Up ahead? Lin Yun stepped up and stood beside Lin Qiushan. Gu Beixuan was shocked when he noticed Lin Yun’s speed. After all, Lin Yun was at the rear of the team just a moment ago.
Lin Yun looked up and saw a stretch of brilliant lights. He frowned beneath the mask and he had no idea where the dazzling brilliance came from in the forest. “This is…?”
“That’s a stretch of lake, also known as Swordlake. The Imperial Sword Herb is located right at the center of the lake,” said Lin Qiushan with a grave expression.
“There’s something weird about the mist,” said Lin Yun while he pointed at the grey fog up ahead.
Lin Qiushan was shocked when she looked at Lin Yun. How did Lin Yun know about it if he had never been here?
“The Imperial Sword herb will swallow up all forms of energy within a hundred miles of radius. Aside from spiritual energy, it will also pull the surrounding poison over. So the accumulation gradually formed into this grey mist,” explained Gu Beixuan. He continued, “The mist is very terrifying, and even a cultivator in the Violet Palace Realm will lose his life if he stays in the mist for too long.”
“That terrifying?” The three alliance-unions’ disciples took in a cold breath.
“You guys don’t have to worry about it. The Imperial Sword Herb will devour them all twelve hours before it’s born,” smiled Lin Qiushan.
“Do you have any idea when the Imperial Sword Herb will be born?” asked Chen Ling when he looked at the poisonous mist.
“The Imperial Sword Herb is born once a month. According to the pattern, it will be born before the sun sets.”
Before the sun sets? Lin Yun looked at the sky and saw the bright brilliance from the sun. It was still morning right now. So they still had plenty of time. Lin Yun sat beneath a tree and took out the Swordcloud Core. He had a total of five Swordcloud Core in addition to the one Lin Qiushan gave him.
He didn’t necessarily have to consume it with the Imperial Sword Herb, and he can refine one to try the effects. Lin Yun placed his palms together and closed his eyes to refine the Iris Sword Sutra. With the origin energy fluctuating within his body, Lin Yun swiftly refined the Swordcloud Core.
The Iris Flower trembled with excitement when spiritual energy from the Swordcloud Core poured into his body. The flower was greedily absorbing the spiritual energy without leaving any remaining. At the same time, the bottleneck of Lin Yun’s Iris Sword Sutra in the pinnacle seventh stage also loosened a little.
The power of the beast core made Lin Yun’s face change. He never felt the Iris Sword Sutra so restless. This cultivation technique that was passed down through the Golden Age had an unsatisfiable appetite. So Lin Yun was surprised when the sword sutra was so stirred because of the Swordcloud Core.
It must be related to the sword intent in the beast core. Just the Swordcloud Core already had such effects. If Lin Yun paired it together with the Imperial Sword Herb, then he might be able to make a breakthrough. The sword intent mixed with the origin energy was entirely absorbed by Lin Yun’s body fully.
“This fellow actually started cultivating here…” Lin Qiushan and the others who were chatting were surprised to see Lin Yun refining the Swordcloud Core.
Lin Yan glanced at Chen Ling, and she said, “The Shatterlegion Alliance is actually treating nobody like him as someone important? Do you not know that there are many demonic beasts here? He didn’t help along the way, and we even have to protect him now?”
Chen Ling wasn’t happy because Lin Yan had been nitpicking along the way. It appears that the slap from Lin Yun wasn’t enough.
Lin Qiushan glared at Lin Yan, and she instructed, “Remain guarded. We’ll proceed when the poisonous mist dissipates. We’re already at this crucial moment, so don’t let your guards down.”
Lin Yan was still afraid of her elder sister. So she didn’t dare to utter a word after being glared at. Time gradually passed and it was already noon. The atmosphere in the forest also started to get restless, and they could hear beastial roars from time to time. As time continued to pass, more demonic beasts and alliance-unions were also approaching.
The Imperial Sword Herb’s temptation was something that no one could resist, and many alliance-unions would come to fight for it. When rustling sounds of footsteps were heard, Lin Qiushan and everyone immediately got on their guards. They turned around and saw a group approaching them. The one leading the group had a powerful aura, with a pair of aloof gazes that made everyone feel uncomfortable.
“The Fire Alliance’s Xiao Feng!” Gu Beixuan’s face sank. Xiao Feng was ranked on the twenty-ninth, and he was difficult to handle. He had also caused them a lot of trouble before the three alliance-unions got together.
The thirtieth rank was a threshold, and there was a huge difference between thirtieth and thirty-one on the ranking. Xiao Feng was naturally powerful since he could be in twenty-ninth on the Mortal Ranking. Even if Lin Qiushan and Gu Beixuan joined hands, they would have some trouble dealing with him. Otherwise, they also wouldn’t have invited Chen Ling to join them.
They didn’t have a good relationship with the sect, to begin with. And being in the Burial Sword Peak just revealed Xiao Feng’s nature even more. There were many alliance-unions camped around in the forest waiting for the poisonous mist to dissipate.
But their eyes flickered coldly and directed their attention over when they saw that someone was approaching. Everyone had roughly gotten used to the rules here by now. As long as anyone reveals a weak point, everyone would swamp over like wolves.
They would try to snatch whatever resources they could. After all, being benevolent here meant being cruel to oneself.
“Haha, what a coincidence, Junior Sister Lin. We were lucky to be teleported to the same region at the beginning of the Alliance-Union Battle, and we actually met again,” smiled Xiao Feng as he examined Lin Qiushan’s figure.
Lin Qiushan was a famous beauty in the outer sect, and she was just slightly inferior to Xin Yan. If it wasn’t for her clan, many people would’ve gone after her by now.
“How shameless. You must be following behind us secretly like a rat. Someone like you wants to woo my elder sister? Why don’t you look at yourself in the mirror?” Lin Yan insulted without any concern.
Her words made Xiao Feng’s face sink with a murderous aura flickering through his eyes. This was the Burial Sword Peak, where killing was permitted. Law of the jungle was practiced here, and this was no place for the weak. Xiao Feng suddenly stretched his hand out towards Lin Yan with an outburst of cold murderous aura.
His action made Xiao Feng’s face change. She immediately retreated, but Lin Qiushan and Gu Beixuan came at him just when he was about to attack again.
“Great timing!” Xiao Feng smiled. He wasn’t afraid of facing them both. They merely exchanged ten moves before Lin Qiushan and Gu Beixuan knew that they couldn’t contend with Xiao Feng.
When Chen Ling saw this situation, he immediately joined the battle without any hesitation. As he joined the battle, the battle suddenly reached a balance once again. But Xiao Feng was still handling them easily.
Xiao Feng threw out a punch to push back Chen Ling and retreated with a smile. This made Lin Qiushan, Chen Ling, and Gu Beixuan felt relieved. Although they didn’t use their swords, they could sense the pressure when facing Xiao Feng. The twenty-ninth on the Mortal Ranking truly deserves his reputation. If they were fighting by themselves, none of them could last more than a hundred moves.
“And I was still wondering why did you guys become so bold all of a sudden. So it turns out that you had an additional member, a piece of garbage in the forty-eighth on the Mortal Ranking!” Xiao Feng smiled with disdain beside Chen Ling.
“You won’t hold back if you’re confident about taking all three of our alliance-unions out. Why don’t you just say what you want now?” asked Lin Qiushan. Xiao Feng might be strong, but the three of them weren’t afraid.
“That person just insulted me. Either you give her a slap or I’ll do it myself. Otherwise, get lost from here. I’ll take this place,” threatened Xiao Feng.
“You dare to slap someone who’s a direct descendant of the Lin Clan? Are you courting death?!” Lin Yan’s face turned dark.
“Haha, your mouth is really annoying. But it’s a pity that we’re in the Burial Sword Peak, and there aren’t any rules. Brother Wei, stop hiding and come out!” Xiao Feng barked.
Brother Xiao? The Upstream Alliance’s Wei Hansong in the twenty-eighth of the Mortal Ranking?
A figure leaped across the three branches and showed up. He had a cold expression, and he was the Upstream Alliance’s Wei Hansong.
“Damn it. How did those two get together?” Gu Beixuan started to panic. He was under the impression that Xiao Feng and Wei Hansong would go after the Imperial Sword Herb by themselves. But he was shocked to see that they’ve allied.
“Then we’ll give up this place,” replied Lin Qiushan in a grave tone.
“You want to leave now? I’m sorry, but it’s too late!” Xiao Feng pointed at Lin Yan, and he demanded, “Leave your younger sister behind, or none of you will be leaving here!”
Lin Yan started to panic. She knew that she made a mistake. When the other alliance-unions were looking from the dark, a few of them had a cold flicker through their eyes.
“Lin Qiushan’s group is finished. Let’s go!”
“The fight for the Imperial Sword Herb still hasn’t started. They must be stupid to provoke Han Xiao and Wei Hansong. Let’s follow them!”
“Hehe. There’s bound to be a good show in a battle between tigers and wolves.”
There were many powerful fluctuations coming from the forest, and they were naturally those who intended to group the group. After all, Lin Qiushan and Gu Beixuan definitely had good stuff on them.
Sensing the surrounding energy fluctuations, Liu Qiushan and the others started to feel nervous. Gu Beixuan looked around and saw many alliance-unions were coming over from the depth. He knew that it wouldn’t be easy to get through this ordeal.
“Xiao Feng, don’t push it! We’ve already given you this place! What more do you want!” Lin Qiushan gnashed his teeth with her eyebrows knitted.
“Cut the crap. Either hand your younger sister over for me to slap her or you guys can stay here. Don’t even dream about fighting for the Imperial Sword Herb!” Xiao Feng couldn’t be bothered about Lin Qiushan. The entire situation was under his control with Wei Hansong helping out.
“You’re not the one to decide if we can fight for the Imperial Sword Herb.” A clear voice sounded right at this moment.
“Who is it?!” Xiao Feng followed the voice with his brows frowned. He then saw a masked man sitting beneath a tree behind Lin Qiushan’s group. But in the next second, that person disappeared.
What was going on? A sharp piercing through the wind sounded out and a figure dashed over. The speed was astonishing, and before Xiao Feng could respond to it, a punch flew over. The punch was accompanied with fifty thousand kilograms of strength, which was one cauldron’s worth of strength.