Chapter 66

Chapter 66: All Sides Stir

The news that Lin Zhao had defeated Xu Hao spread through Heavenlink Mirror in the time it took an incense stick to burn.

Newcomers hiding in the forest, watching from the sidelines, began applying in waves to join the alliance Lin Zhao had built.

Of course, Jia Lan’s faction couldn’t miss it.

In the middle ring, Jia Lan stared at Heavenlink Mirror, lips pressed into a thin line as the numbers climbed. “Those dogs who don’t know how to read the room.” His eyes flashed. “They think joining Lin Zhao means they can sleep easy? They should see whether she can even protect herself first!”

Zhao Ji Xing glanced at him, calm as ever. “Lin Zhao has enough people to resist us now. If you talk like that, it makes it sound like we’ve been pushed into a corner.”

Jia Lan knew. He just couldn’t swallow the humiliation.

Zhao Ji Xing watched Heavenlink Mirror, his gentle smile deepening by a hair. “I didn’t expect Lin Zhao to actually have nerve.”

His tone reminded Jia Lan of Lin Zhao’s public words when she formed the alliance. Jia Lan scoffed. “She doesn’t even know where that courage comes from. She may not even win against me, yet she dares challenge Brother Zhao.”

Zhao Ji Xing chuckled softly, but a chill hid under the warmth of his face. “She was probably spoiled on Yun Ding Peak. She doesn’t know what a real heavenly prodigy looks like.” His eyes narrowed. “I’ll teach this Phoenix Maiden what it means to know her place.”

Only Ji Xiao, leaning against an ancient tree with his saber on his shoulder, listened with a trace of disdain.

He didn’t want to admit Lin Zhao’s ability—but Lin Zhao had crawled out from having her Phoenix Fortune stolen, from humiliation on her wedding day. She went to Yun Ding Peak, reclaimed parts of her fortune, entered the South Sea, rebuilt her name, washed away disgrace. One step after another.

If you handed that story to Jia Lan and Zhao Ji Xing, could they have done it?

Ji Xiao’s eyes sharpened, dangerous. “Blood Phoenix… ancient phoenix…” He smiled thinly. “I’ll break the bones of your crippled phoenix and make sure you never get a chance to threaten Wan Tang.”

—

When Lin Zhao returned to the temporary base and saw over a hundred people gathered there, she nodded once.

Now the alliance had real scale.

She just had to forge it into something that could bite.

Lu Yuan hurried up. “Commandery Princess!”

“Brother Yuan can just call me Lin Zhao,” she said, waving him off. “We’re all cultivators. What ‘lord and subject’ is there between us?”

After watching Lu Yuan and the others protect Yao Nian with their lives, Lin Zhao no longer treated them as vassals.

“Our team has 145 confirmed members now,” Lu Yuan reported quickly. “Those are solid. There are still some who say they want to join, but they need to talk to you first. We’ve been waiting for you.”

Lin Zhao patted his shoulder. “You’ve worked hard.”

She opened Heavenlink Mirror and read the messages Lu Yuan had sorted for her. His wording was clean, organized, decisive. It pleased her more than she expected. She grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. “If I were a man and you were a woman, Brother Yuan, I’d carry you home as my virtuous inner helper.”

She meant it as a joke.

Lu Yuan did not take it as a joke.

His ears turned bright red.

Qu Shu coughed. Ming Yue, holding Yao Nian, froze. Yao Nian giggled. “Sister Zhao Zhao was joking. The one she’ll marry in the future is definitely me!”

Ming Yue rubbed the child’s head, caught between laughter and exasperation. “Do you even know what ‘marry’ means?”

“I do!” Yao Nian cupped her cheeks dreamily. “It means I go into Sister Zhao Zhao’s home and live with her for a whole lifetime. That’s Nian Nian’s pursuit!”

Lin Zhao flicked her forehead without looking up, still processing messages. “Stop talking nonsense.”

Lu Yuan’s eye for people was solid. Lin Zhao quickly approved the ones he had passed. As for the remaining thirty who insisted on “talking,” she marked them pending.

Those thirty were all official disciples, including two Enlightenment eighth-level cultivators. Decent fighting power. Pride was natural. Lin Zhao didn’t mind them having demands before they joined.

She told Lu Yuan, “You lead everyone at the base. Explain our plan and schedule. Then pick out those thirty and bring them to me.”

Lu Yuan accepted and went.

When the thirty were brought forward, Lin Zhao could feel the weight of their appraisal. A few didn’t even bother hiding their disdain. The rest wore polite faces, eyes flickering with calculation.

Lin Zhao smiled as if she hadn’t noticed. “You saw my recruitment message on Heavenlink Mirror and applied. Now you want to talk. What do you want to say?”

Silence stretched.

Then a burly man stepped forward, arms crossed, doubt blunt and unashamed. “I came mainly for Newcomer King Qu Shu and Ming Yue. So I have a condition. We change the lead representative.” His gaze raked over Lin Zhao. “Captain Lin, your momentum is big, but you’re only Enlightenment sixth level. How can a mid-stage Enlightenment fight Zhao Ji Xing, an Enlightenment great perfection expert?”

Lin Zhao’s smile didn’t shift. She looked at the others. “You all think the same?”

Several nodded. More than several.

Lin Zhao clasped her hands behind her back and nodded once. “In cultivation level, yes. I’m below Zhao Ji Xing.” Her voice stayed even. “But I’m telling you now: changing the leader is impossible. This alliance was built by my hands. It will be led by my hands.”

Faces darkened.

Lin Zhao continued calmly, “Since you’re here, you know I defeated Xu Hao. Xu Hao’s cultivation and strength—you know them better than I do, right?”

The burly man’s mouth tightened. “That only proves you can wrestle with the so-called Five Newcomer Kings. It doesn’t mean you can fight Zhao Ji Xing.”

Lin Zhao said, “I was Enlightenment sixth level and I beat Enlightenment ninth. What if I step into late-stage Enlightenment?”

The burly man looked like he’d heard a joke. “You think breaking from mid-stage to late-stage is easy? The difficulty from sixth to seventh level is a hundred times harder than the first six levels combined!”

Lin Zhao’s eyes cooled. “You can’t do it. That doesn’t mean I can’t.” She tilted her head. “Do you dare to gamble with me?”

Her words were pure provocation.

These thirty had all been accepted as official disciples by the South Sea. Which of them wasn’t a proud prodigy in their own right?

Someone answered with a mocking tone. “How do you want to gamble?”

“Three days from now,” Lin Zhao said, voice crisp. “I will advance into late-stage Enlightenment. If I succeed, you thirty join the team and obey me without conditions.”

“What big talk,” someone sneered. “Even Ji Wan Tang back then wouldn’t dare claim she could do that in three days!”

Lin Zhao lifted her chin. “That’s because Ji Wan Tang couldn’t. But I, Lin Zhao, can.”

“And if you can’t?” the burly man demanded.

“Then I will willingly give up the captain’s position,” Lin Zhao said without hesitation, “and let you choose the leader.”