The Sovereign's Ascension

The Sword Firmament Pavilion had four great lands. They were the Myriad Sword Platform, Soul Sword Pavilion, Buried Sword Peak, and Cloudy Sword Pavilion. They corresponded to the cultivation of sword intent, Martial Soul, inheritances left by predecessors, and acquisition of secret techniques.

Every single one of them was tempting for a disciple. But aside from the Myriad Sword Platform, the three other places required the Sword Firmament Token to be in the second grade. So Lin Yun could only choose the Myriad Sword Platform right now. But that didn’t matter to him because taking one step at a time was better.

“Huangfu, what’s the grade of your Sword Firmament Token?” Lin Yun casually chatted with Huangfu Jingxuan while they walked towards the Myriad Sword Platform.

“Mine is just in the second grade. What about you? You should be about the same as me, right?” Huangfu Jingxuan smiled.

“Well… Mine is in the zero grade,” Lin Yun replied, looking embarrassed.

“Zero grade? Oh, yeah. You were punished to the Herbal Peak back then.”

“Speaking of which, how do you increase your token’s grade? Spiritual jades aren’t the only option, right?” Lin Yun asked.

After all, Huangfu Jingxuan wouldn’t come and try his luck in the Pellet Hall if he had enough spiritual jades.

“The Nine Stars Contest was conducted once more after you left and I managed to obtain first place. So, according to the results, I’m directly placed in the top five hundred of the Mortal Ranking, which raised the grade of my token by one. A few days ago, I managed to enter the top two hundred, raising my token to the second grade.” Huangfu Jingxuan explained.

“So, how does the Heaven, Earth, and Mortal Rankings work?” asked Lin Yun as he began to think.

“It’s pretty straightforward. The Mortal Ranking is equivalent to the outer disciples’ ranking. If you can get into the Earth Ranking, then you will be considered an inner disciple and your token will rise to the fourth grade. As for the Heaven Ranking…” Huangfu Jingxuan’s eyes shone with hope, and he continued, “There are only ten people in the Heaven Ranking. They represent the ten most dazzling disciples of the Sword Firmament Sect, granting them ninth grade tokens. Their power and status are even higher than some elders. No place is forbidden to them and they even possess the authority to kill ordinary disciples.”

Lin Yun finally understood how the three rankings worked. The disciples’ authority would increase along with their ranking. This was a method to encourage competition among disciples.

“Do you still remember Xin Jue?” Huangfu Jingxuan asked. “The one who saved you from Wang Yan back then.”

“Of course. He seems to be Xin Yan’s elder brother.” Lin Yun nodded.

“That’s right. He’s in the Heaven Ranking, ranked 6th,” Huangfu Jingxuan said with admiration shining in his eyes.

His words instantly made Lin Yun understand why Xin Yan dared to go against Wang Yan. So it turns out that her brother was someone in the Heaven Ranking. Looking at Huangfu Jingxuan, Lin Yun asked again, “You can only enter the top two hundred with your strength?”

Huangfu Jingxuan’s strength had significantly improved compared to back then. He was only one step away from the complete sword intent and he was also in the second stage of the Profound Martial Realm.

“There are tens of thousands of disciples in the outer sect. All the garbage has already been eliminated, so I barely make it into the top two hundred. Barely, but that means that I still have opportunities to gain firmer footing in the rankings.” Huangfu Jingxuan nodded.

The two chatted casually and before they knew it, they arrived at the Myriad Sword Platform. The platform looked like a sword piercing into the horizon.

Everyone under the platform seemed tiny compared to the towering platform. With the majestic sword intent piercing through the horizon, the sky above them seemed like an unparalleled sword.

All the disciples that arrived wore solemn expressions. They even spoke with lowered voices out of respect.

“Look, Brother Lin. I wasn’t kidding, right?” Huangfu Jingxuan smiled while Lin Yun stared at the horizon in shock.

“This place is truly worthy of being one of the four treasured lands. Who wouldn’t feel respect from the bottom of their hearts at this majestic sword intent?” Lin Yun exclaimed when he recovered from his shock.

“Let’s go over and take a look,” suggested Huangfu Jingxuan.

“Yeah,” agreed Lin Yun.

The two climbed the platform and the pressure they felt grew stronger. Lin Yun was shocked when he sensed the pressure. There wasn’t any threshold to come here, but you wouldn’t be able to go far without having a certain level of comprehension towards the sword.

Along the way, Lin Yun saw a few rookies from their entrance cohort. They were all lying on the ground in exhaustion.

Lin Yun grasped the complete sword intent, while Huangfu Jingxuan had visited this place several times. So they managed to step on the platform successfully.

But the moment they stepped on the platform, a boundless painting appeared before Lin Yun’s eyes. The painting’s surface seemed like a mirror and anyone entering it would cause ripples to spread on the surface.

The sword buzzing sounds rang out like the most beautiful music in the world, reverberating out in the surroundings. There were many people seated in the surroundings with solemn expressions.

“What are they doing?” Lin Yun asked.

“Brother Lin, do you think that this is the Myriad Sword Painting?” Huangfu Jingxuan asked with a mysterious smile.

“Of course, or are you saying that the Myriad Sword Painting is located somewhere else?”

“Well, you’re wrong. The real Myriad Sword Painting is invisible to the naked eye. You can only see it with your heart,” Huangfu Jingxuan replied.

“Huangfu, stop beating around the bush and tell me what’s going on.” Lin Yun smiled.

“In a nutshell, the Myriad Sword Painting has constructed a world, a world that you can only enter with sword intent. This world has nine heavens, so the stronger your sword intent, the further you can go.” Huangfu Jingxuan smiled.

“Upon entering, you can manifest a body with your sword intent and cultivate. I can’t explain the profundities fully, but you’ll know after experiencing it for yourself,” explained Huangfu Jingxuan.

“Alright,” nodded Lin Yun.

“Hush. Don’t disturb these people. They’re cultivating in the Myriad Sword Painting with their sword intent. Any slight alarm will cause them to suffer a backlash from their sword intent,” said Huangfu Jingxuan.

The two ultimately found a place with less people and sat cross-legged. When Lin Yun closed his eyes, he could sense his sword intent connecting with the world. When he was fully connected, Lin Yun found himself in another world where illusion and reality were blended.

The landscape was beautiful and everything in this world was constructed with sword intent. Lin Yun turned to look at Huangfu Jingxuan beside him. Huangfu Jingxuan’s figure was hazy and slightly illusory. In other places, some people had completely condensed their sword intent and even dazzled with blooming radiance.

“This is the first heaven of the Myriad Sword Painting. You’ll need to comprehend the complete sword intent to manifest a body. You can directly absorb the sword intent in this world to cultivate but your cultivation in the outside world does not affect you here. The stronger your sword intent, the more powerful you are here,” said Huangfu Jingxuan.

Hearing Huangfu Jingxuan’s explanation, Lin Yun suddenly realized how Huangfu Jingxuan’s sword intent improved so quickly. Lin Yun started spreading his senses to the surrounding. This was only the first heaven, so how powerful would the sword intent be in the second and third heavens?

“Also, don’t try to enter the second heaven forcefully. Your sword intent will collapse if you fail and it will also happen in reality. You will constantly be under the Myriad Sword Painting’s pressure here. So leave immediately if you can’t hold on anymore,” Huangfu Jingxuan continued.

“Got it,” responded Lin Yun.

“Alright. Then I’ll be taking my leave. You can get familiar with the Myriad Sword Painting during this time.” Huangfu Jingxuan smiled and left.

Lin Yun nodded and began looking around the Myriad Sword Painting. His current body was derived from his sword intent. So getting stronger here would represent an increase to his sword intent.

“Interesting. This place is really eye-opening.” Lin Yun couldn’t conceal the shock in his eyes because he could sense his sword intent being strengthened without doing anything.

He closed his eyes and sat down to absorb the sword intent in the surrounding to strengthen himself. But it didn’t take long for him to feel a repulsive force. It seemed that what Huangfu Jingxuan said was right. He could already feel the pressure coming from the Myriad Sword Painting by practicing here.

But there was something different about it. The repulsive force wouldn’t be great if Lin Yun didn’t grasp the complete sword intent. Since Lin Yun had grasped the complete sword intent, he was more suitable in the second heaven. But it didn’t seem like a good idea for Lin Yun to give the second level a try.

In the end, he made up his mind to stay in the first heaven, for now, to familiarize himself with the surroundings. At the same time, the Myriad Sword Platform also welcomed a batch of uninvited guests.

Everyone in this group had powerful cultivations that emitted a faint pressure, suffocating everyone around them. Anyone could tell that these people had undergone life and death battles. There was a drastic difference in their temperament compared to the other disciples who stayed in the sect.

It didn’t take long for this group of people to ascend the Myriad Sword Platform. They were looking around, almost as if they were looking for something or someone.

“Over there!” Someone from the group pointed in Lin Yun’s direction.

Upon discovering their target, the youth donned in blue clothes sneered, “Let’s go over.”

The group had practically charged their way over to Lin Yun. The blue youth gave a signal to his followers and they forcibly chased away everyone in the surrounding.

“Get up!”

“Get lost! Go somewhere else!”

The disciples who were forcibly awakened showed pain on their faces. In the sect, it was taboo to forcibly disturb someone who was cultivating. After all, a slight mistake would spell disastrous consequences.

But just when the person who was forcibly disturbed wanted to yell, he saw the emblem embedded on these people’s chest. When he saw the youth in blue looking over with a cold smile, his face changed drastically and he left without saying a word. Very quickly, everyone in the surrounding was cleared away except for Lin Yun and Huangfu Jingxuan.

“Senior Brother Ye, that person is Huangfu Jingxuan, someone from the Lone-Star Alliance.”

“A rookie from the Lone-Star Alliance? What is there to be afraid of? Wake him up and get him to scram,” smiled the youth in blue.

“Are you courting death?!” Huangfu Jingxuan’s eyes glowed with a murderous aura when he was forcibly awakened. But when he looked at the surroundings, he noticed the ill-intended gazes of those around him. When he saw the emblems on their chests, his face changed, “The Gentlemen Union! You guys are Wang Yan’s men!”

“Get lost! Don’t interfere or the Lone-Star Alliance won’t be able to protect you!” The youth in blue replied coldly.

Huangfu Jingxuan was shocked. He knew that this group of people came for Lin Yun.