The Sovereign's Ascension

Chapter 1971 - Dead Wood That Cannot Be Carved

Even after the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint left, her voice still echoed throughout the plaza. The thirty-six paintings and thirty-six words were arranged in disorder like a cage that trapped Lin Yun within.

“Hahaha! You’re trapped for being too smug. I asked you to maintain a low profile, but you just had to show off.” Lil’ Purple’s voice resounded from the sword box.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s just three days,” Lin Yun sat down and comforted himself.

“If you can’t destroy these thirty-six words, I don’t think it’ll just be three days. Who knows, she might become even angrier when she gets back and traps you for three months, three years, thirty years, or even three hundred years…” Lil’ Purple said.

“I don’t think she will,” Lin Yun comforted himself.

“Why not? Your master must’ve let her down, and your master got you here to atone for his sins. But you just keep showing off and refuse to admit your true identity. So she probably became angry long ago,” Lil’ Purple said. “But I don’t think she’s really angry, or she wouldn’t have taught you sword techniques and let you master the Myriad Swords Unite.”

Lin Yun fell into deep thought. Despite knowing that Lil’ Purple was babbling nonsense, he had to admit that what she said did make some sense. His master got him here to atone for his master’s sins? Regardless of the truth, there was no doubt that his master had a complicated past with the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint.

“Can’t afford to lose? So what if you lost once?!” The Heavenly Jade Sword Saint’s words appeared within his mind once more. Lin Yun wasn’t too bothered back then, but he felt that there was a deeper meaning now that he pondered it again. He began to believe what Lil’ Purple said and asked, “So? What should I do now?”

Lil’ Purple wore a smug look and said, “It’s actually simple. You can’t realize it because you’re involved. If you call her ‘Mistress’, I bet she’ll let go of the grudges.”

Lin Yun was stumped when he heard that, feeling Lil’ Purple was spouting nonsense.

“You don’t believe me? If she didn’t love your master, why would she guide your sword techniques?” Lil’ Purple reprimanded. “Furthermore, it doesn’t sound good for you to call her Martial Aunt; it’ll make her seem old.”

“They all call her that because they respect her, not to mention she’s a senior who’s close to three thousand years old,” Lin Yun said. If the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint was the same generation as the Radiant Sword Saint, she should be about that old. Then again, her age couldn’t be seen from her appearance.

“Ha,” Lil’ Purple sneered. “I’m over a hundred thousand years old, so why don’t I hear you call me ‘Ancestor’? I should’ve smashed your scumbag head now!”

Lin Yun muttered ‘Mistress’ in his heart before shaking his head because her suggestion sounded unreliable. Let’s not mention if his master and the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint went that far. Even if they went that far, they weren’t officially married, so he shouldn’t address Heavenly Jade Sword Saint as ‘Mistress.’ It was more respectful for him to address the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint as ‘Martial Aunt’.

“You nearly fooled me,” Lin Yun laughed. He sat with his legs crossed and began to practice the Myriad Swords Unite in his sword sea. Three days weren’t long, and it was just a blink of an eye for cultivators.

“Haha! You can carry on and wait. What do you think of what I said now?” Lil’ Purple said in a confident tone.

While Lin Yun was practicing his sword technique within his sword sea, he sat on the ground, as inked figures appeared around him, performing the Divine Firefly Sword. The inked figures were moving at a slow speed and drew a circle.

Just as Lil ' Purple had said, three days passed in the blink of an eye. The Heavenly Jade Sword Saint didn’t show up. Instead, it was zither music that woke him up.

“Erhu…” Lin Yun opened his eyes, and the surrounding inked figures disappeared, entering the depths of his forehead.

When Lin Yun raised his head, thirteen sword circle marks were on the ground. He casually raised his head to look in the direction the music was coming from, and noticed that the music came from one of the thirteen peaks. If he remembered correctly, that should be Bai Shuying’s residence.

Lin Yun already knew that Bai Shuying lived there, and she would occasionally play her musical instruments at night. She was proficient in music and knew many musical instruments, such as the ancient zither, lute, zither, flute, and bamboo flute.

But today, he actually heard her playing the erhu, and it was the song he played at the Nirvana Banquet.

“Has the method of playing erhu been spread out?” Lin Yun muttered to himself. But little did he know that Bai Shuying was also looking down towards Lin Yun from the peak.

Her master really treated Ye Qingtian differently. She followed her master for a long time, but she had never seen her treat anyone the way she treated Ye Qingtian.

Lin Yun didn’t know what those words meant, but she knew well. In just such a short time, her master already taught her so much.

Lin Yun slowly stood up on the plaza and looked at the surrounding words. He said, “These should be sword techniques, right?”

“That’s right,” Lil’ Purple replied. “But the order is all messed up, and I can’t comprehend anything in a short time.”

“Have you been researching them?”

“Isn’t that obvious? Who’ll find the Solar Lunar Divine Rune for me if you’re really trapped in here?” Lil’ Purple said.

“Let me give it a try, then.” Lin Yun stood up and casually picked a painting before touching it. But an accident happened as lightning flickered on the ancient word, and his hand was bounced off. At the same time, the ancient word came to life as the brush strokes manifested into inked figures.

Lin Yun circulated the Divine Sunchasing Art and avoided the incoming attacks. He then spread his arms apart before he calmly landed on the ground.

The thirty-six paintings slowly moved, intercrossing as they rearranged themselves. This was the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint’s true intention. Her intention wasn’t to trap him here, but to teach him another sword technique after seeing him master the Myriad Swords Unite, and the sword technique was contained within these thirty-six words.

His foundation was sturdy, and he could practice a genuine sword technique.

Martial Aunt said that the Radiant’s lineage isn’t willing to admit defeat, but she’s the same herself… Lin Yun inwardly sighed. He knew that his master and the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint weren’t people who would admit defeat. But he had to rely on himself to comprehend this sword technique. The difficulty was really high.

“Lil’ Purple, did you manage to see anything?” Lin Yun asked.

“No, but…”

“But what?”

“Have you noticed that ‘dead wood that cannot be carved’ has thirty-six strokes? Perhaps there’s a mystery in that,” Lil’ Purple said.

Lin Yun was briefly stunned. He was sure that those words were what the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint said to reprimand him.

“Give it a try and see if you can find those words,” Lil’ Purple said.

Lin Yun was initially sceptical and swept his gaze through the thirty-six paintings. But the paintings began to spiral with countless figures and countless phenomena appearing.

This instantly dazzled Lin Yun, and he could sense an endless flow of information pouring into his mind. His mind was on the verge of exploding, and the situation was too dangerous without any signs. Soon, blood began to drip down Lin Yun’s lips.action

Lin Yun roared and activated the Azure Dragon Sword heart, and executed the Myriad Astral Celestial Art. The silver sword bead within his chest shone with a silver sword radiance spreading out, soon turning his entire body silver. The painting began to revolve, and every word became clear within Lin Yun’s eyes.

“I really found it!” Lin Yun hovered in the air with his silver hair draped down. He was shocked to discover that he could find the ‘dead wood that cannot be carved’ words, but those paintings moved swiftly and were hard to notice.

“Sword Heart Unite!” A silver azure dragon flew out from the sword heart with a single thought. When the dragon returned, it had a painting in its mouth, and the massive figure moved at lightning speed.

It didn’t take long for four paintings to appear before Lin Yun, and they were the words that the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint spoke before. Lin Yun opened his mouth but was speechless because the four words became crucial for breaking out.

Even if Lin Yun was strong, he could only toughen his scalp to retrieve those words. Lil’ Purple smiled, “Martial Aunt has become really naughty. Alright, stop staying here any longer. Go and take a closer look to see if those words contain mystery.”

Lin Yun’s gaze was fixated, and his face soon changed.

“Mhm…?”

“What’s the matter?”

“These words seemed to have been separated and were reassembled together. They look ordinary, but each fragment contains a powerful sword intent,” Lin Yun said.

“A puzzle!” Lil’ Purple’s eyes lit up. “This must be a puzzle! You have to assemble them to know the real words!”

“I’ll give it a try.” Lin Yun took a deep breath, and the Azure Dragon Sword Heart fixed on the four paintings before he tried assembling them with his sword intent. But all his attempts failed. There were more possibilities than you could imagine.

“I can’t try it blindly, or I’ll fail.” Lin Yun soon decided after a few hundred failures. Since the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint intended to teach him, she must’ve left some clues behind. And the clues should be on the ‘dead wood that cannot be carved.’

“I got it!” A thought appeared within Lin Yun’s mind as he tried to find clues. He soon had joy on his face and began to assemble the paintings. It didn’t take long for four words to be assembled before him. He didn’t recognize them individually but instantly understood what it meant when they were assembled—Withered Tree Coming To Life.

The thirty-six paintings soon fused into saint radiance and entered Lin Yun’s mind.

“Towering Sun!”

“Withered Flower!”

“Close Yet Far!”

Ancient and obscure scriptures soon appeared within his mind. This was a sword technique. This powerful sword technique was more terrifying than the thirteen swords of the Divine Firefly Sword. They contained various terrifying phenomena, and even his Astral Sword Intent was terrified.

The hovering paintings fell to the ground and became blank.