Hidden Hatred

"What do you mean by experiences beyond those of ordinary people?"

Lin Dong had a vague idea of the answer, but he wasn't sure. He wanted to hear it from Lin Ge himself.

The change in Lin Dong's eyes was subtle, but Lin Ge still noticed it.

He burst into wild, almost frenzied laughter. "I can tell that deep down, you have an enemy—someone you dream of defeating! Am I right?"

Lin Dong's body suddenly trembled. He stared at the boy before him in disbelief, his heart in turmoil.

How did he know?

Did he investigate me?

Countless thoughts surged through Lin Dong's mind, but he couldn't understand how Lin Ge had discovered the secret buried in his heart.

He wanted to know. He had hidden this secret well—even his parents knew nothing about it!

Lin Dong's Lin Clan was a rather small family. Even in Green Sun Town, it couldn't be considered among the best. Yet this seemingly unremarkable Lin Clan had a background that was enough to leave people dumbstruck: the Lin Clan Branch.

One of the Four Great Clans of the Great Yan Dynasty!

The Lin Clan in Green Sun Town was only an outer branch of the Lin Clan Branch. But to Lin Dong, who had never left Green Sun Town, the Lin Clan Branch—with its terrifying power in the Great Yan Dynasty—was utterly distant and unfamiliar.

Lin Zhentian had once belonged to the Lin Clan Branch's Inner Clan. But after failing a mission and causing the clan to suffer heavy losses, he was expelled from the Inner Clan and sent to Green Sun Town.

There, he founded this small Lin Clan. For decades, he had done everything in his power to return to the Lin Clan's Inner Clan. That was the ultimate goal he had strived toward for years.

Sadly, his efforts were insignificant to the enormous Lin Clan Branch. So he had to set his hopes on something else: the clan gathering held once every ten years.

It was a major event for the Lin Clan Branch, and it was famous throughout the Great Yan Dynasty.

Held once every ten years, the gathering brought together all the clan's gifted young disciples, giving them a chance to make their names known across the land.

The rewards were generous, but what stirred Lin Zhentian's heart was another prize.

Anyone who broke into the top ten could enter the Inner Clan directly, regardless of whether they had committed a crime or belonged to an outer branch. It was a path to boundless glory!

However, Lin Zhentian was simply too old. He had already surpassed the gathering's age limit, so he could only seek hope in his descendants.

It was around then that Lin Dong's father displayed unparalleled talent and became Lin Zhentian's hope.

Faced with this crushing burden, Lin Dong's father did not disappoint Lin Zhentian. In just four years, he broke through again and again, becoming the Lin Clan's second Heaven Origin Realm expert after Lin Zhentian.

His pace of advancement made even the usually stern Lin Zhentian smile warmly every day.

They said those were the happiest days of Lin Zhentian's life—the days he smiled the most.

The ten-year clan gathering arrived as scheduled, but the final result left the Lin Clan stunned.

One move!

With just one move, the man Lin Zhentian had regarded as his hope—Lin Dong's father—was utterly defeated!

And that was only the very first match of the tournament!

Years of effort turned to bubbles in an instant.

If that had been all, Lin Dong wouldn't have grown to hate him so much.

After all, the other man had won fair and square. He hadn't resorted to schemes or trickery.

But what he should never have done—what he had no right to do—was wreck every meridian in Lin Dong's father's body. His cultivation not only fell below the Earth Origin Realm, but unless he encountered some extraordinary opportunity, he would never advance another step in his life!

His actions were no different from destroying another man's life. From that day on, the clan members' looks of respect gradually turned into sighs and mockery.

Whenever Lin Dong saw his father getting drunk alone in the courtyard, pounding his own chest in despair, his heart felt as if it were being cut by a knife. His hatred for that man deepened with every sight.

He had ruined his father—and destroyed his family!

Later, Lin Dong happened to hear the man's name and legend from the elders of the clan.

He began cultivating at ten, entered the Earth Origin Realm at twelve, and reached the Heaven Origin Realm at fifteen. At twenty, the yin and yang energies within him merged, and he successfully formed a core. He became one of the few in the Great Yan Dynasty to achieve Core Formation before the age of thirty!

His life was practically a legend.

His name was Lin Langtian!

"You've got plenty of hatred, but your strength is still a long way from being enough," Lin Ge sneered mockingly.

"One day, I'll avenge my father!" Lin Dong rasped, staring at Lin Ge.

Seeing the determination in Lin Dong's eyes, Lin Ge swallowed the words he had been about to say.

At that moment, Lin Dong seemed to radiate a kind of confidence, a kind of brilliance.

Looking at him, Lin Ge forced down the words he had been about to speak.

"Good. This is the real you."

A few breaths later, Lin Ge gradually recovered from his shock. A smile returned to his face as he spoke.

"It's getting late. I should head back. I'm sure we'll meet again."

Glancing at the darkening sky, Lin Ge let out a soft breath. Without waiting for Lin Dong to reply, he passed him and headed toward the Lin Clan.

"He's from the Lin Clan?"

Watching the direction Lin Ge had gone, Lin Dong finally realized that he was a disciple of the Lin Clan.

"Thank you. I hope we can be friends someday!"

Unable to stop himself, Lin Dong shouted after the boy as his figure slowly disappeared.

Lin Ge stopped in his tracks. A strange feeling welled up inside him, but he quickly pushed it back down.

Lin Ge didn't need friends in this world. He needed only rivals and enemies. So he answered Lin Dong just as seriously, though his voice was slightly cold.

"We won't become friends. We'll only become rivals—and perhaps even enemies."

"I saved you because I saw your potential. I think that one day, you'll be worthy of becoming my opponent. That's all."

Lin Ge's words left Lin Dong at a loss. He could feel Lin Ge's resolve and coldness, but he couldn't understand what the mysterious boy had gone through to become so frightening.

In that moment, Lin Dong was deeply moved. Especially by this extraordinary boy, whose image had already been etched into Lin Dong's mind, impossible to forget.