The Sovereign's Ascension

Zhao Yan was feeling conflicted that he was actually being threatened by a sword. Looking at Lin Yun’s sword, Zhao Yan fell into deep thoughts. He had sensed that this sword wasn’t simple after they fought. Although it wasn’t a saint artifact, it didn’t have any defects after clashing with his Lightning Shadow due to its special material. It was just lacking in pure power.

Then again, his sword was engraved with many saint runes, so it easily overpowered the Flower Burial Sword. If it weren’t for the saint runes, there wouldn’t have been a difference between the swords. Deep down, he was amazed by Lin Yun’s compatibility with the Flower Burial Sword. After all, Lin Yun reached the one with the sword state that he had never seen before.

The sword had traces of life and a sense of pride. Most importantly, Lin Yun didn’t treat it as a normal sword.

Zhao Yan noticed all of these peculiar things about Lin Yun’s sword because he was also a monstrous genius. Any other opponent would have found it hard to decipher the secrets of Lin Yun’s sword. Then again, Lin Yun also had a deep attainment in the sword.

Rubbing his brows, Zhao Yan sighed a long time later, “I’m fully convinced in my loss at the Heavenly Soul Realm.”

Lin Yun heard the hidden meaning in Zhao Yan’s words.

“Let’s fight again after you reach the Empyrean Realm. It’s not fun having to restrict my cultivation to the Heavenly Soul Realm,” said Zhao Yan with fire in his eyes.

Seeing that Zhao Yan was such a sword fanatic, Lin Yun replied, “It depends on you. If you don’t make any progress the next time we meet, it won’t be an interesting fight.”

Zhao Yan was briefly stunned by those words before he smiled, “Don’t worry. I’m not here for the saint artifact. I just wanted to find an interesting opponent that can help me improve. I’ve benefited greatly from our battle, and I’ll be able to make a breakthrough soon enough!”

After Zhao Yan left the stage, all the geniuses in the plaza fell silent as their faces turned ugly. Not only did Yan Zijing and Chen Ying lose to Lin Yun, but even Zhao Yan lost.

The Feng Clan’s guards were unhappy and they regretted their actions of stopping Lin Yun from leaving.

“That bastard! He’s really not here to sweep through the Sword Assembly, right?!” Feng Xiaoyu’s face was pale with burning pain on her cheeks. This was simply too humiliating, not to mention that Lin Yun had clearly not used his full strength right now.

Zhao Yan was one of the four popular candidates to win, and Lin Yun beat him easily. This meant that Lin Yun had replaced Zhao Yan’s position. If Lin Yun continued to win, he would sweep through the Sword Assembly and embarrass her thoroughly. If that happened, she would become the biggest laughing stock in the city.

“Let him go. Clearly, he doesn’t like the Sword Assembly,” said Gongsun Yan. His words instantly made everyone wear an awkward expression because Feng Xiaoyu was trying to stop Lin Yun from leaving. If Lin Yun really left, it would be the same as slapping Feng Xiaoyu’s face.

“So that my Feng Clan will become a laughingstock?” Feng Xingyang glanced at Gongsun Yan coldly.

“I’m only expressing my opinion,” smiled Gongsun Yan before he fell silent.

“First place will go to me. Watch carefully, Gongsun Yan. Even if I have to reveal my trump card ahead of time, you still won’t be able to defeat me!” Feng Xingyang instantly saw through Gongsun Yan’s schemes.

Feng Xingyang was the strongest among his generation, and he had rushed back from the Hidden Sword Manor to win the championship and establish the Feng Clan’s prestige in the city.

Hearing what Feng Xingyang said, Gongsun Yan merely smiled. Meanwhile, Feng Xiaoyu had joy on her face, “Big Brother, you have to help me!”

“Since I asked him to say, I won’t let him leave easily. No one can leave after challenging the prestige of my Feng Clan!” Feng Xingyang looked at Lin Yun coldly before he flew onto the stage. As soon as he landed, the entire stage trembled under his terrifying sword aura.

His sword aura swept out like waves that made Feng Xingyang’s aura become sharp. His gaze fell onto Lin Yun, and he couldn’t help being surprised. He was surprised that Lin Yun didn’t even bat an eye at him. Instead, Lin Yun turned around to leave.

Appearing before Lin Yun, Feng Xingyang smiled, “Are you afraid? Too late. Since I’m standing on this stage, I won’t let you leave so easily.”

“Afraid?” Lin Yun smiled, “You’re overthinking it. No one has the qualification to fight me.”

Feng Xingyang’s face sank when he heard that and he became furious, “Interesting. You’re afraid of losing to me after revealing a lot of your strength in your fight with Zhao Yan? Don’t worry. I won’t take advantage of you. Consider it your win if you can last 50 moves against me!”

“It’s my freedom to fight whoever I want, and there’s no need for me to fight someone I don’t like,” said Lin Yun.

Feng Xingyang’s face was full of rage as he spoke coldly, “You can only obtain the saint artifact after beating me!”

“You think too highly of me. You’re even weaker than Zhao Yan, and you’ll be defeated sooner or later. If I really wanted the prize of this Sword Assembly, I could just defeat the person who will defeat you,” mocked Lin Yun. His words instantly caused an uproar because many people felt that Feng Xingyang was stronger than Zhao Yan.

After all, Feng Xingyang came from the Hidden Sword Manor, and his ranking on the empyrean ranking was higher than Zhao Yan’s ranking. At the very least, they should be evenly matched. But Lin Yun said that Feng Xingyang couldn’t even be compared with Zhao Yan. The meaning in his words was blatant, Feng Xingyang wasn’t even qualified to fight him.

Gongsun Yan squinted his eyes with a ferocious light flashing through his pupils while Zhao Yan held onto his chin and grinned, “He has pretty sharp eyes.”

Zhao Yan naturally was happy to hear that he was stronger than Feng Xingyang.

“You’re humiliating me?” Feng Xingyang’s face sank with killing intent brewing in his pupils.

“I’ll be honest with you. I only need one sword to defeat you,” replied Lin Yun. He was at the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm, and not even Empyrean Core Realm experts could fight him after restricting their cultivation in the Heavenly Soul Realm. So a mere Feng Xingyang didn’t stand a chance.

As for their attainments in the sword, Lin Yun could easily crush Feng Xingyang. The reason why Feng Xingyang couldn’t be compared to Zhao Yan was that Zhao Yan was one of the few who could discover the profundity in Lin Yun’s sword. Zhao Yan was a sword fanatic with extreme obsession over the sword, and he might’ve guessed Lin Yun’s current level in the sword.

If Feng Xingyang had half the eyesight of Zhao Yan, he definitely wouldn’t try to challenge him or make bold claims of winning.

Feng Xingyang’s face was practically deofrmed from the rage that he felt. He couldn’t take the humiliation. He was a disciple of the Hidden Sword Manor, ranked in the top 700 on the Empyrean Ranking. How could Lin Yun defeat someone like him with just one sword?

“I’ll give you ten saint swords if you can defeat me with one sword!” Feng Xingyang gritted his teeth.

The entire plaza went into an uproar because Lin Yun was simply too arrogant. Everyone was still filled with disdain for Lin Yun because they thought he was leaving out of fear. So they never would have imagined that Lin Yun was simply too arrogant to fight.

Although Feng Xingyang was here to clean up the mess, he was being humiliated. He even had to offer up ten saint swords just to fight with Lin Yun.

Meanwhile, the seniors in the Feng Clan were feeling nervous. They didn’t believe that anyone among the same generation could defeat Feng Xingyang with one sword aside from those ranked in the top ten. Those in the top 100 were extraordinary geniuses, and those in the top ten were simply monsters.

If Lin Yun was a heaven-defying genius in the sword, he wouldn’t be with the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect. Instead, he would be in a powerful sect in the Ancient Barren Domain. Logically, they had nothing to fear. However, they were still feeling uneasy because ten saint swords was an astronomical sum even to the Hidden Sword Pavilion.

If Lin Yun really agreed to Feng Xingyang and defeated the latter with one sword, they would suffer an immense loss.

Feng Xingyang’s face was dark as he continued speaking, “I keep my promises. Since you dared to humiliate me, you’ll have to pay the price. If you win, I’ll give you ten saint swords. If you lose, you need to give me one of your arms!”

“So I have no choice but to fight you?” Lin Yun replied.

“That’s right,” said Feng Xingyang while he gritted his teeth.

“So be it then. I don’t want ten swords. If you lose, I also want an arm of yours.” Lin Yun raised his head to look at Feng Xingyang, looking at the latter calmly with no interest on his face. But his words had caused everyone in the plaza to be dumbfounded.

Everyone was looking at Lin Yun with disbelief and wondered if Lin Yun had gone insane. Even Zhao Yan also wore a grave expression because he had no idea what Lin Yun was trying to do. Just how strong was Lin Yun that he could defeat Feng Xingyang with one sword? No matter how Zhao Yan looked at it, it was unbelievable.