The ancient bell echoed throughout the mountain range as everyone looked at Lin Yun with shock. Wang Yan and Han Zhengyang had the most emotion on their faces because they had been looking at Lin Yun with disdain right from the start. They even mocked Lin Yun for boasting.
But the bell was a slap to their faces. Even Jiang Feng and Ye Xiu felt heartache as they shouted, “How did this happen?!”
The mission to kill Xue Feng originally belonged to them, so this bell should ring for them instead. Instead, Lin Yun was receiving all the attention. Who was the bell ringing for? The bell was ringing for Lin Yun and would ring for those with ambition.
Lin Yun was hot-blooded enough and had the courage to offend the top ten on the Mortal Ranking. Wasn’t this ambition? Isn’t it normal for youths to be hot-blooded?
“Disciples of the Sword Firmament Pavilion!” yelled an old man who appeared beside the bell. He was the Contribution Hall’s hall master and his voice echoed out while he basked in the golden sun.
Aside from Lin Yun, everyone immediately fell on their knees and cupped their hands together, “Greetings, Hall Master!”
“Today, the outer disciple, Lin Yun, killed the Great Thief Xue Feng in less than half a year since he joined the sect. Today, the Phoenix Plum rings to remind everyone to cultivate bitterly to vanquish all evil and flaunt our sect’s might!” The old man’s voice echoed throughout every corner in the mountain range.
“An outer disciple killed the Great Thief Xue Feng?”
“The bell rang for Lin Yun?!”
“Holy shit! And everyone was saying that he died in the Bloodbone Forest a few days ago. But now, the Phoenix Plum rings for him…” It wasn’t just those in the Contribution Hall’s plaza, but all one hundred and eight peaks were shocked as they kneeled on the ground.
After the old man finished speaking, the disciples’ voices from all corners of the sect echoed out, “We will engrave Hall Master’s teachings in our heart and vanquish all evil in the world to flaunt our sect’s might!”
The bell functioned just as Wang Yan had said and it could be heard almost everywhere in Great Qin County.
In the Heavenly Profound Sect, many elders had a drastic change in their expression as they stood up to look in the Sword Firmament Pavilion’s direction. “That’s the Phoenix Plum… A disciple killed an evil cultivator on the Great Thief Ranking?”
“I’m afraid that it’s not that simple. That was a hundred rings, so this probably meant that an outer disciple killed an evil cultivator by himself. After all, if inner disciples killed an evil cultivator, the Phoenix Plum would only ring nine times.”
“Go and find out who is that disciple!”
On a lone peak, Drifting Goblet fell into deep thought and he muttered to himself, “How can it be?”
The other disciples were also shocked when they heard the bell. The Heavenly Profound Sect also had a similar ancient bell known as the Profound Dragon. A single ring on the bell could cause huge waves in the Great Qin Empire.
“The Sword Firmament Pavilion’s Phoenix Plum! Who killed an evil cultivator?”
“Incredible! The evil cultivators are hard to kill. Moreover, it’s hard to find them.”
“Yeah. Over the years, only the eight titles managed to kill great thieves.”
“They are too cunning and too hard to kill. It’s incredibly hard for inner disciples to kill them, let alone outer disciples.”
“Bu Chen, why aren’t you talking?” A group was discussing among themselves and one youth wore an awkward expression. It was naturally Bu Chen, who witnessed Lin Yun kill Xue Feng back then.
“The bell has finally rang…” sighed Bu Chen. He was ashamed when he recalled the mission because his behavior was simply laughable before Lin Yun. It wasn’t just the Heavenly Profound Sect, but the Demonic Moon Villa, Primal Origin Sect, Heavenly Qin Institute, and even the Great Qin Empire’s royal clan also heard the bell.
It didn’t take long for Lin Yun’s name to spread far and wide in the Great Qin Empire. It even reached the cultivators from the Azure Sun County. They never expected that Lin Yun would make a name for himself so quickly. Starting today, Lin Yun was no longer a nobody. However, the bell was just the beginning.
The bell gradually faded and everyone slowly stood up. Wang Yan and everyone else tried looking for Lin Yun’s figure with darkened faces. But they were shocked that Lin Yun had already gone far away, leaving behind his silhouette.
“Lin Yun, stop right there!” Wang Yan and everyone else ran over after calling for him. The hundred rings were equivalent to slaps on their faces. They came to make things difficult for Lin Yun, but they were the ones who were embarrassed.
They wanted everyone to know the consequences of offending those in the top ten on the Mortal Ranking, but they could only kneel and listen to Lin Yun’s glorious deeds being announced.
“Senior Brother Wang, what’s the matter? Wasn’t the hall master clear enough? I wasn’t lying, nor was I boasting. The Phoenix Plum rang for me. What exactly do you want now?” Lin Yun suddenly turned around and he said coldly, “Or do you want to taste having your limbs broken once more?”
Damn it! Wang Yan’s face changed when he heard that and a trace of killing intent flashed through his eyes. But he didn’t dare to move and he could only gnash his teeth. He didn’t want to undergo such pain again, nor did the Wang Clan have enough medicine to treat him again.
“As for you guys…” Lin Yun turned to look at the top ten on the Mortal Ranking and continued, “If you guys can accept the missions, why can’t I? Anyone can accept the missions and the second-grade spiritual jades shouldn’t be specifically reserved for some people!”
“Well said!” The Locket Mountain’s disciples showed up to support Lin Yun. The group was so huge that there were more of them than those outside the Contribution Hall. Xin Yan took the lead as she walked over with murderous aura leaking into the surroundings, “No one set the rules that the five star missions are only reserved for those in the top ten on the Mortal Ranking. The Phoenix Plum already rang, so you guys can ask the hall master about it if you guys are unhappy with it. But if you guys want to bully someone from my Locket Mountain with numbers, then you leave us no choice!”
All those who bumped gazes with her started trembling with her.
“Junior Brother, you’re coming with me,” said Xin Yan in front of Wang Yan and the top ten on the Mortal Ranking. She didn’t even take a look at Wang Yan, which nearly drove him insane from anger.
After Wang Yan received his punishment, the Gentlemen Union suffered a great blow to their reputation. With that, no other alliance-union could compete with the Locket Mountain.
Even if they wanted to compete with them, they would have to return to their alliance-union to gather people. Otherwise, all they could do was watch Lin Yun leave with Xin Yan and suck it up.
“Chu Haoyu, you’re not going to say anything about this?” Wang Yan looked at Chu Haoyu unhappily. If Chu Haoyu could take the lead, none of those in the top ten on the Mortal Ranking could stay silent. They could even rally up disciples to confront the Locket Mountain.
“What’s the point in that? So what if he’s down on his knees?” Chu Haoyu glanced at Wang Yan and said, “Remember the Alliance-Union Battle permits killing, so it’s better if we consider the bells as a sign of his funeral.”
Chu Haoyu plunged his sword into the ground and sword intent spread into the surrounding. Spiderweb cracks began to spread out on the ground, which made everyone retreat immediately. Then, Chu Haoyu departed and left behind a cloud of dust.
When the others in the top ten on the Mortal Ranking heard Chu Haoyu’s words, their hearts throbbed. What Chu Haoyu said was right because killing was permitted in the Alliance-Union Battle.