Everyone was shocked when the news got out that Lin Yun had showed up. After all, the news of Lin Yun encountering wandering cultivators in the Bloodbone Forest had spread wildly over the past few days. Everyone had been saying how Lin Yun died and many people laughed at him for being impudent.
The rules weren't something that could be easily broken. By accepting the A-rank missions when he was only in the third stage of the Profound Martial Realm, Lin Yun had given everyone a slap on the face. Everyone felt that Lin Yun deserved it when they heard about his death.
The Gentlemen Union’s disciples even celebrated. It was fitting since Lin Yun thoroughly embarrassed them a few months ago. However, their joy was short lived and they didn’t even get to fully enjoy it because Lin Yun reappeared so soon. This news caught everyone by surprise.
“He’s back?” Zhang Lei was stunned when he received the news. But a brief moment later, he smiled, “He’s back so fast? He must not have completed the missions. I can’t wait to see what happens to him!”
Zhang Lei immediately left without turning back.
“Senior Brother Zhang is furious!”
“He already wanted to teach that brat a lesson back in the Contribution Hall, but he was forced to stop. Senior Brother Zhang has been waiting for the past three months, so how can he let this opportunity go?”
“Come, let’s go and take a look at it!”
“We have to remind Senior Brother Zhang not to kill anyone. After all, it’ll be troublesome if the Locket Mountain pursues this matter.” The disciples who had friendly relations with Zhang Lei rushed out.
A man and a horse arrived beneath the Sword Firmament Pavilion. Lin Yun looked at the Sword Firmament Pavilion on top of the horse with so much emotion. He successfully collected the blood crystals, escorted Bai Qiushui, killed Xue Feng, and found the Goldflow Fruit.
Three months had passed in the blink of an eye and he finally completed the four missions. He still vividly remembered his farewell with Xin Yan on the Locket Mountain. So much had changed in just three months. He made breakthroughs in his cultivation, the Dragon-Tiger Fist, the Iris Sword Sutra, and he could even condense his aura into a sword now. He was only half a step away from forming the Golden Crow Seal.
He was confident that even if he didn’t use the Overlord Sword, not many people in the sect could compete with him. He even had an advantage when facing elites of the sect in the fifth stage, not to mention that he gained a harvest of over a hundred thousand spiritual jades. In addition to this, he also had the Flower Burial Sword that was now comparable to a cosmic artifact.
“Time to hand-in the missions.” The rewards were plentiful and he was expecting at least a thousand second-grade spiritual jades. Second-grade spiritual jades were rarer than first-grade spiritual jades. The essence in it was also purer.
It was a fatal attraction for all disciples. Lin Yun got down from the horse and walked forward with anticipation. It didn’t take long for Lin Yun to arrive at the Contribution Hall, but countless gazes landed on him just when he was going to climb the stairs.
“Isn’t that Lin Yun? Didn’t he die in the Bloodbone Forest?”
“He’s really lucky to have made it out alive even after encountering the Bloodbone Wandering Cultivators. I wonder if he completed the missions.”
“It’s already good that he can make it out alive. I bet he’s been running for his life like a dog and failed to complete the missions.”
“The consequences won’t be good for him for failing the missions. Did he think that he can challenge the top ten on the Mortal Ranking after killing Ye Liuyun? How naive!”
“Naturally, he will pay the price for being arrogant!”
Discussions rang out in the Contribution Hall after everyone looked at Lin Yun in shock. They had joy on their faces when they looked at Lin Yun.
Lin Yun rose to fame three months ago when he killed Ye Liuyun and then he took the four A-rank missions in the Contribution Hall. This incident caused a huge commotion, especially because Lin Yun went as far as fighting Zhang Lei back in the Contribution Hall.
These events made many people envious, which caused them to hope for the worst. In this case, since Lin Yun came back before the due date, they believed that he must not have completed the missions. So they eagerly waited to watch Lin Yun embarrass himself.
Lin Yun was speechless when he saw how everyone responded. He wore the devil mask after killing Xue Feng to avoid any troubles while searching for the Goldflow Fruit. In turn, everyone thought that he was dead.
As for his early return, he saved two months worth of time because he completed his escort mission and killed Xue Feng during the same trip. Lin Yun was feeling amused. He remembered how everyone greeted him respectfully when he came to accept missions in the Contribution Hall.
After all, he was still in the limelight after killing Ye Liuyun. But right now, everyone was looking at him oddly and no one came up to greet him.
“Is there a hidden meaning behind their actions?” Lin Yun shook his head inwardly and didn’t think too much about it. He looked at the majestic Contribution Hall and continued his walk.
But just when he took one step forward, a group of people suddenly came towards him. The one leading the group strode over with sturdy footsteps. A killing aura emitted from him as he walked. He was like a drawn sword since the noise of sword buzzing could be vaguely heard.
“Senior Brother Zhang!”
“He reacted rather quickly to the news. Senior Brother Zhang must’ve assigned someone to pay attention to Lin Yun.” Everyone was shocked when they saw Zhang Lei. They guessed that he would show up because of his conflict with Lin Yun from three months ago. However, they never expected that it would happen so quickly!
Lin Yun glanced at Zhang Lie and felt annoyed at how the latter kept buzzing around him like a fly. The top ten on the Mortal Ranking were famous, but Lin Yun didn’t fear them since he even killed Xue Feng.
“Junior Brother Lin, what are you doing here?” asked Zhang Lei with a playful smile. This time, they weren’t in the Contribution Hall. No one could stop him now.
“Uh, I’m here to hand in the missions,” said Lin Yun. He looked at Zhang Lei as if he was looking at an idiot.
“Hand in your missions? What’s with your head?” Zhang Lei burst into laughter and didn’t conceal the mockery on his face.
“I don’t need you to worry about me,” replied Lin Yun indifferently. He ignored Zhang Lei and moved to enter the Contribution Hall. But just when Lin Yun was about to pass Zhang Lei, a fist suddenly flew towards him.
The rippling fluctuation displayed Zhang Lei’s fifth stage cultivation, which caught Lin Yun by surprise and sent him ten steps back.
“Did I permit you to leave?” The smile disappeared from Zhang Lei’s face and the coldness in his words resounded. There were some people here also in the fifth stage, but they were trembling under the pressure that Zhang Lei released.
“How terrifying! Is that the strength of someone in the top ten?”
“It looks like Zhang Lei’s Blazing Sun Art is already in the fifth stage or at the very least, it is in greater mastery!”
“You really can’t underestimate anyone in the top ten on the Mortal Ranking.” It was just a fist, but it showed everyone how robust Zhang Lei’s origin energy was.
“Is that all you got?” Zheng Lei sneered and attacked again before Lin Yun could gain any footing. His origin energy rippled and he shot out three sword gleams, which forced Lin Yun to retreat once more. His sword gleams stabbed into the ground and fluctuated briefly before they disappeared.
“Condensing aura into swords!” exclaimed the audience. They found it unbelievable because they heard that only those who practiced spiritual cultivation techniques could condense their aura into swords.
When everyone looked at Zhang Lei again, their faces changed. This must be the meaning of a genius. Zhang Lie was completely worthy of being in the top ten of the Mortal Ranking.
“Lin Yun, did you think that I’m here to reminisce about the past with you?” Zhang Lei stepped forward and continued in a cold voice, “Drop the act. I told you that rules were meant to be kept, so you can’t blame me for this. If you don’t give me an explanation, I’ll make you crawl back to Locket Mountain!”
“Explanation? What explanation?” sneered Lin Yun. Zhang Lei only managed to make him take ten steps back since he was caught by surprise. He had no idea where Zhang Lie got his confidence from. You could work hard if you weren’t talented, but there was nothing you could do about stupidity.
“You’re courting death!” Zhang Lei roared in rage when he saw Lin Yun acting as if he had no idea what was going on. He even went as far as drawing his sword.
Everyone in the surroundings fell silent when they saw Zhang Lei draw his sword. They knew that he was serious now.
Was Lin Yun really unafraid? Didn’t he learn his lesson after he nearly died to the wandering cultivators in the Bloodbone Forest?
“I’ve always considered you to be a smart person, but it appears that I made a mistake. You dare to ask me what I want an explanation for? Fine, I’ll tell you about it after you kneel on the ground!” A brilliant sword ray flashed, causing everyone to close their eyes. They were shocked by the power in the sword intent.
A trace of rage finally flashed in Lin Yun’s eyes. Just before the sword ray reached him, Lin Yun raised his fist and threw out a punch, executing Dragon Painting.
Lin Yun was clearly pouncing forward like a tiger, but only dragon roars could be heard when he threw his punch out. There was also a faint aura flowing around him, which looked like ink that was gradually forming into a dragon.
His punch instantly shattered Zhang Lei’s sword intent, producing a loud boom that sent Zhang Lei flying away. He even threw up a mouthful of blood. Everything happened in the blink of an eye, causing everyone to be dumbfounded. Once everyone recovered from their shock, they turned to look at Lin Yun.
What did they just witness? Lin Yun sent Zhang Lei flying with just one punch?