When Lin Yun and Lil’ Purple landed on the altar, there was nothing in the surroundings except the chilling cold wind. It was a little hard to imagine that the demonic aura within the Sword Saint Mountain would be so thick that it had formed into a cloud, and there was such a massive altar within the cloud of demonic aura.
This was a rare purple altar. The altars that Lin Yun saw in the past were either black or grey, so this purple altar looked a little devilish and didn’t seem like an altar at all.
Lin Yun also observed that this altar was forged with rocks, and countless stone pillars were standing on the altar. At the top of every pillar was an ancient sword that made the stone pillars look like some sort of array, instantly giving this altar a form of ceremony or ritual feeling to it.
But Lin Yun’s gaze was soon attracted by the fluctuation from the center of the altar. When he turned to look at the center of the altar, a slight reaction came from the Golden Crow Saint Rune in his profound palace.
“Sovereign Divine Rune!” Lin Yun speculated that the fluctuation must come from the Sovereign Divine Rune.
“Let’s go and take a look.” Lil’ Purple was the first to move as she came to the center of the altar with several leaps. A giant long sword plunged into the ground, and the entire sword was made of stone, and several fine shackles were dangling from the top of the sword hilt.
When Lin Yun got close, he noticed that most of the shackles were connected to the swords in the surrounding pillars, and he instantly figured out that this was an array. The stone sword in the center should be the core of this array, and the Sovereign Divine Rune might be beneath it.
“What array is this? Lil’ Purple, do you recognize it?” Lin Yun felt the eeriness in this place, and the array was highly terrifying. He began to hesitate because the Sovereign Divine Rune might be sealing some sort of existence. If he retrieved the Sovereign Divine Rune, the array would shatter, and he might unleash something terrifying.
“I’m not too sure.” Lil’ Purple claimed to be a divine spiritualist and often boasted about her abilities as a spiritualist. But her brows were locked together at this moment.
“This array should appear after the ancient era, which is during the dark era. Can it be that the Sword Saint Mountain is really sealing a demon lord?” Lil’ Purple also began to feel suspicious and wondered what this array was sealing. She was usually fearless, but she had become cautious at this moment.
“Let’s go out and discuss this with my senior brother first.” Lin Yun suggested as he had maintained his composure and resisted the temptation of the Sovereign Divine Rune. Jian Jingtian had a higher cultivation and more experience than him, so he might know something. Most importantly, he had to find a way to bring Jian Jingtian over.
Most importantly, with Jian Jingtian around, it would be another layer of safety for him.
“Alright.” Lil’ Purple was still reluctant because she was more concerned about the Sovereign Divine Rune than Lin Yun. When Lin Yun saw Lil’ Purple’s gaze, he could roughly guess why the Sovereign Divine Rune should be connected if Lil’ Purple could recover her strength. The Sovereign Divine Rune was just before her, yet she couldn’t retrieve it. So it definitely felt terrible for her.
This made Lin Yun let out a weak sigh and wanted to comfort her. But the Golden Crow Saint Rune in his profound palace suddenly vibrated. When he touched the stone sword, he could feel a fluctuation coming from within the stone sword.
“Weird…” Lin Yun let go of the stone sword and took several steps back. The Sovereign Divine Rune in the stone sword seemed to be responding to him, as if it was trying to stop him from leaving.
“What’s going on?” Lil’ Purple asked when he saw Lin Yun’s eyes flickering.
“There seems to be something inside the stone sword… it seems to be responding to me. I have to go and take a look,” said Lin Yun before he stepped forth and slammed his palm on the stone sword. But the rebound force that exploded from the stone sword caught him by surprise and sent him flying back. As Lin Yun wiped the blood off his lips, his expression became awkward.
“Did you get something wrong?” Lil’ Purple asked, looking at Lin Yun doubtfully.
Scratching his head, Lin Yun smiled, “It should be right. There’s a reaction from the Golden Crow Saint Rune in my profound palace, and I can sense something inside it trying to stop me from leaving.”
“Even so, you can’t be so impulsive. The Sovereign Divine Rune is the core of this array, so this array is definitely powerful,” said Lil’ Purple. “I think you can try and summon the azure sword holy spirit and see if it acknowledges you. The summit of the Sword Saint Mountain has a stone tablet, and there are thirteen tests. So it’s clearly been waiting for someone for many years.”
“Alright.” Lin Yun nodded his head. As he calmed down, he came before the stone tablet and sat down with both hands on his knees. Soon, thirteen azure birds appeared and started revolving around the entire array. When the azure birds fused, an azure sword reappeared before Lin Yun.
The azure sword instantly lit up the surroundings. When it appeared, all the swords on the stone pillars radiated before the light converged into the stone sword through the fine shackles.
“Not good!” Lin Yun’s face changed, and he was surprised to discover that he had lost control of the azure sword and that his vitality was swiftly being sapped from him and absorbed by the azure sword before pouring into the stone sword.
“Lin Yun!” Lil’ Purple immediately became nervous. She truly wanted the Sovereign Divine Rune, but she didn’t want to lose Lin Yun because of it.
“Don’t come over…” Lin Yun stopped Lil’ Purple from coming and continued, “I can still hold on.”
If he was alone, Lin Yun would give up without any hesitation and wouldn’t put himself in danger. But he could tell that the Sovereign Divine Rune was significant to her, so Lin Yun wanted to try and help her.
As Lin Yun’s vitality poured into the stone sword, the stone sword began to tremble before ripples appeared at the center of the stone sword, turning into a purple vortex.
“This is the entrance?” Lin Yun was surprised because he could sense the vortex’s extremely terrifying and powerful aura. Gradually, purple light poured out from the vortex and formed a circular gate of light.
Seeing this, Lin Yun gritted his teeth and entered the vortex with Lil’ Purple following after him. When Lin Yun entered the vortex, the surroundings were first dark before lighting up with bolts of lightning flickering above him.
At the far end of his sight, Lin Yun saw a figure hovering in the air, sitting above the stone sword.
“Who?” Lin Yun squinted his eyes as he slowly flew over. He quickly saw a purple-clothed old man who emitted an ancient aura.
When the old man opened his eyes, his pupils were filled with age, as though he was a slumbering dragon who had awakened with lightning and boundless sword intent filling his pupils.
“Fleeting cloud isn’t my intention, and ten thousand years have passed in the blink of an eye… how many years has it been, and someone is finally here,” said the purple-clothed old man. His voice was filled with puzzlement and mystery.
When Lin Yun heard what this old man said, he instantly speculated that this old man might be the owner of the Sword Saint Mountain.
“Lin Yun pays his greetings, Senior.” Lin Yun said carefully. “If I have disturbed Senior in any way, I apologize beforehand.”
“Disturbed? I don’t even know how long I have been sleeping here. Young man, can you tell me what year of the dark era this is?” The old man asked.
“This is year 3301 of the Divine Dragon Era. The dark era has already ended,” replied Lin Yun honestly.
“The dark era has come to an end? H-How is this possible? They’re all so strong. Who is it? Did the ancestor of the Heavenly Dao Sect come back to life, or did a genius appear from the Myriad Buddha Dao, or did the ancient eight clans come back? Or that lord… finally returned?” The old man was shocked when he heard what Lin Yun said.
Lin Yun was baffled when he heard what the old man said and replied, “None of them. Nine Emperors appeared three thousand years ago and ended the dark era.”
He didn’t know much about the Nine Emperors. Everything he knew was public information, and much of it was exaggerated and sounded like a legend. So it was hard for anyone to have exact information on the Nine Emperors besides those Ancient Saint Clans or holy lands.
“The Nine Emperors?” The old man was baffled because he had never heard of them before. This meant that they were geniuses who rose after his death.
“That’s right. The Nine Emperors appeared three thousand years ago. They suppressed the dark era, and re-establish the Divine Dragon Empire. We’re now in the Divine Dragon Era…” Lin Yun shared everything he knew with the old man.
“The heavenly paths are broken, so it hasn’t ended yet. They will return sometime in the future,” sighed the old man.
“Who are they?” Lin Yun asked.
“They’re a race that doesn’t belong to the Divine Dragon Era. They’re demons from hell that will never be able to coexist with our Kunlun Realm. So our only option is to fight. If we lose, we will all be annihilated,” said the old man with a grave expression; his voice was filled with boundless sorrow and killing intent.
“Mhm?” Suddenly, the old man’s gaze turned to Lil’ Purple and the sword box that Lin Yun was carrying. This instantly made him exclaim with a weird expression, and he was baffled.
“Looks like you have a lot of secrets on you. I can’t see through the sword box that you’re carrying. I can sense a familiar feeling coming from the sword box, but I can’t recall when I saw it.” The old man was surprised that someone of his level couldn’t see through the sword box that Lin Yun was carrying.
“Forget it,” said the old man. “Since you can come here, you’ve made it through the thirteen stages. Perhaps you might know about the secrets of the Sovereign Divine Rune.”
Lin Yun became emotional when he heard that because the Sovereign Divine Rune was here.
“But your current cultivation is too low. The Sovereign Divine Rune concerns the entire Kunlun Realm and the safety of the Divine Dragon Era. I’m afraid that you can’t bear such responsibilities on your shoulders. So come back again in a decade,” said the old man as his words instantly made Lin Yun’s heart turn cold.
A decade was too long, but what the old man said did make sense because the Sovereign Divine Rune was too important, since it involved the safety of the Kunlun Realm and the Divine Dragon Era.
Lin Yun could be shameless when facing Yu Qingfeng, but he couldn’t refute what the old man said with how righteous the old man was.
“Erm… can you give me the Sovereign Divine Rune? I believe that I can protect the Kunlun Realm,” said Lin Yun without feeling shameless.
