Chapter 1417 - Indigo Dragon Serpent
When morning arrived, Lin Yun had returned to his strongest state. After glancing at Gongsun Yan, he couldn’t tell any difference from the latter except that Gongsun Yan was much more silent than before.
As the party continued their journey, they didn’t encounter any troubles, with no one messing with them in the dark. Even if they ran into Heavenly Elysium Core Realm demonic beasts, Lin Yun could resolve it with this strength. Then again, that was under the condition that there weren’t too many of them, or even he would be exhausted.
They crossed mountains and swiftly made their way to the sword mound. When Feng Zhang and Liu Qingyan collected ten Spiritual Sword Beads along the way, the voice of the Sword Sect’s elder resounded out in their ears, asking if they wanted to end their test now. If they chose to end it here, they would be the Sword Sect"s disciples starting from today. But if they decided to end their test now, they would lose the chance of being taken in as a disciple by saints.
Since they had already made up their minds beforehand, they didn’t hesitate to end their test here. Even Gongsun Yan chose to end the test here after much hesitation.
Zhao Yan opened his mouth but chose to say nothing about it. It looks like Gongsun Yan hadn’t completely recovered from his encounter with Xiahou Yan, and he was afraid that he would lose his rationale if he saw him. It was fine if he died, but Gongsun Yan would blame himself if he became a burden to others.
As more people left the secret realm, they discovered a screen in the sea of clouds that showed them what was happening inside of the secret realm. The Sword Sect’s elders were staring at the screen, watching everything that was happening inside.
The corner of Gongsun Yan’s lips twitched when he saw this scene, and he couldn’t help feeling uneasy because the screen’s appearance meant that everyone saw how he was humiliated by Xiahou Yan. Thinking about it, his face couldn’t help becoming distorted before he calmed down.
Lin Yun’s words resounded in his mind, and every single word from Lin Yun was like a dagger stabbing his heart. His heart would ache every time he thought about it, and he swore deeply in his heart that he would prove himself one fine day.
Two days later, Lin Yun, Ye Ziling, and Zhao Yan ascended a mountain, and they could see a huge region covered in fog with beams of light s.h.i.+ning out. The dazzling light made them squint their eyes.
When they slowly got used to the light, what appeared before them was a huge region covered in black dirt. This was a ma.s.sive tomb, emitting a terrifying chill. Numerous ancient swords were buried or plunged into the ground, emitting sword vibrations that sounded like sobbing when the wind blew. It sounded like those swords were crying.
Different parties swiftly occupied the mountains surrounding the sword mound. Looking down at the sword mound, Zhao Yan’s eyes lit up with a fire blazing in his pupils. “So, this is the sword mound…”
Lin Yun knew that Zhao Yan was a genuine sword fanatic. Other people would feel a chill down their spines when they heard the sobbing sword vibrations, but Zhao Yan was excited. When Lin Yun lowered his head, he could sense the death aura mixed within the boundless sword intent and a weird array. The array worked like a seal that would occasionally flicker, and the dazzling light would make people close their eyes.
“They’re here.” Ye Ziling said. When she saw the four brothers of the Huang Clan and Xiahou Yan, there were flames of rage blazing in the depth of her pupils.
When Lin Yun turned his head over, he could also sense that their gazes were on him. Since Lin Yun had some accomplishment in spiritual runes, he briefly examined the array enveloping the sword mound before he said, “This array won’t be able to last for long. The sword intent and saint aura acc.u.mulated inside are too much. So the array will break apart in roughly four hours.”
When the array breaks open, the tenth-grade Spiritual Sword Bead should appear. So everyone was waiting patiently; this was just the calm before the storm. They all knew that chaos would descend the moment the array breaks, and it wouldn’t be easy for anyone to obtain the tenth-grade Spiritual Sword Bead.
Xiahou Yan and Huang Yancheng stood on a mountain far away, coldly looking at Lin Yun’s party with killing intent flas.h.i.+ng through their pupils. They didn’t bother concealing their hostility for Lin Yun; there was even some provocation in their gazes.
As for the other Ancient Saint Clans, they were also quietly making preparations. Regardless of Jiang Cheng, who came alone, or Chen Bing, they had been waiting here for a long time.
Four hours wasn’t long, but the wait was torturous for everyone within the tense atmosphere of the surroundings. After all, this test was crucial since it was their chance to be accepted as a disciple of the saints, not to mention the tenth-grade Spiritual Sword Bead.
Suddenly, a boundless sword intent exploded while everyone was waiting, and the entire mountain range also began to tremble. Cracks began to appear on the array enveloping the sword mound, with sword aura gus.h.i.+ng out from those cracks, and numerous Spiritual Sword Beads were swiftly formed.
“It’s here.” Zhao Yan said. He couldn’t help becoming nervous.
On the contrary, Lin Yun was excited. He was determined to obtain the tenth-grade Spiritual Sword Bead.
When the tremors became even more terrifying, a dazzling light shone from the sword mound. Suddenly, six beams swiftly condensed into fist-sized beads, and nine rings could be seen on those beads.
“Ninth-grade Spiritual Sword Beads…” Ye Ziling said. She and Zhao Yan had no thoughts about the tenth-grade Spiritual Sword Bead because they knew where they stood with their current strength, but it was different with the six ninth-grade Spiritual Sword Beads.
Everyone knew they weren’t qualified to compete for the tenth-grade Spiritual Sword Bead if they weren’t strong enough. Even if they managed to obtain it by luck, they would be besieged by everyone the next moment. But the ninth-grade Spiritual Sword Beads were a different story because people like Xiahou Yan wouldn’t be interested in them. So many people headed straight for those ninth-grade Spiritual Sword Beads without hesitation.
But when Lin Yun saw this scene, he said, “Wait.”
His words stopped Ye Ziling and Zhao Yan, who wanted to fight for those six ninth-grade Spiritual Sword Beads. They both had absolute trust in Lin Yun.
Just when everyone approached the sword mound, the sounds of chains breaking echoed. A black dragon serpent broke out of the ground with chains that were like tentacles swinging at those who got close to the Spiritual Sword Beads.
The chains surprised everyone as they were sent flying away, suffering all sorts of fractures. When they fell to the ground, the black dragon serpent’s whole body appeared before everyone. It was a giant beast covered in serpentine scales. As the Ancient Saint Clans’ geniuses saw the black dragon serpent, their faces became grave.
“Just as I expected…” Lin Yun took in a deep breath and wore a grave expression. He already knew that it wouldn’t be easy when he noticed the Ancient Saint Clans’ geniuses unbothered when those ninth-grade Spiritual Sword Beads appeared.
He wouldn’t be surprised if people like Xiahou Yan weren’t interested in the ninth-grade Spiritual Sword Beads, but it made no sense that the Ancient Saint Clans’ ordinary geniuses weren’t attracted as well. So he instantly knew something was fishy about those six ninth-grade Spiritual Sword Beads.
“It’s an Indigo Dragon Serpent!” Zhao Yan’s breathing became heavy, and his face became ugly. The Indigo Dragon Serpent was a monarch demonic beast at the Heavenly Elysium Core Realm. He could sense the wisp of a dangerous aura coming from the Indigo Dragon Serpent, and it seemed stronger than everyone present; even Xiahou Yan and Lin Yun didn’t give him that dangerous feeling.
“No one is allowed to take my Spiritual Sword Beads!” The Indigo Dragon Serpent spoke as it swept its eyes filled with powerful sword intent.
“This is troublesome…” Lin Yun sighed with his face changed.
“What should we do now?” Ye Ziling and Zhao Yan were baffled because Lin Yun"s trouble wasn’t like what they understood.
“The Sword Sect is really vicious to prepare this stage. This Indigo Dragon Serpent can only grow strong by devouring Spiritual Sword Beads, and it’s been here for nearly a century, waiting to become stronger after devouring Spiritual Sword Beads. So they naturally placed it here on purpose.” Lin Yun replied. “As for the ninth-grade Spiritual Sword Beads, this Indigo Dragon Serpent probably won’t give up on the other Spiritual Sword Beads.”
Aside from the six ninth-grade Spiritual Sword Beads, there were also many ordinary Spiritual Swords Beads. They could easily gather a hundred of them if they charged in. But with the Indigo Dragon Serpent around, anyone who dared to get close would be attacked by the Indigo Dragon Serpent.
As for the tenth-grade Spiritual Sword Bead, it would only be even more troublesome. If Lin Yun was right, the tenth-grade Spiritual Sword Bead was already devoured by the Indigo Dragon Serpent. Or rather, the Indigo Dragon Serpent’s beast core was a tenth-grade Spiritual Sword Bead, which meant they would have to kill it if they wanted to obtain it.