The Sovereign's Ascension

Hong Kun wanted to let the incident go, but Feng Xiaoyu clearly didn’t want to end it so easily. After all, she had never suffered such a huge loss or humiliation in her life.

Not only was she slapped by Luo Hua, but the Ice Phoenix Bracelet was even taken away from her. So how could she possibly let this matter go so easily?

When they returned to the manor and after Hong Kun left, Feng Xiaoyu summoned her favorite maid over. Her maid had a blindfold covering her eyes because of Lin Yun. After reaching the Empyrean Realm, one wouldn’t need to use their eyes to see. But a flaw to one’s body meant they would never be able to make a breakthrough in their cultivation ever again.

“Give this invitation to Yan Zijing. He will happily accept.” Feng Xiaoyu took out an invitation with cold eyes. “Furthermore, spread several rumors. I want the rumors to be known by everyone in the city after tonight!”

“Your wish is my command!” The maid said respectfully.

After the maid left, Feng Xiaoyu was still filled with rage. Although she couldn’t do anything to Luo Hua, she could still do something to Lin Yun. She had thousands of ways to kill Lin Yun without making a move personally.

When morning arrived, Lin Yun was standing in the courtyard carrying his sword box while Bai Ting followed behind him with a darkened face. Lin Yun had already told him what happened in the manor and Bai Ting also knew that Lin Yun couldn’t be blamed for this matter.

If the princess of the Feng Clan was really as vile as Lin Yun described, there was no need for them to partake in the Sword Assembly. After all, no one could accept this humiliation, and he believed that the sect master wouldn’t say anything about it even if he knew. Furthermore, the competition for this Sword Assembly was too intense because the sword forged by the Hidden Sword Pavilion’s pavilion master had an eighth-grade sanit rune in its core. So no swordsman could afford to let this opportunity go.

“Elder Bai, how long will it take for us to return to the Profound Azure City on the Profound Astral Bird?” Lin Yun asked.

“Roughly half a day,” replied Bai Ting. The Profound Azure City was closer to here than the Fleeting Cloud Sword. So they only had to travel a third of the journey through the third layer of heaven, not to mention the speed boost from the Profound Astral Bird.

“When will the ranking battle begin?” Lin Yun asked.

“Three days from now if I remember correctly,” replied Bai Ting.

Lin Yun’s eyes lit up when he heard that because this meant that they would have plenty of time. He replied, “Then I’ll have to trouble Elder Bai to change our journey and to send me to the Profound Azure City before you return to the sect.”

“You want to participate in the ranking battle?” Bai Ting asked. But the moment he asked about it, he recalled that Lin Yun’s name was also on the list of participants, not to mention that the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect wasn’t that confident in this ranking battle either.

“Are you going to leave?” A crisp voice sounded out as a dazzling light shined and made Lin Yun squint his eyes. Under the sunlight, Luo Hua entered with the Ice Phoenix Bracelet in her hand as she walked over.

“This is…” Bai Ting was baffled because he had no idea what Luo Hua meant. But just when he was feeling uncertain, Luo Hua tossed something over that made his face change drastically.

“The invitation!” Bai Ting rejoiced upon seeing the invitation and asked, “Young Master Luo, how did you manage to obtain it?”

“It’s nothing big.” Luo Hua smiled before he walked over to Lin Yun, “Here.”

Lin Yun reached out and Luo Hua placed the Ice Phoenix Bracelet on his palm. The bracelet flickered with a silver and purple luster that looked like a genuine phoenix undergoing rebirth through flames.

“It’s a gorgeous bracelet, and it’s a waste for you to give that lass,” said Luo Hua. Although Lin Yun couldn’t see her face, he could sense that Luo Hua’s gaze was on the Ice Phoenix Bracelet.

“Hmph. Since she put it that way, give it to her instead. It’s just a bracelet, and this empress can create as many as I want.” Lil’ Purple’s voice sounded out from the sword box.

“Then you can have it,” smiled Lin Yun. Even without Lil’ Purple’s encouragement, he would have given the bracelet to Luo Hua.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! You scumbag, you really gave it to her! I hate you to death!” Lil’ Purple wailed in anger from within the sword box.

“Put it on for me.” Luo Hua stretched her hand over and said naturally.

Lin Yun was briefly stunned before he held onto Luo Hua’s wrist and carefully put the Ice Phoenix Bracelet on her. This wasn’t his first time holding onto Luo Hua’s wrist, so it felt more natural this time. This also made Bai Ting, who was standing by the side, feel awkward as he held onto the invitation.

“Is it beautiful?” Luo Hua raised her wrist with a smile.

“Pretty good.” Lin Yun nodded his head in acknowledgement and continued, “Are you alright? That brat is unreasonable…”

“I’m fine because I’m also pretty unreasonable myself. You just don’t know,” smiled Luo Hua.

Lin Yun’s eyes flashed because he knew that Luo Hua’s origin was more complex than being a simple descendant of a saint clan. But since Luo Hua didn’t tell him much, he didn’t ask.

Two days later, the Sword Assembly finally began as Lin Yun appeared at the destination along with Bai Ting and Luo Hua. The scale of the Sword Assembly was classified. The Sword Assembly was held annually in the Hidden Sword Pavilion, while the bigger ones in the Hidden Sword Manor would only be held every four years.

Normally speaking, the smaller Sword Assembly would envelop the surrounding prefectures, while the bigger one was a huge event in the entire Kunlun Realm for all swordsmen. But the Azure Rock Hidden Sword Pavilion’s Sword Assembly wasn’t simple this time because a lot of swordsmen were attracted by the sword forged by the pavilion master.

A small majority of swordsmen in the Ancient Barren Domain were here. They wanted to suppress all the participants and take the sword. Then again, Lin Yun didn’t have a good impression of the assembly after what happened with the little miss.

There were no other rules in the Sword Assembly except that everyone had to seal their cultivation to the Heavenly Soul Realm. It was a way to ensure that everyone would compete with only their swordsmanship.

The presiding judge came from a huge clan in the Ancient Barren Domain, so he could be a fair third party. As for the event, it was held in the Feng Clan’s main courtyard, which was also where the Hidden Sword Pavilion was located. The entire courtyard looked grand and massive, as huge palaces and chains connected to cauldrons could be seen everywhere.

Swordsmen were heading towards the Hidden Sword Pavilion from various directions of the city. Just when Lin Yun’s party was about to reach the entrance of the Feng Clan’s courtyard, a party walked towards them.

But Lin Yun merely glanced and then ignored them. He had no idea where they got the invitation from.

The other party was led by Yan Zijing. He looked well as if he wasn’t stepped on by Lin Yun. In fact, he emitted a proud aura as if he wasn’t beaten by Lin Yun.

“What a coincidence.” Yan Zijing smiled with his eyes squinted, “I never expected you to have such a terrifying physique. But we’re only competing in swords today, and I hope that you won’t reject my challenge.”

Lin Yun continued to ignore him, which made Yan Zijing furious, “You’re going to die today. You won’t be able to do anything later!”

“Who is he?” Bai Ting asked.

“Probably a dog that someone forgot to leash,” said Lin Yun and they headed towards the Feng Clan’s field. Then, he walked towards the Azure Rock Field, splitting up with Luo Hua.

Bai Ting and Luo Hua didn’t have an invitation, so they could only go to the observation stand. When Lin Yun handed over his invitation and reported his name, the guard looked at Lin Yun deeply, “So you’re Lin Yun! I believe a lot of people will be interested in you. Come in!”

They then ignored Lin Yun, but this made Lin Yun frown because he felt like something wasn’t right. He couldn’t understand why the guard said many people were interested in him.

When Lin Yun entered the field, he was greeted by a shocking scene. A massive lake was at the center of the field that had a gigantic cauldron that contained a gigantic sword.

There were eight shackles on the hilt of the gigantic sword and the shackles were connected to statues of ominous beasts. Lin Yun felt something familiar about this scene and instantly thought about the sword in his body.

He immediately felt a chill run down his spine because everything looked so weird. There were also those who were shocked by this scene, and they would be fighting on the stage above the statues later. The stage was also protected with an array, so it was more than enough for them to fight.

“Hehe. Is this your first time seeing the Eight Ominous Soul Locking Array? This is just an imitation. The genuine one is in the Hidden Sword Manor.” A youth smiled beside Lin Yun as that youth sat down.

The Eight Ominous Soul Locking Array? Lin Yun glanced at the youth beside him and also sat down before he asked, “Do you know anything about it?”

When that youth heard what Lin Yun said, his eyes immediately lit up with excitement, and shared his knowledge, “I’m Ye Feifan. You’re looking at the right person if you want to know more about the Eight Ominous Soul Locking Array because even those from the Hidden Sword Pavilion might not know as much as me.”

“Go ahead,” replied Lin Yun.

“Then listen carefully. This is a secret that not even Dragon Pulse Realm experts knew about,” smiled Ye Feifan.