The Sovereign's Ascension

The sun hung high in the sky as the surrounding atmosphere became more excited. The Heavenly Province Academy was the only group that couldn’t get excited though.

However, the spectators didn’t care about that. They were looking forward to seeing if the Heavenly Province Academy could cleanse their humiliation or if they would lose their incomplete divine rune. They also wanted to see if the White Jade Academy could become the champion.

Everyone liked surprises, especially when it came to these kinds of competitions. With the White Jade Academy’s victory, the competition had become even more exciting since there were so many possibilities.

“Both of the academies have sent out two participants. In my view, based on the two participants that the Heavenly Province Academy sent out, they will get one win and one loss.”

“That’s true. There’s even a possibility that they might lose. Liu Yunyan is too weak compared to the three of them. As for Lin Yun, he only has 50% chances of winning Luo Shen or Chen Yu in my view.”

“That's right. After all, Chen Yu defeated the Flowing Cloud Academy’s helper and his performance wasn’t any inferior to Lin Yun.”

“So the key lies in Mu Xue. If Mu Xue wins, the Heavenly Province Academy might still have a chance. But if she loses, then the Heavenly Province Academy won’t have any hope left.” The surrounding discussion was heard by Mo Ling and the rest from the Heavenly Province Academy, but it didn’t cause any fluctuation on their faces.

They knew the spectators were correct. Mu Xue was the key to this group. But even if she could win, the situation was still unfavorable to them because Luo Shen and Chen Yu were too powerful. The odds of Liu Yunyan winning were too low, so Lin Yun and Mu Xue would be under a lot of pressure.

“I’m sorry to drag everyone down,” said Liu Yunyan as she lowered her head.

“You’ve already done your best. There’s no one better than you in the academy. If anyone’s in the wrong, it’s me,” said Tang Yu as he comforted Liu Yunyan. It wasn’t that she wasn’t hardworking, but her enemy was simply too powerful. If she was wrong, then wouldn’t that mean that those disciples who were weaker than her were even worse?

Furthermore, Liu Yunyan had already won a battle against the Azurefoot Academy.

Mo Ling pondered briefly before she spoke out, “We still have a chance. We can put Yunyan first, Mu Xue second, and Lin Yun last. If Yunyan can run into Cao Xiu or Chen Yu, the pressure on Mu Xue and Lin Yun will be smaller.”

“That mindset is too naive. What if they send out Luo Shen in the first battle and Cao Zhen next? Doesn’t that mean that we’ll lose two rounds in a row?

“It doesn’t seem proper no matter how we arrange it. But I have no opinion about placing Lin Yun last.”

“That’s right. I can tell that he hasn’t used all his strength and we might have some hope with him at the end.” The elders discussed the strategy with Mo Ling. The sequence was a headache because the arrangement didn’t seem good no matter how they set it up. However, the White Jade Academy wasn’t foolish, so there was no way they could put Cao Xiu first.

Lin Yun shook his head inwardly. If the difference in strength wasn’t that great, they could use this sort of method to win. But if the difference in strength was too great, then any arrangement would be futile.

“Let me go first,” said Mu Xue. “I also agree to putting Lin Yun last. Since Big Sister Yunyan has fought once, we should let her rest.”

Everyone was surprised that Mu Xue would ask to fight first, but no one had a better idea and they could only go along with it. After all, it was no longer important who went first since they weren’t optimistic about this battle.

“Time’s up. Heavenly Province Academy and White Jade Academy, please send out your first participants.” The elder’s voice echoed out on the stage once more.

As two figures soared into the sky, Lin Yun was surprised to see the White Jade Academy sending out Luo Shen. The killing aura in Luo Shen’s eyes were even more ferocious than the disciples who grew up in sects.

“You guys didn’t send Flower Burial first? Are you guys possibly thinking of letting him go last? I thought you guys would at least try to get one win knowing that you will lose,” said Luo Shen with a playful expression.

“You think you can beat me?” Mu Xue’s eyes flashed with rage. Although she wasn’t sure if she could defeat Luo Shen, her pride as a disciple of an overlord force wouldn’t allow her to be belittled.

“We’ll see,” sneered Luo Shen.

“As you wish!” Mu Xue snorted as she drew her sword. Her sword flickered with a cold light. She was using a transcendent profound artifact, which was comparable to a cosmic artifact.

Luo Shen smiled sinisterly as he reached out for the greatsword behind him. “Looks like your side has seen something in my sword technique. But that doesn’t matter because I’m not afraid of revealing it. That’s right, you’ll lose if you can’t block the first move of my Mountain Splitting Sword.”

Luo Shen slammed his greatsword down on the ground beside him and it sank two inches into the ground. In the next second, the entire mountain began to start shaking as a violent aura began to spread out from Luo Shen.

“The first sword,” smirked Luo Shen as he charged forward with the greatsword streaking across the air. The moment his feet left the ground, it felt like an ancient beast had awakened from his body. He let out a roar that was accompanied by nine dazzling sword rays that danced around him.

Luo Shen was like an asura from hell as his sinister smile sent shivers down the everyone’s back.

Lin Yun narrowed his eyes because he could sense the nine sword rays around Luo Shen. When Lin Yun poured his soul energy into his eyes, he could see crimson traces in the sword rays, which made them look extremely evil. Soon, the crimson traces quickly spread out into a blazing flame.

Lin Yun finally understood why Luo Shen dared to speak with such confidence. His cultivation technique should be related to a certain demonic sword art that was similar to igniting the blood and aura within the body to gain a temporary increase in strength. This was why if Luo Shen’s opponent couldn’t block the first move, the next sword would be even more powerful. This meant that the slightest hesitation would place Luo Shen’s opponent in a passive position.

Lin Yun noticed the slight hesitation in Mu Xue’s eyes. She seemed to be hesitating if she should use her trump card now. If her trump card couldn’t block this move, then not only would she lose, but she would also be heavily injured.

“She lost,” sighed Lin Yun.

The outcome of the battle turned out just as Lin Yun had predicted. Mu Xue’s hesitation ultimately caused her to lose as she was sent flying with her sword nearly knocked from her grip.

Ten moves later, Luo Shen’s sword rays enveloped him and turned into nine crimson dragons. With another blow, Mu Xue threw up a mouthful of blood as she was sent flying.

“Is this the best that the Heavenly Sword Sect can offer?” Luo Shen sneered as he soared into the sky, landing another hit on Mu Xue despite already securing his victory.

Mu Xue defended this attack with all her might, but this blow was so powerful that the sounds of her bones breaking could be heard. This made everyone suck in a cold breath. Shock was written on their faces as they looked at Mu Xue being tossed around like a ragdoll.

But even so, Luo Shen had no intention of letting Mu Xue off as he pounced at her once more. But before his sword reached Mu Xue, a fan flew over and blocked his attack.

The silver fan was tiny in comparison to the greatsword, but the fan had completely blocked the greatsword’s attack. Then, Mo Ling spoke up, “The Heavenly Province Academy admits defeat for this round.”

“Admits defeat? She hasn’t said anything yet,” sneered Luo Shen. He clearly had no intention of letting Mu Xue off.

“I said, the Heavenly Province Academy admits defeat for this round!” Mo Ling’s face turned cold and she suppressed Luo Shen with her aura.

“Luo Shen, come back.” Cao Xiu revealed a playful smile. The Heavenly Province Academy needed a lesson to learn who the winner was, but it was meaningless to force them too far.

“Hmph!” Luo Shen snorted as he left.

When Mo Ling brought Mu Xue back, everyone from the Heavenly Province Academy wore an ugly expression as they looked at blood flowing from Mu Xue’s waist that dyed her clothes red.

“I-it...h-h-hurts…” Mu Xue’s face was pale as she whispered out softly.

Lin Yun’s face changed when he saw Mu Xue. He might not like Mu Xue, but there was no need to take another person’s life in the competition. After all, you only have to win the battle. These two didn’t even have a blood feud. Luo Shen was simply too brutal.

Was he trying to compete with who was more ruthless? Lin Yun’s eyes flashed coldly and he calmly spoke, “Let me go next.”