After forming the Golden Crow Seal, Lin Yun’s speed was so quick that only the sound of his figure tearing through the air resistance could be heard. His punch moved swiftly, shooting towards Chen Ling’s face like a bolt of lightning.

Chen Ling was terrified by Lin Yun’s sudden attack and rolled backward. Since he was ranked forty-eighth on the Mortal Ranking, he had some capability and managed to dodge Lin Yun’s punch. Although Lin Yun’s punch failed to connect, it still produced a loud explosion that echoed through the air.

“Work together!” roared Chen Ling.

“Here come our swords!” His four companions immediately attacked Lin Yun from various directions.

A sword buzz echoed in the forest as four silhouettes charged at Lin Yun. They were disciples of the Sword Firmament Pavilion, so it went without saying that they were talented in sword techniques.

However, Lin Yun executed the Seven Profound Steps and left behind seven afterimages. Each afterimage threw out a punch and destroyed the incoming attacks. The difference between their origin energy was clear for everyone to see.

The faces of the four who were attacking drastically changed. The huge impact nearly knocked their swords out of their hands and forced them several steps backwards. There were four of them, but they were defeated by one single person who almost made them lose grip of their swords.

“Damn it!” They exchanged a glance before they charged forward once more.

Lin Yun’s eyes flashed coldly behind the mask. The four of their sword techniques were rather decent, so he could use this opportunity to test out his Seven Profound Steps. Once Lin Yun made his decision, he stopped attacking. Instead, he executed the Seven Profound Steps to dodge the incoming attacks.

The attackers were running around the place, so it didn’t take long for them to get exhausted. They didn’t land a single hit on Lin Yun. But just when the four of them had no more ideas on what to do, a bolt of lightning radiated into the horizon and a torrential sword intent charged over.

The four of them immediately rejoiced when they sensed the sword intent because they knew that Chen Ling was finally making his move!

“It’s Senior Brother Chen’s Thundercloud Sword!”

“Damn it! This fellow toyed with us for so long. It’s time for him to have a taste of Senior Brother Chen’s Thundercloud Sword!”

“Let’s see how he comes out of this alive!” The four of them were furious because they were being made fools of by Lin Yun.

“Thundercloud Chop!” roared Chen Ling. His sword intent manifested into thunderclouds that shot bolts of lightning at Lin Yun. It was extraordinary. The sword contained the Thundercloud Sword’s essence by manifesting the sword into lightning.

“What great timing!” Lin Yun laughed and circulated the Iris Sword Sutra. The powerful violet origin energy started coursing through his body. He wanted to see if the Iris Sword Sutra in the pinnacle seventh stage could contend with the ultimate move of those on the same stage as him.

“Is this fellow insane?!” The four were shocked to see that Lin Yun wasn’t dodging the attack.

“Die!” Chen Ling’s heart sank. Since Lin Yun was courting death, then he couldn’t be blamed. But just when the Thundercloud Chop was about to hit, Lin Yun finally moved. Lin Yun clenched his fist and threw out a punch containing all of his origin energy. It was a casual punch that wasn’t supported by any techniques.

When the sword and fist clashed, the Thundercloud Chop instantly crumbled. Chen Ling was also blown away and threw up. A painful expression filled his face. He could even feel his entire right arm going numb.

“Senior Brother Chen!” Chen Ling’s group was shocked by this scene. When they raised their heads to look at Lin Yun, they noticed that this mysterious man in the mask wasn’t injured.

“H-h-how did you break my Thundercloud Chop with just a punch?!” At this moment, fear filled Chen Ling’s eyes. He wanted to run, but he was struggling to get on his feet. Before he could take a few steps, Lin Yun appeared before him and smiled, “Did I allow you guys to leave?”

“We’re already letting you have the Swordcloud Core. Don’t push it!” roared Chen Ling. “Don’t force me! I’m forty-eighth on the Mortal Ranking and there’s naturally a reason for that. You’ll regret it if you push me off the edge!”

But the response that he received from Lin Yun was a punch that bolted out like a sword jab. Paired with the Seven Profound Steps and Golden Crow Seal, this punch caught Chen Ling’s party by surprise. In an instant, Chen Ling was punched in the chest. His ribs broke from the impact and he was slammed into a tree where he spit out more blood.

The other four trembled in fear when they saw this. Then, Lin Yun tapped his feet on the ground and appeared in front of Chen Ling. Tapping his feet on the ground, Lin Yun appeared before Chen Ling. He didn’t talk and simply stuck out his hand.

Chen Ling coughed and struggled before he ultimately handed over his jade plaque. He even tried negotiating with Lin Yun, “Please, leave me with one star.”

“As you wish,” replied Lin Yun. There were nine stars on Chen Ling’s jade plaque, so Lin Yun only took eight stars away. He then tossed the jade plaque with one star back to Chen Ling.

Now that he had taken the stars, Lin Yun turned around and headed towards the Firecloud Leopard. He casually harvested the beast core shrouded in flames from the corpse. When he took a closer look at the beast core, he could see that the core contained sword intent along with two cloud runes. He could also feel a stinging pain in his eyes just from looking at the beast core.

“Interesting… The sword intent can actually condense into natural spiritual runes. No wonder it’s called the Swordcloud Core.” Lin Yun now understood why this beast core was so valuable. It was attractive to every swordsman.

The demonic aura was piercing, to begin with. So once you added sword intent to the mix, the beast core became very attractive to all swordsmen. The Burial Sword Peak was truly worthy of being known as one of the four great lands in the Sword Firmament Pavilion.

“It’s actually a second-grade Swordcloud Core!” exclaimed one of the four group members. This caused Chen Ling to become furious in his heart. He shot a look at the person who spoke and they immediately shut their mouth.

Chen Ling then looked at Lin Yun carefully, fearing that Lin Yun would destroy their jade plaques on a whim. After all, they had destroyed many jade plaques. The participants would be transported out upon having their jade plaques destroyed.

Although Lin Yun took their Swordcloud Core, anything was still possible for them if they were able to stay in the Burial Sword Peak. At the very least, it was better than embarrassing themselves. But luckily, it seemed like Lin Yun didn’t hear those words since he simply stored the Swordcloud Core.

“May I ask who you are?” Chen Ling mustered his courage to ask for Lin Yun’s identity since the latter was leaving. “I’m Zhong Yunxiao,” replied Lin Yun. However, this made no sense to Chen Ling as he didn’t recognize this name. Someone as powerful as this ‘Zhong Yunxiao’ wouldn’t be unheard of in the outer sect.

“Zhong Yunxiao? Who’s that?” Chen Ling exchanged looks with his party. They had never heard of this name before, so this meant that there was only one possibility. There were some people in the sect who weren’t on the Mortal Ranking. These people were known as lunatics who spent most of their time outside. He knew some of those people and none of them were inferior to those in the top ten on the Mortal Ranking. There was a high possibility that this ‘Zhong Yunxiao’ was one such person who came back specifically for the Alliance-Union Battle.

“Brother Zhong, no… Boss Zhong, can you hold on a second?” Chen Ling’s eyes lit up and he took a few steps to stand before Lin Yun.

“What’s the matter?” asked Lin Yun. He was on high alert and decided that he would get rid of this Chen Ling if he dared to play any tricks.

“Boss Zhong, you must spend most of your time outside of the sect. So I bet you don’t know much about Burial Sword Peak. Is my guess correct?” Chen Ling smiled, trying his best to make up for the arrogant image he gave previously.

However, Lin Yun did not reply to him.

“It seems like I’m correct. Boss Zhong, have you heard of the Imperial Sword Herb then?” asked Chen Ling.

“I have not,” he responded.

“It’s a rare treasure that can only be found in the Burial Sword Peak. Demonic beasts can condense their Swordcloud Core after consuming it. Cultivators can even use it to further refine their sword intent. In the sect, many people don’t comprehend their sword intent through life and death experiences, so they are somewhat lacking. But it’s different with the Imperial Sword Herb.”

Chen Ling’s eyes blazed. He was filled with such great thirst for this Imperial Sword Herb that he temporarily forgot about his injuries. Lin Yun glanced at Chen Ling before he looked around and asked, “I’m afraid that it’s impossible for you guys to obtain it based on your strength.”

The battle for such a treasure was naturally filled with many dangers, so going after it recklessly would only put their lives at risk. Chen Ling’s expression became awkward when he heard Lin Yun’s words. So he replied, “That’s indeed the case. So the Shatterlegion Alliance has an agreement with three other alliance-unions to join hands for the Imperial Sword Herb. The one who puts in the most work will receive greater shares.”

“So you want me to come along?” asked Lin Yun. He was clearly tempted by the Imperial Sword Herb.

“That’s right. Boss Zhong, you don’t know where the Imperial Sword Herb is, but I do. We can complement each other, but I’ll have to trouble Brother Zhong to disguise yourself as a disciple of the Shatterlegion Alliance.” Chen Ling was filled with expectation as he continued, “I can give you 30% of the Imperial Sword Herb after we’re done!”

Lin Yun revealed a smile behind the mask and replied, “Do you know how a smart alec dies in the end?”

“I don’t.” Chen Ling started feeling uneasy and wondered if 30% wasn’t enough. However, Lin Yun wouldn’t know where the Imperial Sword Herb was located without him, so he wouldn’t even be able to obtain 10%.

“A smart alec only sees the fireworks in the sky, but not the dust after the fireworks settle down. I have a hundred years to force out the location from your mouth. You can search throughout the outer sect and you won’t find another strong ally like me,” said Lin Yun. His words made Chen Ling’s face turn pale. It appears that Lin Yun gave Chen Ling some misconception that he could be useful since he was spared with one star.

“You don’t understand me?” Lin Yun continued, “Then let me tell you. I’m the fireworks in the sky, while you’re the dust on the ground. You can be found everywhere, but only I’m unique.”

His words sent a chill down Chen Ling’s spine, causing him to immediately reply, “I-I-I understand. Then you can be the one to distribute the Imperial Sword Herb. I won’t have any complaints about how you do it.”