The Sovereign's Ascension

Chapter 2180 - Competition of the Upper Nine Peaks

The divine clouds lingered in the sky for a long time with loud music echoing for thousands of miles. The ceremony was majestic, and the voices really sounded like the whispers of deities, making everyone put on grave expressions. While Lin Yun and the Indigothunder Quasi-Saint were chatting amongst themselves, the ceremony continued.

When it was noon, a golden radiance covered the sky that made the sky look like a smooth mirror with multiple mysterious runes that looked like threads hanging from the sky. Many Saints who closed their eyes to meditate had opened their eyes as they looked at the phenomenon in the sky and whispered amongst each other.

“Emperor Realm experts established the seventy-two peaks in ancient times, and the competition for the Upper Nine Peaks has a long history. Today, we will hold the competition again under the eyes of the predecessors!” The Thousand Plume Great Saint declared. “Serene Jade Peak, Sword Honor Peak, Heavenly Dipper Peak, Earthly Firmament Peak, Thundercloud Peak, Fire Manipulating Peak, Lightstream Peak, and Dawning Cloud Peak!”

Along with the Thousand Plume Great Saint’s voice, the saint disciples and peak masters of the nine peaks all went up onto the altar. The nine saint disciples were arrogant as they looked around at the disciples from the other peaks. They were the representatives of the Upper Nine Peaks, and their cultivations were at the Heavenly Origin Phase of the Quasi-Saint Realm. They were all above the age of fifty, and the oldest one amongst them was a hundred years old.

After reaching the Quasi-Saint Realm, a hundred years old couldn’t be considered old. They were still in their prime with a few hundred more years to live.

“Amongst the Upper Nine Peaks, the Heavenly Dipper Peak is the strongest with the other eight peaks slightly weaker in comparison. Even so, the weakest amongst them is at the Heavenly Origin Phase,” the Indigothunder Peak Master said. “I didn’t bluff you, right? You better not get involved in the competition for the Upper Nine Peaks.”

The Indigothunder Peak Master was still trying to persuade him at the end, hoping that Lin Yun wouldn’t get over his head, since there was no need for him to compete for the title of the Upper Nine Peaks.

Lin Yun merely responded with a smile. The nine of them on the stage were experts at the Heavenly Origin Phase, possessing deep and unfathomable cultivations.

“The Heavenly Dipper Peak’s Wang Zai. I’m afraid no one will challenge him, but we can try with the eight others.”

“There’s not much meaning in that. The Upper Nine Peaks can lose three times, so we have to defeat them two more times, even if someone manages to defeat them.”

“It has been a few hundred years since the Upper Nine Peaks have changed, and I bet this year will be the same.”

Lin Yun heard the surrounding discussions and knew that the disciples from the Upper Nine Peaks were mainly descendants of the four major clans. The competition for the Upper Nine Peaks was only a formality, just like the ceremony to recall the Emperor Sword.

After the Thousand Plume Great Saint was finished speaking, the competition for the Upper Nine Peaks began. All the guests on the altar looked with interest, wanting to see how strong the Heavenly Dao Sect was. For a holy land, the Saints were their plaque, and the strength of a sect depended on their saint disciples. After all, Saints hardly made a move in this era, and it was rare for a Saint to fall.

“Thousand Mountain Peak’s Zhao Junliang wishes to challenge!” It didn’t take long for a person to fly on the stage and challenge the Lightstream Peak. The saint disciple representing the Lightstream Peak was young. He was called Zhang Mu, a man in his fifties,.

Zhang Mu looked arrogant and smiled, “Don’t tell me that you think you have a chance because I’m young?”

“Who knows without trying?” Zhao Junliang replied.

The Thousand Mountain Peak had a high rank amongst the seventy-two peaks, and Zhao Junliang came with hope.

“Ha, how ignorant.” Zhang Mu was arrogant as he sneered and made the first move. The two had similar cultivation levels. They were both at the lesser phase of the first stage of the Heavenly Origin Phase.

As they ignited their sacred flames, their attacks were multiplied by six times after receiving the empowerment from six layers of heaven. The auras that they released even caused ripples to spread across the golden clouds, and their battle was accompanied by a terrifying phenomenon.

They were both evenly matched and neither of them could suppress the other party. When the disciples of the Thousand Mountain Peak saw this, they all looked excited because this meant that they stood a chance.

But all of a sudden, a dazzling golden radiance exploded from Zhang Mu, accompanied by a dragon roar. The sudden outburst from Zhang Mu sent Zhao Junliang flying away, throwing out a mouthful of blood with his sacred flame becoming dim, scaring everyone from Thousand Mountain Peak.

“Don’t embarrass yourself if this is the best you can do,” Zhang Mu said coldly with disdain. At this moment, everyone realized that they weren’t on the same level. Even if they were similar in terms of their cultivation, there was a huge gulf between them, and the outcome was determined after ten exchanges.

The outcome of this challenge made many people look depressed. Next up, the eight peaks aside from the Heavenly Dipper Peak were challenged, but most battles would end within fifty moves, and all the challengers failed without exception. There were some who lost terribly, despite having the same cultivation. The strength displayed by the saint disciples of the Upper Nine Peaks was horrifying.

Amongst the guests, Ji Zixi said, “The disciples of the Upper Nine Peaks are strong, and they’re on a whole other level than the other peaks. It looks like the Heavenly Dao Sect is pretty strong.”

An elder beside her smiled, “On the surface, yeah. But if you take a closer look at it, you’ll notice that the representatives from the Upper Nine Peaks are practically saint disciples from the four major clans. The Upper Nine Peaks are monopolized by the four major clans. It’s fine if the four major clans are united, but they each have their own agendas…”

It had been a long time since the Heavenly Dao Sect didn’t have a sect master. As a result, the powers were in the hands of the four major clans, and this was an open secret amongst the holy lands. But when they saw this scene, it seemed to be true.

In the beginning, the competition for the Upper Nine Peaks was rather intense, but it gradually looked boring because it would end up in a one-sided battle. Only the competition for the champion would be interesting because the title was accompanied with glory.

“Heavenly Dragon Lord, why don’t we have some fun?” Zhang Mu looked at Lin Yun after defeating his opponent. His gaze was filled with provocation, and he wore a playful smile.

The moment he said that, an uproar broke out from the surrounding area as everyone turned to look at Lin Yun. After all, the Blue Dragon Record had just ended not too long ago, and Ye Qingtian’s name was resounding throughout the Kunlun Realm.

The competition for the Upper Nine Peaks had no restriction in age, but most of the people who fought were at the Heavenly Origin Phase. Everyone knew that there was a huge gulf between the Heavenly Origin Phase and Indigo Origin Phase.

With so little time, Ye Qingtian would only have reached the Indigo Origin Phase at best, and there was no way he could compete with the representatives of the Upper Nine Peaks.

“Sure.” Lin Yun smiled as he stood out.

“What?” Everyone was stumped after hearing what Lin Yun said. They began to wonder if he was joking.

“What is he trying to do? Isn’t he afraid that he’ll embarrass himself as the Heavenly Dragon Lord?” Ji Zixi frowned. Not only her, but many people were shocked as well because there wouldn’t be any benefits for Ye Qingtian to clash with Zhang Mu now. Even if he managed to win, it was only proper as the Heavenly Dragon Lord. But if he loses, Zhang Mu would definitely use this opportunity to embarrass him, saying that there was nothing impressive about the Heavenly Dragon Lord. At that time, Ye Qingtian’s reputation would be ruined and everyone would say that the Heavenly Dragon Lord was arrogant to challenge a Quasi-Saint at the Heavenly Origin Phase, only to lose.

Even Zhang Mu was shocked when he heard Lin Yun’s reply. He was only asking casually, and didn’t expect Ye Qingtian to agree.

The eyes of the other representatives also lit up as they looked at Lin Yun, wearing a smile. If Ye Qingtian was willing to stand out, it would be more interesting than the saint disciples from the other peaks. After all, who wouldn’t want to trample on the Heavenly Dragon Lord?

Lin Yun might throw them behind a year from now, but who would give up on this opportunity to trample on the Heavenly Dragon Lord? Furthermore, they might even be able to use this opportunity to seize Ye Qingtian’s fortune.

Wang Zai from the Heavenly Dipper Peak smiled disdainfully. He didn’t place Ye Qingtian or the other representatives in his eyes, so he closed his eyes after snorting coldly. After all, what sense of accomplishment would there be to trample on someone at the Indigo Origin Phase, even if he was the Heavenly Dragon Lord?

“What did you say?” Zhang Mu looked excited, wanting to confirm it again.

“I said, sure.” Lin Yun smiled as he rose to the sky and landed on the stage.

“I didn’t force you, and you came up yourself,” Zhang Mu said with excitement on his face.

“Sure,” Lin Yun replied.

“Sorry about this, then!” Zhang Mu rejoiced as he released his sacred flames to envelop himself, releasing a powerful pressure that caught Lin Yun by surprise and forced him to take a few steps back.

That’s the sacred flame? Interesting… Lin Yun inwardly pondered.

He had been observing for a long time and had a rough understanding of the sacred flame. But after experiencing it personally, he realized that he had belittled the sacred flame. But that wasn’t all. Six layers of heavenly screens rose behind Zhang Mu, making his sacred flame blaze even more intensely. Anyone could discover that the sacred flames around him were filled with floral patterns, and they were all saint daos.

“Rookie…” Zhang Mu had disdain on his face, and he could tell with a glance that Ye Qingtian had no experience fighting someone at the Heavenly Origin Phase. Thus, he wanted to end this battle quickly within ten moves. As he charged over, his sacred flames caused ripples to spread in the air from the compression, and his figure gradually became blurred in front of Lin Yun. This wasn’t because of his movement technique but because of the sacred flames. It was impossible for someone who wasn’t at the same cultivation as him to track him.

“Lightstream Slash!” Zhang Mu hacked forth with his palm as flames converged into a giant blade that descended from the sky.

Lin Yun was forced to draw his sword to fend off this attack, which forced him to take two steps back.

“I will defeat you within ten moves!” Zhang Mu looked even more confident as he increased his speed.

Lin Yun might seem to be retreating under Zhang Mu’s attacks, but he was calm and was slowly adapting to the sacred flame’s pressure. It wasn’t as powerful as Lin Yun had imagined, which made him frown. He felt that he might be too cautious about it. Didn’t the Indigothunder Peak Master tell him that the sacred flame was terrifying?

“It’s too late for you to regret it now! Heavenly Dragon Lord, this is the end!” Seeing Lin Yun frowning, Zhang Mu thought that the former was afraid, and he laughed.

When Lin Yun came to his senses, he no longer had any reservation and swung his sword forth. When indigo radiance bloomed from him, Thunder Dao and Wind Dao were both released at the same time, combining together to strengthen his Thunderstorm Intent.

When an Azure Dragon’s roar was released, a dazzling sword ray soared to the sky. This caught Zhang Mu by surprise as the sacred flame around him was pierced, along with the multiple layers of heavenly screens.

As for Zhang Mu, he was sent flying away under Lin Yun’s sword. His saint armor was shattered, his blood splashing around, his bones snapped, and his internal organs were torn apart. He was nearly split into two under Lin Yun’s sword.

“Don’t kill me, don’t kill me…” Zhang Mu was so terrified that he used his hands to crawl backwards, and this scene left everyone shocked.

Ye Qingtian used one sword to frighten a Quasi-Saint at the Heavenly Origin Phase to this point?

Lin Yun was surprised, and he soon lost his interest. He said, “Sorry about that. I seemed to have gone too far with that sword earlier.”

When he said that, the faces of those from the Lightstream Peak became ashened.

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