The Sovereign's Ascension

Three days was too short for cultivators to go into seclusion. All Lin Yun could do was digest the harvest from his fight with Nangong Wanyu. For Lin Yun, this was more than enough because his insight had already increased by a large amount from his fight.

After all, Nangong Wanyu’s frost sword intent left a deep impression on him. If he could comprehend a martial intent, there was no doubt that his spiritual sword intent would be a lot stronger. The Iris Sword Sutra’s attribute was ice and the Azure Dragon Enneaform’s attribute was lightning. Meaning, he had a high attainment in both ice and lightning attributes.

However, it was unrealistic to attempt comprehending both attributes to the level of martial intent in so little time. Plus, there was also the issue of merging both intents.

Perhaps I can adjust my train of thought. Lin Yun recalled Nangong Wanyu’s execution of the frost sword intent and tried to examine it. The aura of Nangong Wanyu’s sword intent had reached the level of the Heavenly Soul Realm.

As a result, many brand new Heavenly Soul Realm experts were completely suppressed by his aura. The gulf between the quasi-Heavenly Soul Realm and Heavenly Soul Realm was enormous, so Nangong Wanyu’s achievement was quite impressive. Then again, there was a difference between Heavenly Soul Realm experts. 

The weakest ones were wandering cultivators and even the Heavenly Soul Realm experts from the Great Qin Empire. They lacked cultivation techniques equivalent to the overlord forces and they weren’t able to refine many treasures. In a nutshell, they had a poor foundation.

A weak foundation was akin to having a house made of wood while a strong foundation was akin to having a house made of metal. There was no way the houses could compare to each other. However, Nangong Wanyu’s frost sword intent could even suppress the Heavenly Soul Realm experts from overlord forces.

While Lin Yun was thinking about this, he suddenly realized something. It was quite possible that the three kings already reached the Heavenly Soul Realm. It was an impossible feat for normal people, but these were the three kings.

“If all of them are in the Heavenly Soul Realm, they will have a huge advantage.” Lin Yun held onto his chin while his expression became grave. At best, Nangong Wanyu’s frost sword intent is a reference point for a solution. In the end, he had to forge his own path.

Closing his eyes, Lin Yun began to recall all the martial techniques he had practiced so far. Up to this point, he had secret arts, fist techniques, sword techniques, and body-refining techniques. What path should I choose?

The Azure Dragon! Lin Yun suddenly opened his eyes as he finally realized his path. He had the Azure Dragon Sword Aura! He didn’t have enough time to form the frost sword intent or lightning sword intent, but it was different when it came to the Azure Dragon Sword Aura. At the Skymound Mountain Range, he had experienced the Azure Dragon Sword Aura several times when fighting the seven geniuses.

However, his attainments were superficial and he didn’t comprehend it any further once his xiantian sword intent evolved into the spiritual sword intent. If he studied it now, he would progress smoothly.

After all, he had a foundation in the Azure Dragon Sword Aura, which belonged solely to him. After thinking it through, Lin Yun’s eyes flickered brightly with excitement on his face.

Placing his sword box on the ground, he began to wander the field as scenes appeared in his mind. Li Mubai had the mountain river sword intent, Nangong Wanyu had the frost sword intent, and Bai Lixuan had the lightning sword intent.

Lin Yun’s heart wildly raced and his blood pumped throughout his body. With a spark of inspiration, Lin Yun’s train of thoughts became smooth. Additionally, he saw the path of the Azure Dragon Sword Aura become even clearer.

As more thoughts flowed through his mind, his eyes lit up and the fog in the depth of his pupils faded away. His sword box suddenly opened up and the Flower Burial Sword flew into his hands. As he brandished his sword, a dragon roared while dragon runes squirmed on the surface of his body. The dragon runes continued to roam around the surface of his body as he swung his sword.

It didn’t take long until the dragon runes perfectly merged with his sword intent. Although he didn’t cause a huge commotion, he emitted boundless pressure on his surroundings.

Lin Yun had always found it easy to combine and separate the azure dragon aura from the sword aura. It was as if he was combining two separate liquids into one cup.

“I have to merge them completely so they won’t separate in the future.” Lin Yun continued to swing his sword to figure out a solution. His sword didn’t cause any flickering sword rays, but he made a dragon roar that formed a soundwave.

That’s right. This is the feeling. Lin Yun smiled. As a swordsman, he was happy that he made a new breakthrough.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. For the other participants, it was only enough time to recover from injuries and slowly comprehend insights from battle. However, for Lin Yun, it was enough time to make swift progress in the Azure Dragon Sword Aura.

When Lin Yun pushed his Azure Dragon Sword Aura to the limit, a dragon roar echoed out and a terrifying sword aura filled the surroundings to form a colossal dragon.

It didn’t look different compared to the phenomena created by other geniuses, but each scale on the colossal dragon flickered with lightning. The howling wind and roaring lightning of the phenomenon were hallmarks of the Azure Dragon.

Under the terrifying commotion, a vague outline of a terrifying sword could be seen in the center of the dragon. The sword was manifested with spiritual sword intent, which made the azure dragon seem real.

Unlike the sword intent at the Falling Dragon Slope that existed for three thousand years, Lin Yun could only maintain his sword for three days. It wasn’t much, but it meant that he could leave the Azure Dragon Sword Aura alone for three days, but there was naturally no need to do that.

Sheathing his sword, the azure dragon slowly disappeared, turning into dragon runes that disappeared into his body.

“This is just the initial fusion and there’s still a long way to go before it’s perfectly fused. However, when I get to that level, my Azure Dragon Sword Aura will be complete,” muttered Lin Yun. It was true that he worked very hard to get to this point, but it was just the beginning.

The complete fusion would result in his sword having the freedom to become a dragon. He would even be able to use the dragon with his fists.

After briefly washing up, he left to meet up with Pavilion Master Plum and the others. When Pavilion Master Plum saw Lin Yun, his eyes flickered because he felt that Lin Yun had changed considerably compared to three days ago. “Hmmm?”

There was no change to Lin Yun’s appearance, but something about his aura had changed.When everyone looked at Lin Yun, they felt like they were looking at a ferocious dragon, which shook their souls. This was because Lin Yun hadn’t fully retracted his aura after practicing, but only those with high cultivation could sense this phenomenon.

“Lin Yun, it looks like you gained something over the past three days.” Pavilion Master Plum smiled as he stroked his beard. As a Heavenly Soul Realm expert, he could naturally detect Lin Yun’s changes.

“Yes,” replied Lin Yun.

Feng Ye was still lingering with fear before he smiled helplessly, “Lin Yun, you’re too humble. This isn’t some little change. You nearly scared the shit out of me. Your aura feels like a terrifying dragon that’s about to devour me. You even have that gaze in your eyes that flickers with sword ray!”

“Isn’t that a bit dramatic?” Lin Yun turned to look around, while Situ Ye, Aquaselenic, and the rest shook their heads.

Lin Yun frowned because this wasn’t good for him. He had just comprehended the Azure Dragon Sword Aura, so it was still filled with flaws. It would be terrible if the three kings or other geniuses noticed the flaws before they fought.

Pavilion Master Plum naturally saw through Lin Yun’s thoughts and waved his hand. Behind him, two elders came forward with a sword box. When the sword box was opened, a sword emitting an ancient aura was revealed.

“Light Containment!” Lin Yun naturally recognized this sword as it belonged to the ancestor of the Firmament Sword Pavilion, Jiang Wuming. He had a deep impression of this sword because Pavilion Master Plum used this sword to save him when he tried to save Xin Yan.

The sword grade didn’t need to be mentioned since it belonged to the one and only Jian Wuming. His name represented legend and glory, making this a glorious sword.

“Come, hold it.” Pavilion Master Plum signalled Lin Yun to grab the sword.

“Isn’t this inappropriate?” Lin Yun hesitated. After all, this sword was left behind by the Sword Firmament Pavilion’s ancestor. Only the Pavilion Master and their successor were qualified to touch it.