The Prodigies War

On the same night, Mu Wansu had just returned to Stone Cauldron Alms from a banquet organized by the owners of major businesses. Only the leaders of the top chamber of commerce in Donglin City had received the invitation.

Mu Wansu was under the impression that something huge had happened but who would have thought that the conversations in the banquet centered around Golden Jade Hall?

The previously unknown shop had created a sensation in the city over the past two days. However, today, many business leaders couldn’t maintain their composure anymore and gathered together to discuss countermeasures.

Donglin City wasn’t particularly huge and the local territory had long been cleanly divided but Golden Jade Hall had suddenly emerged to compete with them. The other businesses naturally couldn’t tolerate this.

Unfortunately, the business leaders couldn’t come to a unified countermeasure at the banquet. They each had their own plans and there weren't enough benefits for them to unite. How could they stand on the same side?

Most importantly, Golden Jade Hall had emerged too suddenly. It had managed to create such a huge sensation in just two days, making it difficult for other businesses to effectively guard against it. It was already too late to stop Golden Jade Hall from rising.

However, Mu Wansu had no interest in suppressing Golden Jade Hall. She knew very well that Stone Cauldron Alms was only regarded as an outsider in the eyes of the three local great forces, Wu Corporation, Boundless Treasure Pavilion and Profound Gold, and they had a cruelly competitive relationship.

Therefore, Mu Wansu was in no mood to get involved.

When she returned to Stone Cauldron Alms and came to her residence, she was surprised to see someone waiting for her.

“Wang Lin, what happened?” asked Mu Wansu.

It turned out the man who had been waiting was Wang Lin. His expression turned complicated when he saw Mu Wansu. “Miss Wansu, have you heard about what happened in front of Golden Jade Hall today?”

Why is it about Golden Jade Hall again!?

Mu Wansu frowned, looking a little distracted. “Yes. What's wrong?”

Wang Lin took a deep breath and asked tentatively, “Miss Mansu, do you know about the Flame Blade’s origin?”

Mu Wansu’s face suddenly lit up with interest. She invited Wang Lin into her room and asked, “Do you know who the owner of the aeth tool is?”

After what happened at the banquet, Mu Wansu began to grow curious about who could make such a unique blade.

The blade was given a new name—Flame Blade because of the power upgrade. This was a great honor for a certain rune master.

Just like the owners of other businesses, Mu Wansu was planning to do everything possible to make the rune master join Stone Cauldron Alms!

Wang Lin shook his head. “I don't know who made the Flame Blade, but I do know who sold it to Golden Jade Hall.”

Mu Wansu’s spirits were lifted and her eyes glistened as she said, “Oh, let’s hear it.”

Seeing her response, Wang Lin hesitated for a moment before whispering, “Miss Wansu, do you remember that Lin Xun came to Stone Cauldron Alms yesterday?”

Mu Wansu looked displeased. “Why are you mentioning that boy at such a time? Wait, could it be—”

Her beautiful face abruptly changed. “Don’t tell me it’s that bastard Lin Xun?”

Wang Lin nodded bitterly.

Mu Wansu’s mood instantly changed. Her bright and beautiful face grew overcast. It was only after a long while that she said out loud, “You mean that the aeth tool he came to sell to Stone Cauldron Alms yesterday is the Flame Blade that stirred the entire city?

Although Wang Lin could tell that Mu Wansu wasn’t in a good mood, he finally nodded, “Yes, I personally examined the blade yesterday. I can confirm that it is the same as the one I appraised in Golden Jade Hall. It is absolutely the one that Lin Xun brought to Stone Cauldron Alms yesterday.”

Bang!

Mu Wansu crushed the teacup in her hand. Her full, seductive chest heaved up and down, which showed how great her emotions were fluctuating.

Indeed, she had never expected such a coincidence. She had smugly driven Lin Xun out of the store and drew a line with him.

However, she learned that the little bastard in her eyes was the one who helped Golden Jade Hall rise to fame!

The thing that annoyed her the most was that the Flame Blade would have belonged to Stone Cauldron Alms if she hadn’t made that decision yesterday!

“Why didn't you say so earlier?” Mu Wansu gave Wang Lin a cold-eyed stare.

Wang Lin smiled wryly. “I came to an agreement on price with Lin Xun yesterday but Miss Wansu—you were very determined so I—”

Mu Wansu snapped, “You didn’t tell me the Explosive Aeth Blade was that amazing!”

Indignant from the reprimand, Wang Lin retorted, “I told you yesterday but you said that it’s just an Explosion Blade and is worthless no matter how unique it is.”

Mu Wansu suddenly remembered that she did indeed say something along those lines yesterday. She couldn’t help but feel humiliated.

She didn’t care about the Flame Blade, but she was more concerned about the rune master who made the Flame Blade!

If they could hire the rune master to work for Stone Cauldron Alms, it would bring immeasurable benefits to Stone Cauldron Alms!

Since Lin Xun was the one who sold the blade, he had to know the blade’s origin but Mu Wansu had ruined everything with her own hands.

Mu Wansu was full of regret. She wouldn’t have drawn a line with Lin Xun yesterday if she had known about this.

That bastard is so annoying! Mu Wansu cursed in her mind. She found that she always suffered bad luck when she ran into Lin Xun. She originally thought that she had gotten revenge for previous issues but who would have thought that karma would come back to her?

Could that little bastard be my nemesis?

Mu Wansu felt a headache coming on, and with nowhere to vent her fury, her bright and beautiful face reeked with anger.

Wang Lin couldn’t help but say, “Miss Wansu, this might be a good thing. In Donglin City, likely only Golden Jade Hall and we know that the Flame Blade came from Lin Xun. This works to our advantage. As long as we can find Young Master Lin Xun, we can find the mysterious rune master who made the Flame Blade. Then, we can immediately invite the rune master to work in Stone Cauldron Alms. It would be a great blessing!”

Mu Wansu said hesitantly, “You mean you want me to clear the air between that kid and I?”

Wang Lin said in surprise, “Miss Wansu, do you have some deep-rooted hatred towards Young Master Lin Xun?”

“No.” Mu Wansu shook her head. There is no deep hatred, just...personal grudges!

Wang Lin smiled. “In that case, I will pay Young Master Lin Xun a visit on behalf of Miss Wansu. I believe that as long as we show sincerity, Young Master Lin Xun wouldn’t mind about the past.”

Mu Wansu felt flames of fury surging in her heart at the thought of bowing her head to Lin Xun. She suddenly raised her eyebrows and waved her hand. “No!”

Wang Lin froze.

Mu Wansu said coldly, “Lin Xun is only at the fifth layer True Martial Stage and he came from the remote Feiyun Village. Given his identity, how could he have anything to do with the mysterious rune master? He must have gotten his hands on the Flame Blade by accident. It’s not worth wasting any effort on him.”

Wang Lin disagreed. “But what if—”

Mu Wansu continued, “Even if he knows the mysterious rune master, we can deal with this matter in the future. Our priority now is to watch the situation and see whether Lin Xun played a role in all this.”

Mu Wansu had long regained her self-confidence. You want to make me, Mu Wansu, bow my head? Impossible!

Wang Lin sighed inwardly. He got up and was about to take his leave.

“Send someone to watch Lin Xun’s movements tomorrow and note down who he comes into contact with him every day. Perhaps we can obtain clues about the mysterious rune master that way.” Mu Wansu ordered.

Wang Lin nodded and left.

Everything they talked about revolved around the mysterious rune master but they would have never expected the mysterious rune master to be Lin Xun.

In truth, how could Lin Xun, who only possessed a fifth layer True Martial Stage cultivation base, create an aeth tool?

In the history of the Ziyao Empire, there had been rune masters at the True Martial Stage able to make aeth tools but only a very few existed. Only one was seen in hundreds of years.

How could Lin Xun possibly be one of those unrivaled rune masters?

Neither Mu Wansu nor Wang Lin believed he could.

Furthermore, the Flame Blade was particularly unique in that its power was twenty percent higher than that of ordinary lower human grade aeth tools. How could an ordinary True Martial Stage boy make it? It was impossible for even ordinary rune masters!

Therefore, not only Mu Wansu and Wang Lin, but even Gu Yanping from Golden Jade Hall had also thought that Lin Xun and the mysterious rune master were two separate people.

Wang Lin had left, but Mu Wansu was inexplicably irritable. Lin Xun's figure constantly flashed to her mind like a ghost haunting her.

Mu Wansu bit her plump red lips, and her beautiful and delicate face changed indefinitely. Sometimes, she gritted her teeth, sometimes she frowned in worry, and sometimes she spaced out.

“That little bastard is sent here to torture people!"

In the end, Mu Wansu let out a faint sigh.

……

At night, Lin Xun successfully made another Flame Blade, but he wasn’t as surprised as he was compared to the first two times he tried.

The only thing now was that he was very pleased and satisfied with the fact that his perception power had increased a level after illuminating the second spirit star. It was much sharper and more sensitive compared to before, and it was much easier to control when he was engraving rune patterns.

Soon, Xia Zhi returned home and saw Lin Xun sitting quietly and cultivating on the bed. She didn’t disturb him and boiled water by herself. After washing herself, she lay on the bed gazing deeply at Lin Xun’s sharp and angular face.

Xia Zhi also had looked at the intelligence about the Wu Clan from Fatty Diao. She knew that the matter was a little tricky for Lin Xun to handle so she had decided to do something.

Lin Xun’s eyes suddenly snapped open and he said, “I don’t object to you fighting in this area but I already have a plan regarding the Wu Clan. I won’t let you take any risks.”

His expression was unusually serious and even a little stern.

Xia Zhi’s huge black, crescent-shaped eyes widened before she stared at Lin Xun for a long moment. She hummed gently and closed her eyes. But there was a strange feeling in her heart. What was she actually thinking?

Xia Zhi didn’t even realize that there was an imperceptible smile on her lips. She seemed to be very happy…