't going to blame Lin Feng for that. On the contrary, she was very happy that Lin Feng had survived. The fact that he was alive was the most important thing to her right now.
"We met in the mountains."
Lin Feng vaguely replied to Jing Yun because Meng Qing might not have appreciated if Lin Feng shared her past with others.
"Oh, well, why are you heading to the Imperial City then?" asked Jing Yun
The Imperial City was full of extremely strong cultivators. It was the place which held the best cultivators of the Xue Yue Country. There were also a great deal of them looking for Lin Feng.
"Because there are a great many people in the Imperial City." replied Lin Feng but Jing Yun didn't hear him.
"And you, Jing Yun? Why are you going to the Imperial City?" asked Lin Feng while looking at Jing Yun and Duan Feng. From what Jing Yun had told Lin Feng before, it seemed that Duan Feng had asked for her to accompany him to the Imperial City and that he was going there because he had people to meet. Duan Feng had to leave immediately and travel all the way from his small town without stop which meant the people he had to meet were most likely not ordinary people.
Jing Yun glanced at Duan Feng who was sitting next to her. Duan Feng was laughing and said: "Lin Feng, big brother, Jing Yun is accompanying me to the Imperial City because my big brother wants me to go there to practice cultivation at a cultivation academy."
"Academy?" said Lin Feng looking perplexed and then asked: "The Holy Courtyard of Xue Yue?"
"No." said Duan Feng while shaking his head: "The Celestial Academy."
"The Celestial Academy?" Lin Feng was surprised. He had never heard of the Celestial Academy.
"Indeed, the Celestial Academy." Duan Feng said while nodding and then added: "The Celestial Academy is not very famous. Not many people know about it. Actually, it doesn't accept external applicants. Someone who is already there has to recommend you which is why my big brother recommended me."
"Recommend? Not external applicants?" Lin Feng was surprised. Were academies like sects but with a slight difference?
In a sect, like the Yun Hai Sect, there was a countless number of disciples. They were then separated into different classes: ordinary, elite and core disciples. Then, there were the ordinary and the elite elders. The hierarchy was extremely strict and disciples had to rely almost exclusively on their own abilities to climb up in the hierarchy and to receive consideration from the sect.
Academies were something new in the Xue Yue Country. They only accepted young people who were extremely talented. They had cultivation teachers and received the best weapons and other resources. Teachers helped the juniors to become strong cultivators.
Before, in the Xue Yue Country, there were no academies. It was a concept which had come from another land. Therefore, there were very few academies in the country and they were not famous at all. They couldn't be compared with the foundation of the large sects.
The establishment of the Holy Courtyard of Xue Yue enabled some of the most outstanding and talented young cultivators to receive instruction. The Holy Courtyard of Xue Yue was being established to counterbalance the importance of sects and less popular academies within the country.
"Lin Feng, brother, you are a Yun Hai Sect disciple. You're probably just as strong as Jing Yun. When the right moment comes, I'll talk to my big brother and see if there's a way for you to join the Celestial Academy."
Duan Feng was smiling sincerely. Even though he was still very young, he was already very mature. Besides, he had a strong personality considering the way he had talked to these arrogant guards.
"Oh yes! Lin Feng, you should come to the Celestial Academy."
Jing Yun's expression started to brighten. The Yun Hai Sect had been annihilated so if Lin Feng joined the Celestial Academy then it wouldn't be treason against the sect. Besides, Jing Yun didn't even ask herself if Lin Feng was strong enough.
During the first round of the Elite Disciple Exam, Jing Yun had seen with her own eyes how strong Lin Feng was. He had killed an elite disciple with a single strike from his sword and had then become an elite disciple.
Lin Feng was laughing but didn't reply. Even though the Yun Hai Sect had been annihilated, Lin Feng was the new Patriarch of the Yun Hai Sect!
...
The carriage was already far away from the small town. The evening sun was shining down on the earth. Inside of the carriage, Lin Feng, Duan Feng and Jing Yun were unceasingly chatting while Meng Qing was quiet and had closed her eyes. She looked like she had fallen asleep. She looked extremely peaceful and serene as she rocked back and forth with the carriage.
Lin Feng took off his top and wrapped it around Meng Qing's shoulder. The temperature was quite low and Meng Qing had put on such light weight robes.
At that moment, Jing Yun made a weird face.
A short while after, Meng Qing opened her eyes, looked around her and noticed Lin Feng's top wrapped around her shoulder. She looked very surprised. She had never experienced such a thing before so she found it quite strange.
"Broom vroom vroom…." the carriage suddenly started shaking.
At that moment, Uncle Wang pulled on the reins and stopped the carriage. The ground was still shaking. It was getting more and more intense.
"Uncle Wang, what's wrong?" asked Duan Feng from inside.
"Young master, there are thieves. Don't come out. I will negotiate with them." said Uncle Wang strictly.
Uncle Wang then went towards the thieves to negotiate with them.
"Ahhh..."
A short moment after, a horrible shriek was heard which scared those inside the carriage.
"Send me someone who knows how to talk!" shouted an extremely aggressive voice.
"I'm going to see." said Duan Feng hastily. He then immediately went out of the carriage followed closely by Lin Feng and Jing Yun. Meng Qing didn't follow them and stayed inside the carriage.
Not far from the carriage there were a few dozens of thieves who didn't look very friendly.
"I'm going to see ." said one of the guards as he walked towards the thieves.
"Everybody, we..." said the young guard.
These thieves were riding horses. One of them, who was holding a dagger in his hand, jumped off his horse and threw himself at the young guard.
The young man was extremely surprised, he suddenly grabbed his spear and thrust it towards the dagger.
But at that moment, the thief had already reached the young guard and slit his throat with the dagger. Blood was gushing from the young guard's throat as he fell lifelessly onto the ground.
Jing Yun was stupefied. Because of all the blood which was so close to her, she was overcome with nausea. Her face turned deathly pale.
"I said, send me someone who knows how to speak! That girl doesn't seem too bad!"
The thief was pointing at Jing Yun with his dagger. At that moment, all the other thieves laughed evilly.
"Indeed! Yes! We want to talk to that pretty girl!" said the thieves in unison while thinking of other obscene things.
When Jing Yun heard what these thieves were saying, her face looked even more livid.
"Jing Yun, get into the carriage." said Lin Feng to Jing Yun while pushing her towards the carriage.
"Little boy, you surprisingly dare hide the girl, you want to die…"
Every single thief was looking at Lin Feng furiously.
"Indeed, we have to kill that guy and take the girl to make us happy!"
"What the hell are you doing?"
Wan Qing Shan was furiously shouting at Lin Feng. He was furious.
Lin Feng was stupefied and coldly looking at Wan Qing Shan. What was he doing? It sounded like Wan Qing Shan wanted him to hand over Jing Yun to the thieves.
"You little piece of trash. You're causing trouble. Now, this is your problem and if you want to escape, don't count on us to rescue you. We won't help you."
Wang Qing Shan was expressionless. He was curious to see what kind of disciples the Yun Hai Sect had.
"I don't need your kind of help." replied Lin Feng coldly before running towards the thieves.
"I'll talk to you guys for a while."
Lin Feng was standing close to the leader of the bandits as he spoke with a cold tone.
"You want to die!"
A thief with a long dagger jumped towards Lin Feng while stabbing with his dagger, which emitted a whistling sound as it pierced through the air.
Suddenly there was a dazzling light which filled the air. Lin Feng had unsheathed his soft sword.
No one had seen his movement and he slowly began to sheath his sword. Suddenly blood splashed everywhere from the thieves throat. The thief was dead.
Lin Feng's speed had greatly increased and his speed alone proved that Lin Feng was an extremely powerful cultivator. Therefore, he could carry out attacks very quickly. His sword skills were extremely high and he would often kill people with a single strike from his sword.
How was this possible? How had that thief been killed with a single movement?
"He was no good, Give me someone else to talk too, alright?" said Lin Feng indifferently towards the thieves. Lin Feng had noticed how young some of them were.
It seemed like only one sword strike had been enough to scare the majority of them.
Wan Qing Shan was stupefied. He wasn't happy because Lin Feng had killed a thief, on the contrary, he was unpleasantly surprised to see that Lin Feng was so strong.
They were unable to guess what Lin Feng's cultivation level was as he had only used a single quick strike. They only knew that he could use his sword extremely quickly to deal lethal strikes.
"My friend, this thing has nothing to do with you. You don't need to get involved." said the leader of the thieves in a low voice to Lin Feng which showed how terrified he was. Lin Feng was stupefied.
Lin Feng was suspicious though and said: "Didn't you want to kill me a moment ago? I'm waiting for you."
"Hmph, since you are being like this then don't blame us for being impolite."
The leader of the thieves looked at all the other thieves and said: "Kill him."
Three thieves headed towards Lin Feng at full speed. Lin Feng was surrounded by the attacks from three different people.
"Die."
A thief had thrust his long dagger which was diffusing an extremely strong Qi towards Lin Feng's body. It was the same sensation as in the Stormy Gorge when he faced the soldiers Qi. However the difference between their strengths was like heaven and earth.
"Die."
Another voice filled the air. A long dagger was spinning in the air which looked incredibly dangerous.
All the thieves on their horses were simultaneously moving towards Lin Feng to kill him.
Lin Feng suddenly jumped up in the air. While it looked like he was seemingly floating in the air, he adopted a strange position. At that moment, he was at the same height as the thieves sitting on their horses.
"Deadly sword."
Lin Feng's sword was glowing and releasing a dazzling light into the atmosphere. It released an incredible amount of deadly Qi which created a vortex in the air. In the blink of an eye, the thieves were surrounded by an incredible amount of Qi.
Lin Feng's deadly sword Qi suddenly had the shape of a magnificent arc as it slashed through the air. The horses were going insane and neighing. All the thieves were falling down lifelessly from the back of their horses one after the other.
With a single sword strike, all of them had been killed!