The Sovereign’s Ascension

The old geezer’s words were too hurtful. He was a senior, but he still cursed when Lin Yun asked him for divine astral pellets. But Lin Yun didn’t dare to utter a word as Jian Jingtian looked at him coldly. With an awkward smile, Lin Yun retorted, “I was just joking. Why are you so serious?”

Jian Jingtian couldn’t be bothered with him and said, “The wine isn’t bad, so I’ll accept it. If you have nothing else, you can get lost now.”

Not only did Lin Yun fail to borrow divine astral pellets, but he even lost two wine bottles from the dragon clan. Seeing that Jian Jingtian wanted to chase him away, Lin Yun quickly spoke, “I have something I’d like to discuss with you. I already know about the secrets in the Sword Saint Mountain, and there is something that I want to take away with me. As compensation, I’ll leave behind the Fleeting Cloud 13 Swords and try to leave behind the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sutra as well.”

The Fleeting Cloud 13 Swords was fine, but it would be hard to leave behind the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sutra because people had to comprehend it from the stone monument. However, Lin Yun believed that he could find a way to resolve this issue.

Jian Jingtian was surprised and looked at Lin Yun deeply, “The Fleeting Cloud 13 Swords are your strongest trump card now because only you have grasped it. If someone else grasps it, you will lose your advantage. Are you sure about that?”

“That’s because the one cultivated by others might not be as strong as mine, not to mention that I won’t rely on the Fleeting Cloud 13 Swords for too long,” said Lin Yun.

“You’re really confident in yourself, you little bastard.” Jian Jingtian stood up and continued, “You can do what you want. The Sword Saint Mountain was preserved by you, not to mention that no one knows about the opportunities there. It has nothing to do with me if you want to take it away. After all, the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect has been relying on it for too long. It’s annoying watching them. It’s not like the Fleeting Cloud 13 Swords is the only thing in the world.”

Lin Yun squinted his eyes. Was this the reason why the old geezer wasn’t bothered with the possible loss of the Sword Saint Mountain? It made sense because the Sword Saint Mountain was too famous, and many people joined the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect for it. But the 13 tests were impossible for most people, so their sword dao would be affected if they were too obsessive.

“When one year is up, you can retrieve what’s in there. It will also be your choice whether you want to leave behind the sword sutra or sword technique,” said Jian Jingtian.

“Isn’t that a little too long? Do you think I can retrieve it any earlier?” Lin Yun asked with his brows locked together.

Jian Jingtian turned around and smiled, “That also works. If you can grasp the divine firmament sword intent, I can help you unlock the seal any time.”

“Divine firmament sword intent…” Lin Yun was speechless. He also wanted to grasp the divine firmament sword intent early, but it was seemingly impossible.

“The scenery up here is gorgeous, but you don’t seem interested in that,” smiled Jian Jingtian.

Lin Yun squinted his eyes when he heard that.

“The sword cocoon has to break nine times for the divine firmament sword intent to appear. You’ve only broken it three times. If you let time do the work, there’s no way you can grasp the divine firmament sword intent before the Profound Wither Island opens,” said Jian Jingtian.

“Truth be told, this is the reason why I’m here. I’d like to hear your advice,” said Lin Yun as what Jian Jingtian said was like a huge blow to his heart.

“Come with me,” said Jian Jingtian while leaping down the mountain.

Without any hesitation, Lin Yun followed behind him. The two were like two sharp swords streaking through the clouds. Not long later, they both landed before an altar filled with a deathly aura. The altar was surrounded by mountains and each mountain had an ancient drum made of beast skin.

When Lin Yun landed on the ground, he immediately saw that the mountains were like stone pillars that surrounded the altar like a cage. Without any hesitation, Jian Jingtian waved his hand and a fire lit up the surroundings while a killing aura swept out from the altar.

Landing on the altar, Jian Jingtian looked at Lin Yun from afar, “This is an altar from an ancient battlefield. It was already here when the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect was founded. The nine war drums on the mountains are all forged with the skin of ancient beasts, containing their soul and blood. “

Lin Yun looked at Jian Jingtian in confusion because he had no idea how this was connected to the divine firmament sword intent.

“There’s no shortcut in cultivating sword intent. If you want to obtain the divine firmament sword intent smoothly, you’ll have to wait half a year. So if you want to grasp it beforehand, you naturally have to pay the price,” said Jian Jingtian. “If you can’t make a breakthrough in life and death, you need to go about it in a different way. You might have grasped the divine firmament sword intent, but it’s not like the other martial intents. The best way is to temper your sword intent through fighting. After all, swords are meant to kill!”

Lin Yun instantly understood why this place was used to temper sword intent. “Since there’s such a good place in the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect, why didn’t you let Ye Ziling and the others use it?”

“This place is too dangerous. Their sword intent isn’t strong enough. In fact, you might not even be able to last through it. If you’re careless, you might fail,” said Jian Jingtian.

That strong? Lin Yun was baffled. After all, he had completed the three challenges on the Sword Assembly, which was a shocking feat already. His sword intent was tempered through life and death.

“You don’t believe me? Come over here then,” said Jian Jingtian with a disdainful smirk.

Lin Yun was full of doubt, but he still landed on the altar. The altar was huge, and he could see countless bones piled on top of it. The inside of the altar was actually a bottomless pit filled with piles of bones. The majority of them were human skeletons, but there were also skeletons that belonged to demonic beasts whose ominous aura fused together into a terrifying monster.

This scene instantly made Lin Yun’s mind hurt as cracks appeared on his sword heart. Furthermore, he actually sensed that he couldn’t release his quasi-divine firmament sword intent.

Suddenly, a hand landed on his shoulder that pulled Lin Yun out of the ominous aura that was about to devour him whole. Lin Yun’s face was pale because he could sense the terror in that split moment.

“How was it?” Jian Jingtian asked.

“I don’t know,” said Lin Yun in a trembling voice with his face pale. He couldn’t believe that such a simple altar would be so terrifying.

Jian Jingtian looked at Lin Yun and continued, “You have to remember that you’re nothing. Don’t think that you’re formidable just because you made it through the three challenges. There are many people stronger than you. Plus, you can’t even defeat someone in the top 100 on the Empyrean Ranking with your current strength. As for those in the top ten, they could easily crush you if they wanted.”

Lin Yun locked his brows together because he thought the assessment was a little harsh. After all, he had been in Kunlun Realm for less than a year.

Right at this moment, Jian Jingtian sneered, “Unconvinced? Were you thinking that it’s unfair because you just arrived in Kunlun Realm? Stop joking. Your opponents won’t care what you say and whatever you say after your loss will just be an excuse. Everyone is only concerned with the outcome.”

Jian Jingtian was right. Lin Yun pondered briefly and asked, “Whose corpses are those?”

“Most of those belong to sinful people. Swords are meant for killing. A swordsman isn’t soft, but they also won’t swing their swords on the weak. If we commit meaningless massacres, we would be no different from monsters and those people on the altar.” Jian Jingtian said. He then led Lin Yun to a notch at the border of the altar. “Take out the Lightning Shadow Sword.”

Lin Yun took out the Lightning Shadow Sword without any hesitation and inserted it in the notch. When he pushed the sword three inches into the notch, Lin Yun could sense the entire altar trembling with bloodlust from the Lightning Shadow Sword.

At the same time, he could hear chilling roars coming from the skeletons on the altar. Lin Yun was surprised because the bloodlust from the Lightning Shadow Sword was a lot stronger than he had imagined. Judging from this bloodlust, this sword was used to kill countless people.

“They all died by my sword.” Jian Jingtian said, “A thousand divine astral pellets can activate the altar for thirty minutes, five thousand can activate it for half an incense of time, and ten thousand can activate it for four hours. I recommend you to start with one thousand. Additionally, the corpses have to be drenched with blood for the sacred fire to burn on the altar. The blood of ordinary demonic beasts will do, but it’ll be better if you do it with your own blood. The bloodlust in your blood will be better than overlord demonic beasts. I give you permission to stay here and cultivate in the future. Aside from tempering your sword intent, you can also use this place to temper your physique, sword technique, martial intents, and flute.”

Lin Yun nodded his head when he heard that. But after Jian Jingtian left, he instantly felt that something wasn’t right because he came to look for Jian Jingtian to borrow divine astral pellets. Lin Yun failed to borrow divine astral pellets and had to spend divine astral pellets instead. Jian Jingitan might be old, but he was too wise to deal with Lin Yun.