The following day at noon.
The hangover headache made Lin Tianhu rub his temples, but he was in excellent spirits.
The thought of accepting an unparalleled genius rarely seen in ten thousand years three days later, and the imminent rise of Outer Blade Hall, made this slight discomfort nothing.
He pushed open the door and stepped outside, preparing to head to the hall to handle affairs.
"Hall Master, good morning!"
A passing disciple bowed respectfully, but his face held an unmistakable hint of gossip. "I heard you're taking on a disciple, Hall Master! And it's a new junior brother who only joined a few days ago?"
Lin Tianhu clasped his hands behind his back and nodded with great satisfaction, putting on the dignified air of a hall master.
"That's right. You're pretty well-informed. Three days from now, I'll hold an Apprentice Ceremony before the entire hall."
The excitement on the disciple's face deepened. Lowering his voice, he edged closer. "Hall Master, then... is the rumor true? I heard that new junior brother is a heaven-defying genius who cultivated Positive Yang Force to the fourth layer in just seven days, becoming a third-rate expert outright?"
The smugness on Lin Tianhu's face instantly froze.
He whipped around and stared at the disciple.
"How did you know?"
Aside from himself and Li Feiyu, only Vice Hall Master Ma, who had been there the previous night, knew about this.
Vice Hall Master Ma was from the Inner Sect. There was no way the news could have reached the ears of an Outer Disciple so quickly.
The disciple was startled by his sudden stern reaction and instinctively replied, "It... it was Senior Brother Li who told us! He told several people last night. By now, the entire Outer Sect has practically heard about it!"
"Li! Fei! Yu!"
The three words were forced through Lin Tianhu's clenched teeth, and a wave of fury shot straight to his head.
"That little bastard! I knew I couldn't trust that loose mouth of his!"
He no longer cared about maintaining a hall master's dignity. After cursing, he strode away furiously toward his hall, ready to drag out that good-for-nothing who could never accomplish anything but always ruined things and teach him a proper lesson.
However, just as he charged into the courtyard of the hall, before he could even call out,
a young man dressed in the robes of an Inner Sect disciple came forward and bowed respectfully to him.
"Hall Master Lin."
Lin Tianhu forcibly swallowed his anger. He recognized this man as a trusted disciple serving at the Sect Master's side.
"What is it?"
The Inner Sect disciple spoke neither obsequiously nor arrogantly. "On the Sect Master's orders, I've come to invite Hall Master Lin to the Council Hall. There is an important matter to discuss."
Lin Tianhu's heart gave a thump.
As expected, the matter had alarmed the higher-ups.
The disciple paused, then added another sentence—and that sentence caused Lin Tianhu's heart to sink completely.
"The Sect Master also specifically instructed that you must bring your hall's newly accepted disciple, Han Feng, with you."
It was over.
The matter had completely slipped beyond his control.
A moment later.
With a dark expression, Lin Tianhu led Han Feng, who still wore a dazed and bewildered look, into the Council Hall of the Seven Profound Sect's highest seat of power—the Inner Sect Council Hall.
Han Feng was indeed putting on an act, but he was also genuinely a little uneasy.
This was a much bigger lineup than he had anticipated.
At that moment, the spacious hall was filled with dignitaries, and figures crowded every corner.
The hall masters and vice hall masters of nearly all the Inner Sect's halls in the Seven Profound Sect had gathered.
The moment he entered, dozens of gazes shot toward him in unison. Like searchlights, they swept over him from head to toe.
Those gazes held scrutiny, surprise, and an undisguised fervor.
It was not the feeling of being looked at as a person, but as a peerless piece of jade or a rare treasure.
Lin Tianhu instinctively stepped forward and shielded Han Feng behind him, warily eyeing this group of old foxes.
Yet his action was completely useless.
A chubby man with a genial smile—the Hall Master of Four Seas Hall—had already risen from his seat and walked over of his own accord.
"Brother Lin, don't be so stingy. I heard Outer Blade Hall recently found a promising sapling? Bring him over and let your brother have a look too, won't you?"
Before his voice had even faded, a lean, sharp-eyed old man in his fifties rose from the other side. He was the Hall Master of Flying Bird Hall.
"Little brother, don't be afraid. Come over and let this old man examine your bone structure."
"Exactly, exactly. Old Lin, why are you hiding him away?"
"A talent like this belongs in the hands of someone who can nurture him. Leaving him in your Outer Blade Hall, full of nothing but brawlers, wouldn't that be a waste?"
For a time, several hall masters slowly gathered around. They chattered among themselves, pointing at Han Feng and sizing him up, completely treating Lin Tianhu as if he were air.
He had cultivated the fourth layer of Positive Yang Force in seven days!
What did that mean?
It was a miracle that even the founding patriarch might not have been capable of accomplishing if he came back to life!
If a disciple like this could be accepted and carefully nurtured, then within ten years, the Seven Profound Sect would surely gain another top-tier expert!
Who wouldn't be envious of such heaven-defying fortune? Who wouldn't be tempted?
Lin Tianhu's eyes widened, and he was so furious his lungs nearly burst.
These bastards... how did they all know?
That little whelp Li Feiyu!
When I get back, I'm not only going to flay him alive—I'm going to pull out his bones and boil them into soup!
Just as his fury overwhelmed him and he prepared to argue with the group, a guilty voice sounded beside him.
"Ahem... Old Lin."
It was Vice Hall Master Ma, who had drunk with him the previous night. He now wore an awkward expression and did not dare meet Lin Tianhu's eyes.
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