The Sovereign’s Ascension

Looking at Qin Tian being sent flying away, the entire stage fell into silence with everyone’s expressions freezing on their faces. Qin Tian’s defeat had taken place in the blink of an eye. Just when everyone thought that Lin Yun would be trapped by Qin Tian, Lin Yun suddenly exploded and even forced Qin Tian to summon his constellation.

Qin Tian was prideful, and anyone could tell that from his name. As someone ranked in the top one thousand on the Empyrean Ranking, it wasn’t an exaggeration to call him a transcendent genius, and he would definitely become a Samsara Edict Realm expert in the future.

This was why he suppressed his constellation when Lin Yun mocked him earlier. He was prideful and confident that he could suppress Lin Yun even without bringing out his constellation. But now, he was actually sent flying with a slap, and half of his face was swollen. This made him look even more terrible compared to Zhang Ting and the rest. At the very least, they weren’t slapped by Lin Yun.

“You’re courting death!” Qin Tian flew into a rage and soared into the sky with a boundless sword aura. When his sword aura came crashing down, this made everyone else feel suffocating.

The faces of Jiang Lichen and the rest had also changed as they quickly retreated. This scene also made Lin Yun squint his eyes and he could sense the dense killing aura within Qin Tian’s sword aura. This proved that those who could make it into the top one thousand were people who had taken at least thousands of lives. This meant that those who made it on the ranking had forged their position with countless corpses.

“Stop!” Right at that moment, the woman standing beside Ye Ziling barked before she walked over with a group of people.

“Senior Sister Mu…” Qin Tian’s face changed and immediately recalled his aura.

“Greetings, Senior Sister Mu!” The other Sword Sect’s disciples also quickly cupped their hands together and greeted the woman.

When Lin Yun turned his head over and saw Ye Ziling, he gave her a wink along with a smile. But Ye Ziling was having a headache because Lin Yun was really a troublemaker. She heard from her father that he had been in seclusion during this period of time, but she never expected that he would cause trouble the moment he came out.

“Qin Tian, what did master say before we came out?” The woman coldly questioned Qin Tian.

Qin Tian silently bit his lips but Zhang Ting and the rest quickly spoke up, “Senior Sister, you can’t blame Senior Brother Qin for that. These disciples of the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect are too arrogant. We just want to climb the Sword Saint Mountain, but they keep stopping us and even injured us. This is why Senior Brother Qin stood out…”

“So? You guys are proud that you guys are taught a lesson by a disciple of a branch sect?” The woman unhappily questioned. This instantly made Zhang Ting and the rest awkward. It wasn’t because they were weak, but Lin Yun was just too strong.

“Big Sister Ye, how do you think we should deal with this matter?” After reprimanding the disciples of the Sword Sect, the woman turned to Ye Ziling and asked.

But Ye Ziling knew that Mu Qingqing was protecting Qin Tian and the rest despite reprimanding them. The reason why she scolded them so terribly was so that she wouldn’t pursue this matter or it would make her seem too heartless.

“The Sword Sect Mountain requires the sect master’s permission to enter. But the sect master is nowhere to be found, so it’s impossible to climb the Sword Saint Mountain anytime soon. As for him, it’s just sparing between them. Junior Brother Lin, what do you think?” Ye Ziling asked as she turned to look at Lin Yun.

This fellow is Lin Yun? Mu Qingqing’s gaze fell onto Lin Yun. Despite Lin Yun’s casual attitude, he looked pretty handsome. At the very least, he was a lot more good-looking than Qin Tian.

“I guess so. But I seem to have been a little too harsh earlier. Younger Brother Qin Tian, are you alright?” Lin Yun smiled with his eyes squinted.

“It’s just superficial wounds,” said Qin Tian while he bore his anger down.

“Since there’s no way we can climb the Sword Saint Mountain anytime soon, then we’ll be taking our leave first.” Mu Qingqing’s gaze was filled with interest when it fell onto Lin Yun. After all, Lin Yun was the monstrous genius who made it through the three challenges in the Sword Assembly.

Others might think that Lin Yun was only able to slap Qin Tian because the latter suppressed his constellation, but Mu Qingqing had a feeling that it wasn’t that simple.

“Young Master Lin, you can pay the Scarlet Firmament Peak a visit when you join the Sword Sect in the future.” Mu Qingqing gave a wink at Lin Yun and revealed a charming smile. This instantly made all the disciples of the Sword Sect jealous and even Qin Tian was briefly stunned for a moment.

Lin Yun was briefly stunned. But when he turned his head over, he could only see Mu Qingqing’s silhouette. He smiled, “That woman is pretty interesting.”

“She’s Mu Qingqing, the missy of the Ancient Barren Domain’s Mu Clan. A famous beauty of the Scarlet Firmament Peak. If you get three feet close to her, plenty of people from the Sword Sect will be coming after you,” said Ye Ziling as she rolled her eyes.

“Well, there’s no way she can be compared to you,” smiled Lin Yun while he gave her a wink.

“You and your sweet mouth,” said Ye Ziling, but there was an unnoticeable smirk on the corner of her lips.

“Isn’t there a little too many of them? I thought only Empyreans can enter the Profound Wither Island?” Lin Yun could tell that there were Dragon Pulse Realm and Elysium Core Realm experts around Mu Qingqing.

“The Great Saint Origin is more precious than you think. All the powerful sects in the Ancient Barren Domain are after it, and the Sword Sect is naturally not an exception. Furthermore, there are also ways to avoid the restriction,” said Ye Ziling.

Lin Yun was surprised when he heard that. After all, wouldn’t Heavenly Elysium Core Realm experts be invincible if they could enter the Profound Wither Island? Even if he did have a lot of trump cards or manifested his constellation, there was no way he could face a Heavenly Elysium Core Realm expert. Before them, even a Greater Elysium Core Realm expert would be easily crushed.

“The background of the powerful sects isn’t something that you can imagine,” said Ye Ziling. “They will definitely go all out for the Great Saint Origin, regardless of the cost. It might be hard for Heavenly Elysium Core Realm experts to enter, but it’s different for Greater Elysium Core Realm experts. Furthermore, the Sword Sect has also prepared a thousand quasi-Elysium Core Realm experts. The moment they enter the Profound Wither Island, they’ll immediately make a breakthrough and this means that there will be a thousand Elysium Core Realm experts at that time. According to what I know, it’s more or less the same for the other sects, as well.”

Upon hearing that, Lin Yun’s expression became serious.

“Aside from that, the Profound Wither Island has a dense amount of spiritual energy, and the top-tiered geniuses from the Empyrean Ranking will try and reach the supreme stage of the Empyrean Realm by imprinting their core with a saint rune.”

“Imprinting their core with a saint rune?” Lin Yun asked.

“Only those who have reached the supreme stage in the Empyrean Realm can imprint the saint rune on their core or the power of the saint rune will blow that person apart. Then again, there’s also a huge price in doing it, but there are definitely all sorts of treasures on the Profound Wither Island that can negate that cost. After imprinting the saint rune on the core, the cultivator’s strength will completely transform, and they’ll be practically invincible against those of the same cultivation,” said Ye Ziling while she nodded her head.

Lin Yun’s scalp began to turn numb when he heard that, since the commotion caused by the Profound Wither Island seemed to be even bigger than he had expected.

“But if they’re only going to imprint a saint rune on their core, it’s not necessary for them to do it in the Profound Wither Island, right?” Lin Yun asked. After all, heavenly spiritualists could draw saint runes themselves, like Feng Xuanzi of the Hidden Sword Pavilion, for example. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to forge saint artifacts.

“They’re aiming for Original Saint Runes,” said Ye Ziling as she glanced at Lin Yun. “Take your Blood Flame Dragon Rune as an example. Naturally formed saint runes are a lot stronger than those artificially drawn.”

The value of an Ordinal Saint Rune was shocking, and it would definitely draw attention the moment it appeared. As a place preserved since ancient times, there must be Original Saint Runes on the Profound Wither Island. After all, it was a place that not even Dragon Pulse Realm experts could step in.

In addition to all the rare herbs and treasures that could be found, there was no other place more suitable than the Profound Wither Island for those top-tiered geniuses.

“What monsters,” said Lin Yun.

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me that you’re interested in the Great Saint Origin? As long as you have no intention for it, you won’t be in a conflict with them. If you did manage to find any rare treasures or herbs, you can just leave early,” said Ye Ziling.

“Me?” Lin Yun smiled.

Ye Ziling locked her brows together when she heard that, wondering if Lin Yun would be insane enough to start a fight with those people before reaching the Astral Stage. Wearing a grave expression, she reminded, “Lin Yun, the Profound Wither Island isn’t the Sword Assembly, there will be all sorts of people and sects. The massacre going on there will far exceed your imagination. Even Qin Tian, whom you just fought, is a nobody when compared to those monstrous geniuses, and even Mu Qingqing is only a side character…”

“There are stronger experts from the Sword Sect?” Lin Yun asked.

“The Scarlet Firmament peak’s Sikong Zhou, ranked fourth on the Empyrean Ranking.” Ye Ziling said with a grave expression, but her eyes only had respect for Sikong Zhou’s strength and nothing else.

“So, where’s he right now?” Lin Yun asked. He didn’t expect that the Sword Sect would have someone strong enough to be ranked fourth on the Empyrean Ranking.

“Geniuses like them will have a protector beside them, and their tracks won’t be easily revealed. Perhaps he’s already here but he’s just mixed in the crowd, or perhaps he’s still on the way over,” smiled Ye Ziling.

“Alright, just remember my words and tone it down a little when you’re on the Profound Wither island. Speaking of which, there isn’t any news about Flower Burial recently. Lin Yun, do you think Flower Burial will go to the Profound Wither Island?” Ye Ziling suddenly changed the topic and looked at Lin Yun with interest.

How could Flower Burial even show up when Lin Yun has been in the Nine Li Illusion Realm? But Lin Yun awkwardly smiled and replied after a brief pause, “I’m guessing that he will.”

Ye Ziling’s eyes lit up for a brief moment before she sighed, “Sometimes, I really hope that what I saw back in the Heavenly Astral Pavilion was just a dream, and Flower Burial is just a person that I imagined.”

Lin Yun didn’t know how to reply when he heard that and said after a brief pause, “But you’re definitely not a dream to him in his eyes.”

“Perhaps.” Ye Ziling smiled. “It doesn’t matter. This is my life, and I have to gain control over it. Let’s just end it here. Your Miss Luo returned the day before. You’re not going to pay her a visit?”

Ye Ziling then gave Lin Yun a playful glance before she left.