Lin Yun washed his face and changed his clothes after Guardian Plum left. Then, he exited the house. It turns out that he was staying in a manor, surrounded by abundant greenery. The plum blossom trees in the surroundings were trimmed and there was a faint chill permeating the air.

“What a great place!” exclaimed Lin Yun. He now knew why Guardian Plum chose this place. The energy here wasn’t something that the Locket Mountain could be compared to. Lin Yun couldn’t afford to waste his three days here.

Lin Yun walked around and enjoyed the scenery. He passed by artificial mountains before finally coming to a stop by an icy lake. There were petals lying on top of the lake and the bottom could be easily seen. It was like an untainted mirror.

The lake occupied a huge space and there were traces of martial techniques being performed here. Lin Yun instantly figured out that Guardian Plum must’ve practised his cultivation and martial techniques here.

“This is…” Joy suddenly appeared on Lin Yun’s face as he quickened his pace. When he looked at the mist above the lake, he instantly knew that this was a spiritual lake. He cupped his hands together and scooped the lake water and drank a mouthful of it. He felt refreshed when it flowed through his body.

“This is great!” Lin Yun had envy in his eyes. He mumbled, “Guardian Plum is truly formidable to enjoy this spiritual lake all to himself. I’ll cultivate here for the next three days then.”

Lin Yun sat down and retrieved a few second-grade spiritual jades and started to cultivate. Lin Yun had an astronomical sum of second-grade spiritual jades, so if he spent three days here, the efficiency would be equivalent to cultivating for half a month.

Lin Yun’s violet origin energy coursed through his meridians and he was shocked to discover that the violet energy also contained traces of chill. After reaching the eighth stage in the Iris Sword Sutra, Lin Yun had constantly been in battles. He didn’t have time to examine himself.

When he looked carefully, he noticed that the Iris Flower had undergone a drastic transformation. The flower now looked like a jade sculpture, with a violet chill shrouding it. Naturally, it was the Violet Sacred Flame. After reaching the eighth stage, the Violet Sacred Flame converted into this form where a layer of mist shrouded the flower.

“This means that my origin energy has gained another attribute. What a pleasant surprise!” Lin Yun was shocked, but at the same time, he wasn’t. The Violet Sacred Flame had the attribute of cold flames. Not only could the flames form the Iris Sword Array, but they could also summon icicles.

The Iris Sword Sutra was beginning to reveal its fangs. In just half a day, Lin Yun used dozens of second-grade spiritual jades. After consuming them, he was shocked to discover another petal forming.

“This is truly a great place. It’s only been half a day and there’s clear signs of improvement to my Iris Sword Sutra…” Lin Yun was pleasantly shocked. After all, the Iris Sword Sutra exhausts a lot of resources, so progression was normally a very slow process.

Lin Yun continued cultivating as two people observed him in secret. The first person was a middle-aged man who turned out to be Guardian Plum. The other was an elderly man that Lin Yun wouldn’t be able to recognize.

But the aura coming from the elderly man was several times stronger than Guardian Plum. He was the Sword Firmament Pavilion’s mysterious pavilion master, Jian Xuanhe.

All the pavilion masters used ‘Jian’ as their surnames, which represented their respect for the ancestor, Jian Wuming.

“I can’t see through this fellow’s cultivation technique. I bet he must have had a fortunate encounter,” said Jian Xuanhe.

“I noticed that as well. If it wasn’t for his cultivation technique, there’s no way he could have defeated Chang Wu and Chu Haoyu when he was only in the fifth stage of the Martial Realm. With just his cultivation technique, there is quite a distance between him and the inner disciples,” said Guardian Plum.

“I’m satisfied with the candidate that you’ve chosen. The potential that he has shown at seventeen is in no way inferior to Bai Lixuan,” smiled Jian Xuanhe. Then, he noticed the helplessness in Guardian Plum’s eyes.

“But never place all your hope in someone else. If you’re able to make a breakthrough into the Heavenly Soul Realm, then there’s nothing for us to fear,” Jian Xuanhe said a glow in his eyes.

Guardian Plum smiled bitterly. How could it be easy to reach the Heavenly Soul Realm? It would be a real problem if there was even one in the Great Qin Empire.

“What do you think of the Demonic Lotus Realm two months from now? Should we include him?” Jian Xuanhe also knew the difficulty of reaching the Heavenly Soul Realm, so he changed the topic back to Lin Yun.

“He was just promoted to an inner disciple. Isn’t it a little too forceful for him to go to the Demonic Lotus Realm…?” Guardian Plum was shocked at this suggestion.

“This brat’s potential is larger than you think. Furthermore, he already decided to participate in the Dragon Gate Competition. How can he possibly win if he can’t even make it through the Demonic Lotus Realm?” Jian Xuanhe smiled mysteriously while stroking his beard.

“Then I’ll include him in the Demonic Lotus Realm,” smiled Guardian Plum.

Lin Yun practiced for two days and two nights. On the third sunrise, he slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was sharp and cold. Lin Yun let out a long breath with joy written all over his face. Over the past two days, he exhausted a hundred second-grade spiritual jades, which allowed his Iris Flower to grow another petal.

“Alright, it’s time to test the icy sword aura.” Lin Yun drew the Flower Burial Sword and poured his origin into it. He could sense a faint chilling being emitted from the sword. Lin Yun then brandished his sword and performed the Flowing Wind Sword technique that he learned back in the Azuresky Sect.

Under the empowerment of the Iris Sword Sutra, he couldn’t even tell that he was executing a houtian sword technique. Wherever the sword went, a chill lingered in the air. Lin Yun gradually moved around with the sword. When he landed on the ground, his afterimages formed into an Iris Flower.

Looking at the afterimages, Lin Yun sighed, “I never expected that I would still remember the Flowing Wind Sword.”

Lin Yun didn’t think that there would be an opportunity for him to use it again in the future. The sword technique might seem powerful now thanks to his cultivation technique, but it was still a houtian sword technique. 

Lin Yun gently shook the sword in his hand and the afterimages shattered, forming smaller Iris Flowers. When his sword intent dissipated, the Iris Flowers also disappeared.

With joy on his face, Lin Yun muttered to himself, “The Iris Sword Sutra has undergone another transformation. In the future, I can easily kill someone by simply swinging my sword.”

Lin Yun sheathed his sword and placed it back into the sword box.

“Time to practice the Dragon-Tiger Fist.” The Dragon-Tiger Fist had nine forms, the Dragon-Tiger Might; Dragon-Tiger Steps; Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger; Dragon-Tiger Fist, Dragon Tail; Dragon-Tiger Fist, Dragon Painting; Dragon-Tiger Fist, Soaring Dragon; Hidden Dragon, Crouching Tiger; Hundred Beast Wave, and Vanquishing Dragon and Tiger.

Lin Yun was already familiar with the first five forms, so he was left with the last four forms. Aside from Hidden Dragon, Crouching Tiger, every one of the last four forms were extremely powerful. The previous fight allowed Lin Yun to gain lots of insights to the Dragon-Tiger Fist.

Lin Yun’s eyes suddenly glowed and his aura formed into a golden dragon. When he clenched his fist, the ferocious dragon let out a roar. When he threw his punch out, an immense pressure spread out in the form of a dragon and a tiger. He could perform the Dragon-Tiger Fist smoothly.

Suddenly, Lin Yun’s eyes glowed and he executed the Soaring Dragon. A roaring golden dragon formed around his fist. When he threw his punch, the dragon soared out and flew into the sky.

Then, a dragon manifested on his left arm and a tiger manifested on his right arm. When both his fists bumped together, a dragon and tiger suddenly enveloped him. This was a combined defensive and offensive attack.

When Lin Yun’s aura reached the limit, he executed the Hundred Beast Wave. A massive tiger manifested behind him. When he threw his punch out, the tiger opened its eyes and let out a ferocious roar, unleashing the might of a king. At the same time, Lin Yun’s sword intent and origin energy poured into it. It might seem like a simple fist, but it carried the might of a king.

When Lin Yun retracted his fist, the terrifying aura around him disappeared. He was now left with the last form of the Dragon-Tiger Fist. It wasn’t time for him to comprehend the final form and he wouldn’t be trying to do so anytime soon. As for the Heavenly Seal, Lin Yun guessed that it must be related to Buddhism, so it wouldn’t be easy for him to comprehend it since he knew nothing about Buddhism..

But Lin Yun wasn’t unsatisfied. After all, the current Dragon-Tiger Fist was more than enough for him. As long as he didn’t encounter one of the titles like Drifting Goblet, Lin Yun was confident that he could fight any of the Heavenly Profound Sect’s disciples.

It was still early and he wasn’t in a rush to leave. Lin Yun’s eyes glowed with excitement. The cosmic artifact was now his greatest trump card. “Let’s test the cosmic artifact out…”