The Sovereign's Ascension

Chapter 1587 - Demonic Ranking's Rising Stars

Chapter 1587 - Demonic Ranking's Rising Stars

A long time later, Lin Yun rubbed his nose with a mocking smile when the flute music died down. They were just a few rising stars on the Demonic Ranking. But Lil’ Purple made it seem like a separation of life and death. She was too sensitive, not to mention that he still had a Glory Saint Artifact like the Azure Dragon Sun-Moon Umbrella. Even if he couldn’t defeat his opponent, no one could stop him from leaving.

But he knew Lil’ Purple had a sensitive heart, despite seeming unreliable. Her emotions were probably affected when she was treating his injuries, and she was feeling heartache for him.

“Senior Brother Lin, I feel that she’s right. The rising stars on the Demonic Ranking aren’t easy to deal with. One or two might be fine, but a group of them will be troublesome.” Chen Ling said after a long hesitation. Those on the Demonic Ranking weren’t the same as the Dragon Pulse Ranking geniuses.

To make it on the Demonic Ranking, they just have to be strong and not be killed by others. The former was easy because most demonic cultivators were strong if they could make it on the Demonic Ranking. The second was simply because every genius on the Demonic Ranking had a high bounty on their heads. So if they weren’t strong enough to protect themselves, they would’ve long been killed by others as a stepping stone.

But it was a pity that most of those who tried to kill them to become famous were killed instead, becoming the stepping stone of the rising stars. This was why Chen Ling felt Lin Yun was too impulsive to head over alone.

“Jiang Tong might deserve to die, but we should inform the sect’s elders to deal with him!” Chen Ling suggested.

“Junior Brother, you’re right. It’s easy to deal with them if we can get an elder in the Samsara Edict Realm or ninth-pulse Dragon Pulse Realm to make a move. But think about it…” Lin Yun smiled as he continued, “If they’re that easy to kill, why are they still alive?”

Chen Ling fell into deep thoughts upon hearing that.

“Since they can survive for so long, they won’t be stupid enough to fight Samsara Edict Realm experts, and they have their means.” Lin Yun continued. This meant they either cultivated a sensitive cultivation technique that honed their senses, allowing them to sense an expert’s aura from afar or a treasure with a similar ability.

Furthermore, powerful sects didn’t have many elders in the Samsara Edict Realm, while there were millions of demonic cultivators. They also had their enemies to deal with. If they focus on dealing with those rising stars, who would deal with those Samsara Edict Realm demonic cultivators?

After hearing Lin Yun’s explanation, Chen Ling fell into deep thoughts, seeming to have understood something.

“Don’t worry about it. I won’t fool around with my life, and that lass will be sad if I die. I cherish my life more than anyone else, and I’m naturally confident since I dared to make a move.” Lin Yun said, looking at Chen Ling. He had finally convinced the latter.

Who wouldn’t cherish their life? If he didn’t even dare to face this matter, he might as well just flee from the Ancient Barren Battlefield. As a swordsman, he had to face life and death, and he believed that Lil’ Purple would understand him.

“Demonic Rune Tiger, lead the way. No need to take the shortcuts as long as we don’t approach any demonic beasts’ territory.” Lin Yun said. He was already late and had to ensure no accidents in the journey if he wanted to catch up to the other Demonic Ranking’s rising stars.

As for those Demonic Ranking’s rising stars, they would definitely be hindered by demonic beasts without someone leading the way. If they weren’t lucky, they might even lose their lives to the demonic beasts they ran into.

The upcoming journey was smooth, and they didn’t run into any trouble. Whenever they ran into demonic beasts, Lil’ Red would efficiently deal with them with its claws.

After they swiftly shuttled through the forest, dazzling sunlight suddenly shone down. The dazzling light made Lin Yun and Chen Ling briefly squint their eyes.

The sky had lit up, and they finally arrived in the region of the Cold Pond under the Demonic Rune Tiger’s lead. The scenery ahead of them opened up, and a massive snowy land appeared before them. There was a gigantic pond and an ice mountain above the pond at the far end.

That region was terrifyingly cold, but a waterfall flowed down the ice mountain, which should be the Cold Pond. The scale was a few thousand feet. Rather than calling it “Cold Pond”, it was more like a lake with cold miasma above the pond.

“Lord Lin, this is the Cold Pond…” The Demonic Rune Tiger didn’t dare to move as he looked in the Cold Pond’s direction with fear flashing across its pupils.

The Demonic Rune Tiger knew that the divine beast’s descendant was there, the Heavenly Profound Tortoise. That Heavenly Profound Tortoise might still be in the growing stage, but it wasn’t something the Demonic Rune Tiger could face because its bloodline would suppress it.

“The others seem to have arrived, as well.” Lin Yun hid behind a tree and raised his head. The surroundings of the Cold Pond was an open field, and nothing could be hidden, especially when there were so many people after the Black Tortoise’s Saint Blood. They were long in the position, but no one dared to move.

“Do you know these people?” Lin Yun asked Chen Ling, who was beside him. He could sense several powerful auras, and the owners of those auras weren’t any weaker than Jiang Tong.

“Yeah.” Chen Ling nodded with a grave expression. “You see that person in the southeast?”

Following his gaze, Lin Yun saw a group of four to five people gathered there, and the leader of that party was a robust youth donned in an indigo robe.

“That’s Chang Yu. He was initially the inner disciple of the Emerald Jade Manor, but he was expelled for secretly learning forbidden techniques. He was once known as the strongest genius in the Emerald Jade Manor, and he should be in the pinnacle third-pulse Dragon Pulse Realm now!” Chen Ling transmitted his voice to Lin Yun.

Nodding his head, Lin Yun roughly knew that these people used to be geniuses from the various powerful sects, and some of them could be considered monstrous geniuses. But for various reasons, they were either expelled from the sect or ran off.

It was too hard to make a breakthrough in the Dragon Pulse Realm, and they might be stuck in the Dragon Pulse Realm for the rest of their lives if they strictly followed the rules. So as they became older, it was unavoidable for them to take some risks in trying to make a breakthrough.

There were various reasons why they were expelled or fled from their original sects. Some were because of personal feuds, and some were because the sects’ resources couldn’t satisfy them. Through these various reasons, they gradually became unhappy with their sect, and it would accumulate with time.

“That person over there is also a troublesome person.” Lin Yun looked in the direction Chen Ling pointed out and saw a black-robed man with no companions around him. He carried a blade, giving off a terrifying killing aura.

“That person is Qin Can. He used to be the disciple of the Heavenly Blade Pavilion. To grasp the Firmament Blade Intent, he took an expert of the demonic path as his master, and he’s now famous in the Eastern Desolation’s Demon Domain. He committed crimes when he returned to the Ancient Barren Domain several times, but the Heavenly Blade Pavilion couldn’t do a thing to him. I heard he even defeated an opponent in the fourth-pulse Dragon Pulse Realm!”

“This is the power of the Demonic Ranking’s rising stars?” Lin Yun was surprised as he looked at that black-robed youth. He knew how tough it was to fight those who had a higher cultivation than you in the Dragon Pulse Realm, and even Lin Yun didn’t dare to be careless. The fact that Qin Can could fight with someone in the fourth-pulse Dragon Pulse Realm meant he definitely had many trump cards.

Shifting his gaze, Chen Ling continued, “Those in the southwest are from the Dragon Reversal Valley. The Dragon Reversal Valley is a neutral force outside the Ancient Barren Domain, taking in righteous and demonic cultivators who were being pursued. The one leading the party should be Yan Jiao, and he can be considered a formidable person for being able to rise in such a harsh environment like the Dragon Reversal Valley.”

“Junior Brother Chen seems to understand them well.” Lin Yun replied.

“This is nothing. Many of them have a bounty on the Sword Sect’s side, and I often visited the Contribution Hall. So I naturally have to understand them.” Chen Ling explained, and this made Lin Yun wear an awkward smile.

Speaking of which, he hadn’t visited the Contribution Hall since joining the Sword Sect. Most sects have a similar system to train their disciples and ease their load. Lin Yun had just entered the sect a year and had never come in contact with any mission from the sect.

“Why aren’t they making a move?” Chen Ling asked.

“They’re probably waiting for something to happen.” Lin Yun said with a light flickering in his pupils. As they spoke, black smoke suddenly rose from the Cold Pond, giving off a terrifying erosive ability.

Lin Yun instantly recognized it as nether energy because he was familiar with it from cultivating the Divine Firmament Sword Sutra. It should be a poison created with Netherflower, and it would show terrifying lethality the moment it penetrated the Cold Pond. At that time, even the Heavenly Profound Tortoise wouldn’t be able to take the poison.

“How generous!” Lin Yun was alarmed that they used something like the priceless Netherflower to lure the Heavenly Profound Tortoise out of the Cold Pond. But that also made sense because the Heavenly Profound Tortoise was the descendant of a divine beast, and they would suffer heavy casualties if they fought with it in the water.

As the Cold Pond began to violently tremble, a massive water geyser exploded from the pond's surface and a massive figure appeared. When this gigantic figure appeared, it was akin to a small island and a raging ferocity swept out from it.

Looking at this colossus, many people’s expressions became grave. This was a tortoise standing on two feet, unlike what Lin Yun had imagined. It was standing like a human, carrying a tough shell on its back, wielding a trident, and its tail was like a long python coiled up on its shoulder.

“It’s the Heavenly Profound Tortoise!” Lin Yun took a deep breath while looking at this giant. He could sense its dangerous aura.

When the water that exploded from the lake rained down, the massive amount of water made the ground tremble. The Heavenly Profound Tortoise was close to a hundred feet when it stood on its hind legs, and its shell gave off a metallic luster with many saint runes engraved on it. Anyone could tell that this shell was probably a natural saint artifact with just a glance.

The Heavenly Profound Tortoise already had it on its back when it was born, and the shell gradually grew stronger as time passed.

When the Heavenly Profound Tortoise looked around, it roared, “How dare you people disturb this king’s sleep, not to mention my home is ruined! You guys must be courting death!”