71: Chapter 71 Imperial Marriage? My Dao Companion, you dare to be betrothed to me?!
The phantom of the Phoenix Emperor lowered its proud head.
His phoenix eyes, burning with divine gold flames, bypassed Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss, who had lost all his cultivation, and ignored Lin Yuan, who was like an ant by the stone table, to lock directly onto the Azure Nether Sword Emperor.
The Azure Nether Sword Emperor slowly stood up.
He didn't even look up; he merely used the pad of his finger to gently brush over the warm, smooth texture of the wooden sword at his waist.
“The Phoenix Emperor has graced us with his presence. What advice do you have?”
His movements were not fast, and his tone was not rushed.
But the void before him rippled with invisible circles following the movement of his hand on the sword.
The Emperor's pressure, which was enough to crush mountains and rivers, melted away silently like spring snow meeting boiling water the moment it touched the ripples.
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss remained seated, his mountain-like body motionless, but his resolute face was filled with gravity.
He was currently just a mortal body; in a confrontation between such existences, even the qualification to be a bystander seemed like a luxury.
“Advice is out of the question.”
“This Emperor is here to deliver a heaven-sent fortune.”
As soon as the words fell, those burning phoenix eyes finally deigned to move away from the Azure Nether Sword Emperor.
His gaze fell upon Lin Yuan.
It was a look of scrutiny.
It carried pickiness, and even more so, an unavoidable possessiveness.
“This Emperor has come for him.”
Feng Qiwu's voice, this time, transformed into an irresistible heavenly decree.
“This child has peerless talent and carries great providence. What is even rarer is that he could actually comprehend the supreme Nirvana True Intent of my Feng Clan on his own.”
“Such a piece of unpolished jade should not be buried in these ruins of yours.”
He paused for a moment, and then the high-and-mighty announcement finally descended!
“This Emperor shall take charge and betroth the current Imperial Daughter of the Feng Clan, Feng Qingyi, to him.”
“By entering my Southern Border Feng Clan, this Emperor can personally protect his path and exhaust all the clan's resources to help him reach the peak of the Emperor Realm!”
“From then on, he will be the Imperial Son-in-law of my Feng Clan. In this Yan Country, no one will dare to touch him in the slightest!”
Boom!
Every word was like a meteorite crashing into the back mountain!
An Emperor Realm powerhouse personally coming to the door!
Bestowing a marriage to the Imperial Daughter!
Promising to use the entire clan's power to help him become an Emperor!
Such conditions were enough to make any genius or any power in Yan Country go completely insane!
What a glory and fortune to reach the heavens in a single step!
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss's burly body shook slightly, and his eyes were instantly filled with complexity as he looked at Lin Yuan.
However, the Azure Nether Sword Emperor merely looked at the sea of fire in the sky with indifference.
“Phoenix Emperor, Lin Yuan is not my puppet.”
“His path is his own to walk.”
“I will not interfere, and no one can force him.”
His attitude was incredibly clear, handing the right to choose, which could change a life, completely back to Lin Yuan.
Feng Qiwu's phantom did not get angry, as if he had already expected Azure Nether to act this way.
His gaze turned to Lin Yuan, waiting for the answer he believed was the only one possible.
Being watched by this colossus that overlooked the ages, Lin Yuan didn't even raise his head.
He just looked down, staring at the slight ripples in his teacup and the young, cold face reflected in them.
“Heh...”
A light chuckle escaped his lips.
The voice wasn't loud, but it clearly pierced the soul of everyone present.
“Marry into the Feng Clan? Marry Feng Qingyi?”
Lin Yuan finally raised his head, and those pitch-black eyes held no hint of being overwhelmed by favor, only a bottomless mockery.
“A defeated opponent is worthy of being my, Lin Yuan's, Dao companion?”
“A self-righteous Imperial Clan is worthy of planning my, Lin Yuan's, future?”
“My, Lin Yuan's, marriage cannot be decided by the Heavens!”
“The Earth cannot control it!”
“What kind of thing is your mere Feng Clan?!”
“Presumptuous!”
Feng Qiwu's phantom finally became enraged. In those giant eyes, the golden divine flames flared up crazily, and a sky-burning pressure crashed down!
But that pressure was held firmly three feet above Lin Yuan's head by an invisible sword intent barrier, unable to advance another inch.
The Azure Nether Sword Emperor's figure remained as straight as a sword.
“I said, his path is his own to choose.”
Feng Qiwu's anger was forcibly cut off. He gave the Azure Nether Sword Emperor a deep look, and then his gaze turned back to Lin Yuan, leaving only pure coldness and indifference.
“I will give you one last chance.”
“Take back your words.”
Lin Yuan sneered. He stood up and brushed off non-existent dust from his clothes, as if brushing away something dirty.
“My path, I walk it myself; everything I have, I fight for it myself!”
“A future traded for with a woman is the begging of a weakling, not my, Lin Yuan's, martial way!”
The mockery on Lin Yuan's face completely vanished, replaced by a coldness and obsession that even made the Emperor Realm powerhouse take notice.
“Furthermore.”
“Before I can crush all rules with one hand, I, Lin Yuan, do not need anything in my life that can be called a 'weakness'.”
“Your Imperial Daughter and your clan would only be a burden to me.”
“Courting death!”
The hundred-zhang Emperor shadow suddenly raised its hand. A giant claw entirely condensed from Nirvana Divine Flames tore through the firmament and grabbed down towards Lin Yuan's head!
This claw was enough to instantly erase a great city from the map!
However, Lin Yuan still stood where he was, neither dodging nor avoiding.
He didn't need to hide.
Qiang—!
A clear sword cry suddenly resounded through heaven and earth!
The Azure Nether Sword Emperor had made his move.
Without any earth-shattering phenomena, he simply raised his hand, joined his fingers like a sword, and made a gentle stroke toward the sky.
An almost transparent green sword mark erupted from his fingertips.
The sword mark surged upward without power or sound, yet it precisely struck the weakest law node of the flaming giant claw.
There was no explosion.
There was no collision.
The Nirvana Divine Flame, which was enough to burn mountains and boil seas, began to silently disintegrate and collapse from within the moment it touched the green sword mark, turning into the purest fire elements and dissipating into the world.
“Feng Qiwu, you've overstepped.”
The Azure Nether Sword Emperor withdrew his finger, his voice carrying a chill for the first time.
“To move against my person on the territory of my Yuanwu Academy.”
“Do you want to have a bout with me?”
The red-gold Emperor shadow in the sky stared intently at the Azure Nether Sword Emperor, its burning phoenix eyes filled with wariness.
A long time passed.
The tyrannical pressure slowly receded.
“Azure Nether, you'd better watch yourself.”
The red-gold sea of fire in the sky churned violently, and finally, the massive phantom took one last look at Lin Yuan.
That look was as sharp as a blade with killing intent, yet it was mixed with an inexplicable hint of regret.
“Foolish beyond compare.”
As the words fell, the sea of fire covering the sky and the Emperor shadow vanished instantly.
The sky returned to its clear state.
The back mountain returned to a dead silence.
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss looked at Lin Yuan and said heavily, “You rejected a massive fortune and also made an unimaginable mortal enemy for yourself.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Regret?”
Lin Yuan chewed on those words and then shook his head.
He didn't look at the two Emperor Realm powerhouses again but turned and walked step by step toward the stone gate sealing the Ancient Desolate Secret Realm.
To be treated as a chess piece.
To be treated as goods that could be manipulated and traded at will.
This feeling of having his fate controlled by others made Lin Yuan's soul roar in anger!
In the end, he was still not strong enough!
If he were in the Emperor Realm or God Realm today, who would dare mention the words 'bestowed marriage' in front of him?
Who would dare use that charitable posture to decide his future?
Power!
He needed even greater power!
He needed absolute power, enough to crush all rules and blow apart all enemies!
He had to become stronger!
At the fastest speed!
Regardless of the cost!
He wanted to make those high-and-mighty Imperial Clans understand that he, Lin Yuan, was not a pawn on a chessboard to be manipulated!
He was here to overturn the entire chessboard!