The Sovereign's Ascension

They didn’t get an invitation? Lin Yun’s face turned black when he heard that. At the same time, he felt that the old geezer was too troublesome to get him to come when they didn’t have an invitation. Through the explanation of Elder Bai Ting, only then did Lin Yun understand the reason. Ye Ziling had previously received an invitation by grasping the sky sword intent, but she rejected it because she wasn’t interested.

The Profound Azure Prefecture was a small place, to begin with. So after the Hidden Sword Pavilion was rejected, they didn’t bother sending any more invitations. But according to Elder Bai Ting, that didn’t mean that they had no chance because invitations would be leaked at every assembly.

After entering Azure Rock County’s city, Elder Bai Ting didn’t lead Lin Yun to the manor where the Hidden Sword Pavilion was located. Instead, he led Lin Yun to the Huang Clan that was a local clan in Azure Rock County.

The Azure Rock County had been situated here for centuries, which meant that they had a massive connection. Furthermore, the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect had business with this clan, and this clan was responsible for a lot of their mines resources on the Heavenly Aquatic Island. Additionally, the Huang Clan’s patriarch had a friendship with the sect master.

“Don’t look down on the Huang Clan. They have around 10 experts in the Dragon Pulse Realm. Not even the four major sects in the Profound Azure Prefecture can be compared to them. The Huang Clan also has a saint, which means they’re a saint clan. So even the Hidden Sword Pavilion has to give them some face,” said Elder Bai Ting.

Lin Yun was shocked to hear that a clan was stronger than all four major sects added up together. This further proved that the Profound Azure Prefecture was a small place. Wearing a grave expression, Lin Yun looked at the Huang Clan’s gate, “So why are we begging others for help?”

“There are many people begging them for help. We still have some connections with them while the other forces can’t even get in their doors. The Sword Assembly is an event for swordsmen, and many saint clans will participate in it. So this means that the invitation isn’t that easy to obtain,” smiled Elder Bai Ting bitterly.

When they entered the Huang Clan, Bai Ting followed the butler to meet the patriarch while Lin Yun and Luo Hua waited in the guest hall. An hour later, Elder Bai Ting met the patriarch of the Huang Clan. The room was luxuriously decorated with white jades covering the floor. There were 18 pillars in the hall that were embedded with gems.

“Patriarch Huang, it’s been a long time,” smiled Elder Bai Ting as he handed over the prepared gift. “Here’s a small gift from us.”

The patriarch of the Huang Clan was an old man. As the patriarch sat on the chair, he smiled, “Elder Bai, there’s no need for you to be so courteous. I have a deep friendship with your patriarch, and he had already told me the objective of your arrival. Sit down first.”

Hearing that, Elder Bai Ting felt a little more relieved. After Patriarch Huang took the gift, he smiled, “I’m curious why Ye Ziling didn't come even though she received the invitation last year. Yet he’s asking for an invitation this year. And what’s this that I heard Ye Ziling wasn’t the one that came?”

“The talent of this disciple is a longer stronger than Ye Ziling’s talent. The only problem is that his cultivation is a little low,” said Bai Ting.

“That, I believe… but you guys have no idea of your sect master. Your sect master won’t ask for help from others easily, and I naturally have to take a look at this disciple since he’s begging me. But it’s a pity that the competition this year is intense, and I’m afraid that your sect master will have to be disappointed,” said Patriarch Huang while he shook his head.

“What do you mean?” Elder Bai Ting’s expression became grave because he had no idea what Patriarch Huang meant.

Patriarch Huang glanced at Elder Bai Ting because the latter probably knew nothing about his sect master, not even his real name. He probably didn’t even know what his sect master did in the Hidden Sword Pavilion back then.

Patriarch Huang smiled and continued, “The Hidden Sword Pavilion took out a hundred rune saint artifact as a prize this year with the core being an eighth grade saint rune. The name of this sword is Incineration. It was forged with Crystal Flame Ore as the core and it exhausted 5,000 kilograms of agrium. Most importantly, this sword was forged by the pavilion master himself for ten years!”

Bai Ting was completely dumbfounded after hearing that. Saint artifacts were often classified by their runes, going from hundred, thousand, and myriad. If the number of saint runes was the same, then the core saint rune would determine the grade of the sword. There was also the material used to forge the sword, and a sword forged with numerous precious ores naturally wouldn’t be weak.

Most importantly, the person who forged it was important. Even if the materials and saint runes were the same, the value of the sword would be different based on the person who forged the sword. The Hidden Sword Pavilion’s pavilion master, Feng Xuanzi, wasn’t only an expert in the way of the sword, but also a rare Heavenly Spiritualist. So a sword forged by him naturally wasn’t comparable to other spiritualists.

Bai Ting could already imagine that this Sword Assembly would far exceed those in the past. Even the disciples of the saint clans and powerful sects in the Ancient Barren Domain were attracted by this Sword Assembly. Clearly, the value of that sword far exceeded even some thousand rune saint artifacts.

“According to what I know, that young lad you brought over is only in the Heavenly Soul Realm, right?” Patriarch Huang asked with a smile.

“That’s right,” said Bai Ting. “But he’s really strong, and he had…”

“No need to tell me that.” Patriarch Huang interrupted Bai Ting with a wave of his hand just when Bai Ting was about to say that Lin Yun had successfully reached the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm. “I definitely have had spare invitations in the past, but all the invitations are raised to a sky-high price for this Sword Assembly.”

“This…” Bai Ting wore a difficult expression and said, “Please show us a way.”

Patriarch Huang sighed when he heard that. He said those because he wanted Bai Ting to back down, and Bai Ting’s response placed him in a difficult spot. “I don’t have an invitation, and I wouldn’t make it difficult for you if I had one, not to mention that I owe your sect master a favor from the past. The invitations are all in the hands of Feng Clan’s third missy of the Hidden Sword Pavilion. He’s the granddaughter that Feng Xuanzi doted on the most, and the little princess of Feng Xuanzi as well.”

“Thank you, Patriarch Huang.” Joy appeared on Bai Ting’s face because this meant that they had hope.

“But don’t hold too much hope. That little princess has a foul temper, and no one dares to provoke her in the Azure Rock County. There are countless people asking her for an invitation. I can transmit your intention to her. As for whether that genius of yours can obtain an invitation, it will have to depend on him.” Patriarch Huang then shared what that little princess liked with Bai Ting. “So it’ll depend if you guys can please that little princess. Remember to bring gifts along.”

“I got it,” replied Bai Ting. Not long later, Bai Ting went to meet Lin Yun and Luo Hua, telling them about the invitation. “We won’t be able to participate in the Sword Assembly without the invitation. You have to pay attention to it and mind your temper in the sect a little. The competition for this Sword Assembly is too intense…”

Lin Yun nodded his head when he heard that, but Bai Ting sighed because he didn’t have any more hope for this Sword Assembly. He just hoped that Lin Yun could smoothly obtain the invitation. At the very least, they would be able to compete for the invitation and give the sect master an explanation. Otherwise, Bai Ting would have no face to return.

After Bai Ting left, Luo Hua looked at Lin Yun and knew that he wasn’t happy. He didn’t say a word along the way, clearly still worried about Ye Ziling and the rest going to the ranking battle. She broke the silence and asked, “What gifts do you intend to bring?”

“What gifts?” Lin Yun was stunned when he heard what Luo Hua said.

“Looks like you didn’t hear what Elder Bai Ting said earlier. Getting an invitation from this little princess is the same as bribing her. We naturally have to visit her with gifts or we might return empty-handed,” smiled Luo Hua.

“This is really a tough question.” Lin Yun pondered. There was naturally no way he could give out the Divine Blood Fruit and its leaves, so he probably had to give away the saint artifact spear. But the Hidden Sword Pavilion could forge saint artifacts themselves, and since the other party was the little princess of the Feng Clan, she might not even be interested. As for the Silver Moon Mask or his flute, there was no way he could give them away.

“You still have time to think about it,” said Luo Hua before she also left.

The next morning, Lin Yun came to a manor under the guidance of the Huang Clan’s servant. This was the manor that the little princess of the Feng Clan bought. The grandeur of this manor alone was enough to show the status she had in the Feng Clan.

When they entered the manor, Lin Yun could see many youths carrying sword boxes on their backs. Clearly, they were also here to ask for an invitation from the third missy of the Feng Clan. They had been in Azure Rock County for several days, and they were already familiar with each other. So they couldn’t help directing their curious gazes over when they saw Lin Yun. But their expression soon became weird because Lin Yun was only in the Heavenly Soul Realm.

“I’m the Profound Thunder Sword Sect’s Yan Zijing. How can I address you?” The youth who appeared to be the leader walked over with a smile.

“Lin Yun of the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect,” replied Lin Yun.

“The Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect?” Yan Zijing fell into deep thoughts before he wore a disdainful smile, “Ah, I finally recalled it. A sect in the Profound Azure Prefecture. The Profound Azure Prefecture is really far, and I’m afraid that they don’t even have an astral beast. I’m afraid that it’s not easy coming here, right?”

The other swordsmen smiled when they heard that, treating Lin Yun as a country bumpkin from a small place. Lin Yun merely glanced at Yan Zijing before he replied, “I don’t need you to worry about how I came here.”

“Haha. What a temper for someone in the Heavenly Soul Realm,” replied Yan Zijing before he ignored Lin Yun. Then, he gathered with the rest to discuss how they should please the little princess of the Feng Clan to obtain the invitation.

Not long later, a maid appeared wearing an aloof expression, “My missy said that those who want the invitation need to have extraordinary strength. All of you can go together and only those who defeat my missy’s pet will be able to meet her.”

Hearing that, all the swordsmen became excited as they quickly followed the maid. There were so many of them, and they were confident to take down the pet even without using their swords.

Passing through multiple hallways in the manor, their attention was soon attracted by a practicing field. The practice field was actually forged as a beast field with walls raised in the surroundings. When a loud sound rang out, the wall opened up and a three-headed demonic hound let out a ferocious roar while it ran out.

“The Flame Demon Hound!”

“An overlord demonic beast in the Astral Stage!” Everyone’s faces changed when they saw the gigantic demonic hound.