But Bai Yue was soon shocked when he saw Lin Yun. He had a rough impression of Lin Yun, a genius who rose recently in the Sword Firmament Pavilion. However, he never imagined that Lin Yun would come this far.

“You want to compete with me?” questioned Bai Yue as he looked at Lin Yun. His aura was cold like a block of ice.

“Can’t I?” Lin Yun calmly replied to him.

“I will advise you not to. Consider this well before making your move. It’s not easy for you to come this far and I can let you go if you leave now. Otherwise, I won’t give you enough time to crush the jade slip,” said Bai Yue coldly. He wasn’t being generous. Instead, he was concerned that someone else might come right at the same time.

He was sure that there would be others who made it to the eighth stage and that they might take advantage of him if he fought Lin Yun.

“Make your move,” replied Lin Yun calmly.

“How stubborn. It’s a waste for you to have this Yin-Yang Pellet!” Bai Yue’s face sank when Lin Yun didn’t accept his goodwill. He roared and an icy flame blazed on his body. Using his palm as a saber, he chopped down with his hand.

His attack instantly caused a gale in the hall and even the fire from the lamp couldn’t dissolve the chill coming from him.

When the cold light descended, Lin Yun unleashed his sword intent to destroy the cold chill. But something bizarre took place next. The chill actually regathered itself and enveloped Lin Yun in the shape of flames. At the same time, Bai Yue’s palm also arrived.

Saintly music suddenly echoed out in the hall and Lin Yun threw a punch. But the flames gathered in Bai Yue’s palm suddenly spread out and enveloped Lin Yun.

After Lin Yun landed on the ground, his body jolted and he unleashed the dracophant energy. It was mixed with lightning flickers to form the Dracophant War Armor. When Bai Yue’s palm landed on the armor, it caused a series of metallic collisions, but he couldn’t break through Lin Yun’s defence.

Five cauldron’s worth of strength? Bai Yue frowned his eyebrows. He instantly realized that Lin Yun wasn’t an easy opponent. It would be easy for him to kill Lin Yun, but Lin Yun had to die to compete with him.

“Demonic Flames Incineration!”

Bai Yue’s origin energy fluctuated and he unleashed his full cultivation in the pinnacle ninth stage. When his palm descended, it brought along demonic flames that drowned Lin Yun. However, it was easily shattered by Lin Yun’s Soaring Dragon.

“Nine Fienddragon Transformation!” Bai Yue roared and his demonic flames took the shape of nine dragons that slammed into Lin Yun’s armor.

Lin Yun’s face changed and he took several steps back the moment he sensed the impact. Simultaneously, fine cracks also appeared on his armor. This armor could even withstand an attack from a cosmic artifact, but it actually started to crack under Bai Yue’s attack. The huge difference in their cultivation was a disadvantage for Lin Yun. But that wasn’t all to Bai Yue’s attack.

“Terranean Frost!” Before Lin Yun knew it, his limbs were shrouded by the demonic flames. He couldn’t even react before the flames engulfed him and sealed him in ice.

Bai Yue let out a long breath since it wasn’t easy for him to unleash that attack. “You can be proud that you forced me to use three of my trump cards.”

Then, he threw his palm out at the ice sculpture. When the ice sculpture broke, Lin Yun appeared. Blood dripped from the corner of Lin Yun’s lips and the Dracophant War Armor was nowhere seen.

Bai Yue frowned upon seeing Lin Yun. He was surprised that Lin Yun wasn’t dead. He was expecting Lin Yun to shatter into ice fragments from his attack. But he regathered the demonic flames once more and pounced at Lin Yun. Wanting to end Lin Yun’s life with this attack, Bai Yue said with a sinister expression, “Your physique is a problem. You almost reached the same level as that barbarian from the Hundred Beast Gate. But like I said, I won’t give you an opportunity to break the jade slip!”

“I’ve yet to use my sword. Just where did you get that confidence of yours from?” Lin Yun’s face changed and his gaze suddenly turned sharp. His sword box popped open and Lin Yun grabbed onto the Flower Burial Sword.

Lin Yun swung his sword. To him, it was like a streak of ice, but to Bai Yue, it was like a dazzling moon. Lin Yun was using the Aquaselenic Sword’s Luminous Moon.

Before Bai Yue could even react, he was struck by Lin Yun’s Luminous Moon. The rain from the attack completely extinguished the demonic flames. Bai Yue had to take several steps back from the impact and even threw up a mouthful of blood.

“I have a sword that can freeze a myriad of miles. Now, please have a taste of it.” Lin Yun waved his hand and his chilling sword rays sealed Bai Yue into an ice sculpture. He was giving Bai Yue a taste of his own medicine, but his sword was faster, colder, and more ruthless.

Bai Yue managed to break the ice relying on his cultivation, but he had to face Lin Yun’s sword the moment he broke free. Lin Yun already knew that he couldn’t seal Bai Yue with his attack.

When the sword stabbed half an inch into Bai Yue’s chest, Bai Yue instantly reacted by grabbing onto the sword with both his hands.

Lin Yun didn’t force the attack and pulled the sword out, sending Bai Yue flying out in the process. Before Bai Yue could even land on the ground, Lin Yun followed up with another attack. He left a deep gash on Bai Yue’s chest. When the impact threw Bai Yue to the wall, Lin Yun could hear bones cracking from Bai Yue’s body.

Bai Yue immediately got to his feet and ran into another passage without any hesitation.

“You're’ pretty quick at running.” Lin Yun sheathed his sword and chose not to chase after Bai Yue. He wasn’t letting Bai Yue leave on purpose, but the Yin-Yang Pellet held a higher priority for him. After all, it would be a great loss if someone else took the Yin-Yang Pellet while he was hunting Bai Yue down. Not to mention that he came out empty-handed in the sixth and seventh levels.

But Bai Yue took two swords from him, so Bai Yue would be fortunate if he could survive. Lin Yun turned his gaze back to the Yin-Yang Pellet.

Judging from the way that Bai Yue looked at the pellet, Lin Yun could tell that it was precious. Bai Yue had such a thirst for it even with his cultivation in the pinnacle ninth stage. This meant that it would benefit Lin Yun even more since he was only in the eighth stage.

Taking the pellet, Lin Yun glanced at the Lotus Treasure Stage with a grave expression. He knew that he would be transported to the ninth level upon stepping up, which meant that he was only one step away from the legendary tenth level.

He was pretty confident about the ninth level’s test, but not the tenth level. No one could remember the last time someone ascended to the tenth level. It had been so long ago that it had become a legend.

As for the ninth level, it had only been a thousand years. A thousand years was long for mortals, but it was nothing to cultivators. After all, cultivators in the Heavenly Soul Realm had a lifespan of three hundred years.

“But I still have to give it a try at the tenth level no matter what.” Lin Yun made up his mind. He no longer hesitated and he stepped onto the Lotus Treasure Stage.

In the other Lotus Treasure Stage, Jing Jue looked at the Lotus Treasure Stage calmly. No one knew what would appear in the Lotus Treasure Stage, but there was no doubt that it would be precious.

As the radiance slowly dimmed down, an ancient saber covered in complicated runes appeared.

“A saber?” Jing Jue’s face changed. He was excited. There was no doubt that this was a cosmic artifact and an ancient cosmic artifact at that. This meant that it was comparable to modern high-rank cosmic artifacts.

Blessed by heaven! Those three words appeared in Jing Jue’s mind because the coincidence was simply impossible. Based on the blood runes on the saber, this was a cosmic artifact that really suited him.

“Of course, there will surely be a cosmic artifact among the three Black Lotus Treasures.” A person appeared from the passage right at this moment. The Heavenly Profound Sect’s Tang Yuan looked at the saber on the Lotus Treasure Stage with greed flickering in his eyes.

“Tang Yuan, you want to compete with me?” Jing Jue’s smile disappeared.

“Is your name on the saber? Then again, demonic cultivators all tend to have this habit, thinking that whatever treasure you see belongs to you,” smiled Tang Yuan indifferently. Others might be afraid of Jing Jue, but he wasn’t. The cosmic artifact didn’t have an owner, so how could he possibly give up on it? Not to mention that it was an ancient cosmic artifact, which made it even more precious.

“Well said! I don’t care that you were the first one here. Since I’ve seen it, then I will definitely compete for it.” The Hundred Beast Gate’s Feng Ye also appeared.

No one knew what Feng Ye had gone through because his body was even more robust now. In fact, his head was almost touching the ceiling in the passage.

“It’s true that you guys can compete for a treasure that isn’t owned by anyone. But I’m just afraid that you guys won’t have the strength to take it! Come at me together. I don’t want to waste my time.” Jing Jue burst forward with domineering saber intent.