Chapter 1431 - Third Meeting
Lin Yun maintained his composure, but his emotions couldn’t help fluctuating. If he remembered correctly, the Radiant Sword Saint might die if he couldn’t make a breakthrough within five years, at least according to Sword Emperor Yu Qingfeng. This was because the Radiant Sword Saint was running out of lifespan.
The world was cruel. Even if saints were as strong as deities from the legends, that didn’t mean they were immortal; their lifespan was limited. If they wanted to keep on surviving, they would have to make a breakthrough. According to the Sword Emperor, the Radiant Sword Saint would be comparable to the emperors if he made a breakthrough.
This meant that the Radiant Sword Saint would become a martial emperor, becoming one of the legends, or he could fight the emperors even though he didn’t become one. But this also meant that the Radiant Sword Saint would no longer have to worry about his lifespan and possess unimaginable power. He would then reach the top pyramid in the Ancient Barren Domain.
This was why the Radiant Sword Saint was in seclusion. After all, time was precious to him. Even Lin Yun was prepared to be unable to see the Radiant Sword Saint anytime soon. But he never expected that he would be able to meet the Radiant Sword Saint after the entrance ceremony.
This suddenly made Lin Yun nervous and excited at the same time. The Sword Sect took in nearly 7,000 disciples through this test, and the entrance ceremony was much more complicated than Lin Yun had imagined.
First, Jue Chen would explain the rules to them as an elder before they went for a bath and changed into their uniforms. Each person was given two sets of clothes. The clothes contained some simple arrays, containing a certain degree of defense.
The Sword Sect wouldn’t force their disciples to wear those clothes every day; if they had enough contribution in the future, they could exchange them for saint robes, which were comparable to saint artifacts.
After that was a whole set of c.u.mbersome procedures before they were gathered together to pay their wors.h.i.+p to the ancestors of the Sword Sect, it was a ma.s.sive monument that stood between heaven and earth, filled with names. All of them were ancestors who died in battle.
After the ceremony, everyone swore an oath before the monument under Jue Chen’s guidance. “I hereby swear that one day, the Sword Sect would return to become a holy land. Eight thousand years of reign with our halo enveloping ninety thousand miles. As long as the moon exists, the Sword Sect never dies!”
“As long as the moon exists, the Sword Sect never dies!”
All of the disciples swore a solemn oath under the guidance of Jue Chen. When Lin Yun recited the last sentence, he could feel his blood boiling within his body. The Sword Sect was once a holy land; they were the strongest Sword Sect of the Eastern Desolation, not the strongest Sword Sect of the Ancient Barren Domain.
The Sword Sect might seem powerful enough to be known as the strongest in the Ancient Barren Domain, but it was a humiliation rather than a glory to the Sect Sword. They were all working towards making the Sword Sect recognized as a holy land once more, even if they had to give their lives in the process.
Lin Yun noticed that when they took the oath, they weren’t the only ones. The deacons, elders, and even the six saints looked at the monument with grave expressions, which greatly impacted him.
After the entrance ceremony, people from the various peaks came to lead the new disciples into the sect. It didn’t take long for everyone to leave, and Lin Yun was the only one left behind.
“Come with me.” Jue Chen smiled as he walked over. He paid attention to Lin Yun in the second stage and had high hopes for him. But he never expected him to become a disciple of the Radiant Sword Saint. This spoke for why Lin Yun had such a strong talent when he learned the Aquaheaven Sword Technique.
Jue Chen led Lin Yun into the Sword Sect. This place was a sacred mountain enveloped in sword intent, making it look like a huge coiling dragon from afar. The entire mountain was so huge that it had stabbed into the clouds, looking like a majestic sword. Even before entering, Lin Yun could feel the sword aura blowing at him with boundless astral energy.
When Lin Yun raised his head, he noticed that the boundless sword intent on this mountain had shattered all thirty-six layers of heaven. But he couldn’t see the starry sky due to the heavy fog.
“Up ahead is the Sword Sect’s Saint Mountain, and only Samsara Edict Realm elders are qualified to cultivate there. But, only saints are qualified to reach the summit and open their own caves.” Jue Chen explained. “Aside from that, the bottom of this Saint Mountain has a Spiritual Vein that has existed since ancient times, and it’s not an exaggeration to call it a saint vein. The saint vein can release saint aura, and the seven peaks to which this saint vein is connected to also have a saint pool to release them. Elysium Core Realm cultivators in there can cultivate a lot faster, at least ten times faster.”
Lin Yun was stumped when he heard that. He just couldn’t believe it. At least ten times faster?
“You think that’s too unbelievable? The various clans have similar cultivating lands; some can mess with time. Such as cultivating in it for a year being only equivalent to ten days outside…” Jue Chen continued.
Jue Chen’s words immediately made Lin Yun think of the Seven Treasured Glazed Tile PaG.o.da that the Sword Emperor took. It would probably be brought back to Skysolute City by the Sword Emperor.
Glancing at Lin Yun, Jue Chen said, “You might have reached the Greater Elysium Core Realm, but your cultivation is still too low. Many people have long reached the Heavenly Elysium Core Realm in the Sword Sect, some even reaching two-star or three-star. So you have to cherish this opportunity to improve your cultivation.
“A disciple of the Divine Firmament Peak will come and fetch you after you meet with Senior Radiant. In the future, you’ll be a disciple of the Divine Firmament Peak.”
“Is there a ranking amongst the seven peaks?” Lin Yun asked.
“Of course. But the Profound Firmament and Emerald Firmament Peaks won’t partic.i.p.ate in it because they mainly focus on forging and refining elixirs. The Divine Firmament Peak is a little special, so the compet.i.tion is only between the Scarlet Firmament, Golden Firmament, Azure Firmament, and Indigo Firmament Peaks. Without compet.i.tion, the sect would decline, sooner or later.” Jue Chen explained.
“What do you mean by the Divine Firmament Peak being special?” Lin Yun asked.
“Someone will explain that to you.” Jue Chen didn’t go on any further and continued walking forth.
They ultimately came to a cave. The surroundings were filled with peach blossoms that emitted a charming fragrance, and the ground was covered in layers of petals. So there would be a rustling noise when one walked on it.
When the two walked, they didn’t destroy any petals, bit used their movement techniques. This place was too beautiful, so they subconsciously didn’t want to ruin it.
“These peach blossoms are at least a thousand years old, right?” Lin Yun asked as he looked at the surrounding trees.
“These are Saint Peach Blossoms, a scarce species of peach blossoms. This place is also the Saint Blossom Cave, the place where Senior Radiant goes into seclusion. These peach blossoms can bloom for a thousand years and produce holy peaches a thousand years later. Consuming a saint peach can improve not only one’s comprehension but also the lifespan of a saint.”
Lin Yun was astonished, having an eye-opening experience. This made him realize that the Sword Sect’s foundation was deep, and it wasn’t something the other powerful sects could compete with. But the peach blossoms were still blooming, so one would have to wait a thousand years if one wanted to consume saint peaches.
This made him begin to wonder if the Sword Sect had saved any. As they went deeper into the peach blossoms, there was a scroll and brush on a stone table and an old man before a canvas.
“Jue Chen greets Ancestor Radiant!” Jue Chen went down on one knee and cupped his hands together.
So this is the Radiant Sword Saint? Lin Yun quickly paid his respect to the Radiant Sword Saint as well. He had only seen the Radiant Sword Saint’s clone in the past, but the real Radiant Sword Saint gave him a completely different feeling.
“No need for such courtesy.” The Radiant Sword Saint spoke in a rather hearty voice as he lowered his brush. He didn’t have the air of a saint around him.
When Lin Yun got up, he peeked at the canvas and saw a bunch of saint runes intertwining together as they emitted a dazzling light. He couldn’t tell what the Radiant Sword Saint was trying to paint. When he noticed that there was sword intent pouring out of it, he quickly turned his gaze away after a few more glances.
“Jue Chen, you can leave for now. I wish to talk to him privately.” The Radiant Sword Saint said. It didn’t take long for the Radiant Sword Saint and Lin Yun to be the only ones left there, and Lin Yun couldn’t help feeling nervous. Wasn’t the Radiant Sword Saint in seclusion? He couldn’t tell that the Radiant Sword Saint only had five years of lifespan left.
The Radiant Sword Saint briefly examined Lin Yun before smiling, “Not bad! This is my third time seeing you, and you give me a surprise every time I see you. You even grasped the firmament sword intent. You’re barely twenty this year, right?”
Lin Yun’s face changed when he heard that. If he remembered correctly, this should only be their second meeting. The first was naturally back in the Fleeting Cloud Sword Sect, where the Radiant Sword Saint saved his life from Tian Xuanzi, so this should be the second time. So, when did the Radiant Sword Saint see him before?
“Senior, this is your third time seeing me?” Lin Yun couldn’t help voicing his curiosity.
“You should address me as Master.” The Radiant Sword Saint smiled.
“I have yet to perform the master-disciple ceremony, so I hadn’t gotten used to it. Please forgive me for that, Master.” Lin Yun said hurriedly.
“It doesn’t matter. This is my third time seeing you. The first was in the Profound Amber Realm…” The Radiant Sword Saint looked at Lin Yun with a smile.
But Lin Yun was taken aback when he heard that.