(Sect Master Feng POV)
I was still in a state of shock.
When one of the Sect members began walking towards us casually, I thought it might have been someone with reports on Master Lin's whereabouts.
But when my anti-illusion defences began taking effect, I still required a bit more time before I realised it was Master Lin walking directly towards us.
By then, he had snapped his fingers and everyone behind him had been reduced to particles of light to be transferred away from the area.
"Sup?" He greeted us with a smirk.
There was nothing I could respond to that of course.
Had this been his plan all along? Sneaking into our group and waiting for everyone to gather to wipe us out when we least expect it?
No one could have prepared themselves to defend against an attack of that magnitude without warning, and the absolute casualness he executed it spoke volumes on how much he had prepared for this.
Were his disciples part of the plan as well?
Most of us hadn't taken them seriously when we heard they were on their own, expecting a few Elders would be enough to send the young upstarts out of the area.
But when none of them returned, we realised too late that his disciples were much more dangerous than we had initially anticipated.
By the time we thought to actually consider them as an actual threat, all of the newer Practitioners were already gone alongside several Elders and Elites, cutting our numbers down to less than half.
We had to send two Masters in to delay them, somehow even with that they were reporting back that they would not last. We could not spare anymore manpower since we needed everyone else to deal with Master Lin himself.
And yet, he had been within our midst all along, apparently setting up implosion inscriptions that activated as soon as he revealed himself.
"Master Lin…" Sect Master Jian seethed. "How long were you among us?"
He grinned at us, "Oh not that long, just a few minutes ago actually."
That means he's probably been here from the start huh? Even for him, I don't think he can inscribe so many implosion inscriptions so easily over such a large area.
Not to mention the fact that you just wiped out a few hundred of us in one move, it would take an utter fool for them to not perceive how big of a threat you are.
Your skills truly incite the jealousy of everyone else Master Lin. Were it not for the fact that he is much more useful to us alive than dead, I might have joined in on some of the other Sect Master's plans to get rid of him.
That and also because I do not wish to make him an enemy.
With him around, the infighting within the Sect is kept to a minimum as everyone's ire is directed towards him, even if no one can do anything about it.
The more ambitious ones will see him as their goal which helps in motivating them to cultivate.
What's more, since he has decided to take in disciples, it will increase our chance of learning his secrets through them after they have graduated from his tutelage.
I have nothing against him personally, but no one man should have all that power.
Sect Master Da stepped forward, flexing his muscles in a poor attempt at intimidation.
"You made a big mistake here, Master Lin, you should not have gotten rid of our Sect members."
"Oh? Why is that?"
"Because you should've gone for us instead!" Sect Master Da roared, punching his fist towards Master Lin's head.
Any normal Practitioner would definitely have had their head caved in from Sect Master Da's punch, his physical strength was regarded as the best in the entire continent once he enhanced himself.
But that is of course, leaving out Master Lin.
Predictably, his punch was stopped, by a single finger from Master Lin no less.
He raised his eyebrow at Sect Master Da while pushing his fist away from him, "Charmed. You may know me but I do not believe we have been introduced?"
Sect Master Da smirked as he lowered his arm, "I am Sect Master Da of the Immovable Mountain Sect, pleased to finally meet the Legendary Immortal Master Lin."
I noticed Sect Master Da's hand was shaking a little, but he tried to hide it behind his back while maintaining his calm facade.
It was obvious he bit off more than he could chew with that punch.
Master Lin turned to us with a disarming smile, "Sect Master Feng, it's nice to see you again."
I tried my best to remain calm. If he had been here from the start, he would already know what we were planning to do with regards to the princess. If he reveals it, all our careful planning would have gone down the drain.
Unfortunately he has the complete upper hand in all aspects right now, I will need to find a way to keep him quiet.
I gave him a similar smile in return, "It's good to see you are in good health as well Master Lin. You have yet to visit our Sect, everyone has been very eager to meet you."
"Oh? That's quite flattering. I will see if I can go there one of these days."
"I will hold you to your word, Master Lin."
I gestured towards the other two, "Let me introduce you, Sect Master Lee of Chrysanthemum Sect and Sect Master Jian of the Sky Penetrating Sect."
Master Lin cupped his hands together, "Well met Sect Masters."
Sect Master Jian returned his greeting while Sect Master Lee scowled, "I am not one to use flowery words, so forgive me if I sound crude when I ask you what do you want from us?"
I winced internally, Sect Master Lee was never known to beat around the bush. Some say that is why he started balding.
Master Lin tilted his head slightly, "Whatever could you mean, Sect Master Lee? I am just here to look for a good, clean fight. Nothing more, nothing less."
The four of us looked at one another.
It seems Master Lin was willing to keep his mouth shut about it if we were to give him a challenge in our bout.
This must be his way of saying that he had no interest in what we were doing.
It was clear that we stood no chance of winning in an all out fight, but I suppose that does not matter to him. All he wants is for us to satisfy his thirst for a good fight.
Understandable, and it's not like we have any other choice in that matter anyway.
"Very well then," Sect Master Jian nodded. "Who would you want to go against first?"
Master Lin chuckled, "Oh, you can all just come at me all at once, it will keep me on my toes. Should I give you guys time to discuss?"
Normally such arrogance would enrage us, but this is just a natural fact for him which we all bore witness to. Even Sect Master Da held his peace where normally he would've happily tried to beat up anyone that looked down on him.
I bowed my head slightly, "In that case, please grant us a few minutes to formulate a strategy, Master Lin. Such that we may prove ourselves to be much more than just… Entertaining."
He spread out his arms, "Take all the time you need, I shall wait here."
We watched him turn to walk a distance away from us, conjuring up a chair from the ground to sit on while waiting for us.
"Alright," I whispered after erecting a barrier to prevent eavesdropping. "We still have a chance, we can make use of his arrogance and just have me land a hit on him and we'll still win."
Sect Master Da nodded, "I will distract him, Sect Master Jian and Lee will pin him down and you will go for the final hit."
"Very well," Sect Master Jian sighed. "I doubt Sect Master Lee and I can hold him still for more than a few seconds so make it count."
We turned to Master Lin and waved, letting him know we were ready.
"Oh, that's fast. Alright then, should I make the first move?"
"Since you are the one being challenged, please go ahead," Sect Master Lee gestured.
"Alright," Master Lin grinned, snapping his fingers.
All of us tensed, expecting another implosion inscription of some sort.
But when nothing happened for the next few seconds we started looking around the area, confused as to what he did.
"Looking at the wrong place," He chuckled. "It's above you."
We looked up just in time to see a giant rock the size of a city hurtling towards us at an impossibly fast speed.
He summoned a damn meteor with just a snap?!
