The Sovereign's Ascension

“Put me down.” Lil’ Purple hopped down and smiled, “Don’t hurt yourself, I’ll explain it to you. The sword that was stored in this sword box was a Sovereign Divine Sword, but no one has seen this sword before, not even the Iris Sword Saint.”

Lin Yun was stumped when he heard that and exclaimed, “So the sword box was empty, to begin with?”

“How is that possible?” Lil’ Purple held onto her chin and continued, “There’s naturally a divine sword in this sword box since it had seven Sovereign Divine Runes engraved on it. But no one knows where the sword is. I don’t even know if the Iris Sword Saint knows. If such a sword existed, the Golden Era wouldn’t have been destroyed though.”

For some reason, Lin Yun felt as if he was being fooled by Lil’ Purple since she was basically saying nothing. The Iris Secret Realm could barely be considered a practice ground or place to store items. Lin Yun really couldn’t think of a way to utilize this world.

“Did the senior leave behind any martial techniques, divine pellets, or saint artifacts?” Lin Yun asked, unwilling to accept the current situation.

“He did, but as you can see, they were all destroyed. I remember there’s a divine cauldron, but it can no longer be found. It’s probably buried deep underground along with many other treasures. I think they would be useless if you dug them up,” said Lil’ Purple.

Lin Yun sighed when he heard that. Based on what Lil’ Purple had described, this place was truly comparable to a holy land. Furthermore, it was terrifying to think that the resources of an entire holy land supplied a single person. It was a pity that nothing was left.

“Don’t be disappointed. At least the tree can restore itself after you collect the sovereign divine rune on the Sword Saint Mountain. Who knows, other things might also be restored. You own this place, so it’s up to you,” chuckled Lil’ Purple.

Lil’ Purple’s words started to make sense to Lin Yun. “If the tree comes back to life, you should be able to restore some of your strength as well, right?”

“Of course. The Phoenix Tree can nourish phoenixes. Without it, it’s impossible for me to restore a hundredth of my strength.” Lil’ Purple looked at the tree and said with anticipation filled in her tone.

Lin Yun stayed silent as his thoughts were confirmed.

Lil’ Purple also suddenly sensed that the atmosphere wasn't right and smiled, “What is it? You’re afraid that I’ll kill you with a breath of mine when I restore my strength?”

“I’m not, because I know you have a conscience,” smiled Lin Yun.

“But what if what Luo Hua said was true?” The smile disappeared as Lil’ Purple wore a grave expression.

Lin Yun was briefly stunned when he heard that. He naturally had his own considerations but he still couldn’t figure out why the Iris Sword Saint wanted to seal Lil’ Purple back then. Plus, he didn’t know where Lil’ Purple’s true body was right now. What if she was really a Heavenly Slaughtering Empress like what she said?

“So what? Even if you’re filled with sins, it was 100,000 years ago. To me, you’re just a small phoenix who knows how to help me set up arrays, teach me music, help me take care of Lil’ Red, and rub my eyes when they hurt. That’s enough for me, and no one can bully you with me around” smiled Lin Yun.

Lil’ Purple was stumped when she heard that. A long time later, her eyes became watery as she said, “Hmph, you scumbag. I don’t believe you.”

As she spoke, tears began to roll down her cheeks and Lin Yun got close to wipe her tears for her. Looking at the surroundings, Lin Yun wondered if he could retrieve the Sovereign Divine Rune. But before that, he still had to negotiate things with the old geezer. After all, the old geezer had to be the one to unseal the Sword Saint Mountain or he wouldn’t be able to enter.

“Speaking of which, I can understand why we need the Wind, Fire, Lightning, and Ice Divine Runes, but why are the Solar Lunar Divine Rune, Samsara Divine Rune, and Nirvana Divine Rune also needed? Aren’t the sun and moon individual entities? Why are they combined together? Also, doesn’t samsara include nirvana?”

Lin Yun shifted the topic so that Lil’ Purple would feel better. When Lil’ Purple heard his question, she snorted, “Hmph. It’s fine to tell you about that, but it’s not like you’ll understand. Solar Lunar doesn’t mean the sun and moon. It also involves yin, yang, time, and space. They’re a lot stronger than the Great Sun Divine Rune and Great Moon Divine Rune. As for samsara and nirvana, that’s a little more complicated. Life is life and death is death, they’re not linked to nirvana, but nirvana includes life and death. It might not make any sense to you, but it doesn’t make sense to me either. I have no idea how to tell you about it…”

As Lil’ Purple talked, her face gradually became awkward because she also heard that from the Iris Sword Saint. She knew bits and pieces about the Solar Lunar Divine Rune and Samsara Divine Rune, but she knew nothing about the Nirvana Divine Rune.

“Hahaha, why are you so adorable?” Lin Yun laughed and pinched Lil’ Purple’s cheeks. She always liked to boast and whenever she discovered that she couldn’t continue her boasting, she would always be in an awkward position that would make her seem adorable.

“Don’t pinch my face or I’ll really become angry!” Lil’ Purple said.

Lin Yun smiled, but he ignored her yells and only stopped after he was satisfied.

“Hmph! Anyway, you’re wrong. It’s not the wind, lightning, fire, and ice divine runes. It’s the extreme wind, sinful fire, myriad lightning, and freezing chill divine runes. They might sound the same, but they’re not. It’s like the difference between Flower Burial and Lightning Shadow compared to other mediocre swords. Do you get it now?” Lil’ Purple corrected Lin Yun and continued, “There’s a reason why they’re called Sovereign Divine Runes. Don’t mix them up or you’ll just make a fool out of yourself in front of others.”

“Alright, alright.” Lin Yun smiled. He had a feeling that Lil’ Purple merely wanted to save her face because of the previous failure.

“That’s far out of my reach for now.” Lin Yun’s expression became serious and continued, “The old geezer said that there are some changes with the Profound Wither Island. The inheritance left by the Profound Wither Saint might open soon. At that time, there will definitely be people from the Empyrean Ranking, but my current strength is still lacking.”

Although he could defeat Xiahou Jue easily, Xiahou Jue was only in the top 3,000. Not even Gongsun Yan and Zhao Yan were convinced by their loss because they had to restrict their cultivation to the Heavenly Soul Realm. But Lin Yun had a feeling he wouldn’t lose against them and even might have a better shot at beating them now.

His current strength was at least in the top 1,000, but he might not be strong enough to reach the top 500. Since the Profound Wither Island might open, he would have to face those in the top 500. After all, Luo Hua said that everyone who hadn’t reached the Elysium Core Realm had a shot at this Profound Wither Island.

If the top ten showed up, Lin Yun had no confidence in winning though. The top ten stood at the summit of the Ancient Barren Domain. Furthermore, there wouldn’t be any restrictions like the Sword Assembly in the Ancient Barren Domain.

“You naturally have to become stronger, which is easy if you get to the Astral Stage. But have you thought about what constellation you want to form? The constellation is important as it’ll become stronger with your cultivation. Most people would use their martial souls as their constellations.” Lil’ Purple looked at Lin Yun and continued, “But I can guarantee that those ominous beasts aren’t your martial soul, so this path isn’t valid for you. So you have to come up with your own constellation, which will be more troublesome because you’ll need help from predecessors as reference."

After seeing the Eight Ominous Soul Locking Array, Lin Yun roughly knew that those ominous beasts were meant to suppress his soul and it had nothing to do with martial souls. His martial soul really might be the broken sword, and if that was really the case, it was ridiculous to use a broken sword for his constellation.

“If you don’t have any idea, you can consider the Iris Sword Saint’s constellation,” said Lil’ Purple.

“What constellation is that?” Lin Yun was curious about Iris Sword Saint’s constellation. After all, the Iris Sword Saint slew deities!

“Look for yourself.” Lil’ Purple took out a painting and threw it into the air. When the painting unfolded, an ocean formed with a boundless sword aura appeared. A dragon rode the waves and caused them to swell. At the same time, a colossal Phoenix Tree with an ancient phoenix lying on it stood on the shore with bright leaves. Finally, a majestic sun and moon in the sky appeared along with a sword hovering in the air.

Looking at the painting made Lin Yun’s heart throb violently as he bit his lips in disbelief. He had seen many constellations before, but none of them compared to the Iris Sword Saint’s constellation.

“I’ll take it!” Lin Yun gulped down a mouthful of saliva with desire flashing in his pupils.