The appearance of Mu Xue and the core disciple instantly made all the inner disciples’ faces change. Even Mu Chen had reluctance in his eyes as the inner disciples went up to the core disciple and greeted him, “Senior Brother Zhang!”
The youth nodded his head and turned to look at Mu Chen, “Mu Chen, the elders have briefed us that we need to rely on the Heavenly Province Academy’s help. I don’t have any opinion about you sparing with their disciples, but there’s no need to draw your sword.”
Retracting his aura back into his body, Mu Chen smiled, “Yes, you’re right.” But he then turned to throw a provoking look at Lin Yun. He clearly had no remorse in his tone.
Mu Xue quickly came forward and made introductions, “Lin Yun, this is Senior Brother Zhang Yuan, a core disciple in the Heavenly Province Sect.”
“Brother Lin, I’ve heard of your name,” greeted Zhang Yuan as he came forward with a smile.
Lin Yun examined this person and could tell that this person was in the pinnacle greater Yang stage. It seemed like he was able to step into the pinnacle Yang stage any time. But that wasn’t the main thing that Lin Yun noticed as he could sense a powerful pressure coming from Zhang Yuan. Zhang Yuan must’ve cultivated a powerful sword sutra.
The origin energy refined by a sword sutra was vastly different from origin energy refined by ordinary cultivation techniques. There was a great difference at the same stage. Lin Yun retracted his gaze and replied with a nod of his head.
Seeing that Lin Yun’s temperament was steady at such a young age, Zhang Yuan also nodded his head as he replied, “Brother Lin, don’t take it to heart. Junior Brother Mu is still young and he isn’t as experienced as you are. So pardon his temper.”
“It’s nothing, even if we fight,” smiled Lin Yun. He didn’t hate Zhang Yuan and now he could tell why Zhang Yuan was the leader of the Heavenly Sword Sect’s party. Lin Yun thought highly of Zhang Yuan’s temperament.
“You’ll be coming along with us, right?” smiled Zhang Yuan.
“Probably,” replied Lin Yun.
“Then we might need your help. After all, the appearance of the ancient tomb has alarmed many overlord forces.”
“You’re being too polite.” Lin Yun cupped his hands and took his leave.
Looking at Lin Yun leaving, Mu Xue quickly chased up to him. On the other hand, Zhang Yuan fell into deep thoughts as he looked at Lin Yun and Mu Xue’s silhouette. Lin Yun’s temperament and composure was rare among his age. If someone else had defeated a monstrous genius like Cao Zhen, they would be filled with arrogance by now.
“Don’t underestimate this person,” smiled Zhang Yuan.
“He doesn’t seem impressive to me. I heard that he defeated Cao Zhen by luck…” Mu Chen was naturally unhappy that Zhang Yuan gave Lin Yun such a high evaluation.
In response to Mu Chen’s words, Zhang Yuan merely smiled.
Mu Xue chased after Lin Yun and examined him for a long time. When she saw that Lin Yun wasn’t speaking, she smiled bitterly, “Do you know who it was that you sent flying earlier? He’s ranked in the top three among the inner disciples. This is the first time I’ve seen him suffer such a huge loss against someone his age.”
“I’m more interested in that Zhang Yuan,” replied Lin Yun.
“Hehe, your eyesight isn’t shallow. Only core disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect can practice the Greatflow Sword Sutra and Senior Brother Zhang has reached the eighth stage in it. He also has a high rank among the core disciples. He might not be on the Dragoncloud ranking, but he’s comparable to those ranked around the 60s,” said Mu Xue with reverence in her tone.
The Greatflow Sword Sutra? It looks like he really can’t underestimate the foundation of overlord forces. Just when he was about to return to his residence, Mu Xue suddenly became hesitant to speak, which made Lin Yun smile, “Did Zhang Yuan have a message for me?”
Mu Xue was first stunned before she smiled bitterly, “I really can’t hide anything from you. Senior Brother Zhang wishes to recommend you to the Heavenly Sword Sutra. The Draconic Banquet will start in nine months from now and all the overlord forces have a high request for geniuses. You’ve defeated Cao Zhen, and this act has piqued the interest of many elders, not to mention that you’re also a swordsman. But…”
Mu Xue paused briefly before she continued, “I know that you won’t agree to it. But I’ve brought you the message, so it’s up to you now.”
Mu Xue now has a rough understanding of Lin Yun. Zhang Yuan seemed confident when he requested Mu Xue to deliver the message, but Mu Xue knew that it was practically impossible.
“Got it. I’ll let you know after I make my decision,” replied Lin Yun with a nod of his head.
“Hehe, then I’ll take my leave first. I’ll see you again five days from now.” Mu Xue winked and smiled, “I believe you won’t miss the ancient tomb.”
With a candle flickering in the room, Lin Yun cultivated with his eyes closed as he absorbed the surrounding spiritual energy while circulating the Iris Sword Sutra. There was a silver Iris Flower beneath him that slowly opened and greedily refined the spiritual energy.
This process lasted for a few hours before Lin Yun opened his eyes and breathed out. He could sense that his cultivation had reached the pinnacle Yin stage and there was no way he could take another step forward. He needed an opportunity to make his breakthrough.
Just as Zhang Yuan said, the ancient tomb would attract lots of experts and there would be a ferocious battle. Although Lin Yun was confident of fighting with most people with his strength, fighting wasn’t enough. He needed absolute strength before heading there. Since he couldn’t make any more progress in his cultivation, he could only try progressing in the Iris Sword Sutra.
Lin Yun’s eyes flashed as he gently tapped his interspatial pouch to retrieve a flower made up of flames. He could see energy flowing from the bud to the petals that looked like flames. Lin Yun initially planned to refine this flower after reaching the Yang stage, but it looks like he couldn’t wait until then.
Then again, he didn’t have to refine all of it. He could just refine a petal and then refine the whole thing after reaching the Yang stage. Otherwise, it would be a great waste if he reached the Yang stage so quickly. He heard from Mo Ling that he wouldn’t be able to refine the Profound Yin Water after reaching Yang stage, which was his greatest target for the ancient tomb.
Plucking a petal and smelling its fragrance, Lin Yun nodded his head with satisfaction. A petal alone was probably comparable to a fourth grade pellet. Lin Yun completed a cycle of the Iris Sword Sutra before he tossed the petal into his mouth without hesitation.
When the petal entered his mouth, it instantly melted into a massive energy that poured towards his profound veins and origin energy. Simultaneously, the Iris Flower in his violet palace bloomed and absorbed the energy coming from the petal he plucked.
Lin Yun could sense that the Iris Flower was gradually getting bright as it refined the energy. As time passed, Lin Yun could sense the Iris Flower slowly growing and the origin energy it contained became even more refined.
This process lasted for two days before Lin Yun was finally done refining it. When he absorbed the last energy from the petal, the Iris Flower suddenly trembled and a boundless energy began to release from it. In the next second, another petal grew out of the Iris Flower, reaching eighty-three petals.
Lin Yun’s violet palace suddenly boiled like a volcano as it began to tremble. When Lin Yun opened his eyes, two beams shot out of his eyes. Although the Iris Flower only increased by one petal, Lin Yun knew what it meant. This wasn’t any inferior to making a breakthrough to the Yang stage. His origin energy had multiplied by two. Sensing this, a smile filled Lin Yun’s face.
“The Iris Sword Sutra is truly formidable!” Lin Yun muttered as he got back up on his feet. “With my current strength now, I should be able to fight against those geniuses on the Dragoncloud Ranking.”
This didn’t mean that he could barely fend off their attacks, but he could retreat if needed. In some cases, he might even be able to defeat them. But this still wasn’t assuring enough as he needed another trump card.
It was always good to prepare multiple trump cards. Lin Yun came out of the cultivating room and entered the study room. He retrieved nine blank papers along with the spiritual brush. He wanted to inscribe an Ablaze Phoenix Painting, one that would even shock Mo Ling.
With a single thought, the soul mark in his profound palace began to blaze with golden flames as traces of feeble flames that belonged to the divine rune slowly covered the entire painting. It might be weak now, but it would be a different story once it became a painting.