The Sovereign's Ascension

Chapter 1871 - If There's A Choice

Picking up the book that recorded the Divine Firefly Sword, Lin Yun began to look at the other sword forms. During these two months, he had spent a small part of his time stabilizing his cultivation at the pinnacle of the Profound Life Stage, a small part on the Dragon-Phoenix World Annihilating Sword Canon, and his remaining time on the Divine Firefly Sword.

He had reached the fourth sword form with the Divine Firefly Sword in one go, and anyone who heard this would surely be shocked. After all, many holy lands have a record of the Divine Firefly Sword, and not even swordsmen in the Nirvana Stage could grasp the fourth sword form. But Lin Yun managed to do it while he was only at the Profound Life Stage.

Within this secret realm of the Heavenly Star Pavilion, Lin Yun’s profound life aura became pure after two months of tempering. He had completely digested the Demigod Wine and reached the limit in his current cultivation.

“Perhaps I can try to make a breakthrough to the Profound Death Stage.” When reaching the Samsara Edict Realm, Lin Yun relied on the Demigod Wine to reach the pinnacle of the Profound Life Stage. In just two months, he would break into the Profound Death Stage. Even with the Demigod Wine to lay his foundation, it was still risky for him to make a breakthrough so quickly in such a short period of time.

Since he had to join the Heavenly Dao Sect soon, he ultimately decided to give it a try. But wanting to reach the Profound Death Stage was much tougher than making a breakthrough into the Profound Life Stage. But as long as he could unlock his Profound Death Channels, his origin energy would be able to undergo the tempering of the profound death aura and transform into the nirvana aura.

Nirvana aura was the outline of saint aura; achieving it was equivalent to coming in contact with the surface of the saint path.

Lin Yun circulated the Dragon-Phoenix World Annihilating Sword Canon to circulate his dragon origin through his dragon pulses. He was preparing to try and make his breakthrough into the Profound Death Stage. In his first attempt, he was forced to open his eyes and threw out a mouthful of blood, with his face becoming pale.

“It’s not easy… Is it because it’s too fast?” Lin Yun casually wiped the blood off his lips. After all, no one would forcefully try to break into the Profound Death Stage. And it wouldn’t be easy even with the help of the Demigod Wine. Not to mention that it was easier for others to make a breakthrough than it would be for Lin Yun. But Lin Yun had no choice and could only rely on himself.

“I failed earlier because I tried using my dragon origin to make a breakthrough, causing the profound death aura within my profound death channels to impact my heart’s pulses…” Lin Yun pondered. The heart’s pulses connected his heart, which meant that those pulses were sensitive and weak, and the slightest stimulation would cause his meridians to shut down.

The moment his meridians shut down, his breakthrough would be forcibly stopped, and even Lin Yun couldn’t bear it, even with his physique.

“I'll try again!” This time, Lin Yun circulated the Blue Dragon Skybreaking Art and mobilized the jade-blue dragon runes to protect his heart’s pulses. He didn’t have a choice and could only carry on this path since he had chosen it.

After protecting his heart’s pulses, he empowered his dragon origin with profound life aura to make a breakthrough. He tried a hundred times, rested briefly before using the Blue Dragon Bone to treat himself, and took several gulps of the Millennium Flame.

He had no intention of drinking the Demigod Wine for now. After all, it would be a waste to use the Demigod Wine to break through to the Profound Death Stage. Not to mention that the effects would weaken every time he used it. He had drunk it once and didn’t want to waste his chance.

Over the next three days, Lin Yun tried over a thousand times, and his profound death channels began to clear up. But as a result, cracks appeared on his skin, with blood dripping out. Every time he tried to clear his profound death channels, he had to carry on, or all his effort would go down the drain. It was so much so that his next attempt would become tougher than before, making it dangerous.

In reality, making a breakthrough into the Profound Death Stage was also painful, but Lin Yun’s condition was special. He easily cleared all seven profound life channels, allowing him to skip through this process. So the difficulty was all stacked up to the profound death channels now. After all, there were no shortcuts in cultivation.

But Lin Yun’s gaze was firm, and he had no intention of giving up. The pain was unimaginable and torturous. After all, he was walking on an unprecedented path as a Sword God.

Without him knowing it, An Liuyan appeared. She held her breath as she nervously looked at Lin Yun, fearing that mishaps might happen to him.

“Young Master can surely do it!” An Liuyan bit her lips as she looked at Lin Yun.

A long time later, boundless spiritual energy appeared between heaven and earth before pouring into Lin Yun. The spiritual energy passed through the newly cleared profound death channels. After being tempered by the profound death aura, they coursed throughout his meridians before gathering within his violet palace.

A brief moment later, Lin Yun’s injuries disappeared along with the pain. With that, he had successfully cleared the first profound death channel, and his cultivation went from the Dragon Pulse Realm to the first channel of the Profound Death Stage in less than three months.

Since he had cleared his first profound death channel, this meant that he could control the profound death aura. But he had no idea how powerful his dragon origin would become with the empowerment of the profound death aura.

Lin Yun soared to the sky and pushed his palm forth, attacking a bronze statue that was a few hundred meters away. The bronze statue’s chest had caved in under his palm. The bronze statue might seem like an ordinary statue, but it was forged with various precious metals, and there were many saint runes intertwined within the statue.

The bronze statue's density was much higher than an ordinary saint artifact's, and it was comparable to a thousand-rune saint artifact.

When Lin Yun landed on the ground, he rejoiced because this was his strongest attack without using sword aura or any martial techniques. Even so, he could easily smash apart a thousand-rune saint artifact. If he used a martial technique or sword intent, even ordinary myriad-rune saint artifacts wouldn’t be able to bear his attack. Most importantly, he was only in the first channel of the Profound Death Stage!

“With the empowerment of the profound death aura and my dragon origin reaching the tenth pulse, this will strengthen my attacks by five times.” Lin Yun said excitedly, letting out a breath.

“Young Master, you succeeded!” An Liuyan smiled. When she came over, Lin Yun could smell a faint fragrance that shrouded her.

Lin Yun looked at her and smiled, “Liuyan, you have also greatly boosted your cultivation over the past two months.”

“How can my foundation be compared to Young Master's? My cultivation is higher than yours, to begin with. But my foundation cannot be compared to yours, and you’re catching up to me quickly.” An Liuyan smiled. “Actually, if you didn’t spend time comprehending the sword and the limit of each realm, your cultivation would've been much higher than mine by now.”

“Cultivation might be the foundation, but I can’t lack behind in the sword. My sword is my greatest advantage against my enemies, and it’s worth it, even if I have to spend a lot of time on it.” Lin Yun smiled.

“Yeah, so I must spend time comprehending martial intent now.” An Liuyan said. “Young Master, are you going to the Heavenly Dao Sect now?”

“Yeah. I’ll be leaving in a few days.” Lin Yun nodded.

“The Heavenly Dao Sect has a long history, but the internal competition is too intense. There are many experts within the sect, so you must be careful, even with the Azure River Sword Saint standing behind you.” An Liuyan said.

“I know. I will take care of myself.” Lin Yun smiled.

“Actually, I have to leave soon, as well.”

“Back to the Demon Gate?” Lin Yun was stunned but soon thought of An Liuyan’s identity and figured it out. After all, An Liuyan was a Nine-Star Demon Venerable and was only here to train herself. She ultimately had to return to compete for the Holy Maiden’s position in the Demon Gate.

But for some reason, Lin Yun couldn’t help feeling sad because he couldn’t bear to part with her. An Liuyan was a meticulous and gentle woman who always seemed gentle, standing by his side. Whenever he was with her, he wouldn’t feel any pressure.

Whenever he needed help, An Liuyan would stand by his side without any hesitation, regardless of his enemies. Even someone as gentle as her would become fearless whenever she faced his enemies, and no man could deny her.

Lin Yun had long accepted An Liuyan in his heart. Not only was she a lover of his, but he could feel at ease whenever he was with her. She was like a friend who could understand him well.

“I know Young Master doesn’t want to part with me. I also can’t bear to part with you, but I don’t have a choice. You’re making swift progress in your cultivation, and I will be left behind if I don’t work hard. I never want to see you stand before me again because it will only make me feel useless.” An Liuyan smiled. The sadness she felt was way stronger than Lin Yun’s, but she had hidden it all within her heart as she put a smile on her face.

“Are you going back to compete for the Holy Maiden’s position?” Lin Yun asked.

An Liuyan’s expression became bitter and sorrowful. She replied, “If I’m not strong enough, I will only become a puppet, even if I manage to become the Holy Maiden. If I had a choice, I would rather give up on my status as the princess of the An Clan.”

Lin Yun was stumped when he heard that because he only realized now that he didn’t understand An Liuyan. He should've thought of it. She should be from an ancient clan based on her powerful bloodline alone, and she had no choice but to go to the Demon Gate.

“It doesn’t matter if you have a choice. As long as you’re willing, you can always have a position by my side.” Lin Yun smiled, and his gaze was unprecedentedly serious.

An Liuyan was stunned upon hearing that. She could tell that her emotions had affected Lin Yun, and she smiled, “That’s a promise, then!”

Her gaze was gentle when she looked at Lin Yun. With a hint of bashfulness on her face, she raised her head to look at Lin Yun, “Young Master, can you hug me?”

Lin Yun embraced her without hesitation, and they could feel each other’s heartbeat.

After a night of warmth, Lin Yun quietly left while An Liuyan was still asleep. Before he left, he took out the Demigod Wine, filled a jar, and placed it by her bedside. He had no choice, even if he couldn’t bear to part with her.

Half a month later, Lin Yun activated the Iris Saint Seal when he was close to the Heavenly Dao Sect.

On a mountain a few hundred meters away, Lil’ Purple was sitting on the Iris Sword Box, looking in a certain direction. She suddenly sensed something and pouted her lips, “That scumbag finally thought of this empress now!”action