In the highest guestroom at Cloud Guesthouse, Lin Yun was observing a crimson fruit with a grave expression. Based on all the clues he got, he was certain that there was a high possibility that this crimson fruit could be the Dragonflame Fruit!

The worth of this fruit far exceeded Lin Yun’s imagination, causing him to try and calm his heart. It would be a great waste if Lin Yun used such a valuable fruit right now.

“I’ll hold on to it for now. If Senior Brother Xin Jue needs it, then I can give it to him.” Lin Yun was still far from the Violet Palace Realm, so he wasn’t in a rush. On the other hand, Xin Jue’s strength was similar to the eight titles, so he might need this more than him. Whether it was because of his personal feelings or reasoning, Lin Yun felt that he couldn’t keep this for himself. He could also consider this as repaying Xin Jue for saving him multiple times.

“I’ll just go with that.” It was hard for others to imagine that Lin Yun made the decision to give away such a precious fruit in an instant.

“Alright, time to look at what the next mission plaque says.” Lin Yun took out the mission plaque, which recorded his second five star A-rank mission. The mission was issued by Inkcloud City’s Gao Clan. The Gao Clan’s status in Inkcloud City was equivalent to the regional forces in the Azure Sun County, but they were nothing in Great Qin County.

There were powerful clans here, but the strength between the clans were different. The Gao Clan had a deep foundation and its patriarch, Gao Yangyu, had a cultivation in the sixth stage of the Profound Martial Realm. They had deep connections with various chambers of commerce and they also had strong financial resources.

If nothing went wrong, they could be promoted into a prestigious clan in another hundred years with stable development and the birth of a monstrous genius. The mission issued by the Gao Clan was to escort the Gao Clan’s herbal servants deep into the Bloodbone Forest to collect herbs.

The Bloodbone forest not only had a harsh environment, but it was also infested with demonic beasts in the fourth and fifth stage of the Profound Marital Realm. It was so dangerous that not even cultivators in the third stage of the Profound Martial Realm would dare to enter. It was more dangerous than the Demoncloud Mountain Range.

What was more troublesome was the fact that there were many wandering cultivators hiding there to practice evil techniques. So it would be dangerous for the Gao Clan to enter based on their own strength. As a last resort, they could only entrust such a dangerous mission to the major sects in the Great Qin Empire.

In addition to the four great sects, the other top forces in the Great Qin Empire were all invited. These candidates would be selected by Gao Yangyu. It was also noted that Lin Yun had to pay half the contribution points awarded in this mission if he wasn’t chosen. Otherwise, it would be equivalent to a mission failure.

In other words, Lin Yun had to be selected. If he wasn’t, not only would this trip have been for nothing, but he would also have to pay half of the reward from his own pocket.

“None of these five star A-rank missions are easy.” Lin Yun placed the mission plaque aside and took out spiritual jades to cultivate. There were still a few more days, so Lin Yun decided to cultivate for now.

The Iris Sword Sutra required an enormous sum of resources and Lin Yun had been broke for quite some time. Fortunately, he obtained 9,000 spiritual jades after killing two wandering cultivators, which was enough to support his cultivation for the time being.

At the same time, Xin Jue returned to the Sword Firmament Pavilion and looked at Xin Yan with a smile, “You’ll never guess who I ran into on my mission.”

The news of four titles working together with Xin Jue to hunt Mo Luo was already widely spread. Xin Yan naturally knew that her elder brother was talking about this mission and she smiled, “Don’t tell me you bumped into Lin Yun…”

“Smart,” smiled Xin Jue.

Xin Yan had a trace of surprise flashing through her eyes and she asked, “You really ran into him? Is he alright?”

When Xin Jue explained everything that happened, Xin Yan was shocked, “He really brought pride to the sect. The Primal Origin Sect has been on bad terms with our sect and the disciples of our sects always fall into conflict outside.”

“That surpassed my expectation as well, but it’s a pity that this mission didn’t go that great.” Xin Jue nodded.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

Xin Jue smiled, “The Dragonflame Fruit hasn’t been found yet. You should see the unsightly expression on those four.”

If anyone could make a breakthrough into the Violet Palace Realm right now, they would be the strongest in the Great Qin Empire among their generation. None of the eight titled figures would bow to one another, so everyone wanted to make the breakthrough first. Their faces naturally wouldn’t look good since the Dragonflame Fruit wasn’t found.

“But that’s good. There will be a battle between those four if the Dragonflame Fruit appears.” Xin Jue paused briefly and continued, “That aside, I’m more concerned about Lin Yun’s second mission.”

“You also found out that he broke the rules and snatched the A-ranked missions?” questioned Xin Yan.

“How can I not know about it when it’s spreading so wildly outside? But the other missions shouldn’t be troublesome to him. The only troublesome thing is the escort to the Bloodbone Forest!” Xin Jue went on to share some details, causing Xin Yan’s face to change.

A brief moment later, she looked into the distance and said, “You don’t have to be too worried about him. The Alliance-Union Battles will be held soon. How can he compete with the top 10 in the Mortal Ranking if he can’t even complete those A-ranked missions?”

“Oh? You seem to have faith in him,” responded Xin Jue.

The sun shined on Xin Yan’s face as she smiled, “When was I not confident in him?”

Five days later, Lin Yun opened his eyes in the guestroom and flicked his finger. His origin energy condensed into a sword gleam and shot out. The book that was on the table immediately smashed into the wall. The purple sword gleam was like a sharp blade that plunged the book into the wall. The book only fell after the sword gleam dissipated.

“The Iris Sword Sutra is finally in the seventh stage!” The Iris Sword Sutra had a total of sixteen stages and the first six stages were used to lay down the foundation to form the Iris Flower. Lin Yun was stuck in the sixth stage for half a year and he hadn’t made any breakthroughs since the Sword Burial Woods.

He was only one step away from making a breakthrough. The sixth and seventh stage didn’t seem that different, but the difference in one level was huge. The first six stages were suitable for the Xiantian Realm and there were still some gaps when compared to Profound Martial Realm cultivation techniques.

But the seventh stage meant entering the Profound Marital Realm. He could now condense the Iris Sword Aura in his body. This would allow the sword gleam’s power to increase along with the growth of his cultivation.

If he could reach the ninth stage of the Iris Sword Sutra, he could set up an array within his body using the sword aura. At that time, he could kill his enemy from a hundred miles away. Lin Yun went over to the wall and picked up the book. The book had a hole in it as if it was genuinely stabbed with a sword.

“The sword gleam from before can only be considered as aura and the Flicking Divine Sword’s first stage condensed it. But now, I can consider this as condensing aura into a sword!” Lin Yun fell into deep thoughts after putting the book down.

The origin energy produced by the cultivation technique was the foundation to everything, including his martial technique and movement technique. After all, he wouldn’t be able to execute those techniques without any origin energy.

So the breakthrough in his cultivation would bring a transformation to his origin energy. Reaching the seventh stage was a small breakthrough, but it boosted Lin Yun’s fighting prowess greatly.

At a glance, he was in third stage in the Profound Martial Realm, he obtained lesser mastery in the Seven Profound Steps, and he finally reached the seventh stage of the Iris Sword Sutra. Lin Yun now had a 70% chance of winning if he faced Zuo Yun. Then again, this was only true if Zuo Yun had made no significant improvements in the last half month.

It was now time for him to make a trip to the Gao Clan. He had been cultivating for the past five days, which cost him some time. Right now, he had to play catch up.

Right at this moment, the Gao Clan’s martial field was filled with people. They were all elites from the various sects in the Great Qin Empire. In addition to the four great sects and the Heavenly Qin Institute, the weaker sects also sent out their elites.

There were a few of them that looked arrogant as they didn’t have any good expressions when they looked at those that weren’t from the four great sects. The disdain in their eyes couldn’t be concealed.

They were the disciples from the Primal Origin Sect, Demonic Moon Villa, Heavenly Profound Sect, and Heavenly Qin Institute. They were all outer sect elites, so the disciples from the other sects were nothing in their eyes.

The Gao Clan’s patriarch, Gao Yangyu wore a smile on his face as he measured the participants. Perhaps the outer disciples of the four great sects were great, but they weren’t any different from the other sects’ elites at this moment.

“Now that everyone is almost here, let me say a thing or two.” Gao Yangyu smiled. “The herb servants will enter the Bloodbone Forest tomorrow morning. I believe all of you know how dangerous the Bloodbone Forest is. Aside from the Gao Clan’s guards, we will also pick eight elites to accompany them. Aside from the rewards given to you by your sects, you will also receive a heavy reward from me upon completion. All of you will be rewarded with 90 Greater Profound Pellets and 2,000 first grade spiritual jades!”

His words immediately made everyone’s eyes light up. Even the disciples from the four great sects couldn’t help showing interest in this mission. They came here for the mission and they already had rewards waiting for them upon completion.

But Gao Yangyu said that they would be rewarded by him upon the completion of the mission, which was equivalent to having a double reward. It was rumored that the Gao Clan had a close relationship with various chambers of commerce, so it shouldn’t be a fake promise. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be so generous to make such an offer. It was most likely that this mission was issued by a large-scale chamber of commerce.

“Patriarch Gao, you’re generous indeed. But there are nearly thirty of us here, so how are you going to determine the eight quotas?” The one who spoke was the Primal Origin Sect’s outer disciple, Xia Tengfei. He was in the pinnacle fourth stage of the Profound Martial Realm.

His burly figure showed that he had deep attainments in the Dracophant Battle Physique, which made him seem full of vitality. Even his gaze was as sharp as knives.

“Very simple.” Gao Yangyu pointed his finger and continued, “We’ll have a duel to sort everyone out. The field can accommodate a hundred people and there are no rules. It’s a fight to eliminate the weak. When there are eight of you standing, the eight of you will be the candidates.”

Xia Tengfei grinned, “A deathmatch? That’ll save a lot of time. This is a great idea, but it’s impossible for us to watch where we’re hitting. I’ll apologize in advance if I injure any of you.”

He sounded arrogant, but he was also a rather famous figure. It was said that his Dracophant Battle Physique reached the fourth stage, granting him the strength of over fifty thousand kilograms. A deathmatch was perfect for him to exhibit the advantage of his battle physique.