Chapter 17: From a Humble Background to a Prominent Figure

  Xia Lin couldn't help but smile wryly after hearing Sun Zhong's words. This situation was indeed somewhat unexpected.

  "Go ahead and take a look."

  Sun Zhongzheng wanted to say something, looking at the person walking in opposite direction suddenly smiled and said: "Young master, I'm also going. It seems like we're acquaintances."

  "Do you know that guy?" Xia Lin pointed at the leader of the guards in the distance and said.

  "Ah, I've met him once before during a robbery. This guy is ruthless and has taken down many of my brothers." Sun Zhong sneered, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

  "Oh?" Xia Lin seemed to be thinking, "It seems that this robbery won't be too dull after all."

  The team gradually approached, Sun Zhongyi took the lead, looking at the distant guardian leader and humming: "Lin Qi, I haven't seen you for several months, I've been thinking about you tightly."

  Lin Qi suddenly raised his head and saw Sun Zhong's face change in an instant: "Sun Zhong?!"

  Then he looked at the team in front of him and his face changed greatly: "You are..."

  Splash!

  A row of knives was taken out neatly and shone with dazzling light in the sunlight.

  "Damn it, Black Wind Stockade bandits are here! Prepare for battle!"

  Lin Qi let out a loud roar, and the merchant group was thrown into chaos. The formation quickly contracted, and one by one, the guards rushed forward to protect the merchants within.

  In this place, shuttling back and forth countless times, for Hei Feng Zhai, this young man with considerable strength, Sun Zhong was also very impressed. Forged Body Sixfold, his strength was formidable, not one bit weaker than him.

  If Sun Zhong shows up here, it's going to be a problem!

  The number of people in the merchant team is relatively large, but most of them cannot fight. Only more than 30 people can engage in combat, and each of these 30+ people has a strength of three or four times that of the average mountain stronghold inhabitant.

  On the other hand, although these hundred or so people from the mountain stronghold look extremely fierce, most of them are only at the second level of Body Tempering, with some around the third level, and their average strength is relatively weak.

  However, the escort of the merchant team still has to protect the people in the merchant team, so it is already at a disadvantage.

  "Surround them from above." Xia Lin said calmly.

  "Yes!"

  The crowd responded, and a hundred people spread out to quickly surround the merchant group from afar. Xia Lin led Qing'er and Sun Zhong to slowly walk to the front.

  Lin Qi was trapped in the middle, but his face didn't change color. He looked at Xia Lin in front of him, who was wearing a brocade robe, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes. When did robbers become so upscale? And they even brought maids with them?

  Suddenly, Lin Qi's eyes flashed with a hint of enlightenment, "The Black Wind Fortress' Mountain Stronghold Trial?"

  "Not bad."

  "Which young master of Heifeng Village are you?" Lin Qi's face was solemn as he looked at Xia Lin.

  "Summer is coming."

  "Summer is approaching... That frail young master?"

  Lin Qi's face flashed a strange color, and then he put his heart at ease.

  This time the delivery was very rushed, so even in the last few days there might be activities of the Black Wind Fortress, they still set out, didn't expect to encounter them, just when feeling unlucky, unexpectedly encountered a pleasant surprise.

  No wonder he felt a bit strange, going out with a servant girl, who would have thought that it was actually the weak and frail young master of Hei Feng Village, looks like the rumors weren't entirely false after all.

  "Frail?" Xia Lin repeated, then smiled and said, "Perhaps, from now on, no one will say this word again."

  "Is this all the confidence you have?"

  Lin Qi heard this and sneered, originally it was a young master who couldn't wait to prove himself, but wanting to use the Lin family's merchant fleet as a testing ground, isn't that somewhat far-fetched?

  Xia Lin shrugged and said lightly, "Let's talk about this after we're done fighting. The rules don't need to be explained by me. If you don't want to hand over your belongings, then there's only one way to settle this!"

  Lin Qi sneered: "Then let's fight!"

  Taking advantage of the opportunity to speak, Lin Qi took a big step forward and charged towards Xia Lin, with a long sword in his hand suddenly appearing out of its scabbard and stabbing directly at him.

  A fierce gust of wind blew by, as if it would blow up Xia Lin's hair bun. On the long sword, a cold feeling seemed to be transmitted to Xia Lin's face, and in the next moment, he might be stabbed to death directly.

  But just at this time.

  "Then!"

  A clear and crisp metallic ringing sound came, a long knife appeared in front of Xia, firmly blocking Lin Qi's long sword.

  Sun Zhong burst out laughing: "Lin Qi, your opponent is me. It's been several months since we last met, let me see if you've made any progress!"

  "Hmm!"

  Lin Qi was no stranger, and with a swing of his long sword, he joined forces with Sun Zhong.

  The numerous disciples of the mountain village were about to rush up and take them down, but Xia Lin raised his right hand, signaling everyone to stay in place.

  Both sides have similar strength, and if they engage in a fierce battle, the casualties will be too heavy. For Xia Lin, this is just an unexpected gain. If he hasn't reached his target yet, losing men here would be something he wouldn't want to see.

  They no longer charged forward in front of them, and the tense guards on the merchant side finally breathed a sigh of relief.

  Xia Lin looked towards the center of the field, where the two teams' strongest players were currently clashing. He pulled Lu'er along with him and stood at the front, watching them with an air of being entertained.

  Tempering period, only tempering the flesh, providing the best foundation, still can't reach the point of ignoring weapons, so whether it's Lin Qi or Sun Zhong, they are all equipped with finely crafted iron weapons.

  As for what warriors shouldn't rely on external objects and the like, it's all nonsense to them. Every day they're in a life-or-death struggle, one careless move and their head will be separated from their body. Increasing their own strength is the true way!

  A warrior breaks through his physical body and enters the air swirl, borrowing from the mysterious energy, he can naturally ignore these weapons. However, if he wants to rely solely on his physical strength to resist the weapons, the hope is not great.

  In terms of physical strength, hard-won weapons, only cultivators!

  If refined to the extreme, the flesh becomes sacred, let alone a fine iron-made weapon, even a mysterious treasure can be hard to crack!

  This is where the repairman's strength lies.

  "Master, is Sun Zhong alright?" Greenie watched the two fighting, the sound of clashing swords and knives continued to come, under the reflection of sunlight, pieces of white light flashed by, looking even more intense.

  Xia Lin slightly shook his head and smiled, "It doesn't matter, although the two of them are almost evenly matched in terms of strength, but Sun Zhong is almost always fighting every day, so his methods and experience are a bit better than that Lin Qi."

  "Oh." Lǜ ér nodded as if she understood and yet didn't understand.

  Sun Zhong's knife method, grandly opening and closing, completely comes from actual combat, seemingly without any special skills or techniques. When fighting, the entire person is like him himself, proud and sharp!

  Lin Qi's swordsmanship was unexpectedly ordinary, yet seemingly chaotic, but extremely systematic. It can be seen that this is a well-tested swordsmanship, and its power in his hands is extraordinary.

  "It's interesting, a competition between Koban and Yeluozu." Xia Linbao said with interest.

  "Master, what is a keban?"

  Lu'er asked somewhat strangely, from young to old, it was also unknown how many times some inexplicable words had popped out of Young Master's mouth.

  "Hmm, Koban..."

  Just as Xia Lin was about to explain to Lü Er, the situation at the front suddenly changed.

  "Right!"

  Sun Zhong blocked Lin Qi's attack once again, suddenly spinning his body and swinging his long knife in a circular motion. He made three consecutive slashes, all hitting the same spot on Lin Qi's long sword, forcing him to retreat several steps.

  Without any hesitation, his figure slightly crouched down, his right foot exerted force, and he suddenly leaped high. The large knife in his hand was tightly gripped, and it came slashing down from the sky, striking straight past.

  Lin Qi's face changed color, so fast!

  With a long sword in hand, placed in front of his body, he blocked it without hesitation.

  "Right!"

  Another clear and crisp metallic clash, Sun Zhong's attack was once again blocked by Lin Qi, who stumbled backward four or five steps under the impact, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

  Lin Qi's eyes lit up as he glanced at Sun Zhong who had just landed, what a great opportunity!

  Four consecutive attacks, Sun Zhong was exhausted at this time, but although he was injured, he was full of energy. This time, he won!

  Lin Qi's wrist shook, just as he was about to make a move, but his body suddenly stiffened.

  The long sword in his hand was already covered with countless cracks, and as he shook it just now, it suddenly broke open, leaving only a hilt in his hand.

  "How is it possible..."

  Lin Qi looked at Sun Zhong with some astonishment, the long sword in his hand was a specially crafted weapon made of fine iron by the merchant group, extremely sturdy, unexpectedly it was cut off alive.

  "You can't let this opportunity slip away."

  Sun Zhong burst out laughing and charged forward again with his long knife, slashing down in one swift motion.

  "Not good, hurry and save Big Brother Lin!"

  "Be careful, Brother Lin!"

  The guards standing in front of the merchant group had anxious expressions one by one, and they almost rushed over, but considering the distance between Sun Zhong and Lin Qi, they were already too late.

  Just then, a faint and almost imperceptible voice came from among the merchants.

  "Hum!"

  The sound that had been transmitted from the merchant group finally shook out, a streak of silver and white suddenly appeared in the merchant group, shining brightly under the sunlight.