The Sovereign's Ascension

Lightning rumbled from within the crater, making it look eerie under the shade of the thunderclouds. But those standing by the crater had excitement on their faces. Aside from talent and comprehension, cultivators could only rely on encounters to grow stronger.

The Thundercloud Treasury might not be comparable to the empyrean’s tomb since it had only been fifteen years since it was sealed, but Lei Yunzi was still someone in the seventh soul stage of the Heavenly Soul Realm. He was a legend and the treasures he left behind were tempting to the Bloodwolf Clan and Three-Eagle Stronghold.

With such a temptation laid before them, no one could think about anything else. When Lin Yun arrived, he looked at the crater and fell into deep thoughts. This crater looked like a demonic nest and he could tell that this would be dangerous.

“The array left by that old geezer is really troublesome.” Bloodwolf sneered before giving a signal to his men.

The Bloodwolf Clan’s men soared into the sky and leaped into the creator, disregarding the danger.

“You! Go!” Chief Leng cursed as he led everyone from the Three-Eagle Stronghold. At this moment, there was no way he could allow himself to fall behind.

A brief moment later, almost everyone entered the crater. Lin Yun wanted to express his concerns, but clearly, no one cared about his opinion. That aside, weren’t they afraid of the danger by going down directly?

Aside from Yin-Yang stage experts, there was no certainty that anyone else would be safe, even if they were in the pinnacle Yang stage. As for those in the lesser Yang stage, it was even more dangerous.

Lin Yun shook his head at their actions. It didn’t matter to him though. The wind and lightning energies couldn’t hurt him.

Things developed just as Lin Yun had expected. When he jumped down, he could hear a violent crackling of lightning followed by a series of howls.

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The crater was roaring with violent wind and lightning. Lin Yun circulated the Azure Dragon Enneaform to refine all the violent wind and lightning energies coming at him. Not only was he uninjured, but his body-refining technique was improving.

“Follow him!” Chief Leng looked at Lin Yun and instantly sensed the peculiar signs on Lin Yun. He could tell that the wind and lightning energies around Lin Yun were weaker.

As they followed Lin Yun, the pressure they felt instantly dropped.

Fifteen minutes later, Lin Yun landed on the ground. Meanwhile, the Bloodwolf Clan’s men weren’t in great shape. Basically everyone in the lesser Yang stage was killed by lightning.

As for the Three-Eagle Stronghold, their situation was slightly better because they followed behind Lin Yun. They were spared from suffering some losses.

“Big Brother, there’s something unusual about this brat,” said the third chief as he looked at Lin Yun.

“He isn’t a problem, right?”

“Don’t bother. He’s only in the greater Yang stage, so there’s nothing he can do about the situation. Since he’s on our side for now, we might as well make use of him.” The three chiefs were conversing among themselves secretly.

Once both parties landed on the ground, an explosion sounded out as two figures descended beside the crater. The one on the left looked to be fifteen or sixteen, but he seemed rather experienced in life from his eyes. He was holding onto a sword with his hand as he wore an eerie smile.

He was giving off a powerful pressure in the Yin-Yang stage, which shocked many people. Having a Ying-Yang stage cultivation at such a young age was rare, even in the entire Ancient Southern Domain.

Beside him, stood an old man donned in grey clothes and his face covered with winkles.

The Bloodwolf Clan and Three-Eagle Stronghold became cautious when they sensed the newcomers’ aura.

“Who are you!” But the moment they questioned, a rumbling sword intent echoed in the valley as the youth drew his sword. In the blink of an eye, dozens of sword rays lit up the entire valley. It only took a second for him to kill all those who were stationed beside the crater.

“Feng Wuhen!” One of the nearby cultivators managed to hold on, but fear was on his face. So the youth was Feng Wuhen, a demonic cultivator who showed up in Flagscythe County recently.

He was clearly over fifty years old, but he looked like a young teen. This was why Lin Yun was mistaken for Feng Wuhen when he arrived at the Three-Eagle Stronghold.

After killing those stationed by the crater, Feng Wuhen took out a napkin to wipe the blood that splashed on his face. A brief moment later, he took out a mirror and examined himself before putting it away with satisfaction.

The grey-clothed old man gagged inwardly as he diverted the topic, “Feng Wuhen, you’re so calm even though you let the Three-Eagle Stronghold and Bloodwolf Clan enter first?”

“Why not? There are three copies to this treasure map. Since I dared to let the Bloodwolf Clan ‘find’ the last copy, I naturally have the confidence to deal with them. But I’m just surprised that the Three-Eagle Stronghold actually meddled in this matter,” said Feng Wuhen.

When Feng Wuhen mentioned the Three-Eagle Stronghold, he had surprise on his face. He never expected that the Three-Eagle Stronghold would meddle in this affair. But he wasn’t too bothered about it since it would only make things slightly more troublesome.

The grey-clothed old man glanced at Feng Wuhen. Feng Wuhen was close to the greater Yin-Yang stage and he had a strong sword intent, so his confidence made sense. A brief moment later, he spoke out, “Lei Yunzi might possess many treasures, but there are only five precious ones. The Blood-Devour Demonic Canon, Indigoflame Thunderwhip, Azurewood Wine, Dreamcatcher Flower, and the Profound Lightning Bead left by your master. I wonder which one are you interested in?”

Feng Wuhen smiled, “It’s naturally best for me to have it all. But…what I want the most isn’t the Blood-Devour Demonic Canon or the Profound Lightning Bead, but the Youthful Pellet he stole from the Flowery Rain Pavilion.”

As the name implied, the Youthful Pellet would allow one to maintain a youthful appearance. This instantly left the grey-clothed old man speechless because Feng Wuhen was unusually strange.

“But I need to obtain the Profound Lightning Bead first. With the bead, I’ll be able to suppress those two geezers. Master Gu Yan, you should be able to obtain it with your outstanding attainments in spiritual runes, right?” Feng Wuhen asked with a cold light flickering across his pupils.

“Don’t worry about it. The guy that the Bloodwolf Clan invited, Master Fu, was expelled from the Azurefoot Academy back then. As for that lass from the Three-Eagle Stronghold, how can she possibly compare to me?” So it turned out that the grey-clothed old man was the strongest spiritualist in Flagscythe County, Master Gu.

At the bottom of the crater, both sides were taking a break because they didn’t know what was happening on the surface. Both Bloodwolf and Chief Leng’s faces were ugly because they suffered so many deaths right from the start. But they had to continue because it was no longer possible for them to return.

“There’s a cave up ahead!” A brief moment later, the scouts sent by the Bloodwolf Clan and Three-Eagle Stronghold returned. The news they brought back put excitement on everyone’s faces as they got up on their feet.

“Let’s go!” Guided by the scouts, the group journeyed until stopping in a dark and serene cave. The cave was tightly shut. When they got close, they could see a faint light coming from the cave and everyone could see the two majestic statues by the cave.

The statues were two ferocious tigers and they were roughly half a meter tall.

“These statues…” Lin Yun could sense something unusual about the statues, but he wasn’t sure what it was.

The others looked at the statues briefly before their eyes were glued to the two words engraved at the top of the cave. Chief Leng had excitement on his face as he muttered, “Thundercloud Treasury!”

His right hand came in contact with one of the tiger’s heads and the ground began to start shaking. Vaguely, a tiger’s roar echoed out and it seemed like they would be buried at any moment.

“What have you done!” Bloodwolf barked as he looked at Chief Leng.

“I don’t know. I just touched it a little…” Chief Leng said as he was clearly panicking.

“You fool! Are you trying to kill us all?!” Bloodwolf cursed.

As the ground shook violently, the Bloodwolf Clan opened the doors to the cave and yelled, “Sect master, come in!”

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With that, everyone quickly entered the cave without any hesitation. Lin Yun entered last, but he maintained calmness on his face when he did.

But before he entered, he looked at the stone statue that Chief Leng had touched previously with doubt written on his face. He didn’t think much and patted the tiger’s head again. This time, there wasn’t a commotion as the two tigers looked like ordinary statues.

“Weird…” Lin Yun fell into deep thoughts as he wondered if Chief Leng really touched it accidentally.

But after a brief thought, Lin Yun touched the tiger on the right and there was still no reaction. Then, right at this moment, a cold gaze shot over from the cave as it came from Master Fu, who noticed that Lin Yun didn’t follow them.

“That old geezer…” Lin Yun waved his sleeve before entering the treasury.