Chapter 1409 - Ancient Saint Clans
Lin Yun fell into deep thoughts after hearing what Jue Chen said. It was just as he had speculated; the stage was a large-scale teleportation array. He could predict that the secret realm would be extremely terrifying and wouldn’t be like what everyone was thinking.
When everyone calmed down, Jue Chen continued, “It has been two centuries since the Barren Sword Mound was last opened, and the dangers in it far exceed your imaginations. You all have four hours to make preparations. Four hours from now, the teleportation array will be activated.”
As the test had been kept a secret, no one expected that the third stage would be to enter the Barren Sword Mound. So the Sword Sect was thoughtful to give them four hours of preparation.
“Let’s discuss how we should go about it.” The four from the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect, along with Gongsun Yan and Zhao Yan, were gathered together to discuss a plan.
Feng Zhang suddenly said, “I discussed with Junior Brother Liu and we feel that it would be hard with our apt.i.tude to attract the attention of saints. So we plan to leave the Barren Sword Mound after gathering ten Spiritual Sword Beads.”
“We feel it’ll be harder to gather 100 Spiritual Sword Beads by relying on demonic beasts at the end, and those Ancient Saint Clans might target others.” Liu Qingyan nodded.
Lin Yun glanced at them. They were open-minded about it. They weren’t wrong because they were only asked to gather 100 Spiritual Sword Beads and were free to use any means necessary. This was a loophole that the Sword Sect had purposely set.
“That works. But remember to look for me if the two of you encounter any danger.” Ye Ziling nodded. “Since we came out together, we have to join the Sword Sect together as well. Don’t be afraid to trouble us.”
“Alright.” Liu Qingyan and Feng Zhang smiled, feeling warmth in their hearts. Ye Ziling took great care of them, whether they were in the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect or the Ancient Barren Domain. The two then swore in their hearts that they wouldn’t embarra.s.s the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect if they entered the Sword Sect.
They didn’t want to gather 100 Spiritual Sword Beads or trouble others and drag them down. Ye Ziling could tell what they were thinking, so her reminder was to make them feel rea.s.sured. They were all disciples of the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect, so they would naturally take care of each other. They had already come this far, so Ye Ziling wouldn’t give up on them here.
“I should try to gather 100 Spiritual Sword Beads.” Gongsun Yan scratched his head and smiled, “Regardless if the saints will pick me, I have to try it.”
“Me too,” said Zhao Yan. His gaze was dull, but his eyes were serious when he said that. This was a rare opportunity to become the disciple of a saint, so the two of them naturally wouldn’t give it up so easily.
“Junior Brother Lin, what about you?” Ye Ziling asked. When the test started, Ye Ziling noticed Lin Yun’s mood was weird. Lin Yun didn’t speak much, and he didn’t seem to be too bothered about being picked by saints as their disciples.
If the Saint Clans hadn’t taken it too far, he wouldn’t have stood out. He also had the opportunity to pull the saint sword in the first stage. After all, he was someone who retrieved the Lightning Shadow Sword. So something must’ve happened for Lin Yun to be so moody.
“Me?” Lin Yun recovered from staring into the s.p.a.ce and smiled, “Either way works for me.”
He initially wanted to become the Radiant Sword Saint"s disciple, which was why he worked so hard in seclusion back in the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect. This was why he wanted to take part in the test; he wanted to prove himself. But it appears that he was wrong because the Radiant Sword Saint had no intention of taking a disciple.
This was the reason why he was disappointed. So Lin Yun was open-minded as long as he could join the Sword Sect. As for becoming a disciple of a saint, he didn’t think much about it.
“Hmph, continue with your act. But you can’t keep a low profile with your current fame!” Gongsun Yan said, unhappy with Lin Yun’s att.i.tude. Even if Lin Yun wanted to keep a low profile, he would be swept by the waves to the front.
As Lin Yun responded with a smile, Zhao Yan said, “Aside from Xiahou Yan, we also have to face the four Ancient Saint Clans.”
Gongsun Yan’s eyes lit up when he heard that, and smiled. “Not bad, fool. I bet you know more than us, so why don’t you share what you know?”
Ignoring the name that Gongsun Yan gave him, Zhao Yan continued, “See the pavilion in the northeast? They’re the Radiant Snow Ye Clan.”
When everyone turned their heads to the northeast, Lin Yun also directed his attention and saw many geniuses on the pavilion. Most of them were at the Greater Elysium Core Realm; the man and woman standing at the front had reached the Heavenly Elysium Core Realm.
Lin Yun was surprised because it appeared that Heavenly Elysium Core Realm experts could be found nearly everywhere after coming to the Ancient Barren Domain. But that only briefly popped into his mind because he didn’t encounter many Heavenly Elysium Core Realm experts. Aside from the Saint Clan’s princes, he hadn’t seen anyone who reached the Heavenly Elysium Core Realm.
Since Ancient Saint Clans had a longer history, they naturally had a few Heavenly Elysium Core Realm geniuses amongst the younger generation.
“The two of them are strong. The man is called Ye Qing, and the woman is Ye Ziyun. They’re both on the Elysium Core Ranking, especially Ye Ziyun, who’s only twenty-one this year. She’s ranked in the seven thousandths on the Elysium Core Ranking…” Since Zhao Yan originated from a Saint Clan, he understood those Ancient Saint Clans more.
When he introduced the Ye Clan, he sneaked a peak at Ye Ziling. He had long discovered that Ye Ziling might also be from the Radiant Snow Clan. But since Ye Ziling didn’t say anything about it, he naturally wouldn’t ask. He continued, “The one in the southwest is a little troublesome. That person is Jiang Cheng!”
When Lin Yun looked at the pavilion in the southwest, a person stood out. The other Ancient Saint Clans came in a group, but this person was alone, sitting on the ground.
“He’s the sixth-in-line successor of the Jiang Clan, but he’s famed for being a lone wolf. I heard that he has formed his second star in the Heavenly Elysium Core Realm.”
“Oh?” Lin Yun was surprised when he heard that. After the Heavenly Elysium Core Realm was the Dragon Pulse Realm, one would become more powerful upon reaching the Dragon Pulse Realm if they had more acc.u.mulation in the Elysium Core Realm. Legend had it that the highest achievement was to form nine stars in the violet palace, but most people could only form two.
There were two requirements to form the stars in the violet palace, resources, and constellation. If the cultivator’s constellation wasn’t strong enough, one wouldn’t be able to form more stars even if they had a lot of resources.
It was terrifying that monstrous geniuses in the Ancient Barren Domain could form four stars, but Jiang Cheng had already formed two stars at his age. This meant that he wasn’t only strong, his constellation was also terrifying. Someone like him would never appear in a tiny place like the Profound Azure Prefecture.
Lin Yun smacked his lips because the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect limited his scope. When Lin Yun looked at Jiang Cheng, the latter suddenly opened his eyes with a piercing sword ray flas.h.i.+ng through his pupils as his gaze fell onto Lin Yun.
But Lin Yun had no changes on his face without any fear. He maintained his calm and composure. When the sword ray contained in Jiang Cheng’s gaze landed on Lin Yun, it quickly disappeared like a pebble thrown into an ocean.
This made Jiang Cheng’s eyes light up with a smile rising on his lips before he closed his eyes. Ye Ziling and the others saw the entire process, and this caused a huge ripple in their hearts.
“See what I mean? Lin Yun, you can’t maintain a low profile.” Gongsun Yan said, but Lin Yun only held onto his chin and maintained his silence.
“Over there is the Huang Clan. There’s only four of them, but I heard they have a good relations.h.i.+p with the Huang Clan. They’re all in the Heavenly Elysium Core Realm. The leader amongst them is Huang Yancheng, and he has a terrible reputation in the Eastern Desolation…” Zhao Yan continued.
When Lin Yun looked at Huang Yancheng, he instantly knew what Zhao Yan meant. The baleful aura around Huang Yancheng was so strong that it was nearly comparable to demonic cultivators. This meant that Huang Yancheng had taken many lives. Then again, it was unavoidable to take lives as swordsmen because righteousness and evil merely lied in a single thought.
The remaining one was the Chen Clan, which kept a low profile. Aside from knowing that the leader was Chen Bing, nothing else was known about him because Chen Bing wasn’t even on the Elysium Core Ranking.
“Aren"t there little too many geniuses?” Liu Qingyan and Feng Zhang could feel their scalps numb because there were so many geniuses on the Elysium Core Ranking. Ye Ziling and Zhao Yan were talented and strong, but they were still a little too weak when compared to those from the Ancient Saint Clans.
“Try not to start a conflict with them. We just have to focus on gathering 100 Spiritual Sword Beads.” Ye Ziling said. There was no hope for them if they clashed. Even the Xiahou Saint Clan and Bai Saint Clan had joined forces, which meant they were also feeling pressure from the Ancient Saint Clans.
After a simple discussion, everyone sat down to adjust their condition. Lin Yun also circulated the Dragon-Phoenix World Annihilating Sword Canon to suppress the Dragon-Phoenix World Annihilating Cauldron in the ocean of astral energy. Reaching the second stage in the Dragon-Phoenix World Annihilating Sword Canon had greatly boosted his strength, but this also placed him in a hidden danger.