The Sovereign’s Ascension

The ancient array constructed by the Demonic Astral Flowers left all the law-enforcement elders dumbfounded. They realized that Lin Yun had been aiming for the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm from the start of the process. The constellation light was just an opportunity for him.

Right from the start, he had never placed this great opportunity in his heart, and was only focused on reaching the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm. As for reaching the Empyrean Realm? He could reach the Empyrean Realm anytime he wanted since he had the leaves of the Divine Blood Fruit.

The effects of the leaves were even greater than the constellation light. After all, Lil’ Red had grown terrifyingly strong with that method. But Lin Yun wanted to reach the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm, the unrivaled stage of the Heavenly Soul Realm that only transcendent geniuses of legends were qualified to attempt.

“Is this fellow really not afraid of death…?” Jiang Lichen muttered to himself with disbelief. But the moment he was done, he realized that he said the wrong thing. Several cold gazes from Liu Qingyan, Feng Zhang, Wang Yuruo, and even Ye Ziling were burning a hole through his head.

Although trying to reach the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm was dangerous, how could he curse Lin Yun to die? The cold gaze that he sensed from Ye Ziling was something that he had never felt before, which made Jiang Lichen immediately squeeze out a smile.

But inwardly, he was unconvinced because he was merely speaking the truth. After all, many transcendent geniuses had failed to try to reach the limit. In the past thousands of years, only a handful of geniuses were able to reach the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm.

Jiang Lichen shut his mouth and looked at Lin Yun with a complicated gaze. As the sea of flowers descended from the sky and released a shocking energy fluctuation, the surrounding space distorted.

At the summit of the mountain was an azure-clothed figure seated on a massive Iris Flower. When the silver iris flower circulated, it was like a black hole that devoured the surrounding spiritual energy and sword intent on the Spirit Astral Mountain.

Outside the lake, the sect master hovered in the sky with his hands behind his back. He was staring at Lin Yun with a faint smile.

“Sect Master, h-h-he…he’s devouring the sword intent on the Spirit Astral Mountain. That’s the foundation of our Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect!” A law-enforcement elder said with his voice trembling.

The sect master didn’t turn around and merely smiled, “This brat is smart. It’s not easy for him to come this far. Don’t worry about it. If he succeeds, the benefits that he’ll bring to the Spirit Astral Mountain will far exceed your imagination.”

“But what if he fails?” The law-enforcement elder already discovered that the sect master had placed great importance to Lin Yun as though Lin Yun was even more important than the entire sect. But he knew that if Lin Yun failed, it would be a disastrous blow to the sect.

“If he fails, he’ll be dead,” replied the sect master.

While everyone fell into silence, the sect master continued, “But if he succeeds, we’ll be able to open the ninth layer of heaven easily next time. Just imagine the benefits it will bring us for our Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect to give birth to a monstrous genius in the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm…”

The other law-enforcement elders were shocked when they heard that. After all, the sect and the disciples complemented each other, and their fates would affect each other. The limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm was something that not even those powerful geniuses could achieve. If an existence like that was born in the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect, the law-enforcement elders couldn’t imagine the benefits that they would receive.

“I remember the sect master of the Profound Sky Sect is someone who had achieved the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm. After he became the sect master, the Profound Sky Sect’s position rose swiftly in the Ancient Barren Domain,” said a law-enforcement elder.

The sect master nodded his head lightly, but he had a cold light flickering through his pupils when the Profound Sky Sect’s name. He had to admit that the Profound Sky Sect had an unimaginable status in the Ancient Barren Domain, producing many monstrous geniuses at the same time.

Regardless of inheritance or foundation, there was no way the Profound Sky Sect could be compared to the Sword Sect. But the Sword Sect had declined over the past millennium, and the Sword Sect could barely maintain its prestige in the Ancient Barren Domain.

“Sect Master, will Lin Yun be able to succeed?” A law-enforcement elder asked with anticipation in his eyes. Lin Yun’s origin was mysterious, and his appearance was too sudden. It was too mysterious to the law-enforcement elders.

However, they knew that the sect master knew about Lin Yun’s origin. So they weren’t surprised that he showed great intention to nurture Lin Yun. Their sect master was known for his foul temper, and he wouldn’t see Lin Yun in a new light if Lin Yun had no potential. At many times, they could even tell that the sect master had placed more importance on Lin Yun than on Ye Ziling.

“He has a high chance,” said the sect master. “Wits and perseverance are secondary. He’s someone who can bear loneliness. All geniuses are arrogant and aloof, but he’s not the same. He has experienced too much, and he can be arrogant and humble when needed.”

The law-enforcement elders were briefly stunned when they heard that because the sect master’s evaluation was a little too much.

“What do you think of Jiang Lichenin in comparison to him…” A law-enforcement elder asked softly. Jiang Lichen was the most talented genius nurtured by the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect while Ye Ziling had a different origin.

But before he could finish, the sect master interrupted him, “Don’t bother comparing a shrimp with a dragon.”

Upon hearing that, all the elders nearly threw up a mouthful of blood because Jiang Lichen was the sect master’s disciple. But they knew that it was part of the sect master’s temper because he might not even praise his daughter.

The sect master could no longer be bothered with them because Lin Yun was a disciple that his master wanted. Who was his master? His master was one of the three Sword Saints in the Eastern Desolation, the Radiant Sword Saint!

So how could Jiang Lichen possibly be compared to Lin Yun? It was fortunate that Jiang Lichen wasn’t here or else he would’ve thrown up a mouthful of blood when he heard that.

As the sea of flowers hovered in the sky, the suppressive atmosphere enveloped everyone in fear, especially when the spiritual runes flickered in the sea of flowers.

“The wind is coming…” The sect master suddenly said with a grave expression. Even if he held high hopes for Lin Yun, he still couldn’t help feeling worried at this moment.

“Where?” A law-enforcement elder asked. Suddenly, violent storms appeared from nine directions around the Spirit Astral Mountain. The storms were like sharp blades that tore apart the lake into nine parts. Furthermore, the wind came too quickly.

When the storms collided with the Spirit Astral Mountain, they were like nine hammers descending from the sky and landing on Lin Yun. As for Lin Yun, he was already prepared and circulated his sword aura the moment the storms came.

He had devoured a lot of sword aura from the Spirit Astral Mountain, and his accumulated sword aura had far exceeded his cultivation. When the storms collided with his body, the sword aura negated most of power. So the remaining power merely felt a little painful. But this was just the beginning.

As more storms swept over, they grew increasingly powerful. In the beginning, there were only nine storms. But as time passed, the number of storms increased to 18, 36, 72, and 114.

When the fifth wave swept over, Lin Yun was blown to the sky. He struggled to maintain his sword aura in the storms while the torrential storms swept away all the water in the lake. In the end, the storms ended up leaving behind a huge crater with the Spirit Astral Mountain at the center.

“Finally done?” Lin Yun muttered with a trace of blood dripping down from the corner of his lips.

“It’s fire now,” said the sect master.

In the next second, terrifying heat waves swept out from Lin Yun’s body as the Demonic Astral Flowers began to incinerate his body. As the heat energy continued to increase, a rumbling explosion sounded out as 42 Demonic Astral Flowers flew out of Lin Yun’s body like venomous pythons.

The 42 flaming pythons were emitting terrifying energy that enveloped Lin Yun. Under this massive power, the Spirit Astral Mountain began to burn and cause rocks to fall down.

“Senior Brother Lin!” Wang Yuruo exclaimed.

Everyone from the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect sucked in a cold breath because the scene was too terrifying.

Even the sect master sighed inwardly when he saw this scene. To reach the limit of the Heavenly Soul Realm, one had to get through the wind, fire, lightning, ice, and wood tribulations, and the fire tribulation was the only one that could be easily neglected.