The Sovereign's Ascension

Chapter 2037 - Final Trial (1)

The bearded youth was shocked. He felt that Ye Qingtian could defeat the white-clothed swordsman this time, but he didn’t think it would be easy for Ye Qingtian to pass this trial with one sword. He instantly realized he was careless, and that Ye Qingtian had concealed his strength.

The bearded youth took in a deep breath and quickly chased after Ye Qingtian with a smile, “Ye Qingtian, you’re truly worthy of being known as the genius swordsman of the Heavenly Dao Sect. You have given me a huge surprise. But since you have such strength, why did you lose so terribly during the first fight?”

Lin Yun glanced at the bearded youth and said, “If I didn’t lose so badly in the first round, how would I win the second round so easily? I might’ve lost terribly, but I also found his weakness.”

Lin Yun wasn’t lying when he said that. If they fought for the first time, Lin Yun wasn’t confident of defeating his opponent with one sword, even if he used the Azure Dragon Sword Heart.

As Lin Yun continued to climb the mountain, he could see the sword ray left behind by the Emperor Sword and the Nine-Colored Heavenly Cloud Fruit. Regardless of the Emperor Sword or the Nine-Colored Heavenly Cloud Fruit, those were things that Lin Yun looked forward to.

“It looks like I’ve really underestimated him. Without the first defeat, how could he win the next…? That’s the same as me in the past,” the bearded youth looked at Ye Qingtian’s back figure with a smile and closely followed behind him. He was curious about how far Ye Qingtian could go.

When Lin Yun smoothly passed the second trial without any trouble, the bearded youth wasn’t surprised. But when Lin Yun passed through the second trial, the sword ray left behind by the Emperor Sword became even more terrifying.

Since Lin Yun’s Astral Sword Intent hadn’t reached greater mastery, he could barely resist the pressure coming from the sword ray, and it was tough for him to even take another step forth.

The heavens and earth were filled with sword vibrations, and Lin Yun felt that his soul was about to dissipate. The sword aura crushing down on him would multiply whenever he stepped forth. Lin Yun didn’t take long to feel that his backbone was about to break from the pressure.

The blue-jade and indigo-golden dragon runes were helping him withstand the sword aura. When Lin Yun raised his head, the third trial was nowhere to be seen. He had at least a thousand steps to go.

This was only the third trial, and the fourth trial was waiting for him after that. This made Lin Yun take a deep breath and no longer forced himself to continue on. He sat with his legs crossed and circulated the Dragon-Phoenix World Annihilating Cauldron.

He was planning to allow his physique to get used to the sword aura and find a way to resolve it. He chose to resolve it instead of shattering it because shattering the sword aura from the Emperor Sword’s sword ray was practically impossible. Furthermore, he had to find a way to negate the pressure on him.

But when Lin Yun raised his head, he saw that the bearded youth was standing a hundred meters away from him, and he looked at ease. This instantly made Lin Yun wonder if this bearded youth was the same as Bai Shuying and if he was also at the Quasi-Saint Realm. But the bearded youth didn’t seem to be at the Quasi-Saint Realm because he had no saint aura.

Normally, saint aura could be hidden, but the bearded youth would have to use his saint aura if he wanted to resist the sword aura. That was under the condition that he was at the Quasi-Saint Realm.

Lin Yun wondered if the bearded youth was the successor of the Heavenly Sword or Dao Sword. After all, those two lineages were known for their strength, and it wasn’t a surprise if they could be so powerful before reaching the Quasi-Saint Realm.

While Lin Yun was shocked, the bearded youth was even more shocked than him. It was unbelievable that Ye Qingtian could reach this far with his cultivation at the seventh transformation of the Nirvana Stage. This only meant that Ye Qingtian had a powerful physique.

The bearded youth suspected that Ye Qingtian must’ve practiced a Dragon Clan’s body-refining technique because he could sense the dragon aura coming from Ye Qingtian. This instantly made the bearded youth wonder if the Serene Dust Great Saint taught it to him.

Aside from that, the bearded youth was also shocked by Ye Qingtian’s willpower and determination. This was because Ye Qingtian could maintain his calmness despite being under such pressure. Not only did he not complain, but he was trying his best to adapt to the pressure.

Doesn’t this mean that Ye Qingtian would be on the same level as me if they were at the same cultivation? This thought shocked the bearded youth. This was because the bearded youth had always been first within the Heavenly Dao Sect and was the most outstanding amongst those of the same generation.

Even within the Eastern Desolation, the bearded youth could be considered a genius standing at the top of the pyramid, and no one dared to belittle him. But the bearded youth didn’t feel any jealousy or anger. Instead, the bearded youth felt gratified because the Heavenly Dao Sect finally had someone who could be comparable to him. But aside from feeling gratified, Ye Qingtian had successfully sparked the bearded youth’s fighting spirit. This was because the bearded youth had a strong desire to excel.

“Let me look at you, then. I’ll wait till you can’t hold it any longer before helping you,” the bearded youth said with a playful smile, waiting for Ye Qingtian to stand up.

Lin Yun would rest every ten steps to try and adapt to the pressure of the sword aura left behind by the Emperor Sword. He walked for a long time, and his footsteps were slow and painful. Even if he was slowly progressing, he was still slowly pressing on.

As days passed, when the sun rose to the sky for the third time, Lin Yun finally reached the third trial and swallowed a pellet. This time, he lost the first and second times against the white-clothed swordsman from the painting before winning the third battle with great difficulty.

But Lin Yun briefly rested before he continued pressing on. As for giving up? Giving up didn’t exist in Lin Yun’s dictionary.

Lin Yun continued to climb the mountain. His footsteps might be slow, but he was continuing forth. He was now less than a hundred steps from reaching the mountain's summit. This made the bearded youth’s facial expression gradually become grave, and he swallowed a mouthful of saliva before raising his head.

The bearded youth was prideful and would never believe that he was weaker than anyone, nor did he believe that his cultivation would be inferior to anyone.

“Isn’t he a little too unyielding?” The bearded youth smacked his lips. Ye Qingtian’s performance was much stronger than his, since he had failed several times before.

When Lin Yun was ten steps from the summit, he suddenly fell onto one knee. Seeing this, the bearded youth immediately dashed forth. But just when the bearded youth wanted to say something, Lin Yun supported himself back on the ground with the Flower Burial Sword and continued pressing on.

When the sun rose from the valley, Lin Yun finally reached the summit. The summit was brightly lit without a hint of darkness. But Lin Yun was bleeding from his seven orifices with cracks covering the surface of his skin, and his current condition looked terrible.

Lin Yun took a deep breath and felt energetic, with a smile on his face. When the sun rose, Lin Yun couldn’t help closing his eyes and slowly spreading his arms apart. When sunlight shone onto him, Lin Yun’s injuries rapidly began to recover.

“It has been a long time since I felt this way…” Lin Yun opened his eyes to look at the sun, and his expression was at ease. All the pain disappeared, replaced with a comfortable sensation spreading throughout his body.

“Impressive…” the bearded youth stepped forth, looking at Lin Yun from a hundred meters away. But he didn’t know what to say.