This is the Extermination Barrens? Lin Yun looked up ahead and saw a patch of greyness with scorching crimson clouds in the sky. Grey land and crimson sky, this made the barren land look intimidating. This place might be a barren land, but everyone couldn’t help feeling a hint of grandiose when they arrived.
The surrounding was filled with dense fire elements, so everyone had to constantly maintain their defence against the flames. After all, they would be incinerated if they were careless.
The barren land was massive, even larger than the Great Qin Empire. It was rumored that this was a treasured land in ancient times and that a glorious sect once stood here. At the far end of the horizon, they could see a crack in the sky, which vaguely revealed the outline of a Demonlotus Flower.
“The demonlotus has appeared and the secret realm will open in just a few days.” Luo Feng was stronger than Lin Yun, so he could see the black lotus in the spatial crack.
At this moment, galloping horses arrived with an army donned in armor. When Lin Yun looked at the arriving army, he saw two words written on a flag, Divine Guards. This scene shocked the Sword Firmament Pavilion’s disciples. On the other hand, the elders and deacons were rather calm.
The Divine Guards arrived in front of them. When the one leading the army saw Lin Yun, he immediately got down from the horse and cupped his hands together, “Elder Luo, it has been some time since we last met. I’ll need the quota from your sect.”
Luo Feng took a step forward and handed a bamboo scroll over. When the Divine Guards’ leader looked at the scroll, he called out the names and distributed the jade slips. The jade slips felt warm and had spiritual runes engraved on it. Lin Yun could feel that this was a key.
“Lin Yun?” That person reading the names was shocked when he saw Lin Yun’s name. After all, the Divine Guards know about his conflict with Liu Yue.
“General Liu is a righteous person, so he won’t take revenge for personal grudges. But you should be more polite to the missy,” said the leader. However, there wasn’t any threat in his tone.
Lin Yun took the jade slip and replied, “If I remember correctly, she has always been the one rude to me. I can’t even be bothered with her if she leaves me alone.”
“You have a sharp-tongue.” That person was busy, so he left.
“Elder Luo, do we need the Divine Guards’ approval to enter the Demonlotus Realm?” asked Xin Yan. This was the same question that everyone else had.
Luo Feng smiled, “The Demonlotus Realm is mysterious and demonic aura will leak if it’s not controlled, which will turn the entire Extermination Mountain Range into a violent beast wave. The royal clan has been guarding this place and they have even suffered many casualties for doing so. In the end, the royal clan has to work together with the four clans to seal off the Demonlotus Realm. Since they are here, they will occasionally send out disciples to hunt the demonic beasts.
Luo Feng took a quick break to catch his breath and then continued, “The array is controlled by the royal clan, but the Divine Guards can’t kill all the demonic beasts by themselves. So we have to send our disciples in.”
The jade slips were equivalent to keys for the array, so the disciples couldn’t enter the Demonlotus Realm without the jade slips.
Just mentioning the demonic aura gave Lin Yun a headache. He had no idea if it was the same as the demonic aura from the Azure Sun Realm. The Iris Sword Saint suppressed the demonic aura with his body, which was a shocking feat.
“Let’s find a place to set up camp.” Luo Feng headed towards the spatial crack with everyone. Half a day later, the cracks became even clearer. It was larger than anyone had imagined, and the spatial crack looked like a sinister wound.
Black lotuses could be seen in the spatial crack, and for some reason, everyone felt uneasy from them. Gradually, more sects arrived and set up camp in the surroundings.
In addition to the Great Qin Empire’s clans, there were some sects that came from beyond the Great Qin Empire. The last party to arrive was the Demonic Moon Villa. When Lin Yun swept a glance, he noticed that there were many geniuses around Situ Yi.
This was normal because Situ Yi was famed for his talent, and he was the glory of the Great Qin Empire.
There were dozens of sects around the Sword Firmament Pavilion. The disciples from the Sword Firmament Pavilion usually talked about the four sects, the Great Qin Empire, or the Divine Guards, but not this time.
There were over a hundred counties in the Great Qin Empire, but the four sects stood at the peak. There were many weaker sects, but they couldn’t be underestimated. For example, one sect sent over a disciple in the eighth stage, but there were also some in the ninth stage.
“There are so many friends here,” sighed Chen Xuanjun.
“By friends, does he mean friends from the previous Dragon Gate Competition?” Tang Tong asked. No one could tell. Although Chen Xuanjun didn’t make it into the Dragon Gate Competition, he still had a great performance.
Xin Yan and everyone else became interested when they heard Chen Xuanjun’s words. Chen Xuanjun’s old friend must be an expert from the Dragon Gate Competition three years ago. Now that three years have passed, this meant that they must’ve gotten stronger. Chen Xuanjun could only imagine the trouble that he would face in the Demonlotus Realm.
“Xuanjun, explain it to them. Let them be prepared,” said Luo Feng.
“Then let me go ahead with the explanation.” Chen Xuanjun swept a glance out and said, “That’s the Sevendespair Palace over there. That sect is located outside the empire and they control a dozen of the nearby nations. They don’t have a deep foundation like the Sword Firmament Pavilion. That black-clothed man is called Jing Jue. He was only sixteen back then, but he was ranked nineteenth in the previous Dragon Gate Competition. His baleful aura gave everyone a deep impression, so it must’ve gotten stronger after three years. I heard that the baleful aura could fuse with the Sevendespair Palace’s Seven Extremist Saber.”
Everyone turned to look at the Sevendespair Palace’s direction. With closed eyes, Jing Jue looked like a sleeping beast. Sensing their gazes, Jing Jue looked at the Sword Firmament Pavilion and smiled.
Sensing a threat coming from Jing Jue, they immediately shifted their gaze. Tang Tong spoke out, “He’s not simple. That’s the feeling he gave me with just one glance.”
Jing Jue shut his eyes again, looking disinterested.
Chen Xuanjun went on to introduce the others, “That person is Mu Xiuhan, a disciple of the Bloodbone Gate. His sect is also located at the borders and he was ranked seventeenth in the previous Dragon Gate Competition. He is known as the Blood Swordsman. His sword is quick, claiming lives without drawing any blood. Don’t belittle him. He might seem amicable, but he won’t hesitate to kill. He’s a violent person.”
Lin Yun fell into deep thought because he could sense a similarity in their sword technique – chill. He had no idea which was stronger, Mu Xiuhan’s chill or his Iris Sword Sutra’s chill.
Hearing mention of this person, Luo Feng’s face changed, “The Bloodbone Gate isn’t friendly to the Great Qin Empire’s swordsmen, especially our Sword Firmament Pavilion. Many of our disciples have died to his sword, so you guys have to be careful.”
Chen Xuanjun nodded his head and continued to introduce a few more people. They were practically all from sects beyond the Great Qin Empire’s territory. Fortunately, there was no need for Chen Xuanjun to introduce the experts from the four sects because the group wasn’t unfamiliar with them.
Everyone’s horizon was widened after hearing Chen Xuanjun’s explanation. They never thought that there would be so many experts beyond the Great Qin Empire’s territory.
“These sects rise quickly and die quickly. They resort to robbing in order to rise in their power, but they will be exterminated sooner or later by other sects. The best among them have only lasted for a few hundred years. Although they’ve shined brightly in the Dragon Gate Competition, none of them have taken the eight titles so far.”
Chen Xuanjun nodded, “That’s true. Throughout all of history, none of them became one of the eight titles.”
“You guys have to be careful when you run into them in the Demonlotus Realm. Try not to start any conflicts with them. They’re mad dogs and they’re not afraid of retaliation since their sects aren’t in the Great Qin Empire’s territory,” warned Luo Feng.
“The Primal Origin Sect is here,” said Xin Yan.
The elders and disciples coldly directed their gazes over. The Primal Origin Sect has always been a pest to the Sword Firmament Pavilion.