The Sovereign's Ascension

The eight disciples first went on the stage. With that, the atmosphere suddenly became intense. No one had imagined that a small test would be so serious.

First, Mo Ling purposely tried to make things difficult for Lin Yun. Then, Gu Teng mocked Lin Yun publicly. An ordinary disciple would’ve sucked it up, but Lin Yun didn’t. He refuted Mo Ling’s words before humiliating Gu Teng.

Neither Mo Ling nor Gu Teng were people who could be messed with, but Lin Yun had offended them anyway. This intrigued everyone as they looked at Lin Yun with expectation. If Lin Yun couldn’t get through this crisis, then he would be in deep trouble.

“Are you not coming up?” Mo Lin looked at Lin Yun coldly.

“Coming,” smiled Lin Yun as he went up.

Go for it, Big Brother Lin! Bai Yi bit on her lips nervously as she looked at Lin Yun’s back figure. She knew that the situation wasn’t optimistic for Lin Yun.

As Lin Yun walked towards the stage slowly, he could hear the mocking of the crowd.

“He’s really bold.”

“This is interesting now…”

“I heard that this is his first time listening. I wonder how he’ll fix the situation later.”

“Senior Sister Mo probably won’t do anything serious. At most, she’ll only teach him a lesson, but he’s doomed by offending Gu Teng.”

“Let’s just watch.”

Lin Yun went on the stage and stood with the other eight disciples. Each of them had an empty canvas placed on their desk with a brush. Lin Yun held onto the brush and toyed with it briefly. The brush was more exquisite than the one he used in the past, so it was easier to control.

“Is there a problem with the brush?” asked Mo Ling.

“It’s fine,” smiled Lin Yun.

You’re really confident. I’ll see if you can still smile later. Taking a deep breath, Mo Ling spoke out, “Let’s get started.”

She stood from a distance away, leaving only the nine of them on the stage. Gu Teng and the rest unfolded the canvas and started pouring their origin energy into the brush to start inscribing spiritual runes. Everyone could tell that they were experienced and that they weren’t strangers to the Infernal Mountain and River Painting.

Lin Yun spun the brush in his hand as he unfolded the canvas as well. However, he wasn’t in a hurry as he closed his eyes. Time passed quickly and fifteen minutes were already up. The eight other disciples had already completed hundreds of elementary spiritual runes. When they were done, their paintings emitted a blazing heat.

Gu Teng had already completed dozens of first grade spiritual runes and his runes were flickering on his painting. When Mo Ling saw this from afar, she nodded her head in acknowledgement. He was the strongest among the eight. As for Lin Yun, he still remained standing with his eyes closed.

“Senior Brother Gu is really fast!”

“The rest aren’t bad either. But Senior Brother Gu is really fast.

“Hehe, Senior Brother Gu can already produce the Infernal Mountain and River Painting with 70% spiritual rhyme in it. Lin Yun really courted death by daring to act so arrogantly.”

“Look, Lin Yun isn’t moving. Haha, he’s probably afraid!” Many people wore smiles on their faces as they looked at Lin Yun.

Gu Teng also peeked at Lin Yun. When he saw that Lin Yun wasn’t moving, disdain spread across his face. In an instant, Lin Yun was exposed as trash. Even if he did draw later, he would probably draw a tortoise on the painting.

Gu Teng returned to his painting and became even more unrestrained in his painting. His goal wasn’t only to humiliate Lin Yun, but to leave a deep impression on Mo Ling. Without a doubt, everyone’s attention was slowly being attracted to him.

Right at this moment, Lin Yun opened his eyes. He had finally figured out the solution for the problem he noticed previously. When he opened his eyes, a ferocious gale blew past him in the blink of an eye. No one had noticed it aside from Mo Ling. But even Mo Ling was only slightly surprised before she placed her attention elsewhere.

“Let’s get started,” smiled Lin Yun as he focused. He started mixing age energy with his origin energy to inscribe the elementary spiritual runes. Although this was the first time he was drawing them, they were imprinted in his mind from Mo Ling’s performance.

In just a short moment, he completed the hundred and eight elementary spiritual runes. When Lin Yun looked at the spiritual runes, he was satisfied with them. It looks like he didn’t forget what he learned in the past. The next step was the first grade spiritual runes. He had completely memorized Mo Ling’s every action and how to draw them.

“His actions seem familiar…” Mo Ling looked at Lin Yin with perplexity. She felt that Lin Yun’s actions were familiar, but she couldn’t recall them. However, if anyone looked at Lin Yun’s actions carefully, they would notice that Lin Yun’s style was completely the same as Mo Ling.

This might be the first time Lin Yun was inscribing this painting, but he had photographic memory. Furthermore, his understanding in spiritual runes also far exceeded ordinary people. He had already made a painting in the past, so he relied on his monstrous talent to copy Mo Ling’s style.

Right at this moment, a blazing radiance shone on the stage as Gu Teng completed his painting. He slowly placed his brush down and admired his painting. He was satisfied with it because this painting had 80% spiritual rhyme in it.

It didn’t take long for everyone else to finish their paintings. Of course, this excluded Lin Yun. He was currently inscribing the second grade spiritual runes. Compared to first grade spiritual runes, the second grade spiritual runes were more complex. He had to be patient with them or the painting would be destroyed.

Gu Teng looked at Lin Yun curiously and he couldn’t help laughing out loud. Lin Yun’s painting was a mess and there was no beauty in it at all. He laughed, “Deacon Lin, I’m really impressed by how you draw like a dog using its paw. I really overestimated you to think that you could draw a tortoise.”

When the other disciples looked at Lin Yun’s painting, they also couldn’t help laughing. How was that a spiritual diagram? When the disciples on the stage laughed, this made the audience beneath the stage curious. “What’s Lin Yun doing? Why are they laughing?”

“Do you even need to guess? He already said dog’s paw. Just imagine how a dog draws using its paw.”

“Oh, ahahahaha!”

“But I’m really curious to see what he drew!” The atmosphere suddenly became joyous as everyone waited to see Lin Yun’s painting.

“Time’s up.” Mo Ling came over. “Show your paintings to everyone.”

Gu Teng and the rest nodded their heads as they formed seals with their hands and their paintings began to float in the sky. With that, eight Infernal Mountain and River Paintings appeared before everyone.

“80% spiritual rhyme!”

“Senior Brother Gu is really impressive.”

“He’s truly worthy of being the strongest in the inner sect. He can already complete such a feat when he’s only a second grade spiritualist.” The audience exclaimed at Gu Teng’s painting that was clearly better than everyone else's.

Hearing everyone’s praises, Gu Teng became smug. He turned to Lin Yun and spoke with disdain, “Deacon Lin, you can cut it out now. You’ll lose anyway. Why don’t you show your painting for everyone to see?”

Mo Ling frowned her brows. She could tell that this was Lin Yun’s first time coming in contact with the Infernal Mountain and River Painting. The painting might be ugly, but the spiritual runes were alright. It wasn’t easy for Lin Yun to achieve this, so he had already exceeded her expectations. Lin Yun was truly talented.

“No need. Gu Teng wins for this little test,” said Mo Ling as she decided to help Lin Yun maintain some dignity.

“I don’t think so…” Lin Yun raised his brow. When his painting floated in the air, the last spiritual rune flashed. When that spiritual rune flashed, all the other spiritual runes that seemed to be in a mess also came to life.

When that spiritual rune filled the entire painting, a dazzling golden radiance emitted out along with a terrifying aura. The Infernal Mountain and River Painting completed by Lin Yun was swiftly rising in aura. 30%...40%...50%...60% spiritual rhyme…

The other paintings couldn’t resist the aura coming from Lin Yun’s painting and shattered. Lin Yun’s painting floated on the stage like a king and it was the only painting remaining on the stage.

“100% spiritual rhyme!” Everyone was shocked as they looked at the Infernal Mountain and River Painting. The last spiritual rune was a wind attributed spiritual rune. He added it into the painting based on his own understanding of spiritual runes.

On the other side, Gu Teng was completely dumbfounded. The painting that was a mess had suddenly become so powerful.

“Sorry about that, Senior Sister Mo. I embarrassed myself in my first attempt,” said Lin Yun with a smile. He didn’t believe that Mo Ling could find a problem in his painting because his painting had surpassed the Infernal Mountain and River Painting itself.

Everyone kept their silence as they were shocked. Mo Ling looked at Lin Yun for a long time before she gnashed her teeth, “Is this really your first time seeing the Infernal Mountain and River Painting?”

“Of course it’s my first time. Otherwise, how can I let Senior Sister Mo take a look at my ability and make me feel ashamed?” Lin Yun stored his painting and continued, “I'm new here and I might be unfamiliar with the rules, but that doesn’t mean I’m a pushover.”