The Sword Firmament Pavilion was located in a mountain range and in this mountain range was a barren mountain without any signs of life. It was unimaginable that there would be such a barren land. After all, the Sword Firmament Pavilion occupied one of the best locations in the Great Qin Empire.

The barren mountain was filled with a bleak atmosphere and no one had expected that there would be a tomb here. A woman was standing before the tomb and her silhouette looked pitiful.

No one would link this silhouette with the gallant Bloody Rose of Locket Mountain. She had always put up a strong front in front of others, but today, tears were welling up in her eyes. However, she clenched her teeth and didn’t let her tears roll down her cheeks.

“Xin Yan, don’t forget who you are!” What Wang Yan said three days ago still resounded in her ears. Standing before the tomb, Xin Yan’s slender figure looked so fragile.

“Lass, what are you thinking about…” Xin Yan turned around to see Xin Jue walking over with a gentle smile. Xin Jue stepped forward and flicked her on the nose. “Why are you crying? Don’t you still have me?”

“I’m not crying,” she said.

“Really?” Xin Jue smiled. He went up to caress the tomb and muttered to himself, “I know why you’re trying to protect Lin Yun… He reminds you of yourself, doesn’t he? Like how he was bullied when he first came to the sect. Everyone comments on how ruthless you are, but I know that you have the softest heart around. Just like how you couldn’t bear to see the children of our servant suffering when you were young. You’ve changed over the years, but some things remained the same.”

Xin Yan looked at her brother’s back figure and cried out, “Big Brother…”

“Haha, I’m saying that you’ve gotten prettier. Don’t overthink it.” Xin Jue turned around and smiled, “You’ve become more fierce and I’m worried that you won’t be able to get married in the future.”

“Big Brother!” Xin Yan blushed.

“Hahaha! Let’s go back,” said Xin Jue.

“Okay.” The two left, but Xin Jue turned around to look at the bleak tomb before he left: Tomb of the Great Qin Empire’s General, Ye Yuhan.

“Father, I promised you that I wouldn’t let her suffer even the slightest grievance and that I would protect her smile with my sword.” The smile on Xin Jue’s face disappeared when he looked at the tomb and his eyes were filled with determination.

Lin Yun immediately started practicing the Seven Profound Steps when he got back. The Divine Sunchasing Art wasn’t just a movement technique, it also had offensive techniques. The movement technique was only a small portion of it, so the Seven Profound Steps was derived from a small portion of that small portion.

After all, the Divine Sunchasing Art was passed down through ancient times and the small portion that the Seven Profound Steps was derived from were insignificant. But even so, the Seven Profound Steps’ inheritance still came from it. This was why it could be placed on the fifth level despite being a transcendent profound martial technique.

It was a martial technique on the same level as the Overlord Sword. He heard that the Violet Palace Realm’s version of the Seven Profound Steps was even more terrifying, but it was far from his reach. The Seven Profound Steps was also divided into four grades, initial, lesser, greater, and complete mastery.

The initial mastery was also known as entering the threshold. Then came the lesser mastery, which would only come through more practice. The technique had a high requirement for comprehension, so talented people could obtain lesser mastery within a day, but those with poorer comprehension would have to take half a month or even half a year.

And if you couldn’t achieve initial mastery with it no matter how long you tried, your comprehension was lacking. So, since reaching the lesser mastery was so difficult, reaching greater mastery would only be more challenging.

You had to comprehend this technique’s true intent, but those without comprehension might spend five or ten years without any improvements. If someone managed to do this, the Seven Profound Steps would be brought to a whole new level upon reaching greater mastery. You would be like the Golden Crow spreading its wings with one step.

The Seven Profound Steps wasn’t weak and even in lesser mastery, it was a lot stronger than many other movement techniques on the same level. For example, the Fierycloud Steps that caught Lin Yun’s attention previously was inferior to the initial mastery Seven Profound Steps even after reaching greater mastery. This was the difference in their levels.

Lin Yun spent the remaining days practicing the Seven Profound Steps. He had to admit that entering this martial technique’s threshold took him ten days even with his comprehension. But this had only riled up his fighting spirit.

He also didn’t forget to cultivate the Iris Sword Sutra and Age Sutra, making steady progress in his cultivation in the second stage of the Profound Martial Realm. Aside from that, he also made progress in the Dragon-Tiger Fist by sparring with fellow disciples from Locket Mountain. Occasionally, he would also exchange moves with Xin Yan and listen to lectures from the elders.

After all, the elders were more experienced. Without him noticing, the chill in the mountain range had disappeared and was replaced by the warmth of spring. Lin Yun had also spent one and a half months on the Seven Profound Steps.

“It has already been three months since I joined the Sword Firmament Pavilion…” Sunlight pierced through the trees and shined on Lin Yun’s face as he looked at Li Wuyou’s residence. Li Wuyou had kept his word and was secluding himself until he made a breakthrough. 

“Time passes quickly. Fortunately, I have managed to make full use of my time.” Lin Yun suddenly took a step forward and threw a punch. He created a bizarre scene with his actions. Lin Yun’s fist was actually hitting himself, but it turned out to be an afterimage left behind by Lin Yun.

Leaving afterimages wherever he went was the sign of reaching lesser mastery in the Seven Profound Steps. Lin Yun took a total of seven steps and left behind seven afterimages. If you looked closely, the afterimages only lasted for a second before they disappeared. However, his punches were unbelievably fast and he could always manage to destroy his afterimages before they disappeared.

“I finally reached lesser mastery in the Seven Profound Steps after forty-five days.” Lin Yun let out a long breath. He wasn’t satisfied with the fact that he only managed to reach lesser mastery after such a long time. But he felt relieved when the Seven Profound Steps reached lesser mastery because he could combine it with the Dragon-Tiger Fist.

I can now create an afterimage with every step that I take and I can take seven steps in the blink of an eye. Even Fu Lingtian would have to destroy my seven afterimages if he wants to hit me. But by the time he destroys my afterimages, I can choose to run or attack as I wish.

 Lin Yun fell into deep thought as he recalled his meeting with Fu Lingtian, the Eight Vajra’s leader.

As for others, it would be a problem if they could differentiate him from the afterimages since ordinary cultivators in the third stage of the Profound Martial Realm wouldn’t be able to last a single move.

“Lin Yun!” A familiar voice called out that woke Lin Yun up from his thoughts. When he turned around, he saw Huangfu Jingxuan walking over.

Lin Yun got up and smiled, “Brother Huangfu, it has been a long time since we last met. What brings you here?”

Huangfu Jingxuan began to examine Lin Yun and realized that he couldn’t see through the latter anymore. He smiled, “The Contribution Hall is issuing missions to disciples in the Mortal Ranking today. I’m here to invite you to take a look with me, but you don’t seem too interested.”

“The Contribution Hall missions?” Lin Yun recalled this and smiled, “I already had that intention a long time ago. Come, let’s go and take a look.”

After all, he couldn’t possibly stay in the Locket Mountain all the time. He needed actual improvements in the Seven Profound Steps, Dragon-Tiger Fist, and the Overlord Sword.