Lin Yun was stumped when he heard that the white-clothed woman was the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint. His identity had already been disclosed when he tried to scan her with his sword intent.
The Heavenly Jade Sword Saint was someone on the same level as his master, possessing unfathomable attainment in the sword. Compared to her, he was like a firefly before a bright moon.
“I’m sorry about that. I haven’t returned to the Heavenly Dao Sect for a long time, and this is my first time seeing the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint. So I failed to recognize her.” Lin Yun cupped his hands together.
“It’s fine. When you formally become a saint disciple, you’ll have the opportunity to cultivate on the mountain. As long as you’re a saint disciple, you’ll have an opportunity to cultivate on the mountain once a year.” The two deacons could sense Lin Yun’s cultivation at the Profound Death Stage, and he seemed pretty young. This was the reason why they were polite to him.
“Thank you for your explanation.” Lin Yun no longer stayed there and left.
“That brat seems a little familiar…”
“I also felt that he was familiar, but I can’t recall who he is. He should be a newly promoted saint disciple.” The two deacons casually chatted as they looked at Lin Yun’s leaving figure.
A lump of saint radiance appeared before the white-clothed woman reached the mountain. When the saint radiance disappeared, a white-beared old man walked out from the saint radiance. He was the Palace Master of the Dao Yang Palace, Thousand Plume Great Saint.
“Martial Aunt, what are you looking at?” The Thousand Plume Great Saint curiously looked at the figure that was at the foot of the mountain.
“A young lad dared to scan me with his sword intent.” The Heavenly Jade Sword Saint’s appearance was a woman in her twenties, but her eyes were shining like bright stars. A faint golden seal on her forehead contained a sacred, powerful, and ancient aura.
“Who’s so bold?” The Thousand Plume Great Saint smiled.
“Nothing much. I didn’t expect him to secretly follow behind me after his sword intent was reflected.” The Heavenly Jade Sword Saint explained.
Hearing that, the Thousand Plume Great Saint smiled, “Which peak’s disciple is so foolish?”
“If I didn’t make a mistake, that person should be a junior of your clan.” The Heavenly Jade Sword Saint said casually.
“My clan?” The Thousand Plume Great Saint was inwardly alarmed. His name was Ye Qianyu, and the Ye Clan had a powerful force within the Heavenly Dao Sect. Since the forces in the Heavenly Dao Sect were complicated after so many years, it ultimately formed into four factions that were wielded by the strongest clans.
As the Thousand Plume Great Saint looked in Lin Yun’s direction, he immediately became furious, “Ye Qingtian!”
Typically speaking, someone of Thousand Plume Great Saint’s status shouldn’t know a junior like Ye Qingtian. He knew about Ye Qingtian because he was too ‘famous’ within the Heavenly Dao Sect.
“It’s that bastard. I’ll bring him over and apologize to you.” The Thousand Plume Great Saint furiously said.
Lin Yun was already far away, but this distance was nothing to a Great Saint.
“There’s no need.” The Heavenly Jade Sword Saint said, “I naturally won’t be angry over something this small, and there’s a reason why I talked to you about him.”
“Oh?” The Thousand Plume Great Saint came to his senses. After all, the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint naturally wouldn’t lower herself to Ye Qingtian’s level, so there must be another reason behind it.
“The sword intent he used to scan me has reached the Heavenly Dome Sword Intent.” The Heavenly Jade Sword Saint said.
“H-How is that possible?!” The Thousand Plume Great Saint’s face changed. “Since when is there such a genius from my clan?”
The fact that Ye Qingtian could grasp the Heavenly Dome Sword Intent at the Profound Death Stage was enough to speak of his talent, and a genius of his caliber was rare, even within the Heavenly Dao Sect.
“It looks like you don’t have enough understanding about the juniors of your clan…” The Heavenly Jade Sword Saint said.
“I just didn’t expect it.” The Thousand Plume Great Saint bitterly smiled. After all, someone who could grasp the Heavenly Dome Sword Intent at the Profound Death Stage was enough to attract his attention. If he knew about it beforehand, he would have arranged a meeting with Ye Qingtian.
“Not long ago, Guhan told me that he discovered a genius swordsman within the clan, but I wasn’t too bothered about it back then,” the Thousand Plume Great Saint said. “That genius he spoke of should be that Ye Qingtian. I didn’t expect him to undergo so a huge transformation in just a year. Did he intrude on the Ye Clan’s ancestral ground?”
The Heavenly Jade Sword Saint’s gaze was on Lin Yun, but she didn’t reply to the Thousand Plume Great Saint. She didn’t tell the latter that Ye Qingtian’s Heavenly Dome Sword Intent wasn’t at the initial stage but at complete mastery!
A brief moment later, she said, “I’m here tonight to tell you I have received a letter from the Hidden Sword Manor’s Manor Lord. The Sword Assembly will begin soon.”
There were different levels of the Sword Assembly, held by the Hidden Sword Pavilion around the Kunlun Realm. But the one held by the Hidden Sword Manor was a grand festival for swordsmen, aside from the Skysolute Sect’s Qingfeng Assembly, and it was held once every two decades.
The Heavenly Dao Sect might not be a sect that focuses on the sword, but they have a legacy in the sword path, and the representative was the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint.
“Choose a date to gather all the swordsmen into the Dao Yang Palace, and let me observe them,” the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint said.
“There’s no need for Martial Aunt to come personally for this matter,” the Thousand Plume Great Saint smiled.
“It’s not the same this time,” said the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint. “Not only does this Sword Assembly concern my reputation, but it also involves something important. So I can’t treat it lightly.”
“Alright. I’ll try and arrange for everyone to gather.” The Thousand Plume Great Saint gravely nodded after hearing what the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint said.
“I’ll be going to the Heavenly Yin Palace now.” The Heavenly Jade Sword Saint left.
The two palaces were on the same level, when regarding status, but the Dao Yang Palace, controlled by the Thousand Plume Great Saint, had a slightly higher position. However, the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint’s seniority and reputation were too high.
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Meanwhile, after Lin Yun returned to the Indigo Thunder Peak, he then entered the Iris Secret Realm before he breathed a sigh of relief. Although he knew the Heavenly Jade Sword Saint wouldn’t do anything to him, he still couldn’t help feeling fearful throughout the trip.
It was so much so that he even felt such an intense stare on his back, it was as though a hand would cross the distance and grab a hold of him at any moment. He realized that the Heavenly Dao Sect was a place of hidden dragons and crouching tigers. He had to be cautious in the future, or his identity might be exposed, even with the Divine Tortoise Transformation facing Saint Realm experts.
His senior brother wasn’t in the sect, so it was best for him to maintain a low profile. He spent an hour before he gradually calmed down. Witnessing Bai Shuying’s cultivation sparked Lin Yun’s desire to become stronger. “My cultivation is still too weak, and saint disciples are only the surface of the Heavenly Dao Sect. The true experts are those saint’s disciples.”
He retrieved the Netherflower and plucked a petal off before refining it between his palms. The Netherflower contained massive nether energy. It could not only strengthen the Divine Firmament Sword Sutra but could also swiftly increase his Profound Death Stage cultivation.
While within the Iris Secret Realm, Lin Yun spent thirteen days before he finally refined this petal. It was only one petal, and yet he had already spent so much time on it. With just this fact alone, anyone could tell how precious the Netherflower was, and he could predict that it wasn’t easy for his senior brother to obtain it.
When he circulated the Divine Firmament Sword Sutra, it had finally reached the eighth stage with the help of the Netherflower’s petal. He still had a long way to go before reaching the twelfth stage, but he finally broke through the bottleneck and made a breakthrough.
Most importantly, he reached the second channel of the Profound Death Stage with the help of that petal, and it was equivalent to one year of cultivation. But it was thanks to the Netherflower and his senior brother. The benefits of refining it for the first time were naturally the greatest, and the nine remaining petals probably wouldn’t have such a good effect anymore.
For another two days, Lin Yun practiced the Divine Firefly Sword. His cultivation of the sword increased with the breakthrough in the Divine Firmament Sword Sutra. But there was still no sign of him grasping the Astral Sword Intent.
After those two days, Lin Yun left the sword box in his courtyard and left behind a cup of Demigod Wine for Lil’ Red within the Iris Secret Realm. The Heavenly Dao Sect’s conferring ceremony would be held once every year, and the location was on the Heavenly Dao Altar between the two mountains.
Every conferring ceremony would be bustling, with everyone gathered from the two palaces, three courtyards, and the one hundred and eight peaks.
Since it had been so long since the Indigo Thunder Peak last had a saint disciple, the entire Indigo Thunder Peak was excited, especially after what happened in the Nether Orchid Courtyard half a month ago.
This incident brought Ye Qingtian’s prestige to a new height; even those older saint disciples couldn’t be compared to him. The previous chief disciple, Liu Hao, already ran over with a saint robe before dawn. This was something that only saint disciples could wear, embroidering the symbol of the Indigo Thunder Peak. When Liu Hao looked at it, his pupils were filled with envy.
“Senior Brother, Master asked me to send this over to you. As for Master, he has already gone to the Heavenly Dao Altar to wait for us.” Liu Hao smiled as he offered the saint disciple’s uniform.
When what happened within the Nether Orchid Courtyard spread out, Liu Hao finally gave up and knew he couldn’t become enemies with Ye Qingtian in the future.
After Lin Yun changed his clothes, he glanced at the crowd and said, “Chen Feng, you come with me.”
“Yes.” Chen Feng nodded and stood beside Lin Yun. As for the other Indigo Thunder Peak’s disciples, they could only follow behind the two.
Lin Yun was afraid that his true identity might be exposed, so he got Chen Feng to follow beside him. When they arrived at the Heavenly Dao Altar, Lin Yun was shocked by the multitude of people. All the disciples from the hundred and eight peaks were there, including the existing saint disciples.
“There are many geniuses amongst the saint disciples this year, and they will naturally become the center of attention. Coincidentally, the three beauties of the Heavenly Dao Sect are here, which is why it’s so crowded with people.” Chen Feng explained.
“Three beauties? Who else aside from the Profound Maiden Miao Yin and Nether Orchid Holy Maiden?” Lin Yun asked.
Chen Feng revealed a smile, already expecting this from Lin Yun, since he would only focus on the women and not the geniuses. But he couldn’t help feeling baffled that Ye Qingtian had forgotten the three beauties, which made him wonder what Ye Qingtian experienced over the past year.
In Chen Feng’s view, Ye Qingtian must have encountered an opportunity, and this was why he could undergo a rebirth, despite his severe injuries. Although he didn’t say anything about it, this didn’t stop him from feeling respect for Lin Yun.
“Aside from them, there’s the Heavenly Yin Holy Maiden.” Chen Feng explained.
They walked towards the Heavenly Dao Altar as they conversed. Lin Yun had a rough understanding of the conferring ceremony, and this ceremony wasn’t like what he had imagined because the conferring ceremony was intense.