Chapter 028：Listening Wind Tavern

As the New Year approaches, Yangzhou City has become lively again. Many disciples who have been practicing in the sect have returned home to reunite with their families. 

Moreover, at the end of each year, from the national capitals to the families, there are always some grand events held. In a world where martial arts reign supreme, these events of course cannot do without the word "martial arts". 

In Yangzhou City, the major families of the city hold internal family gatherings every year to observe how their younger disciples are progressing in cultivation. Throughout the city, there are occasionally joint gatherings of various major families to test who is stronger and who is weaker. 

At Fengyin Restaurant, descendants of an outstanding family from Yangzhou gathered here to drink and discuss matters freely. 

"Upon hearing that Lin Clan's Lin Qian's spirit soul has undergone the primordial awakening and has reached the realm of spirit and martial arts, becoming a disciple of the Inner Gate of Hua Yue Sect, Lin Yu, brother, I wonder if this is true or not." The person holding a folding fan gently waved the fan and asked Lin Yu from the Lin Clan, who was standing there. The gazes of all the people immediately turned towards Lin Yu, as if they were all somewhat curious about this matter. 

Note: The original text contains some Chinese characters that are not directly translatable to English. I have translated them as best as I could while maintaining the meaning and context of the sentence. The translation is natural and fluent, following English expression conventions. 

"Of course this is true. After Lin Qian of the Lin family rose to the rank of Spirit-Defender Realm, her strength increased significantly. If the city magistrate were to hold a family martial arts competition, I believe the Lin family would surely shine brightly." 

Lin Yu wore a smile on his face. As the son of the elder of the Lin family, he naturally spoke from the Lin family's perspective. 

"Ha ha, I'm just at the stage of the Spirit Realm yet. My cousin Gu Yan from the Gu family has been in the Spirit Realm for half a year already. Whoever from the Lin family is, they are no match for me." The young man in the yellow shirt sitting opposite Lin Yu sneered and said. The Gu family and the Lin family in Yangzhou City have always had a feud. How could he allow the Lin family to flaunt themselves like this? 

"The time of entering the Lingwu Realm doesn't signify anything. Wen Jiang from the Wen family has already reached the second stage of the Lingwu Realm. Apart from Princess Nalan Feng from the City Lord's family, who else could stand against him?" 

The people of Wen family did not show any sign of weakness either. 

The young man with a feather fan heard that the other fellow did not forget to praise his own lord's mansion. His face couldn't help but show a slight smile: "Brother Wenjiang has already reached the second stage of the Lingwu Realm's cultivation and is now training for the next stage. His talent is truly extraordinary." 

"Your invitation to come here was just because of those boring remarks you made." An inappropriate and cold voice interrupted everyone's words. The speaker was a young girl, extremely beautiful. 

"Of course not. This time I invited all of you here is to inform you of a piece of news. One day after the end of the Lunar New Year, the Lord of this City's Mansion will hold a martial arts competition. Besides the sons of the Lord of this City's Mansion and the three major families in Yangzhou City, other outstanding young people can also sign up to participate. Qiu Lan, you should understand what I mean, right?" 

Nalan Haiwen smiled gently and said, and everyone immediately understood. In the past, the Yangzhou City would also hold martial arts competitions, but only the younger generations of the four major families including the City Lord's Mansion were allowed to participate. They never expected that this time others could also take part in the martial arts competition. It seems that the City Lord wanted to attract talented young descendants in Yangzhou City through this martial arts competition. 

It is said that Qiu Lan was an orphan. However, she has gained considerable fame in Yangzhou City. One reason is her beautiful appearance and cold demeanor, and the other is her outstanding talent. 

Qiu Lan gave a slight nod. She too wanted to see what kind of strength the outstanding young men from the Four Great Families possessed. 

"Ha ha, compared to this upcoming martial arts competition, it will surely be extremely exciting. I heard that that useless fellow from the Lin family seems to have made some progress and even injured Lin Yun. I think that useless fellow from the Lin family should also participate in this martial arts competition, right?" Suddenly, the young man in the yellow shirt from the Gu family gave a faint smile and his words were particularly harsh. 

"Old Brother Song, what do you mean? I know that the Lin family has produced many outstanding disciples. How could we possibly need a loser to participate in the martial arts competition?" Lin Yu surely understood who his opponent was referring to. Moreover, when he said that Lin Feng would participate in the martial arts competition, it was clearly a taunt towards the fact that there were no outstanding disciples in the Lin family's lineage. 

"Ha ha, you address your young lord in such a way. It seems a bit inappropriate, doesn't it?" Gu Song said calmly. 

"Trash is trash. What's wrong with that? Besides, I'm the head of the Lin family sooner or later... " Lin Yu finished speaking and then suddenly paused. He gave a cold snort and said no more. 

Just at that moment, the so-called "waste" they were talking about was riding Qianli Xue and entering Yangzhou City. 

After traveling for ten or so days, Lin Feng's face had a touch of the look of a traveler. Sitting down, Qian Qianshui felt a bit tired, but Lin Feng's gaze was exceptionally bright and there was no sign of laziness at all. 

Returning to Yangzhou City, compared with his previous self, the lines on Lin Feng's face now are more distinct, with sharp contours giving off a hint of hardness. His clear gaze is slightly calm. 

Lin Feng, who carried an ancient sword on his back, wore a silver belt around his waist and his feet were clad in snow boots that reached his ankles, did attract quite a few people's attention. Seeing Lin Feng's attire and appearance, one couldn't help but think that this was a young man of great spirit who should be a descendant of some noble family who had returned from outside to practice martial arts. 

"Go." Lin Feng gave a gentle kick to the horse's belly with his legs, and Qianli Xue began to trot slowly along the main road of Yangzhou City. 

"Ahem." As Lin Feng passed by a tavern, a faint sound came from the rooftop. Although it was very subtle, Lin Feng's hearing was so acute nowadays that he raised his head and saw a pair of eyes fixed on him. 

"Ha ha, I knew it was you. Isn't this the young master of the Lin family, Lin Feng, the young lord? What a coincidence!" 

This person's eyes were filled with a mocking expression. After a while, several faces appeared from the window on the second floor. Among them, there was one face that Lin Feng was surprisingly familiar with. However, at this moment, this face looked rather gloomy. 

"Lin Yu." Lin Feng murmured softly. This Lin Yu was the son of one of the elders in the Lin family. He had reached the level of the "Qi Wu" realm with an eighth-tier cultivation, and his talent was decent. 

"Humph." Lin Yu showed no mercy to Lin Feng, the young master. He glared coldly and was quite surprised to encounter Lin Feng here. He suspected that these people would once again make fun of him. 

"Lin Feng, we from several big families are gathered here. Since we've met, why not come up and join us?" Indeed, Gu Song immediately extended an invitation to Lin Feng, clearly with ill intentions. 

"Lin Feng, you've been on the road for such a long time. You should go home and rest first." Lin Yu was indeed reluctant to say. 

Lin Feng sneered in his heart. His identity was the second-in-command of the Lin family. When Lin Yu saw him, he at least should have said "Hello". But Lin Yu neither did that nor did he treat him with courtesy. Instead, he looked at him coldly and even interfered in his affairs. 

"I'll have to look at your expression to know whether you're okay or not." Lin Feng muttered to himself. Then he turned to Gu Song and said, "I'll come up right now." 

"Wait a moment." Lin Yu's voice grew slightly colder: "Lin Feng, this is not the place for you to be. Just go home quietly and stay there." 

"You are being presumptuous." Lin Feng barked out coldly, raising his head and looking straight at Lin Yu. His voice was icy-cold. "What is your status? What is mine? How dare you speak to me like this!" 

Nowadays, Lin Feng is no longer the cowardly 'Lin Feng' of old. As the head of the Lin family, how could Lin Feng tolerate Lin Yu acting recklessly over his head? If he doesn't show some determination, he really thinks that this young master of his wants to bully others however he pleases. 

Lin Yu was stunned by Lin Feng's sudden outburst. He clearly hadn't expected that Lin Feng would have completely changed into someone so domineering. 

His face flushed red, but Lin Yu didn't know how to refute Lin Feng. In terms of status, Lin Feng was the heir of the Lin family. Although he was the son of the elder, he still didn't have the right to be arrogant towards Lin Feng. On the contrary, even if Lin Feng scolded him, he didn't have the right to refute him. 

"Ha ha, this is the Lin Clan's Young Master indeed." Gu Song, fearing chaos in the world, gave a faint smile and made Lin Yu's expression even more gloomy. 

At this moment, Lin Feng had dismounted his horse and handed Qian Lixue over to the head waiter of the inn. Then he immediately stepped onto the second floor of the inn, towards the elegant room facing the street. 

At the drinking table sat seven or eight figures, all of whom were young disciples. 

When Lin Feng entered, not a single person made a sound. Everyone sat in their own seats, raised their wine glasses and sipped the wine gently, completely ignoring Lin Feng. Even Gu Song, who had just invited Lin Feng earlier, was sitting there now, with a mocking smile on his lips. 

"Humph! A disgraceful wretch who deserves his fate. He really thinks he's a lord! What kind of status does he have?" Lin Yu didn't even glance at Lin Feng. It seemed as if he was talking to himself. 

"Remember, Lin Yu, the identity of the Lin family's heir-apparent. This wretch is your family's heir-apparent after all." Gu Song reminded him. What he most wanted to see was this kind of situation, one that would bring the Lin family's reputation to ruins. 

Lin Feng sneered. His gaze swept through the crowd and then landed on Gu Song. He stepped forward a few paces and came up to Gu Song's side. 

"May I sit down?" 

"Who are you and what right do you have to sit here?" Wen Jia Wen Shan said rudely. The four major families in Yangzhou City have the strongest influence among the city's residents. The other three families are not harmonious with each other. Especially the Gu family and the Lin family, but if there's an opportunity to strike at the Lin family, the people of the Wen family will surely not miss it. 

"Then what do you think?" Lin Feng didn't look at Wen Shan but asked Gu Song instead. 

"Can't you understand? You're a waste of space. You're still entitled to sit with us." Gu Song gave Lin Feng a sideways glance. This guy really has no sense of self-awareness. 

"So, you were trying to trick me just now?" Lin Feng remained calm and asked in the same tone, without getting angry. 

"Whatever! Off with you!" Gu Song shouted angrily. He never expected that Lin Feng would be so lacking in tact.

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