The Sovereign’s Ascension

“That’s not an easy riddle to solve,” smiled Lin Yun.

“I’m not giving you a riddle. The other half is just the other half. If you know, you know. If you don’t, then you don’t. It’s just like your flute music, you play song after song with bitterness from your relationships,” replied Luo Hua without any emotion in her voice. Lin Yun could sense a chill in her words.

He smiled awkwardly because he knew that he overshared last time when he was drunk. He talked about Xin Yan, Yue Weiwei, and Su Ziyao. So Luo Hua naturally knew more about him than how much he knew about her. So Lin Yun stopped probing. If Luo Hua didn’t want to share, she didn’t need to.

“Why don’t you tell me about your adventures outside? I heard that you killed Thunderclap Sword Demon, but I don’t know how you killed him. I believe it must have been exciting,” said Luo Hua while sitting down and playing the zither.

Lin Yun drank the Millennium Flame, listened to the music, and shared his adventures with Luo Hua. Occasionally, she would interrupt him and ask for more details. When she heard that Lin Yun had also grasped the noble tune, she suggested they play music together.

Just like that, the two drank, chatted, and played music together. Before Lin Yun knew it, he finished the Millennium Flame and fell asleep on the pavilion once more.

When he woke up, it was already the next morning. He slept comfortably and he wasn’t suffering from a headache. Rather, his cultivation improved over the night, reaching the pinnacle Heavenly Soul Realm. If he wanted, he could become an empyrean right now.

“I blacked out again?” Lin Yun rubbed his eyes and wore a mocking smile. But at least he didn’t cry or laugh like the other time. When he stretched his waist, he noticed that there was another Millennium Flame on the table and pounced at it.

“Hahaha!” Lin Yun laughed because Luo Hua was really generous to give him another bottle. Then, he looked in the Sword Saint Mountain’s direction and started pondering a thought. After all, it was weird for someone like Luo Hua to be in the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect. “Can it be that there’s really a huge secret in the Sword Saint Mountain?”

Ascending the mountain was only the beginning, and the sect master promised him that he could ascend it once more upon reaching the Empyrean Realm. It seemed like he really needed to take this opportunity seriously.

When Lin Yun raised his head, he could sense a warm current flowing from the center of his brows. Touching his forehead, he could clearly sense the boundless sword intent in the center of his brows. If he could wait till the cocoon breaks open, he would grasp the fourth-grade sword intent.

He knew that it would be a long process, and that his sword intent could barely be considered the quasi-fourth grade. But at least he no longer had a bottleneck. Now that he recalled the entire process of making a breakthrough yesterday, Lin Yun couldn’t help feeling chills down his spine. He couldn’t believe that his heart as a swordsman was shaken so much that it nearly collapsed.

He began to ponder why this bottleneck was so hard. Some weren’t willing to ascend the mountain, some didn’t want to admit that there was a higher mountain after reaching the summit, and some couldn’t persevere in their heart.

It was already hard to achieve sky sword intent, not to mention divine firmament sword intent. Drinking the new Millennium Flame, Lin Yun jumped into the sea of clouds. Now that he had resolved his biggest concern, he needed to refine the True Dragon Saint Liquid and try to reach the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm.

His plan was to become an empyrean after reaching the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm and after grasping the divine firmament sword intent. Then, he would travel the qualifications to compete with the geniuses of the Ancient Barren Domain.

Before LinYun returned to his residence, he could already hear laughter from his courtyard. It was from Wang Yuruo who had been waiting at his residence ever since she heard that Lin Yun was back. Right now, she was chatting with Lil’ Purple in the courtyard.

She laughed nonstop ever since she showed up. She was in a good mood and her mood improved even more when she saw Lin Yun. Her eyes lit up because it had been a long time since she saw Lin Yun.

“Smells nice! Big Brother Yun, did you go pick flowers last night?” Wang Yuruo chuckled.

“Hmph!” Lil’ Purple looked at Lin Yun suspiciously before she said in disdain, “Who knows, he might have gone to meet a lover of his. What a scumbag!”

“Mind your words!” Lin Yun flicked Lil’ Purple’s forehead.

“That really seems to be the fragrance of a woman. Big Brother Yun, can it be that you went to meet your lover?” Wang Yuruo frowned.

“Don’t listen to her. I just went to drink with Lady Luo Hua,” explained Lin Yun with a smile.

“Senior Sister Luo!” Wang Yuruo became emotional when she heard that. Then, she spoke with reverence, “Senior Sister Luo is famous for being cold to others, and no one can approach her aside from the sect master. Senior Brother, your charm is really great!”

“Well, it’s nothing impressive,” smiled Lin Yun after giving Wang Yuruo a wink that made Wang Yuruo blush and immediately lower her head.

“Hmph!” Lil’ Purple snorted in disdain.

“Ah!” Wang Yuruo suddenly thought of something and continued, “Big Brother Yun, I have something to tell you. Your love rival appeared!”

“Love rival? Where did this person come from?” Lin Yun was startled by those words before he smiled.

“Hmph, scumbag!” Lil’ Purple snorted once more in disdain.

“Big Brother Yun, do you know that senior sister changed after returning from the Demon Domain? She will occasionally fall into a daze and mutter to herself,” said Wang Yuruo nervously.

“Do you know Flower Burial? I have no idea who that scumbag is, but I hate him! Senior sister seems to have fallen for him.” Wang Yuruo’s words caused chaos in Lin Yun’s mind. As for Lil’ Purple, she was full of laughter.

“That’s right! Flower Burial is a scumbag!” Lil’ Purple continued to laugh.

So I became my own love rival? Wait… when did I show any interest in Ye Ziling? Lin Yun put on a serious expression and said, “Lass, I have no interest in your senior sister, so don’t spread false rumors.”

“Hehe, I got it.” Wang Yuruo winked. Clearly, she didn’t believe in him.

In the end, Lin Yun knew that his effort to explain himself was futile.

“Hehe. Let’s be serious, Senior Brother Yun. Have you heard of this Flower Burial? The entire sect is talking about him. I heard that he killed Thunderclap Sword Demon with a song in the Heavenly Star Pavilion!” Wang Yuruo naturally knew about the grudges between the Thunderclap Sword Demon and the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect.

Lin Yun locked his brows together when he heard that because he wasn’t sure how he should reply. After all, he couldn’t possibly praise himself, right? After a brief pondering, Lin Yun still decided to keep a low profile and replied, “I did hear something about him. But he seems a little weaker than me.”

“Is that so? You’re pretty arrogant with your words.” Right at this moment, a cold snort sounded from outside the residence and a chilling aura swept over the courtyard. Lin Yun and Wang Yuruo shivered from the cold. Even Lil’ Purple’s smile had frozen as she disappeared into the sword box.

When Lin Yun saw this scene, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. It looked like Lil’ Purple was traumatized by Ye Ziling. Right at this moment, Ye Ziling appeared before everyone with a breeze.

“Senior Sister!” Wang Yuruo smiled.

“I’ll deal with you later!” Ye Ziling glared at her, causing Wang Yuruo to lower her head fearfully. But after Ye Ziling turned around, she stuck her tongue out and gave Lin Yun a playful smile.

“Senior Sister Ye, how are you?” Lin Yun smiled. Truth be told, it hadn’t been long since they last met in the Heavenly Star Pavilion. However, Lin Yun couldn’t greet her due to his secret identity.

“I already know everything about you,” said Ye Ziling as she looked at Lin Yun.

Does she know? Lin Yun’s heart throbbed when he heard that. After all, it made no sense since the Silver Moon Mask could conceal his aura and change his voice.

“The sect master told me that you’re the champion of the Ninth Heavenly Path. You killed five Realm Sons and then crippled the other five. You were ranked first on the Gold Ranking!” Ye Ziling said, leaving Wang Yuruo shocked. Wang Yuruo didn’t expect that Lin Yun would be the champion of the Ninth Heavenly Path.

She heard the other champions were unrivaled geniuses with great potential. After all, their names spread throughout Kunlun Realm upon their arrival.

“Sorry. I apologize for underestimating you back then,” said Ye Ziling.

Lin Yun was surprised to hear an apology from Ye Ziling. He didn’t expect that someone so prideful as her would apologize to him. It appeared that she wasn’t that aloof after all. But Lin Yun wasn’t too bothered by her previous actions. “It has nothing to do with you. I have a lot of enemies in the Heavenly Path, so I had no choice but to conceal my identity when I arrived here.”

Ye Ziling initially thought that Lin Yun would flaunt his strength and make her feel bad, but he acted nonchalantly instead. She couldn’t help smiling, “Actually, you’re not that difficult to interact with aside from being a little arrogant. But you still can’t talk bad about Flower Burial. After all, he’s my benefactor, and I won’t let it go if you do it again.”

Lin Yun was initially planning to reply, but he suddenly saw the smile on Ye Ziling’s face disappearing.

“You might be strong, and your achievements will definitely be higher than mine in the future. But you’re still lacking as of now,” said Ye Ziling. She didn’t say that the gulf between them was like the distance between the sky and earth because she didn’t want to strike a blow to Lin Yun’s heart.

Then again, Lin Yun didn’t find anything wrong with her words and stayed silent.

“As for Lil’ Purple, I’m sorry for misunderstanding you the other time,” continued Ye Ziling.

“Don’t worry about it. That lass needs to be taught a lesson from time to time. I think you did a good job. I’ll send her to you another time in the future,” smiled Lin Yun.

“You dare?!” Lil’ Purple’s voice sounded out from the sword box with her teeth gritted.

Ye Ziling looked at Lin Yun weirdly before she replied, “Since I’m apologizing to you, I naturally can’t come empty-handed. This is Thunderclap Sword Demon’s interspatial pouch. There were many people fighting for it, but I ultimately got it. I haven’t looked into it, and I believe that there must be something that interests you. So please accept this.”

Lin Yun was surprised when he heard that because he didn’t think that the Thunderclap Sword Demon’s interspatial pouch would fall into Ye Ziling’s hands. She must have been pretty close to Thunderclap Sword Demon when he died.

“Then I won’t be polite,” replied Lin Yun while taking the interspatial pouch.

Ye Ziling let out a breath of relief before she signaled to Wang Yuruo that it was time to go. But just when she was about to leave the residence, she suddenly stopped, “Oh, right. Don’t listen to that lass. You might be a pretty good person, but I have no interest in you. I just don’t want you to have any misunderstandings.”

Lin Yun was stunned when he heard those words. Clearly, Ye Ziling had the wrong impression of him.

Meanwhile, Lil’ Purple’s laughter sounded out from the sword box.