The Sovereign's Ascension

The Alliance-Union Battle’s first round came to an end with the finale of the Imperial Sword Herbs. Disciples could only receive their rankings by entering the second round and obtaining the quota to be promoted to an inner disciple. 

Those in the top ten would be rewarded heavily, so anyone entering the top ten would receive 800 second-grade spiritual jades. Those in the top three would be rewarded with a third-grade pellet, and the champion would receive a cosmic artifact.

Aside from that, there were also many other hidden rewards, such as entry to the Martial Hall, Cloudy Sword Pavilion, and Soul Sword Pavilion. Even the alliance-unions that the disciples belonged to would be rewarded with cultivation resources. But what attracted so many outer disciples were the top hundred rankings as they could enter the inner sect.

There were tens of thousands of outer disciples, but only a thousand inner disciples. The treatment between outer and inner disciples was great, and the powerful inner disciples enjoyed the same treatment as elders.

But what attracted Lin Yun was the cosmic artifact. Cosmic treasures weren’t all weapons, but there were also special artifacts such as armour. Just receiving one could boost his strength greatly.

The outer disciples had to defeat thirty people to be qualified for the second round, but this was just an easy task for Lin Yun. All he had to do was to head in one direction and defeat all the outer disciples in the way.

“I should reach my destination in half a day.” Lin Yun looked towards the center of the Burial Sword Peak. There was an ancient Sword Tomb that contained the swords of countless buried ancestors. The center of the Burial Sword Peak was shrouded with dark clouds throughout the years and the sword intent lingering there was from the swords. There were tens of thousands of swords plunged into the ground and every sword represented an ancestor that was at least in the Violet Palace Realm. There were even ancestors in the Heavenly Soul Realm buried there.

Even without getting close to it, Lin Yun could sense the immense sword intent in that direction. Under the pressure of the immense sword intent, Lin Yun’s sword intent stood resiliently.

“Interesting, but this one is lacking compared to the one I saw in the Azure Sun Realm.” Back in the Azure Sun Realm, the Sword Tomb was used to suppress the demonic miasma and even after so many years, it gave off a suffocating feeling.

Lin Yun was standing on the high ground, so his eyes could see everything. There were four paths leading to the Sword Tomb, while the remaining paths were sealed with thorns covered with spiritual runes. The four paths represented the four directions, north, south, west, and east.

“That’s weird…there seems to be something weird with the entrance.” Lin Yun frowned at this. He could sense something strange. After all, how could the quota for inner disciples be so easily obtained? Just as Lin Yun fell into deep thought, he saw a faint light shining in the forest. When he turned his head over, he saw astral lights spread into the surrounding.

“The Astral Star Art!” Lin Yun’s eyes lit up. He instantly recognized Li Wuyou’s cultivation technique. Could it be that Li Wuyou was fighting with someone? In the end, Lin Yun decided to take a look and started heading in that direction.

A brief moment later, he could hear the sounds of a battle taking place that was accompanied by the fluctuation of origin energy and the clashing of sword intents. Lin Yun’s face changed beneath the mask and he silently snuck over. He stood on a tree branch and used the leaves to cover his figure. He could see everything that was going on.

“Li Wuyou, why aren’t you running anymore?” Li Wuyou was surrounded by a group of people whose cultivation was in the pinnacle fourth stage of the Profound Martial Realm.

Li Wuyou was injured, but he still looked calm as he retreated into the astral light. He was clearly able to deal with this situation. Otherwise, he would’ve fled long ago. But there seemed to be concern in his flickering eyes.

Lin Yun then noticed two people outside the battlefield who placed their attention on Li Wuyou. They were Xin Wuhen and Lu Hexuan, ranked ninth and eighth on the Mortal Ranking.

“This fellow is courting death to snatch the Imperial Sword Herb that I had my eyes on!” Lu Hexuan’s eyes flashed coldly with disdain.

“He’s only somewhat capable. But we nearly allowed him to escape despite his cultivation in the third stage of the Profound Martial Realm,” said Xin Wuhen.

“So what? Can he possibly fly into the sky? This brat has a deep relationship with Lin Yun, so we can make use of him after we capture him.” Their faces looked unsightly when they mentioned Lin Yun. They wanted to teach Lin Yun a lesson in the Alliance-Union Battle, but alas, even with the Gentlemen Union’s heavy bounty, no one managed to find traces of Lin Yun. So they could only bear the resentment they had for Lin Yun.

But now, they finally found a target that they could vent their frustration on. Suddenly, the two of their faces changed. The astral light that enveloped Li Wuyou suddenly blazed. A phenomenon manifested above the sky. There were three galaxies and a massive diagram that looked like a pair of eyes.

Li Wuyou suddenly roared and swung his sword. When everyone in the surroundings was blown away, Li Wuyou smiled, “Astral Descend—Nine Nether Slash!”

Li Wuyou looked invincible when he swung his sword. He managed to tear a hole in the formation and was about to leave when Xin Wuhen’s face sank, causing Xin Wuhen to throw out a palm, “You’re courting death!”

His palm emitted a cold air that enveloped the surroundings, casting a layer of frost on the ground. However, Li Wuyou was prepared for this. He had clearly expected to face the two after breaking out of the formation. Unfortunately for Li Wuyou, he had underestimated their strength. He never expected that just Xin Wuhen alone would be so terrifying.

Li Wuyou was sent flying back when the palm descended and Xin Wuhen’s cold snort could be heard, “Stay where you are!”

Li Wuyou had just entered the Profond Martial Realm, so he was still lacking compared to the top ten on the Mortal Ranking. Standing by the side, Lu Hexuan wore disdain on his face for how naive Li Wuyou was.

Li Wuyou had simply overestimated himself thinking that he could escape. Then, Lu Hexuan spoke, “Xin Wuhen, there’s no need to be polite with him. This brat is with Lin Yun. Let’s break his legs first!”

Since they couldn’t find Lin Yun, they would consider this brat as collateral. When Xin Wuhen saw that Li Wuyou was still trying to dodge, he yelled and threw out a palm, “Kneel!”

But just when his palm was about to reach Li Wuyou, a figure suddenly descended from the sky and countered the palm with a punch. Their origin energies clashed and Xin Wuhen felt as if he was facing an ancient beast. His opponent’s origin energy felt endless, destroying his attack in an instant.

Before Xin Wuhen could even mobilize his origin energy again, the stranger suddenly threw out another punch. Xin Wuhen was blown away and fell onto the ground, his face changed drastically. He could feel the shock to his internal organs.

Lin Yun’s cold gaze fell onto Xin Wuhen and Lu Hexuan as he released a murderous aura. But as of right now, saving Li Wuyou was of utmost importance, so he grabbed Li Wuyou and said, “Let’s go.”

“You wish! Stay behind!” Everyone in the surroundings charged over when they saw that Lin Yun was about to leave.

“Get lost.” Lin Yun suddenly threw out a punch that was accompanied by saintly music. Before they could even get close, they were all blown away and spitting up blood. In the next second, Lin Yun disappeared with Li Wuyou.

“Damn it! Hunt them down!” Lu Hexuan raged at this scene. But just when he was about to chase after Lin Yun personally, Xin Wuhen’s voice sounded out, “Don’t bother. He’s Zhong Yunxiao. His Seven Profound Steps have reached greater mastery. It’s impossible for us to catch up to him.”

“Zhong Yunxiao?” Lu Hexuan turned around and saw the trace of blood dripping down from Xin Wuhen’s lips. He immediately asked, “Brother Xin, are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I was just careless. That person was Zhong Yunxiao. He obtained the first Imperial Sword Herb. I heard from the Gentlemen Union that this person is powerful. His Seven Profound Steps have reached greater mastery and he also knows the Dracophant Battle Physique. He is entirely capable of reaching the top ten.” Xin Wuhen waved his hand.

“This fellow not only snatched an Imperial Sword Herb, but he’s going for another one?” Lu Hexuan raged.

“Relax. We’ll get him to spit it back out in the second round. After all, he’s alone in the Sword Tomb,” replied Xin Wuhen coldly.