The Sovereign's Ascension

Chapter 2326 - Lin Yun's Strength

“Sovereign Monument!” Lin Yun raised his head and muttered, “It has finally appeared.”

“Not yet,” Xiong Tiannan chuckled.

“Oh? What do you mean?” Lin Yun asked.

Seeing that Lin Yun really knew nothing about the Sovereign Monument, Xiong Tiannan was surprised, and asked, “Are you really from Kunlun?”

“Absolutely,” Lin Yun replied with a smile.

Xiong Tiannan was shocked, and muttered, “Encountering someone so honest like you is really rare in the Heavenly Barren Realm. I can’t believe a barbaric land like the Kunlun Realm has given birth to someone talented like you.”

The scene where Lin Yun killed the Corpse Kings greatly shocked him. After all, he was a prominent figure on the Brandished Dragon Ranking, and he understood what it meant. Lin Yun's mastery of swordsmanship was likely no lower than that of Lin Jiangxian, the prodigy swordsman from the Azure Cloud Realm.

“Alright, let me explain. I thought you were from the Heavenly Sword Pavilion before. After all, the Heavenly Sword Pavilion is a holy land that spans multiple realms,” Xiong Tiannan said. He went on to explain the Sovereign Monument to Lin Yun.

“The Sovereign Monument will only appear once every ten thousand years and is one of the most attractive places in the Heavenly Barren Realm. No one knows about its origin, but it is rumored to have been left behind by an Ancestral Deity and contains the profundity of dao. It doesn’t matter which dao you've practiced, you can gain enlightenment from the Sovereign Dao. You’re a swordsman, so you can comprehend Sword Dao from it.

“If you're lucky enough, you can even receive a Great Dao Fruit, which is ten or a hundred times more precious than golden fortunes. Aside from that, there is an opportunity for you to see the dao diagram in the Sovereign Monument. If you can comprehend it, you can make a breakthrough in your martial techniques, equivalent to a hundred years of cultivation.”

“I see…” Lin Yun finally understood why the Sovereign Monument was so precious. It looked like it was just as Lin Jiangxian had said. He had to go there no matter what, whether to comprehend Sword Dao or observe the dao diagram.

"Speaking of which, can one comprehend Eternal Dao from it?" Lin Yun asked.

Xiong Tiannan shook his head, and said, "It's the Sovereign Monument, not the Eternal Monument. It's naturally impossible to comprehend Eternal Dao. However, there is a legend."

"What legend?" Lin Yun asked curiously, and Ji Zixi also looked over curiously.

Xiong Tiannan said, “There is a legend that the owner of the Sovereign Dao was someone who had grasped an Eternal Dao. If someone destined goes there, there is a chance that they could comprehend an Eternal Dao.”

Lin Yun was briefly stunned but soon found it unlikely. The Eternal Dao was incredibly profound, requiring prolonged hardship to comprehend them. Aside from Fate Dao, which couldn’t be grasped, the remaining eight Eternal Daos were invincible existences. He never heard about an Eternal Dao that could be obtained and given.

“You don’t believe me?” Xiong Tinanan smiled and said, “I didn’t believe it, either. After all, how can an Eternal Dao be given when a Sovereign Dao couldn’t? That's why this is just a legend…”

Ji Zixi chimed in, “Have you thought of this possibility? The Dao Fruit is meant to help people grasp Eternal Dao.”

Xiong Tiannan and Lin Yun’s eyes lit up upon hearing that. The Sovereign Monument couldn’t help you grasp an Eternal Dao, but wouldn’t the fruit come into effect if they already grasped an Eternal Dao? This meant that the legend wasn’t entirely fake.

“I never thought of that before! You’re really smart,” Xiong Tiannan said.

“By the way, what did you mean when you said ‘not yet’?” Lin Yun asked.

Xiong Tiannan smiled, “The seal has only loosened up, and the Sovereign Monument hasn’t fully appeared yet. We will have to wait for another month, at least. But you must be careful because the Azure Cloud Realm isn’t the only group after the Sovereign Monument; many people on the Brandished Dragon Ranking have also come. Most came from immortal holy lands, and even Lin Jiangxian might be unable to deal with them.”

Lin Yun said nothing as he rushed to that light beam with Ji Zixi. Xiong Tiannan was following behind them with no intention of leaving. Lin Yun naturally knew what he was planning. Despite saying that he wanted to brush some of his luck, Lin Yun knew that Xiong Tiannan might want to try to snatch the golden fortune back after he recovers.

But Lin Yun wasn’t bothered and even looked forward to it instead. He wanted to know how strong someone on the Brandished Dragon Ranking was at their full strength. This way, he could roughly estimate his strength on the Brandished Dragon Ranking.

Seven days later, Lin Yun and Ji Zixi were stopped by a group of Saint Realm demonic beasts. They were all sixth-stage Saint Lords, and there were nine of them. They all possessed the bloodline of saint beasts and were intelligent, capable of obtaining their ancestor’s inheritance from their bloodline.

Xiong Tiannan’s eyes lit up since he wanted to know Lin Yun’s strength. He had recovered to his full strength and was quietly followed behind him. But when he got close, he saw a shocking scene as three thousand ribbons soared to the sky with sword intent covering the sky that looked like a silver waterfall pouring down. In just one exchange, those demonic beasts were heavily injured.

Sound of sword vibrations and dragon roars could be heard as the nine demonic beasts were captured, unable to resist. The ground was covered in scattered flesh when the ribbons returned to Lin Yun. None of those demonic beasts could release their golden pill and were immediately killed.

Lin Yun looked around and used the golden pills to consolidate his cultivation. When he was done, he took out three golden fortunes to temper his Sword Dao. The golden fortune's effects were significant the first time he refined it, but the effects were much weaker when he refined it again.

“My golden fortunes!” Xiong Tiannan felt heartache, but he could do nothing about it.

Three days later, Lin Yun ran into a monarch demonic beast at the sixth-stage Saint Lord. This python grasped a Sovereign Dao at birth, the Devour Dao. It also grasped other greater daos like the Fire, Ice, and Thunder Daos. It was massive with tough skin that not even Glory Saint Artifacts could leave a mark on.

“An opportunity!” Xiong Tiannan’s eyes gleamed. This python was powerful and dangerous once it considered you as its prey.

But he was soon disappointed as the ribbons formed into an azure dragon, grasping thunderstorms with sword stars as its eyes and fought with the python. Lin Yun didn’t stop there. Three thousand ribbons then formed into a divine phoenix, attacking the python as well.

Lin Yun had to admit that the python was hard to deal with. Its tough skin allowed it to ignore most attacks, but it was overwhelmed by the azure dragon and phoenix.

Lin Yun manipulated the battle from afar and was unharmed during the fight. After a prolonged battle, Lin Yun approached and executed the Azure Dragon Grasp.

Xiong Tiannan watched this from afar and didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly. After refining the python’s golden pill and three golden fortunes, the saint dao of Lin Yun’s Sword Dao reached nine thousand. It was less than Lin Jiangxian, but his progress was already fast. Aside from that, the saint daos of his Thunder and Wind Daos also reached ten thousand.

He had consumed nine golden fortunes and was only left with one. This made Xiong Tiannan bitterly smile as he looked at Lin Yun. Along the way, Lin Yun showed several flaws, such as purposely refining fortune in front of him and giving him enough opportunities. But Xiong Tiannan still didn’t feel he was Lin Yun’s opponent.

Seeing that Xiong Tiannan wouldn’t attack him, he no longer waited. He had already waited half a day for Xiong Tiannan to attack him.

“Zixi, you wait here.” Lin Yun soared into the sky and landed beside Xioing Tiannan.

This frightened Xiong Tiannan, who thought that he had exposed himself. He said, “What are you trying to do? I’m just following you from afar to brush up on your luck. You said that it’s not too much.”

Lin Yun didn’t expose him, but smiled, “Of course. You can have this golden fortune.”

“You’re giving it to me?” Xiong Tiannan was shocked.

Nodding his head, Lin Yun said, “I have refined too many golden fortunes, and the effects are starting to weaken. So you can have it.”

Seeing that Lin Yun had grown resistant to the golden fortune, Xiong Tiannan received the golden fortune from Lin Yun with disbelief. He awkwardly smiled, “It’s weird to see someone like you in the Heavenly Barren Realm.”

Betrayals were commonly seen in the Heavenly Barren Realm, and finding someone who would give out a golden fortune was rare.

Lin Yun smiled, “I have a question for you.”

“Go on,” Xiong Tiannan said.

“You have been following me for a long time, so why didn’t you make a move?” Lin Yun asked.

Xiong Tiannan was frightened upon hearing that and nearly dropped the golden fortune. He quickly said, “I didn’t. Don’t bullshit.”

“It looks like you’re not being honest,” Lin Yun looked at Xiong Tiannan with a playful smile.

Xiong Tiannan momentarily hesitated, then blatantly admitted, “I wanted, but who would dare to move against you after witnessing your strength?”

“It can’t be just that, right?” Lin Yun pondered.

Xiong Tiannan bitterly smiled, “Why not? I can easily defeat swordsmen at your cultivation with one punch. I have become a Saint through my physique, and I should be able to suppress swordsmen like you. After all, I can kill you with a punch if you can’t kill me with your sword. But why would I dare to make a move after seeing how you dealt with those corpse kings? Most importantly…”action

“What is it?” Lin Yun asked.

“I didn’t see your sword,” Xiong Tiannan said in a self-mocking tone.

“Big Brother Lin, there’s something wrong!” Ji Zixi’s voice resounded, making Lin Yun turn away.

“I’ll go check it out,” Lin Yun said as he hurried over, putting the matter of the Brandishing Dragon Ranking aside.

Xiong Tiannan looked in Lin Yun’s direction before stowing the golden fortune and went over out of curiosity.