The Sovereign's Ascension

When Lin Yun arrived in the main hall, the sect master had already been waiting for him for a long time. Entering the bronze gate, Lin Yun could see the sect master, who was seated on the main seat, smiling at him before walking over.

Lin Yun was briefly stunned because how could he possibly accept the sect master walking over to welcome him? He had no idea if it was his misperception, but the sect master had become a lot friendlier after he reached the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm. In fact, it felt like he was trying to flatter Lin Yun.

At times, the sect master didn’t even conceal the happiness in his eyes. The sect master was someone whose sword intent reached the pinnacle fourth stage, at the very least, so there was no need for him to be so courteous to Lin Yun. Since Lin Yun had no idea what the sect master was hiding, he collected his thoughts and cupped his hands in greeting, “Disciple Lin Yun has come as promised.”

“Haha! Why are you being so courteous?” The sect master laughed before he patted Lin Yun’s shoulder and led him to a seat. Lin Yun smiled bitterly because the sect master was the one who was being courteous.

Lin Yun wore a helpless smile and wondered if he should apologize. After all, he wasn’t polite with the sect master in the past. Now that he thought about it, the sect master had treated him well regardless of his motive. When Lin Yun had just arrived, the sect master made an exception to allow him to ascend the Sword Saint Mountain and even provided him with True Dragon Saint Liquid.

By forcing him to fight demonic cultivators, the sect master helped him grow swiftly and get used to Kunlun Realm as soon as possible. At the same time, Lin Yun was able to excavate his potential. So the sect master had contributed at least 70% of his success.

“Do you still remember that I need you to do something for me?” The sect master returned to his seat and smiled.

“That’s why I’m here.” Lin Yun naturally remembered his promise, after all, it was something that he didn’t like the thought of owing someone.

“It’s nothing too big. Have you heard of the Hidden Sword Pavilion?” The sect master smiled.

Lin Yun nodded his head. He had come to Kunlun Realm for some time, so he had naturally gathered quite a bit of information. The Hidden Sword Pavilion was the greatest sword forger, and the Hidden Sword Pavilion that the Hidden Sword Manor belonged to had a total of 3666 levels. Their Hidden Sword Manor was famous, and their Hidden Sword Pavilion was a sacred ground for swordsmen.

One could buy swords and interact with other swordsmen to improve in the way of the sword. The Hidden Sword Pavilion closest to the Profound Azure Prefecture was the Azure Rock Hidden Sword Pavilion, and it covered nine manors with its huge influence. Although Lin Yun knew this, he stayed silent and waited for the sect master.

“Good,” smiled the sect master. “When I was your age, I debated with the Azure Rock Hidden Sword Pavilion’s pavilion master. It was a great humiliation, and I lost the sword given to me by my master.”

When the sect master mentioned his master, his tone was filled with bitterness. Lin Yun was speechless when he heard that. Just how high-profile was the sect master to debate with the Azure Rock Hidden Sword Pavilion’s pavilion master when he wasn’t even twenty.

“What kind of sword was it?” Lin Yun asked with a smile.

“A thousand rune saint sword forged by the Mo Clan,” said the sect master.

But when Lin Yun heard that, he nearly choked on his saliva in disbelief.

A thousand rune saint artifact was already strong, but one forged by the Mo Clan would be equivalent to a divine artifact. The sect master actually bet such a sword with the Azure Rock Hidden Sword Pavilion’s pavilion master? Just how arrogant was he back then? This was something that not even Lin Yun could do himself. After all, he would never think about betting with the Flower Burial Sword, not to mention with the Azure Rock Hidden Sword Pavilion’s pavilion master.

“The next Sword Assembly will be starting soon. So you'll take the sword back,” said the sect master.

Lin Yun’s eyes flickered when he heard about it. He naturally knew something about the Sword Assembly. The Sword Assembly was also divided into different levels. The smaller ones were regional Sword Assemblies held annually by regional Hidden Sword Pavilions. The bigger one would envelop the entire Kunlun Realm’s younger generation and was held once every four years.

The rules of the Hidden Sword Pavilion’s Sword Assembly were special because they would invite many people, but those invited over could only use their strength in the Heavenly Soul Realm. If one was stronger than the Heavenly Soul Realm, they would need to lower their cultivation. But no one in the Elysium Core Realm would generally attend the smaller Sword Assemblies.

The Sword Assemblies were a grand event for swordsmen because winners could not only receive a sword forged by the Hidden Sword Pavilion, but they could also build their fame. So all swordsmen naturally looked forward to such a grand event, and Lin Yun wasn’t an exception. Not only could he widen his experience there, but he could also interact with other swordsmen to improve himself.

“Wait!” Lin Yun suddenly called out and looked at the sect master, “Don’t tell me that the Hidden Sword Pavilion is going to use the thousand rune saint artifact forged by the Mo Clan as the prize?”

Lin Yun didn’t think that they would even take out a thousand rune saint artifact, not to mention one forged by the Mo Clan.

“You’ll know when you arrive,” smiled the sect master. “You’ll be going with Young Master Luo.”

Young Master Luo? Just when Lin Yun was feeling baffled, Luo Hua slowly entered while dressed in white clothes.

“Brother Lin, it looks like we’ll be traveling together.” Luo Hua smiled.

Lin Yun was baffled why the sect master used an honorific term to address Luo Hua because it made no sense even if she was a direct descendant of a saint clan. In the Divine Dragon Era, the term young masters wasn’t only restricted to address males. It could also be used to address a female because it was an honorific title of address.

But Lin Yun had no idea why the sect master called Luo Hua young master because it made no sense with the sect master’s strength. Then again, Lin Yun knew that this old man wasn’t simple, and there was no use thinking about it.

“Brother Lin, are you unhappy that you have to travel with me?” Luo Hua’s voice turned cold upon seeing Lin Yun’s hesitation.

“It’s my honor.” Lin Yun smiled.

“Then someone will send you to the Azure Rock Hidden Sword Pavilion three days from now!” The sect master smiled, but his words instantly made Lin Yun’s face change.

“Three days from now? Can you change the timing?” Lin Yun hesitated. After all, he had promised Ye Ziling to head to the Profound Azure Prefecture in three days’ time.

“No. We’re in a rush, and you have to leave in three days’ time,” smiled the sect master, leaving no room for argument. Lin Yun furrowed his brows and the atmosphere in the hall became weird.

“Brother Lin, do you have any reservations?” Luo Hua asked.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Yun spoke about his agreement with Ye Ziling and his promise to her. His tone was calm as he tried to persuade the sect maste. He hoped the latter would understand his difficulties.

“She’s just fooling around by asking you. She didn’t even talk to me about it. I’ll just erase your name from the list. You don’t have to be concerned with the ranking battle,” smiled the sect master as though it wasn’t a big deal to him.

“It isn’t fooling around!” Lin Yun’s eyes flashed with rage as he tried to contain his emotions. But anyone could still hear the rage in his tone. The sect master’s lips twitched and his face became stiff.

“Please let me go to the ranking battle,” said Lin Yun with his hands cupped together.

“Hmph. You’re in no position to speak on her behalf. At the very least, you still don’t have the qualification to make that decision,” snorted the sect master as his face turned cold.

When Lin Yun heard that, he simply turned around and left. There was no need for them to talk since they couldn’t get on the same page. The ranking battle was the reason why Ye Ziling stayed in the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect. Since Lin Yun promised to help, how could he ignore his promise? Did his promise really amount to nothing? Since he couldn’t get on the same page with the sect master, there was no need for them to continue discussing.

“Lin Yun, don’t forget that there’s no way you can successfully reach the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm without my help.” The sect master looked at Lin Yun’s back figure and continued, “You owe me!”

At this moment, Lin Yun could feel the entire world turning dark as his heart felt like it was being squeezed. His face sank because the sect master had grabbed onto his weakness, and there was no way he could refute the words. Coming to a stop, Lin Yun clenched his fists together with trembling lips, “What do you want?!”

“Go to the Azure Rock Hidden Sword Pavilion in three days,” said the sect master as he emitted a massive sword intent that enveloped the entire hall. Lin Yun was in great pain when he heard that because the pressure was even stronger than when he was trying to reach the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm.

“Okay. I’ll go.” Lin Yun said in a helpless voice as if making this decision had taken all his strength. As his eyes flashed with indifference, Lin Yun continued, “But don’t erase my name from the ranking battle or I won’t go to the Azure Rock Hidden Sword Pavilion.”

“Doesn’t matter. You won’t make it in time anyway,” said the sect master.

Upon hearing that, Lin Yun left. But right before he flew away, he turned with a smile, “I was debating if I should apologize to you, but I can’t do that anymore. Old geezer, I won’t owe you anything after this!”

This time, Lin Yun left without stopping or turning around.