The Sovereign’s Ascension

The next full moon was seven days away. So Lin Yun wasn’t in a hurry because he needed to make some preparations. At the very least, he couldn’t make the same mistake and give Thunderclap Sword Demon the chance to injure him.

The battle earlier was extremely dangerous. If Thunderclap Sword Demon was slightly stronger, he would have died. The mask saved him once, but it didn’t mean that it would save him a second time.

He knew that it would be dangerous since Thunderclap Sword Sect was also a disciple of the Profound Sky Sect. Lin Yun pondered briefly before he shared the flaws of the Dancing Indigo Phoenix and Iris Sword Sutra with Lil’ Purple.

Hearing that, Lil’ Purple smiled, “That’s normal. It was created by the Iris Sword Saint looking at the blizzard in the Cold Sea. Plus, I already told you that the Dancing Indigo Phoenix corresponds with Praise the Phoenix.”

“Praise the Phoenix!” Lin Yun’s eyes flashed with helplessness because he had long obtained it from Lil’ Purple, but he couldn’t play it. He even suspected that this had nothing to do with his attainment in music dao but that his sky sword intent had reached a bottleneck. This meant that he would only be able to play it if his sword intent reached the fourth grade.

Even if Lin Yun was a monstrous genius in sword dao, he couldn’t achieve the fourth grade. Although he had come in contact with the surface of it, he still couldn’t grasp it entirely. So he could predict that his sword intent would be trapped in the third grade for a long time.

“There are only two ways if you want to become stronger quickly. One is to get your cultivation into the Empyrean Realm. With your foundation, you’ll reach at least the pinnacle Star Stage. At that time, you can rely on the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sutra and Fleeting Cloud 13 Swords to suppress the Thunderclap Sword Demon,” analyzed Lil’ Purple. This was the most direct method without any difficulties.

If Lin Yun was willing, he could refine all the Divine Astral Pellets on him to make a breakthrough to the Empyrean Realm. It would only take three days and he wouldn’t have any risks. His foundation was terrifying, and even if he reached the Empyrean Realm, he would be a lot stronger than those in the same cultivation as him. At the very least, he wouldn’t have any issues challenging those who had a greater cultivation.

Not even Ye Ziling would be his opponent. However, Lin Yun was firm about reaching the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm. Now that each of his aura oceans only had six Demonic Astral Flowers, it was impossible for him to make a breakthrough.

“What about the second method?” Lin Yun asked, refusing to take the first method.

“The second method won’t be that easy. Even if you wield the flute as a sword, you’re ultimately still using the sword to fight. But your sword has reached a bottleneck, which means that your flute also reached a bottleneck,” smiled Lil’ Purple.

“So?” Lin Yun asked with a light flashing through his pupils. He instantly understood Lil’ Purple’s meaning.

“Music dao is also a martial dao. Since you can comprehend sword dao with the sword, you can also comprehend music dao,” said Lil’ Purple.

Lin Yun already understood what Lil’ Purple was trying to say. Since his sword dao had reached a bottleneck, he needed to try to make improvements to the music.

“There are five sounds in music – do, re, mi, so, and la. There are also 12 notes – unison, semitone, major second, minor third, major third, perfect fourth, tritone, perfect fifth, minor sixth, major sixth, minor seventh, and major seventh.” Lil’ Purple shook her head as she said and smiled, “You’re only at a crude level of the five sounds, not to mention you don’t know a thing about the 12 notes. Furthermore, you also don’t know that the five sounds correspond with the elements, gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. As for the 12 notes, they are differentiated by Yin and Yang. Each note corresponds to the time and year. Music dao isn’t simple because it includes the five elements, yin, yang, sun, moon, time, and feng shui!”

Lin Yun was left dumbfounded as he listened to Lil’ Purple. He knew that music dao would be profound, but he didn’t expect that it would be so complicated. After a long silence, Lin Yun sighed, “I still thought that I was proficient in music, but it looks like I’m still an outsider…”

“There’s a lot more for you to learn. The music dao isn’t the same as sword dao. If you can’t make it into this path, your music will just be superficial and without a soul,” smiled Lil’ Purple.

“But if you’re able to make it into music dao, you’ll reach a noble tone. Above that are the saint, imperial, and divine dragon tones!”

Lin Yun’s eyes flickered when he heard that because the grades were similar to the grades of sword intent. It seemed difficult to enter the threshold of music dao, which meant that it would be powerful. If he really took the next step forward, his music would sound extraordinary.

“Above the divine dragon tone, there’s also the legendary celestial tone!” Lil’ Purple smiled, “Going back to the divine dragon tone, it doesn’t literally mean the divine dragon. It’s in reference to the ten divine beasts in heaven and earth. This emperor happens to be born with the divine dragon tone! Now you know why my music is a lot stronger than yours, right? Even if I’m slightly weaker, the music played by me is still a lot stronger.”

How was that slightly weaker? Lin Yun smiled, “You’ve never told me that.”

Lil’ Purple also didn’t expect that Lin Yun would be a monster who could grasp the technique of wielding the flute as a sword so quickly. So there was a lot of stuff she needed to explain now. “That’s because you’re too stupid. You wouldn’t understand half the stuff I talk about without sufficient cultivation. Why don’t you be my servant? I can teach you more if you’re willing to be my servant.”

Lil’ Purple chucked as she waited for Lin Yun to beg her or to praise her.

But Lin Yun merely replied with a smile, “It seems like you didn’t suffer enough from Ye Ziling’s hands.”

When Lil’ Purple heard that, she quickly lowered her head and muttered, “Alright, I’ll teach you. Why do you have to mention that demoness?”

“Alright. Heavenly Slaughtering Empress, can we begin now?” Lin Yun smiled.

Lil’ Purple glared at Lin Yun before she unhappily explained what to do. But the moment she started, she started to become serious and her mood changed. “With regards to the celestial tone, only the legendary saintess was able to grasp it.” According to Lil’ Purple’s explanation, the saintess was able to control divine beasts with the celestial tone.

Then, she began to teach Lin Yun the 12 notes and the relation they had with the five elements, yin, and yang. Lin Yun was captivated by her explanation and tried to learn as much as possible.

He initially wanted to rely on the flute because of the bottleneck in his sword intent, but he didn’t think it would be this difficult. The music dao was more profound than he thought it would be. It wasn’t any weaker than the sword dao. Maybe I should try breaking through the fourth-grade sword intent before the Empyrean Realm instead. Although no one has ever done it before, it doesn’t mean that it’s impossible.

While Lin Yun began to practice music dao, Leng Aoran stepped into the Demon Domain. He was heavily injured on his last breath. As he traveled, he took a lot of medicine, but he only barely stopped his injuries from getting worse.

He couldn’t expel the sword intent that Lin Yun left in his body, and he could sense that the sword intent far exceeded his current ability. It was sky sword intent that nearly reached the fourth grade, not to mention that it also contained the azure dragon sword aura. With the injuries he suffered from the saint artifact, he would have to rest for at least two months.

“Damn it!” Leng Aoran had no choice but to admit that the current him couldn’t deal with Lin Yun’s sword intent. Even if he recovered his strength, he would have to spend at least half a month to expel the sword intent from his body.

Ye Ziling’s sword intent was also at the sky sword intent level, but it couldn’t compare to Lin Yun’s. Her sword intent was like a small creek whereas Lin Yun’s sword intent felt like a boundless ocean. Leng Aoran had already hidden at the border of the Demon Domain for two days and only went out after he didn’t look injured anymore. He put on a mask and then left.

He had offended many people during his time in the Profound Azure Manor, so the consequences would be dire if he was recognized by someone. Even though he was a demonic cultivator, he didn’t wish to step into the Demon Domain if he had a choice.

Aside from the forces in the Demon Domain, there were also other demonic cultivators. So there was no way he could ensure his safety. The Demon Domain had no order and there was constant fighting. So the Demon Domain wasn’t exactly safe for Leng Aoran. In fact, he was certain that news of his injury had spread throughout the Demon Domain over the past two days.

Unless he befriended a powerful force, no one would ensure his safety. But if he did that, he would have to hand over the saint artifact that he got from Yan Teng.

The entire Demon Domain was enveloped in darkness and gray mist made of baleful aura. Naturally, it was the home ground for demonic cultivators.

Although Leng Aoran had masked his appearance, he still had the same killing aura that deterred many people from attacking. After an hour of traveling, he arrived at a majestic pavilion that had three bloody ancient words engraved on the plaque, the Heavenly Star Pavilion.

The weird plaque made the entire pavilion look especially sinister. An hour later, he met the pavilion master of the Heavenly Star Pavilion. He was a plump middle-aged man with light radiating in his pupils that could scare a cultivator.

The Heavenly Star Pavilion had a mysterious background that claimed to have the ability to pluck the stars from the sky if anyone was willing to pay money. It was a strange place where transactions took place, and no one dared to provoke them in the various Demon Domains.

The plump man chuckled with squinted eyes, “Thunderclap Sword Demon, this isn’t our first meeting. Why are you hiding yourself? You think that I won’t be able to recognize you?”

“Who else can hide from your eyes? I just don’t want to reveal myself since I’m injured,” replied Leng Aoran as he removed his mask.

“There are many people after your life. Although we can be considered friends, the Heavenly Star Pavilion is still a business. I have no obligation to take you in. I won’t do anything to you due to our friendship, but I have to ask you to leave,” smiled the middle-aged man.

Leng Aoran cursed inwardly when he heard that. They weren’t friends and he knew that his location would be sold out as soon as he stepped out of the pavilion.

“I’m here to auction something, so let me stay here for two months.” Leng Aoran said as he took out the saint artifact.

The middle-aged man’s eyes lit up as he praised the spear, “So the rumors were true that you really obtained a saint artifact!”

“How is it?” Leng Aoran asked, feeling disgusted by the middle-aged man fiddling with the spear.

“What are you talking about? We had a close friendship over the years, so why would I deny your request? How about this, I’ll auction this for you in three days,” smiled the middle-aged man.

“What’s the commission rate?” Leng Aoran asked.

The middle-aged man smiled before he raised a finger.

“10%?” When Leng Aoran saw that and rage flashed in his eyes because it was common knowledge that the commission would be lower the more precious the item was. If someone took out a saint artifact for auction, it would surely set off huge waves in the Profound Azure Manor and be sold for a huge price. But the middle-aged man wanted 10% from the transaction?

“I meant half.” The middle-aged man continued with a smile, “It’s fine if you’re not willing. You can leave here anytime, and I won’t stop you. After all, the Heavenly Star Pavilion isn’t the only business in the Demon Domain.”

Leng Aoran nearly threw up blood when he heard that because he knew that he would be dead if he dared to step away. After a long consideration later, Leng Aoran gritted his teeth, “Deal!”

Seeing that Leng Aoran had agreed to the offer, the middle-aged man’s smile grew even denser, “You’re a smart person. It makes sense why you’ve lived for so long. From this point on, your life is protected by the Heavenly Star Pavilion!”

His voice was cold and unquestionably firm, which made Leng Aoran feel slightly relieved. After all, no one dared to cause trouble in the Heavenly Star Pavilion, and those who did were killed with no exception!