Luo Feng’s words made Bai Ting’s face turn unsightly. The confidence he had on his face disappeared as disbelief flashed deep in his eyes. The elders who had a good relationship with Bai Ting were all shocked.

“H-how is this possible?! Zhong Yunxiao is Lin Yun?!”

“Who doesn’t know about his Dragon-Tiger Fist? Could it be that he didn’t use it all along?”

“Isn’t that a little too exaggerated? Are the disciples who fought with him for the Imperial Sword Herb garbage?”

They were shocked. They were even more shocked than when they heard the first Imperial Sword Herb was obtained by Zhong Yunxiao. For a brief moment, none of them could accept reality. Just a moment ago, Bai Ting was so confident that Lin Yu must’ve hidden.

But not only did Lin Yun not hide, he even obtained the first Imperial Sword Herb and refined it. After his strength underwent a huge improvement, he destroyed the Three-Demise Sword Formation with a punch. It was a feat that wasn’t inferior to Chu Haoyu in any way.

With that, there were more variables to the Alliance-Union Battle’s rankings. When the news was delivered, the observation platform exploded. All the elders and disciples were dumbfounded.

“Zhong Yunxiao is Lin Yun?” The smile on Wang Yan’s face froze when he heard the news. Shortly after, he flared up, “Garbage! A bunch of garbage! No one can recognize him with a mask on? Can’t they at least recognize Lin Yun’s Dragon-Tiger Fist? I don’t believe that everyone is blind!”

He had two objectives in issuing the bounty. The first was to get the top ten on the Mortal Ranking to besiege Lin Yun and the second was to prevent Lin Yun from obtaining the Imperial Sword Herb. In the end, his objective could be considered fulfilled since Lin Yun did not show up to fight for the Imperial Sword Herb. But in reality, he failed both his objectives.

Leng Mo shivered in fear. He didn’t dare to speak. The other disciples of the Gentlemen Union were also looking unsightly. Fear suddenly rose in their hearts because Lin Yun was too terrifying. Lin Yun joined the sect for barely a year and his growth was so shocking.

If he made it through the Alliance-Union Battle, wouldn’t he soar into the sky after entering the inner sect? Then how would they suppress him in the future? Everyone began to panic at the thought of that. After all, Lin Yun had an irreconcilable feud with the Gentlemen Union.

Wang Yan’s face was dark. He landed beside Fu Lingtian who was the leader of the Eight Vajras. A cold light flashed in the depths of his eyes as he waved his hand and whispered in the latter’s ears. Fu Lingtian’s face changed. But he soon calmed down and cupped his hands together, “Please rest assured. Leave it to me.”

Wang Yan’s face was grave. He said, “Lin Yun has to die. We can’t afford any variables. We won’t have any more chances if he becomes an inner disciple and practices a spiritual cultivation technique.”

“I understand,” replied Fu Lingtian. Without any hesitation, he went back down. The entire Gentlemen Union was enveloped in a dark atmosphere. When everyone heard that Lin Yun was Zhong Yunxiao, the shock they received was too great.

Not only the Gentlemen Union, but the leaders of the other alliance-unions were also shocked. But when Mo Cheng brought the news back to the Locket Mountain, Xin Yan smiled, “It’s really him. I was already suspicious when I heard Zhong Yunxiao’s name. After all, junior brother is the only one who rang the Phoenix Plum. Let’s go. Let’s collect our winnings.”

“Winnings?” Mo Cheng was stunned before he laughed, “That’s right! We placed 50,000 spiritual jades on our junior brother. We’ve made a fortune this time!”

Not only Xin Yan, but Luo Feng also started collecting his winnings. 5,000 second-grade spiritual jades was an astronomical sum. After first, the elders voided the bet when Zhong Yunxiao took the first Imperial Sword Herb. But now that Zhong Yunxiao’s identity was revealed to be Lin Yun, they no longer had any excuse to void the bet.

“Old geezer, don’t just stand there blankly. Hand the spiritual jades over!” Luo Feng smiled and stretched his hand out. Such an act was a disgrace to his status as the third person-in-charge in the Elders Hall, but it was effective.

“What spiritual jades?” Bai Ting was feeling reluctant.

“You can’t afford to take a loss? Well, it doesn’t matter. Let’s go and see Guardian Plum. As long as you have the guts to say that you never participated in the bet, I won’t ask it from you,” chuckled Luo Feng.

“You! You’re pushing it too far!” Bai Ting was furious. Even if he had a thick face, he didn’t dare to lie to Guardian Plum. After all, cultivators had to keep to their promise, not to mention that he was a senior among elders. He still had the potential to be promoted in the Elders Hall.

“Take it!” Bai Ting threw an interspatial pouch over as his face twitched.

“Thanks!” Luo Feng then turned to the other elders who joined the bet. Even Bai Ting had admitted his loss, so none of them dared to negate the bet. But there was pain written on their faces when they gave the second-grade spiritual jades, which ranged anywhere from 300 to 800.

“Hehe. Thanks for keeping to your promises. I’ll accept it on Lin Yun’s behalf and I’ll give it to him when he’s promoted to an inner disciple. I’ll let him know that they’re from everyone here,” chuckled Luo Feng.

“As you’re even able to give it out. So what if he refined the Imperial Sword Herb? He will still die,” cursed Bai Ting.

Luo Feng stroked his beard and he smiled, “Let’s wait and see then. Even if he doesn’t become the champion, he can still be in the top ten!”

The atmosphere on the observation platform was intense, which filled everyone with anticipation for the final battle.

When Lin Yun and the others stepped into the Sword Tomb, their faces turned grave. The sky was dark and the ground was uneven because thousands of ancient swords were stabbed into the ground. Every single sword was giving off powerful sword intent and the eerie atmosphere made everyone feel suppressed. There were many inner disciples in the Sword Tomb and they didn’t look friendly when they saw the arrival of outer disciples.

“These people are stronger than the ones outside,” said Li Wuyou with a grave expression.

Lin Yun’s gaze fell onto the ancient swords on the ground and he replied, “We’re still unsure about the second round’s rules. It’s all unknown, but it doesn’t mean that we have no chance at all.”

“Big Brother Lin, look over there!” Lin Yan pointed to a direction where Han Zhengyang walked in with a group of people from the southern gate. Lu Hexuan and Xin Wuhen, the eighth and ninth were standing beside him. It was clear that the three of them had formed an alliance.

“Senior Brother Han, look! Isn’t that Lin Yun?” Xin Wuhen immediately noticed Lin Yun who was together with Lin Qiushan.

“I heard that he was the one who took the first Imperial Sword Herb!” said Lu Hexuan.

Han Zhengyang wasn’t bothered by what Lu Hexuan said. He was filled with confidence since he had just defeated the inner disciples within ten moves. He sneered, “Just ignore him. He’s only in the initial fifth stage of the Profound Martial Realm, so there’s a limit to his improvement even if he refined the Imperial Sword Herb. I’m in the pinnacle fifth stage, so I can suppress him with my cultivation.”

Not long later, Jiang Feng and Ye Xiu appeared. They instantly caught everyone’s attention. Many inner disciples looked at them with fear in their eyes. Those two were second and third on the Mortal Ranking and everyone in the Earth Ranking had heard of them.

“Senior Brother Jiang, look! There are so many inner disciples…” sighed the Asura Alliance’s disciples.

Jiang Feng smiled, “Don’t be too bothered with them. There’s a reason why the sect got them to join the Alliance-Union Battle. But with me around, everyone from the Asura Alliance can certainly make it into the top hundred and become inner disciples.”

Then, there was an uproar when Chu Haoyu made his appearance. Chu Haoyu was dressed in white, holding onto a sword as he walked over. His footsteps were steady and he also emitted a chilling aura that forced the Gentlemen Union’s disciples to follow from afar.

Everyone, including the inner disciples, turned to look at him. Chu Haoyu was a monstrous talent who once vied with Bai Lixuan. He was undisputed as first on the Mortal Ranking. There were rumours that he already had the strength to enter the Earth Ranking.

However, Chu Haoyu’s gaze was only on one person and the murderous aura in his eyes couldn’t be concealed. With just a glance, there seemed to be a violent storm of sword intent that swept in the surrounding. Anyone who was timid would start shivering after a gaze from him.

But who was Chu Haoyu looking at? Someone as prideful as him was looking at someone with a murderous aura? The crowd couldn’t help feeling curious and followed Chu Haoyu’s gaze. Then they saw a youth with defined features. The youth was looking back with a faint smile, void of any fear.

This was what Lin Yun liked about Chu Haoyu. Chu Haoyu wouldn’t conceal his intention to kill anyone. Everyone in the top ten wanted to kill him, but only Chu Haoyu blatantly revealed his murderous aura.

That was a result of his confidence and pride. But then again, it wouldn’t be easy for Chu Haoyu to take Lin Yun’s life. Lin Yun smirked and released his murderous aura as well. Both of their murderous auras clashed in the air and created a huge commotion.

In that split second, the buzzing noise of swords could be heard, along with sword intent that whistled in the surrounding. This instantly made the atmosphere in the Sword Tomb tense up.