The Sovereign's Ascension

After Lin Yun left the main palace, he traveled through the air searching for zither music. Once he heard it, he smiled because Luo Hua didn’t forget her promise. “It’s her!”

It had been a long time since Lin Yun drank the Millennium Flame, so he licked his lips and followed the music. It didn’t take long before the Saint Sword Mountain entered his sight. There were countless mountains hovering around Saint Sword Mountain, and it was a forbidden ground most of the time. But Lin Yun was a heavenly core disciple, so no place was forbidden to him.

The surroundings of the Sword Saint Mountain looked like a celestial realm as it was enveloped in clouds. Right now, Lin Yun could sense an ethereal intent in the zither music that floated just like the clouds around the mountain.

Most people thought that the fleeting cloud was the sky, which would trap most heaven-defying geniuses. But what was above the fleeting clouds?

Lin Yun seemed to have an insight as he raised his head to look at the sky. Is there a sky above the fleeting clouds? Then, he realized that there was always a sky above the sky. Lin Yun began to feel a sharp pain in his chest as his sword intent ran amok. The very thing that he held so firmly was suddenly crumbling.

If there was a sky above the sky, what was the meaning in cultivating sword dao? After all, even the fleeting clouds were still beneath the sky and his sword was ultimately a joke. Suddenly, the intense fluctuation of his emotions made him throw up a mouthful of blood as his face turned pale.

At this moment, fear began to spread in Lin Yun’s mind as he thought about running amok. His sword dao began to crumble weirdly, like a towering building tottering on the verge of collapse. Lin Yun smiled because he realized that he might die today.

His heart was full of hatred because he realized that his sword was too short. Meanwhile, the zither music changed and Lin Yun could sense the noble tune in it. However, this one felt mightier than the one he played.

It was clearly the overbearing noble tune, but it sounded gentle like a tender hand caressing his body. Lin Yun’s expression loosened up and his sword intent stopped collapsing. His gaze became sharp as the music magically calmed him down.

Lin Yun stared into the horizon and let out a long sign, “That was really dangerous.”

After a while, Lin Yun arrived where Luo Hua was. The mountains were hidden in the clouds like the veil that covered Luo Hua’s face. Lin Yun gazed at her as he imagined how gorgeous she was under the veil.

When Lin Yun landed on the mountain, he smiled, “The scenery here is comparable to Jiangnan.”

“Jiangnan? Where’s that?” Luo Hua raised her head with curiosity flashing in her pupils.

Where was Jiangnan? Lin Yun was briefly stunned before he smiled. Truth be told, even he didn’t know where it was.

“Jiangnan is in our dreams. I woke up from my dream the moment I saw you!” Lin Yun sat down with excited eyes when he saw the jar of wine that was prepared. He toyed with the jar of wine briefly before he poured himself a cup. Looking at the golden flames in the clear wine, it was indeed the Millennium Flame that Lin Yun had asked for.

With a smile, Lin Yun shook the wine cup gently and golden flames appeared on the surface of the wine that manifested into a golden crow and flew around the pavilion. Lin Yun lifted the cup and chugged its contents. His face turned rosy as the cup as he let out a deep breath, “Good wine!”

“You killed the Thunderclap Sword Demon, so why is your heart full of trouble? You almost ran amok.” Luo Hua asked curiously with concern in her tone.

“The fourth-grade sword intent!” Lin Yun replied. He had insight earlier that there might be another sky beyond the sky. So it was practically impossible for him to reach beyond the sky, which made him feel like a joke. He didn’t bother hiding anything and shared everything with Luo Hua.

“It’s already hard for you to come this far. Most people in the world will be trapped beneath the fleeting clouds. They will never think about this problem,” said Luo Hua. “We all want to reach the mountain peak, but we’ll see a higher mountain every time we reach a summit. Many people will collapse from despair because every single attempt to ascend the mountain is a life and death experience.”

“The fourth-grade sword intent is really hard,” sighed Lin Yun before he took out the Divine Indigo Jade Bamboo Flute and began to play. He was playing it with the noble tune, and when he did, phenomena began to appear on the fleeting clouds. When he was done with the song, the bitterness in his heart decreased.

“Everything in the world consists of Yin and Yang, which also means that there’s a balance to the world. Sword and blade daos are stronger than most daos, and they’re also the hardest to comprehend. There are many daos that are easier to grasp. The fourth-grade sword intent is called divine firmament. Legend has it that there were nine skies with 36 layers, and divine firmament is the highest of the 36 layers.” Luo Hua stood up from her seat and continued, “But… is that important?”

Is it important? Lin Yun’s heart began to throb as if Luo Hua’s words had woken him up. He could feel various bottlenecks loosening up before he replied, “No, it’s not.”

Light shined from the center of his brows as his sword intent formed a seed. It was a complete sword cocoon. Once the cocoon breaks, his fourth-grade sword intent would be formed.

Divine firmament didn’t mean the highest sky but being above the sky. So he needed to manifest the sky itself with his sword intent. Lin Yun’s sword intent had been stuck at the third grade for a long time. But at this moment, the fog began to dissipate as all of his comprehensions flooded his mind.

With the cocoon formed, he reached the quasi-divine firmament Sword Intent. This meant that his sword intent would reach the fourth grade eventually as time passed. At that time, his sword would be the sky, and his bottleneck would no longer exist.

“Lady Luo really knows a lot. I nearly ran amok earlier and died. Fortunately, I crossed the bottleneck to the fourth grade instead,” said Lin Yun.

Hearing that, Luo Hua smiled, “You’re already standing at the summit looking at the fleeting clouds while others are still climbing the mountain. This would happen to you sooner or later. I just gave you a little push. Based on your heart as a swordsman, even without my noble tune, it wouldn’t be a problem for you to make a breakthrough.”

Lin Yun smiled in response. He was growing curious about Luo Hua’s identity. Are all saint clans this knowledgeable? After all, Luo Hua seems to be even more versed in noble tune than he was.

Her explanation of the fourth-grade sword intent had benefited him greatly, which meant that she also had a strong sword intent. After all, she gave him personal insight instead of relying on the words of the seniors.

For example, if she told that to Ye Ziling, the latter wouldn’t be able to understand it. In fact, her explanation might hinder Ye Ziling’s progress in her sword intent. So everything that just happened was a coincidence. It was a coincidence that Lin Yun had been comprehending the fourth-grade sword intent for a long time and that Luo Hua’s explanation helped him break through the bottleneck.

Lin Yun realized that Luo Hua’s identity wasn’t that simple. “I heard that you’re here for the secret of the Saint Sword Mountain?”

“You’re half right.” Luo Hua didn’t hide anything from Lin Yun and turned her gaze to the Sword Saint Mountain. “The Sword Saint Mountain isn’t that simple, and ascending the summit is only the beginning of the journey. Even if you comprehend what you received on the mountain, you’ll realize that the owner of that mountain has already given the answer to your bottleneck.”

When Lin Yun heard that, he was surprised, “Lady Luo, did you already ascend the mountain?”

“I didn’t, but you did. So I’m able to see what you saw,” said Luo Hua mysteriously.

Lin Yun figured out what she was saying. No wonder Luo Hua was around when I ascended the mountain. It appears that there really is a secret on the Saint Sword Mountain.

“What’s the other reason?” Lin Yun pursued. He usually wasn’t this forward, but he was curious about Luo Hua.

“The other reason is the other reason,” replied Luo Hua, not giving any explanation.