Chapter 2048 - Black Plume Palace, Zhao Wuji

When Lin Yun left the pavilion, a woman appeared beside Mu Chuan. This woman had a stunning and graceful appearance. The woman smiled, “So he’s Master’s favourite disciple? He’s pretty pleasing to the eyes.”

“Second Senior Sister, how’s the situation?” Mu Chuan smiled.

This woman was the Radiant Sword Saint’s second disciple. She said, “It’s difficult. The Firmament Sword is already borrowed, and those old goats naturally don’t want to see the Cauldron Sword also being borrowed. They all disagreed upon hearing that our master would be borrowing it. I ran back from the Eastern Sea, and yet they didn’t give me any face.” She was the eldest daughter of the Hidden Sword Manor, who became the Radiant Sword Saint’s disciple by coincidence, and she had also left for the Eastern Sea.

The Hidden Sword Manor already had an opinion about her, so they didn’t give her any good facial expressions when they heard that she was here to borrow the sword. But fortunately, she was in a pretty good mood after hearing the conversation between Lin Yun and Mu Chuan.

“This is troublesome…” Mu Chuan was feeling a little headache.

“We’ll just snatch it away by force if there’s no other way.”

“There’s no need to hurry. Let’s wait for a little longer,” Mu Chuan said, startled by what she said.

Lin Yun followed Ye Ziling for half an hour before he finally knew where they were going. She was bringing him to Hidden Cloud Island. Hidden Cloud Island was located north of the Nether Ethereal City, at the center of three rivers. There were many shops that sold pellets, martial techniques, and demonic pets on the island.

The center was a plaza supported by hundreds of stone pillars that could accommodate thousands of people. The inside was spacious, and all the geniuses from the Eastern Desolation were gathered here. There were geniuses from holy lands and descendants of Ancient Saint Clans.

When Lin Yun followed Ye Ziling, he instantly saw many familiar faces, such as Zhao Yan, Gongsun Yan, Mu Qingqing, and Ye Ziyun. There were also experts on the King Ranking that Lin Yun met at Six Holy City. Aside from that, there were also other holy land swordsmen, but Lin Yun had never seen them before.

They were gathered in small groups, chatting amongst themselves. Lin Yun roughly looked at them, and knew that they were practically at the ninth transformation of the Nirvana Stage and radiated powerful sword intents. Some of them even possessed a saint physique. It appeared that all of the swordsmen within the Eastern Desolation were gathered here.

One group came forth when Ye Ziling walked over towards the Sword Sect’s direction. When Gongsun Yan saw Lin Yun beside Ye Ziling, he frowned, “Senior Sister Ye, who’s this brat? He dares pester you with his cultivation at the seventh transformation of the Nirvana Stage. Is he courting death?”

The Sword Sect’s disciples were unhappy that Ye Ziling was recently being pestered by many people. When Gongsun Yan saw that Lin Yun’s cultivation was only at the seventh transformation of the Nirvana Stage, he took Lin Yun as a descendant of a prestigious clan and wanted to teach him a lesson.

But when he stepped forth and grabbed Lin Yun’s collar, Ye Ziling’s voice resounded, “He’s Ye Qingtian of the Heavenly Dao Sect.”

“He’s Ye Qingtian? The one who slew Jin Xuanyi in Six Holy City?” Gongsun Yan was shocked and immediately cowered.

“That’s me,” Lin Yun replied.

Gongsun Yan was immediately placed in an awkward position. He quickly released his grip on Lin Yun’s collar and awkwardly smiled, “Young Master Ye is truly extraordinary, like the rumors. Your clothes are a little crumpled, so let me tidy it up for you.”

Gongsun Yan maintained his composure while tidying up Lin Yun’s clothes before quickly hiding behind Zhao Yan’s back.

Upon hearing Ye Qingtian’s name, many gazes were directed over. A swordsman from an Ancient Saint Clan provocatively asked, “I heard you’re a genius swordsman and even grasped the Astral Sword Intent?”

This person’s name was An Ziyun, a direct descendant of an Ancient Saint Clan. He was a talented swordsman of the An Saint Clan. He wore luxurious clothes and looked to be in his mid-twenties, looking extraordinary.

“I can’t be considered a genius, I’m just lucky,” Lin Yun said.

Everyone here was a talented swordsman within the Eastern Desolation, and each had their own pride. Most people have never seen Ye Qingtian’s strength. So they were sceptical about it and doubted that Ye Qingtian had grasped the Astral Sword Intent. So someone immediately wanted to challenge Ye Qingtian upon hearing his name.

“You look different from the rumors. Rumors say you’re cocky and didn’t even place Quasi-Saints in your eyes. It looks like the rumors aren’t true,” An Ziyun smiled.

“They’re just rumors, and it’s not worth mentioning,” Lin Yun smiled.

“Is he really Ye Qingtian? Why is he so cowardly?”

“He doesn’t look like Ye Qingtian. Ye Qingtian is rumored to be arrogant, killing anyone who dares to glare at him. Not only did he commit blasphemy against a holy maiden, but he even dared to kill a Saint Sovereign’s disciple.”

“Yeah. Even Young Master Wushuang was humiliated by him, and he should have a foul temper.”

“It’s probably a brag.” Many people showed contempt within their pupils, feeling that Ye Qingtian didn’t have the demeanor of a swordsman and was different from the rumors.

But Lin Yun simply ignored them. He came here because he was concerned about Ye Ziling and wanted to look at the Sword Sect. He wasn’t interested in starting a conflict with anyone.

Ye Ziling also found Ye Qingtian a little too cowardly and didn’t seem like the rumors. She had no intention of defending Ye Qingtian and came over to Ye Ziyun’s side. The relationship between them eased a lot and was no longer like before.

Seeing this, Lin Yun followed Ye Ziling over.

“Ye Qingtian, what are you doing? Who allowed you to come over?” Gongsun Yan glared at Lin Yun, seeing that he wasn’t as cocky as the rumors indicated.

This made Lin Yun inwardly smile because Gongsun Yan was still the same. But he couldn’t be bothered with Gongsun Yan and took a few steps back.

Ye Ziling had been observing Ye Qingtian, and couldn’t help feeling disappointed after seeing that Ye Qingtian didn’t even dare to face Gongsun Yan. Yet, Peak Master Mu Chuan said Ye Qingtian was a genius swordsman. Was this the demeanor a genius swordsman should have? She wondered if Ye Qingtian’s reputation was fake or if this person wasn’t Ye Qingtian and was someone in disguise.

Lin Yun smiled and was happy to reunite with his friends from the Sword Sect.

“Ye Qingtian, give up on our Ziling. Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve done!” Ye Ziyun warned.

“What have I done?” Lin Yun asked.

“Still trying to feign innocence? You once peeked at the Nether Orchid Holy Maiden showering, hiding in the Celestial Pool for a month. Is that true?” Ye Ziyun said in disdain.

“It’s true,” Lin Yun replied.

Ye Ziyun nodded, “At least you dare to admit that. Don’t think you can pester our Ziling just because of your reputation as the Heavenly Dao Sect’s genius swordsman. You’re just a lecher!”

Ye Ziyun didn’t give Ye Qingtian any face and berated him, causing laughter within the surroundings.

“Brother Yi, I’m afraid his reputation is nothing but bragging. There must be a story behind the death of the Quasi-Saint.” An Ziyun said in disdain as he came over to someone. The Ancient Saint Clan’s descendants surrounded a person and looked at Ye Qingtian with disdain.

The person they surrounded was Zhong Yi, the direct disciple of the Netherlift Sword Saint, one of the three Sword Saints of the Eastern Desolation. Aside from some geniuses from the holy lands, no one could compare to Zhong Yi, including Ye Ziling.

Zhong Yi glanced at Ye Qingtian. He felt that the latter wasn’t simple, but he despised a coward like Ye Qingtian. This humiliated swordsmen because he wouldn’t draw his sword if anyone dared to look at him in this manner.

A swordsman should have backbone and be fearless as long as they have their swords in their hands. But Zhong Yi shook his head and chose to ignore this scene.

With that, no one paid any attention to Ye Qingtian and began discussing what they were talking about earlier.

“There are three rounds in the Sword Assembly, and you can participate in the real Sword Assembly if you can make it through the three rounds.”

“I’ve heard of it before, and it requires high attainment in sword dao to make it through the three rounds.”

“It looks like the Heavenly Sword Manor is well-prepared, wanting to use this opportunity to revive the prestige of the Sword Alliance!”

“We might be genius swordsmen of the Eastern Desolation, but we’re still slightly weaker. Not many of us can make it through the three rounds.” Everyone was discussing about the Sword Assembly.

But Lin Yun had no change on his face when he heard what they were talking about. This was because Lin Yun didn’t place the three rounds in his heart, and he wouldn’t be bothered even if there were a hundred rounds.

“Sword Sect’s Zhao Yan.” Zhao Yan stepped forth and cupped his fists together.

Lin Yun began to suspect if Zhao Yan recognized him and cupped his fists together as a form of reply.

“I can sense your terrifying sword intent,” Zhao Yan said, looking at Lin Yun.

“Oh?” Lin Yun smiled. “How do you know about that?”

Lin Yun had hidden his sword intent deeply, and even a Saint wouldn’t be able to detect it if he didn’t release it.

“My instincts,” Zhao Yan said.

“Haha. If you had to rely on your instincts, you would’ve died a hundred times. Ye Qingtian, what do you think?” Gongsun Yan came over with provocation in his tone.

Lin Yun merely smiled and chose not to reply.

“I heard you’ve grasped the Astral Sword Intent and slew a Quasi-Saint. Why do you look like a coward? Don’t tell me your reputation is fake?” Gongsun Yan asked.

“I’ve already said that they’re rumors and can’t be treated seriously,” Lin Yun smiled.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“Blockhead, hear that? They’re just rumors. Don’t get fooled by it like an idiot,” Gongsun Yan said.

Right then, a commotion resounded that disrupted everyone’s conversations. When they came to their senses, the gate shattered as a powerful sword aura swept out. The rocks that flew around were enveloped in the sword aura, and the rock fragments could be used as lethal weapons.

As the scenery became chaotic, everyone moved to destroy the rubble. Right then, a saint disciple from the Heavenly Flame Sect stepped forth and roared, “Who is it?!”

The faces of the other geniuses sank because they knew they weren’t pushovers. They were all talented swordsmen. Everyone wanted to try his strength the moment he came in. But this entrance was a hundred times more arrogant than Ye Qingtian.

When the wind dissipated, five figures appeared before everyone. They were all donning black clothes with two purple cloths on their shoulders that were hanging down their backs like wings.

“Black Plume Palace, Zhao Wuji,” Someone instantly recognized the newcomer’s identity. The party leader was the young palace master of the Black Plume Palace, Zhao Wuji. The other four wore masks that covered half of their faces. They were his sword servants.

Zhao Wuji might seem ordinary, but the sword aura he gave off was suffocating.