The Hong Sect really does have a history of more than two hundred years, but as for how many leaders it’s had, probably no one can say for sure, so this claim about "the youngest leader in two hundred years" doesn’t really have any solid basis...

But Long Shaotian isn’t one of the Hong Sect, he wouldn’t bring this up for no reason. The most likely thing is, he heard this from someone else’s mouth, and that’s why he mentioned it in front of Lin Feng!

This was Long Shaotian giving Lin Feng a reminder: someone in the Hong Sect was causing trouble in the dark, deliberately setting him up to attract hatred!

Reputation is an empty thing, but once it’s tied to利益, it becomes something people will risk everything—life and fortune—to chase after...

Whether it’s people inside the Hong Sect or those unaffiliated Martial arts world experts, once they hear this name Lin Feng with the title "the youngest leader in over two hundred years of the Hong Sect," they’ll probably all want to make a move and test his depth!

Only, facing these experts trying to step on Lin Feng to climb up, Lin Feng will probably have very little free time left, not to mention all those with ulterior motives who’ll want to deliberately undermine his prestige and use underhanded means on him—those are even harder to deal with!

But Lin Feng now has no way out; no matter what kind of problems he faces, he can only grit his teeth and stand firm!

When you’re in the Jianghu, you can’t control your own fate—this saying is exactly about a situation like this.

"Thank you for the reminder, Lord Dragon... I understand what you mean now!" Lin Feng cupped his hands to Long Shaotian, thanking him very humbly.

"Don’t mind it, I only happened to hear someone mention this saying and thought it was interesting, that’s all." Long Shaotian chuckled, lightly patted Lin Feng on the shoulder, and said casually. At the same time, in his heart he felt even more that this kid Lin Feng was a real talent: he’d only given him the lightest nudge and the kid had already figured it out. His comprehension was really not bad!

Yan Su heard Lin Feng thanking Long Shaotian, felt a little puzzled, thought about it for a while, and then also reacted: most likely, someone inside the Hong Sect had already started to stir up wind and rain against Lin Feng...

The only one who still didn’t get why Lin Feng suddenly started thanking his dad was Long Xiaoyun, who knew nothing about these internal intrigues.

Lin Feng looked at Long Shaotian with some genuine gratitude. This counted as the second favor he owed Long Shaotian. The last time, Long Shaotian had helped Zhou Yang settle Fan Yang and even gave that piece of land belonging to the Qingzi Sect to Zhou Yang for free—that was one. This well‑intentioned reminder was the second. It seemed Long Shaotian was indeed someone worth befriending!

Lin Feng also led Long Shaotian and the others into a private room in the top‑tier VIP area on the fifth floor of the Longfeng Martial Hall, and had the waiter serve fragrant tea.

At this moment, Long Shaotian, sitting beside Lin Feng, suddenly leaned over and spoke.

"Lin Feng... I’ve got a few words I want to say to you." Long Shaotian looked at Lin Feng, lowered his voice, and said, "After going through so much, I’ve seen it clearly—no one can stay in the limelight forever in this life. I also have to think about a way out. But I’m in too deep; it’s absolutely impossible for me to just walk out of the Jianghu like a normal person. I can only cut off everything that needs to be cut off... In these twenty‑odd years, this is the first time I’ve met a friend like you who’s worth making. If I were twenty years younger, I’d definitely help you build the事业 in your heart! Unfortunately, I’m old now, I don’t have that drive anymore. Not only can I not help you now, I might even drag you down a bit, and I’ll have to rely on you to look after Little Yun for me..."

Long Shaotian’s words were heavy, but he still said them with a hearty smile. Even Long Xiaoyun, standing not far away and only judging by his expression, couldn’t guess he was talking about such a heavy topic.

Lin Feng could hear the difference in his tone. There was a faint sense of last words in what Long Shaotian was saying. Could it be that his business with the battle hall still wasn’t settled?

"Lin Feng, now’s the best time, so I’ll say a few heartfelt words to you, don’t be shocked... In fact, I already knew months ago that you, Yan Su, and Wu Mei are all people from the white side..."

The next thing Long Shaotian said nearly made Lin Feng jump up...

"But you don’t need to worry. I never thought about moving against you, Yan Su, or Wu Mei before, and I certainly won’t start thinking that way now..." Long Shaotian’s tone was utterly calm, as if he didn’t understand the principle that black and white stand on opposite sides at all.

"Especially you, Lin Feng. I don’t know what your purpose is, but you helped me keep my position as Hall Master of the Jiangzhou headquarters of the Qingzi Sect under the Hong Sect, you saved my useless son’s life, pulled him back onto the right path, and in the end even helped me take down Chen Ming. I’m very grateful to you for that!" Long Shaotian’s lips barely moved; if Lin Feng’s hearing weren’t so sharp, he probably wouldn’t have heard what he was saying at all.

"Honestly, I had my own purpose too..." Lin Feng thought to himself. Still, from Long Shaotian’s standpoint, even if he’d done it with an agenda, it didn’t stop Long Shaotian from feeling grateful.

"To tell the truth, I thought I’d die—shot dead in my room some dark night by a sniper, or driving and, for some unknown reason, the car suddenly exploding into a fireball... That’s not my imagination, because Chen Ming has done that kind of thing many times!" Long Shaotian continued speaking his mind. "But nothing happened to me. I’m still safe and sound up to now. Even though Chen Ming tried to make a move on me many times, I survived and, in the end, beat him..."

Lin Feng could hear the tremor in Long Shaotian’s words. He couldn’t quite understand his excitement. Was Chen Ming’s fall really that important to him?

"Lin Feng, do you know what a toothache feels like?" Long Shaotian suddenly raised his voice and asked. Then, before Lin Feng could answer, he continued, "It’s a kind of unbearable pain, day and night, never ending. After a few days you feel like you’re going crazy; if it lasts a few weeks, you can’t even be called a living human anymore... You’ll want to rip every last tooth out of your mouth, never bite anything hard again, just to trade for eternal peace! Chen Ming was that rotten tooth of mine. Now that he’s finally gone, I’m free."

"And then?" After hearing Long Shaotian say so much, Lin Feng knew this talk was almost at its end.

"I’m going to turn myself in..." Long Shaotian suddenly said to Lin Feng. "The crimes I’ve committed are all economic crimes; even if I go to prison, I won’t get the death penalty! And right now, even though Chen Ming is already a vegetable, his son Chen Qingyun and those main lackeys from the battle hall are still around. To let Little Yun completely shake off those guys, after I go inside, I’m going to give up evidence of a lot of people in the battle hall!"

Lin Feng understood what Long Shaotian meant. After suffering years of oppression, this Jianghu boss was planning to go down together with his enemies...

"Other than raising an army and fighting the battle hall to the death, this is my only choice." Long Shaotian said lightly. "But what can I do? I was never born for the killing business. This is all I can do. I’ve done so many deals in my life, and this is the one with the weakest return in the end. But if it can buy me a moment of peace in my heart, I feel this is the right thing to do."

Lin Feng looked at Long Shaotian in some surprise. At that moment, he felt that the person sitting in front of him wasn’t a Jianghu big shot, but an enlightened monk.