The Sovereign's Ascension

Chapter 1242 – Nine Li Illusion Realm

In the clouds outside the Nine Li War Drum Array, Jian Jingtian was standing together with someone in the clouds. Both of them were looking at Lin Yun who was on the altar. If Lin Yun was here, he would recognize that it was Feng Jue, who brought him to Kunlun Realm, standing beside Jian Jingtian.

Feng Jue had a smile plastered on his face and said, “I knew that having Lin Yun in your care was the best choice. It’s only been half a year, and he’s grasped the quasi-divine firmament sword intent. Holy shit, he’s even going to catch up to me. I heard that he even made it through the three challenges in the Sword Assembly. Oh yeah, he even slapped the Skysolute City in the face, right? Tsk, tsk, junior brother’s growth is really shocking.”

Jian Jingtian’s face was calm throughout as though it had nothing to do with him. However, Feng Jue wasn’t bothered that Jian Jingtian didn’t give him a reply. He was used to Jian Jingtian’s temperament, and Jian Jingtian had never smiled at anyone aside from Lin Yun.

“Why are you here?” Jian Jingtian asked.

“Naturally for the Profound Wither Great Saint. Now that there’s turbulence in the Profound Wither Island, it has alarmed all the powerful sects in the Ancient Barren Domain. The Sword Sect naturally had to send someone over, which is why I’m here,” smiled Feng Jue.

“Oh?” Jian Jingtian took a glance at Feng Jue before he turned his head away, “So you’ve reached the Samsara Edict Realm. No wonder you have a smug look on your face.”

“How could I dare to show off before you?” Feng Jue said with a smile, but Jian Jingtian couldn’t be bothered with him. Feng Jue knew that Jian Jingtian was still stuck in the Dragon Pulse Realm, and he would stay in the Dragon Pulse Realm for a long time.

“Hehe. Speaking of which, aren’t you a little too harsh with our junior brother? He has only been in Kunlun Realm for half a year, and you already want him to compete with those ranked in the top 100 on the Empyrean Ranking? Can he even do that?” Feng Jue asked unhappily. After all, it wasn’t exactly good to keep striking a blow to Lin Yun’s confidence.

Lin Yun’s current achievements befitted the champion of the Ninth Heavenly Path. If he had enough time, Feng Jue was confident that Lin Yun could become a saint.

“It’s none of your business,” said Jian Jingtian.

His words instantly left Feng Jue silent. But when Feng Jue looked at Jian Jingtian, he could notice that there was something unusual with Jian Jingtian. It seemed like something inside Jian Jingtian had changed. With surprise on his face, Feng Jue asked, “You seem to have changed.”

It was surprising for Feng Jue. In fact, he began to wonder if the genius who was ranked number one on the three rankings was about to come back. If Jian Jingtian could walk out of his shadow, it would be good for the Sword Sect. This thought started to make Feng Jue feel emotional.

When Jian Jingtian heard what Feng Jue said, he was surprised and wondered if his heart was really reignited by Lin Yun. But he naturally wouldn’t show it on his face and replied with disdain on his face, “You talk a lot.”

Feng Jue’s face was thick, so he wasn’t bothered by Jian Jingtian’s disdainful attitude. Instead, he smiled and said, “Senior Brother, you really have a knack for guiding others. But it’s not good to lie. The Nine Li Wardrum Array won’t kill him, right?”

“I wasn’t lying. He might really lose his life,” replied Jian Jingtian.

“You monster!” Feng Jue was briefly stunned as the smile on his face froze. At this moment, he wanted to head into the Nine Li Wardrum Array. It wouldn’t matter if Lin Yun died outside in the hands of others because that would mean that Lin Yun was weak. But if Lin Yun died in the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect, then it would be troublesome because Lin Yun was someone that his master wanted.

But the moment Feng Jue made a move, a hand grabbed his shoulder and immobilized him. Feng Jue could only turn around furiously as he released his aura in the Samsara Edict Realm, “Jian Jingtian, you bastard! If Lin Yun really dies, you won’t be able to bear the responsibility!”

“I advise you to be kinder to yourself. Don’t try and fight me,” said Jian Jingtian coldly. Although he was only in the Dragon Pulse Realm, when his gaze fell onto Feng Jue, his aura instantly suffocated Feng Jue. Feng Jue’s face turned ugly because Jian Jingtian wasn’t giving him any other options.

A brief moment later, Feng Jue spoke with a red face, “Let go. Do you really have to be so ruthless to me?”

But Jian Jingtian merely glanced at Feng Jue with a mocking gaze. After being subdued by Jian Jingtian with a single move, Feng Jue’s aura immediately dropped, and he no longer dared to show off. Jian Jingtian had used his strength to show him why Jian Jingtian was the senior brother. Even if he had reached the Samsara Edict Realm, he still had to behave himself.

Jian Jingtian suddenly felt like he had taken it a little too far, “He won’t die so easily. Plus, I’m here watching over him.”

Once Feng Jue heard that, he let out a sigh of relief. A smile filled his face as she said, “That sounds more like it.”

“But if he’s going to die, I might not be able to make it in time,” added Jian Jingtian after a brief pause.

Hearing that, Feng Jue’s face instantly turned black, “Forget what I just said.”

On the altar, Lin Yun took out a thousand divine astral pellets and threw them into the bottomless pit. In the next moment, the sounds of bone cracking like firewood filled the air. Shortly after, sparks began to light up from the bottom of the altar.

“Blood…” Lin Yun took a deep breath before he took out a dagger and gently swiped it on his palm. When his blood dripped onto the altar, the cracking noises from the bottom of the pit suddenly stopped.

“No reaction?” Lin Yun was baffled when he saw this situation. But in the next second, blazing flames burst out on the altar along with the beating of drums that shook Lin Yun. At this moment, he could feel that his heart was on the verge of jumping out.

What’s going on? Lin Yun turned to look at the war drums on the mountains. As the drums became even more rushed, the scenery before his eyes changed while he fell unconscious. When he regained his consciousness, Lin Yun found himself in a barren land with two armies facing off.

There was a distinguishing difference between the two armies. One side was dressed in black while the other was dressed in white. When Lin Yun looked down at his own clothes, he noticed that he was also wearing white and had become an insignificant soldier in front of the massive armies.

This made Lin Yun begin to wonder if he was dreaming, but it was a little too realistic for a dream. After all, he could feel the breeze caressing his face and the killing aura in the atmosphere.

Furthermore, he could even feel the astral energy within his body along with the sword cocoon on his forehead. Everything felt realistic except for the fact that his Flower Burial Sword was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, Lin Yun squinted his eyes because he could sense that he was in a unique environment. He practically had all of his strength except for his broken sword physique. If he was in the real world, the sword in his hand would’ve snapped a long time ago. The soldier standing beside Lin Yun had a solemn expression and a sharp aura. But his cultivation wasn’t high and he had only barely reached the Heavenly Soul Realm.

“This place doesn’t seem too dangerous…” Lin Yun muttered to himself. In reality, he could easily scare off Heavenly Soul Realm cultivators with just a glance. So much so that he didn’t even have to make a move and could just use his sword intent to deter them. So Lin Yun decided to wait and see how things would play out.

Suddenly, an earth-shattering drum sounded out and Lin Yun could see that there was a row of war drums at the base camp of his army.

“Kill!” War drums sounded from both armies as they unleashed their bloodlust. Standing within their killing aura, Lin Yun felt like a small raft in a violent ocean.

When he circulated his astral energy and released his sword intent, his quasi-divine firmament sword intent swiftly disappeared into the killing aura. He couldn’t even cause a ripple. At the same time, Lin Yun had difficulty focusing because of the noise from the surroundings. This meant that 90% of his strength had been restricted.

When the black and white wave collided, Lin Yun was instantly trapped. He tried to escape from there, but he was pulled into the battle.

Countless people began to hit the ground, and the bloody scene was imprinted into Lin Yun’s mind. He never expected a real war to be so brutal that even Heavenly Soul Realm cultivators were nothing. All the soldiers fought until their origin energy disappeared. Then, when they had no more energy, they would rely on their teeth to kill an enemy.

“Watch out!” Lin Yun quickly made his move when he saw the white-clothed soldier beside him was in danger.

“Thank you.” That person wiped the blood off his lips and thanked him before he jumped back into the fight. But the moment he turned around, his head went flying and blood splattered all over Lin Yun’s face. Then, Lin Yun saw a black-clothed figure with a cross-shaped scar on his face.

Lin Yun was briefly stunned and blood splashed out from his neck just when he was about to raise the sword in his hand. His consciousness slowly became blurred after he was killed. At the same time, Lin Yun was wondering if he was really killed by a small pawn.

As the drums continued to boom, Lin Yun felt like his eardrums were about to burst. At the same time, cracks began to appear on the purple-golden dragon runes on the surface of his body. Although the drums couldn’t harm the outside of his body, it was able to deal injuries to his insides.

In shock, Lin Yun woke up and threw up a mouthful of blood. Right now, his face was terrifyingly pale. At the same time, Jian Jingtian and Feng Jue also landed on the altar.

“Junior Brother, are you alright?” Feng Jue asked anxiously as he helped Lin Yun up to his feet while Jian Jingtian maintained his silence.

“It hurts,” said Lin Yun as he clutched his chest.

“That serious?” Feng Jue was startled, but he couldn’t see any serious injuries on Lin Yun.

“Just like that, a thousand divine astral pellets are gone,” sighed Lin Yun.

Hearing that, Feng Jue let out a breath of relief and smiled, “I thought you really hurt your foundation. It’s nothing because it was just some divine astral pellets.”

Lin Yun heard that, his eyes lit up. When he took a closer look at Feng Jue, he smiled, “Senior Brother Feng, why are you here? You came at the right time. Lend me some divine astral pellets.”

“This is nothing. How much do you need?” Feng Jue smiled.

Lin Yun pondered and felt that Feng Jue might not be able to help out if he asked for too much. So he said, “About 200,000?”

When Feng Jue heard that, his smile froze and he awkwardly replied, “Junior Brother, I just reached the Samsara Edict Realm, and spent a lot of divine astral pellets in the process. I don’t have many divine astral pellets on me.”

“Lin Yun, I think you can give up on such a petty senior brother,” said Jian Jingtian with disdain flashing through his pupils.

“Senior Brother, you’re not really that broke, right? Sorry about that then…” Lin Yun said.

Feng Jue immediately wanted to cry because he wasn’t lying when he said that. He didn’t have many divine astral pellets and only had about 200,000. After all, he had spent a lot to reach the Samsara Edict Realm. But now, he was actually placed on the hotseat by Lin Yun and Jian Jingtian.

“Don’t listen to that old thing, I have that many divine astral pellets. You can use them first, there’s no need to return them to me in a hurry.” Feng Jue squeezed out a smile and took out an interspatial pouch before handing it to Lin Yun with his trembling hand.

“Thank you, Senior Brother.” Lin Yun smiled and took the interspatial pouch.

“See what I said about this guy being a miser?” Jian Jingtian said.

Hearing that instantly made Feng Jue want to throw up a mouthful of blood. He really felt like he couldn’t stay in the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect because he would lose something every time he came. The first time he came, he lost the Silver Moon Mask as a meeting gift. This time, he was seriously broke.

“This much should be enough. The Nine Li Illusion Realm has a total of nine levels, and you didn’t even make it through the first level. How surprising,” said Jian Jingtian as he looked at Lin Yun.

Feng Jue became baffled when he heard that. The altar needed divine astral pellets? Why did it sound like he was being used?

“Let’s go. Your junior brother needs to go into seclusion. We shouldn’t bother him.” Jian Jingtian dragged Feng Jue away before he could even think more about it.

“The Nine Li Illusion Realm?” Lin Yun muttered gently. His expression became depressed because it looked like he was really weak. But when he looked at the interspatial pouch, he immediately smiled because he managed to borrow some divine astral pellets.