The Sovereign's Ascension

The Martial Hal had nine levels and the number of people on each level would decrease as you went up. After all, it wasn’t easy to increase the Sword Firmament Token’s grade. Even the tokens of most inner disciples only reached the fifth grade because the contribution points needed to increase was an astronomical sum.

Under normal circumstances, disciples could only rely on completing missions incessantly. This meant that you had to contribute to the sect. After all, the sect couldn’t possibly provide their martial and cultivation techniques without obtaining some benefits.

When Lin Yun arrived at the fifth level, there were only about ten people present. When they saw Lin Yun arrive, they nodded their heads out of good manners. Those who could reach the fifth level were elites of the inner sect, so their eyesight wasn’t something ordinary disciples could understand.

By the time Lin Yun came to the sixth floor, there were no disciples. As for the seventh floor, it was completely empty and didn’t even have a deacon present. There were also fewer jade slips on the shelves. When Lin Yun stood in front of the shelves that stored all the sword techniques, he was surprised.

There were hundreds of jade slips on the sixth floor, but on the seventh floor, there were only dozens of martial and cultivation techniques. When Lin Yun organized them into sword techniques, he was left with only seven of them.

“Aren’t you Junior Brother Lin?” A voice sounded out just as Lin Yun was about to look at the jade slips. He clearly sensed that there wasn’t anyone present, but he saw a youth when he turned around. The youth was dressed in blue and walked over with a faint smile.

“That’s me. May I know who you are?” Lin Yun came to the seventh floor thanks to Guardian Plum, so for this youth to be here meant that this youth wasn’t as simple as he looked.

“Oh, I’m Tang Tong. You shouldn’t know me, but I watched the entire Alliance-Union Battle. So I have a deep impression of you,” said Tang Tong with a smile.

“Greetings, Senior Brother Tang,” replied Lin Yun.

Lin Yun’s response surprised Tang Tong. After all, Lin Yun was famed for his arrogance. He walked up and looked at the jade slips in front of Lin Yun. He asked, “Junior Brother Lin, are you picking a sword technique?”

“I am. But there are only seven of them, which I didn’t anticipate,” nodded Lin Yun.

“Seven isn’t a small number. Did you know that it’s impressive if a sect even has one spiritual sword technique?” Tang Tong smiled at Lin Yun.

Lin Yun finally understood how precious spiritual martial techniques were after listening to Tang Tong’s explanation. You could encounter lesser and intermediate profound martial techniques on the market, but advanced profound martial techniques were impossible to find, not to mention spiritual martial techniques.

Judging from their grades, spiritual sword techniques weren’t any weaker than ordinary earth sword techniques. But the requirement to practice them was lower than earth sword techniques. Judging from Tang Tong’s explanation, he wasn’t putting on any airs.

Tang Tong looked at the seven jade slips and continued, “If Junior Brother Lin trusts me, I’m willing to offer you some advice.”

“Thank you.” Lin Yun rejoiced inwardly.

Tang Tong then picked up the jade slips and introduced them to Lin Yun. The seven sword techniques were respectively the Thunderclap Sword, Astralcloud Sword, Bloodflame Sword, Icebreaker Sword, Clearwind Sword, Blazingsun Sword, and Aquaselenic Sword.

Tang Tong picked out four sword techniques for Lin Yun. They were the Thunderclap Sword, Astralcloud Sword, Icebreaker Sword, and the Blazingsun Sword. They were easier to learn and they were also powerful. They were the common picks among the inner disciples.

Most importantly, the Sword-Bearing Elders were proficient in those four sword techniques, so you could seek guidance from them. This meant that it would be easier to practice the four sword techniques. Furthermore, if you were lucky enough with the Sword-Bearing Elders, you could even receive benefits in terms of resources. However, Lin Yun wasn’t too satisfied with these picks.

“Then we’re only left with the Clearwind sword, Bloodflame Sword, and Aquaselenic Sword. But we can eliminate the Bloodflame Sword right away,” smiled Tang Tong.

“Why?” asked Lin Yun.

“Junior Brother Lin, you’ll know when you look at it,” smiled Tang Tong. He handed the jade slip over. Lin Yun placed it against his forehead and he could sense an outburst of violent aura.

Lin Yun smiled bitterly and placed the jade slip back, “Indeed, it’s not suitable for me.”

“The Bloodflame Sword is too ominous, and it has to be used with killing aura and hatred. The negative emotions to use this sword technique are too serious. It’s powerful, but there aren’t many cultivators capable of learning it…” Tang Tong paused briefly before he continued, “According to my knowledge, only your senior sister, Xin Yan, practices this sword technique among the inner disciples.”

Xin Yan? Lin Yun’s heart sank. Xin Yan seemed gentle and amicable to him. She didn’t seem like someone who would practice the Bloodflame Sword. But when he recalled some rumours involving Xin Yan, the doubt disappeared in his heart.

“Then we’re left with two sword techniques. I suggest you go with the Clearwind Sword. It’s powerful, and you can kill soundlessly with the wind energy in your sword. But the only flaw in this sword technique is the perverse comprehension required.” Tang Tong retrieved the Clearwind Sword and smiled, “But since Junior Brother Lin can even learn the Overlord Sword, I believe that the Clearwind Sword won’t be a problem for you.”

It was a good sword technique and Lin Yun was tempted by it. But he wasn’t in a rush. He looked at the last jade slip and asked, “What about the Aquaselenic Sword?”

“It’s best for you not to go with that. This sword technique is too weird. The technique will fluctuate in terms of strength, which is very weird. When it’s powerful, it’s comparable to other sword techniques here. But when it’s weak, it’s even weaker than profound sword techniques. Even if it stabilizes after reaching greater mastery, it’s too ordinary.” Tang Tong waved his hand.

If that was true, then the Aquaselenic Sword seemed like a sham. If the strength of the sword fluctuated in battle, wouldn’t that mean that it was easy to be killed in battle?

Lin Yun smiled helplessly, “It looks like no one will really go for it.”

“I picked it…and paid a great price to swap for another sword technique later on,” smiled Tang Tong bitterly as he coughed to conceal the awkward atmosphere.

“Let me take a look at it first.” Lin Yun diverted the topic. The Aquaselenic Sword was a sword technique containing the elements of water, softness, moon, and yin energy. This piqued Lin Yun’s interest because it was rather compatible with the icy energy in the Iris Sword Sutra.

“Brother Tang, did you practice this to greater mastery?” asked Lin Yun.

“I reached greater mastery half a year ago, but it’s too lacking compared to other spiritual sword techniques in greater mastery.” Tang Tong nodded and explained.

“Then I’ll go for it.” Lin Yun made his decision a brief moment later.

“Junior Brother Lin, you should reconsider. Otherwise, you’ll need 100,000 contribution points if you want to change it to another sword technique in the future,” warned Tang Tong.

Lin Yun smacked his lips when he heard that. 100,000 contribution points would probably take him one year. Then again, Lin Yun was fond of this sword technique. “It’s fine. I’m fond of this sword technique. I believe there’s a reason why the strength fluctuates. Even if I can’t find the reason, it’ll still be decent after reaching complete mastery.”

Tang Tong wanted to keep persuading Lin Yun, but he didn’t say anything else when he saw the resolve in Lin Yun’s eyes.

“Then I’ll be going to pick a movement technique. I won’t see you off.” Tang Tong cupped his hands together.

“Thanks for your explanations. Let’s meet up again and have a drink.” Lin Yun was in a good mood since he managed to pick his sword technique thanks to Tang Tong’s explanation.

“Haha, I’ll hold you to that,” replied Tang Tong.

“Farewell.” Lin Yun handed the jade slip and quietly waited after he returned to the main hall.

When the elder saw the jade slip, he frowned. But a long time later, he sighed, “Come again if you think that it’s not suitable half a year from now.”

The elder knew Lin Yun’s temperament well and handed the complete Aquaselenic Sword over.

“Thank you.” Lin Yun felt a surge of warmth in his heart. The elder had treated him well since it was impossible for someone else to receive this treatment. Storing the Aquaselenic Sword, Lin Yun rushed towards the Locket Mountain.

After he left the Locket Mountain, he saw a group of people coming in his direction. The disciples who met them all had fear in their eyes as they avoided the group. From a distance, Lin Yun instantly recognized that they were Gentlemen Union’s disciples.

They just happen to bump into Lin Yun. Then again, it wasn’t purely coincidence since it was natural for them to bump into each other as long as they were heading to the Martial Hall.

Lin Yun found them to be familiar and recognized that they were the Gentlemen Union’s Eight Vajra being accompanied by other disciples. The eight of them looked proud. They were the Gentlemen Union’s pillars and they were all experts on the Earth Ranking. 

No one dared to face the eight of them alone because they were powerful. If Lin Yun remembered correctly, Fu Lingtian gave him a palm on his way back to the Locket Mountain after he killed Ye Liuyun. The other party even shamelessly took advantage of his cultivation.

“And here I was wondering who it was. So it turns out to be our Junior Brother Zhong Yunxiao. Haha, Junior Brother Lin is pretty amazing.” Fu Lingtian was briefly stunned when he saw Lin Yun before he laughed.

“And what has that got to do with you?” asked Lin Yun.

“What an arrogant brat. Do you really think that you’re invincible since you’re the champion? Do you think that you’re on the same level as us now? Get lost!” Fu Lingtian sneered at Lin Yun.

“Why are you even talking to him? Just teach him a lesson.” A robust figure stood out among the Eight Vajras. That robust figure was emitting a killing aura as he slammed his palm down.

Did these people still think of him as a cultivator in the second stage of the Profound Martial Realm?