The Sovereign's Ascension

Li Mubai was firmly pinned to the divine dragon statue and he couldn’t free himself no matter how hard he tried. The boundless sword aura practically nailed him to the statue.

When Li Mubai heard Lin Yun’s words, he nearly vomited. After all, Lin Yun completely humiliated him. Lin Yun’s words echoed in his ears and each word was like a slap to the face.

Li Mubai was probably the most pitiful participant since he was the only one who got pinned to the divine dragon statute. Considering the fact that Li Mubai was one of the seven elites, the audience was stunned.

The entire stadium became silent as the impact of Li Mubai being pinned was too great. No one expected that Li Mubai would be defeated with a single attack. Those who were optimistic about Li Mubai looked at Lin Yun with disbelief.

“That’s impossible! How did he manage to do it?!” Yan Long’zi was greatly shocked because this was the first time he felt some pressure from Lin Yun. Although Lin Yun already made him eat his words, he didn’t view Lin Yun as an opponent. In his view, only Zhao Wuji and Yu Haotian could threaten him. But this time, Lin Yun caused a huge fluctuation in his heart.

“This person…” Zhao Wuji’s face changed. But this was good because Li Mubai managed to force some of Lin Yun’s strength out. Now, Lin Yun wouldn’t be able to catch him by surprise.

The shock that everyone received was unimaginable. After all, Lin Yun was already the number one dark horse after killing Lin Tao. But now, he also defeated Li Mubai with a single sword. In their minds, only the three kings could easily suppress the seven elites.

From the stage, Lin Yun stared at Li Mubai coldly. He wasn’t a benevolent person. Although he couldn’t be bothered with the seven elites, Li Mubai was a little too much. What exactly did he mean when he said that nonsense about the clouds and mud?

Not only did Li Mubai humiliate him, but he even acted as if it was a normal thing to do. The only word that Lin Yun could use to describe Li Mubai was disgust. If Li Mubai defeated him, he would have humiliated Lin Yun endlessly. Since Li Mubai liked to pretend that he was an expert, Lin Yun would make a show out of Li Mubai.

Lin Yun sorted through his thoughts quickly and said, “Li Mubai, you’re the one who wanted to determine the fight with one attack. When you lost the first time, you said it didn’t count because I didn’t draw my word. Now that I’ve drawn my sword, I wonder if you think it counts?”

His words were like a resounding slap to Li Mubai’s face. Lin Yun tore apart Li Mubai’s pride since the latter wasn’t willing to admit defeat after the first exchange.

“How brutal.”

“That stings. Lin Yun is basically hanging Li Mubai on the pillar to humiliate him.”

“That’s too humiliating for the chief disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Lin Yun is being too brutal.”

“I wouldn’t be kind if I was in Lin Yun’s position. What Li Mubai said previously was a little too much, plus he tried to humiliate Lin Yun time and time again.”

“Haha, he went overboard and ended up humiliating himself.” Everyone stared at the pitiful Li Mubai, waiting for his response.

“I...admit defeat!” Li Mubai glared at Lin Yun and gnashed his teeth. When he said that, the profound amber aura in his dragon projection decreased by half. Since Lin Yun’s dragon projection was already nearly thirty meters, his dragon projection didn’t grow any bigger and instead became more condensed. Like everyone else, his dragon projection stopped growing after reaching nearly thirty meters.

Lin Yun flew into the sky with his sword and left the stage. Then, he returned the Flower Burial Sword into its sheath.

“Save him!” Two of the Heavenly Sword Sect’s elders moved and retrieved Li Mubai. Although Li Mubai had already fainted from the pain, the Heavenly Sword Sect’s elders treated him gently. They checked all of his injuries carefully. They found that the wound on his chest was right next to his heart. If Lin Yun hadn’t been careful, Li Mubai would have died.

“Senior Brother Nangong, isn't Lin Yun a little too powerful? He actually defeated Li Mubai with a single sword.” A Northern Snow Manor’s disciple felt some pressure when he saw how strong Lin Yun was.

Nangong Wanyu smiled, “You must remember that what you saw might not be real.”

A true swordsman could see through many illusions and find the truth. So it wasn’t really that hard for Nangong Wanyu to figure out what happened. Although Nangong Wanyu knew why Li Mubai was defeated so quickly, he couldn’t be bothered to explain.

After Lin Yun returned to the Great Qin Empire’s seats, he noticed everyone looking at him with shock. Lin Yun had defeated Li Mubai with a single sword, which exceeded their imagination. They couldn’t tell if Lin Yun was too powerful or if Li Mubai was just too weak. Most of the audience felt this way too.

Sensing their curiosity, Lin Yun pondered briefly before explaining things to them. Li Mubai wasn’t weak and it wouldn’t have been so easy for him if he didn’t observe Li Mubai’s fight with Nangong Wanyu. Once he found the flaw in Li Mubai’s sword technique, the outcome was already determined.

All sword techniques had flaws. Lin Yun’s sword techniques naturally had its own flaws, but it was dependent on his opponent’s ability if they would be found. Flaws were also either big or small. Coincidentally, the flaw he found was a fatal one.

It was akin to a building. If the foundation was removed, the entire building would collapse. Unless Li Mubai comprehended this flaw himself or if Lin Yun told him the flaw, he would always lose to Lin Yun.

“But even if I found your flaw, I wouldn’t be able to defeat you. Strength is also important.” Feng Ye pointed out the most important part after listening to Lin Yun’s explanation.

“That’s indeed the case.” Lin Yun didn’t deny what Feng Ye said. Even if he found the flaw of an empyrean, he wouldn’t be able to defeat such a powerful existence. After all, an empyrean could immobilize him with just a glance.

“How confident are you in defeating Nangong Wanyu?” Pavilion Master Plum asked, which quickly attracted everyone’s attention. After all, this was a crucial battle and Lin Yun would be seeded if he won, ensuring he made the top ten.

“I’m 50% confident,” said Lin Yun. Even though he wasn’t 100% sure, 50% was shocking. After all, this meant that Lin Yun was rather confident in fighting Nangong Wanyu. Although his battle with Li Mubai seemed perilous, it was an easy win.

“Fourth group’s final battle, Lin Yun VS Nangong Wanyu!” The judge announced in a deep voice. This was the last battle, so all eyes were on the stage. Not only would this battle determine the seed for the fourth group, but it would also determine the strongest swordsman.

There was no question that Nangong Wanyu was the strongest swordsman. However, Lin Yun appeared out of nowhere as a dark horse and was still undefeated. Through Lin Yun, the crowd saw the various temperaments of a swordsman, calm, decisive, graceful, and domineering.

If people thought he wasn’t qualified to challenge Nangong Wanyu prior to his fight with Li Mubai, they wouldn't dare to say that anymore. After all, Lin Yun had revealed his fangs and dominance.

With the humming of sword intent in the air, two figures soared into the sky and landed on the stage. Lin Yun and Nangong Wanyu were facing each other from a thousand meters away.

The judge of the fourth group looked at Lin Yun deeply. He paid attention to Lin Yun from the very first match when he sensed a profound sword intent coming from the latter. However, he didn’t see that profound sword intent afterwards. He even wondered if he made a mistake. 

He was hoping that he would see it once again in this battle. If he was right, Lin Yun’s sword intent would shake the entire Ancient Southern Domain and even the old geezers of the Sacred Alliance.

Standing on the stage, Nangong Wanyu stood firmly with a sword in his hand. He was an extremely beautiful man. He was the type of man born with the beauty of a woman and would even draw jealousy from women.

“I wonder if you saw the flaw in my sword technique since you managed to see through Li Mubai’s.” Nangong Wanyu smiled. He knew the reason why Lin Yun was able to defeat Li Mubai. However, he was confident in his own sword technique.

“I did, a little.” Lin Yun replied.

“Oh really? The last sword is called Majestic Shadow, but it also goes by another name, Flawless.”

“Flawless...it definitely deserves that name.” Lin Yun replied. Nangong Wanyu’s sword was breathtaking and Lin Yun could only see through bits and pieces of it.

“I’m happy that you defeated Li Mubai. Otherwise, it would be a little boring for me to defeat you. Now, I’m excited for our battle,” said Nangong Wanyu.

“Likewise.” Lin Yun spoke in a calm voice, but he was full of fighting spirit. He was eager to see if he could beat Nangong Wanyu without using his spiritual sword intent. If he could do so, he would greatly increase his comprehension of the sword.

“My sword is called Flying Snow!” Nangong Wanyu held his sword out in front of his body. This was etiquette between swordsmen, and was only used when facing a true opponent.

“My sword is called Flower Burial!” replied Lin Yun as he returned the gesture.