Leng Haoyu said those words while maintaining a smile on his face, showing just how much of a schemer he was. His provocation had caused the atmosphere to become intense again.

If anyone dared to say those words to a Heavenly Sword Sect’s core disciple, no one would’ve taken it for real. But Leng Haoyu was ranked eighty-seven on the Dragoncloud Ranking.

Lin Yun fell into deep thoughts as he looked from afar. He wanted to see how Zhang Yuan would react. Plus, he wanted to know who was stronger, the core disciple of an overlord force or someone on the Dragoncloud Ranking.

Zhang Yuan was briefly stunned before he smiled, “The loser will leave? Haha, Brother Leng, is there any need to take it so far? After all, you’re cutting off your path of retreat as well.”

“It doesn’t matter. Just treat it like I’m asking to be humiliated. Anyhow, it’s not embarrassing to be defeated by a Heavenly Sword Sect’s core disciple,” replied Leng Haoyu.

Zhang Yuan turned to look at Tang Yu. When he saw the latter nodding his head, Zhang Yuan turned around and replied, “Since you insist. At the very least, it’s better than our two sides clashing. We’ll determine who’s the winner with an attack. Afterwards, the loser will leave.”

Leng Haoyu stepped forward, “I hope that you can give it your best. Otherwise, I’ll be very disappointed.”

It didn’t take long for everyone to retreat and leave an open area. The Bloodwing Pavilion’s disciples were excited as they never expected that their Senior Brother Leng would challenge a core disciple of an overlord force. It would be glorious if Leng Haoyu could win.

After both sides took several breaths, Zhang Yuan began to emit a violet aura from his body. But if someone looked at it clearly, they would be able to see the fine sword rays wandering within the violet aura. Those who were exceptionally strong could even hear the sword clashes within the violet aura.

Only a powerful cultivator could see how powerful this cultivation technique was. When all the experts saw the rising violet aura, their faces changed.

“There truly are no weaklings among the Heavenly Sword Sect’s core disciples,” smiled Leng Haoyu as a crimson aura burst out from him. The aura produced a rubbing sound when it came in contact with the air.

“The bloodlust sword energy!” Mo Ling’s face became grave when she saw this scene. The Bloodlust Sword Sutra was famous in the Nether Prefectural City and could form the bloodlust sword energy. Upon reaching the seventh stage, the sword energy could easily tear apart the opponent’s defensive origin energy.

Clearly, Leng Haoyu was prepared for this battle. He suddenly roared as he pounced forward and threw his palm out.

When everyone in the surrounding sensed the power within Leng Haoyu’s palm, their faces changed. The crimson aura shrouded Leng Haoyu’s hand to make it look like a claw.

As for Zhang Yuan, he merely pushed his palm forward. There wasn’t anything special about his action, but the air around his palm began to tremble violently. When the two palms clashed, hundreds of violet rays circled behind Zhang Yuan and formed three violet swords.

An explosion broke out as cracks began to spread on the ground. Even the surrounding trees were incinerated.

Facing the shockwave from the collision, everyone had to push their palms out to resist it. Most of the disciples were able to resolve the shockwave, but the ones that couldn’t were sent flying. It was fortunate that they were only facing the shockwave.

Lin Yun didn’t even budge. When the shockwave was about to reach him, it was suddenly dispersed by an invisible sword aura. But Lin Yun was shocked by how powerful the two of them were. Evidently, those that were ranked at the bottom of the Dragoncloud Ranking weren’t weak.

The two had only used a single move, so it was naturally impossible for them to differentiate the winner and loser as they were both evenly matched in power. However, the rebound from the attacks forced them to retreat.

Lin Yun counted every step that they took backwards. Zhang Yuan took a total of twelve steps back and Leng Haoyu took a total of thirteen steps. It was clear that Zhang Yuan had won, albeit by one step.

With this outcome, the faces of the Bloodwing Pavilion’s disciples turned ugly. Leng Haoyu’s eyes were gloomy for a while before he smiled, “The Heavenly Sword Sect’s Greatflow Sword Sutra is truly impressive. But I wonder which one of us will win if we really fight? Let’s go!”

Clearly, Leng Haoyu didn’t want to admit that he was weaker than Zhang Yu. But when he turned around, he wore a profound smile as he looked at Lin Yun.

When Lin Yun raised his head, he also noticed the Heavenly Soul Realm’s elder looking at him. It looks like these people didn’t forget that he had killed the Nethercloud Ghost’s disciple. He also heard that the Bloodwing Pavilion’s disciples were interested in his head because of Nethercloud Ghost’s legacy.

Cheers rang out from Mu Chen and the other disciples in light of Zhang Yuan’s victory. Zhang Yuan was only in the greater Yang stage and was able to beat Leng Haoyu who was in the pinnacle Yang Stage. It seemed like they owed their thanks to the Greatflow Sword Sutra.

The Greatflow Sword Sutra was the dream of many swordsmen in the Ancient Southern Domain. Compared to other cultivation techniques, a sword sutra naturally fitted a swordsman the best. Only core disciples in the Heavenly Sword Sect could learn the Greatflow Sword Sutra.

Witnessing it today, everyone could tell that the sword sutra was truly impressive. Then again, the true power of the sword sutra could only be brought out in the hands of a genius. If it was someone else, they might not be able to achieve what Zhang Yuan did. Lin Yun, however, possessed the Iris Sword Sutra, so he wasn’t one bit envious of Zhang Yuan.

“Since the Bloodwing Pavilion and Threesolute Manor have worked together, it won’t be favorable to us,” said Liu Yunyan.

“There will be many overlord forces in this trip to the ancient tomb and there will also be geniuses from the Dragoncloud Ranking. They won’t be able to gain anything if they don’t work together,” said Zhang Yuan.

“Will those from the top ten come?” asked Lin Yun.

“They won’t. Only those who are ranked towards the bottom will be anxious for the empyrean’s tomb. I bet those within the top fifty won’t appear. Even if they did, there won’t be many of them,” smiled Zhang Yuan confidently.

There were a hundred positions on the Dragoncloud Ranking that were broken into two tiers. Those that were in the top 50 represented the inner rankings while the others were in the outer rankings.

According to Zhang Yuan, those on the inner ranking were in the Yin-Yang stage and those within the top ten had even come in contact with the Heavenly Soul Realm. For those with a high cultivation, the gains they got from a new legacy wouldn’t cover the loss of their current one. More accurately speaking, those who belonged to the inner ranking had their own opportunities and the legacy they had wasn't weaker than what they could get in the empyrean’s tomb. After all, those who could climb to the peak naturally wouldn’t lack in talent, willpower, or luck.

Lin Yun was shocked. Those in the top ten had already come in contact with the Heavenly Soul Realm, so just how powerful were they? Additionally, none of them exceeded the age of twenty-five and they were actually around the same age as him.

“So the empyrean’s tomb is basically the stage for geniuses in the outer ranking. To them, the empyrean’s tomb is exactly what they need to take the next step.” Zhang Yuan paused briefly and he looked at Lin Yun with a deep smile, “You still have some distance to go before reaching the outer ranking. But you can easily catch up. Even Leng Haoyu, who’s in the pinnacle Yang stage, is slightly weaker than me. This is the foundation of an overlord force.”

The hint behind his words were clear. If Lin Yun joined the Heavenly Sword Sect, it wouldn’t take long until he was comparable to those geniuses on the Dragoncloud Ranking.

Lin Yun merely replied with a smile.

“Senior Brother means that if you join the Heavenly Sword Sect, you can practice the Greatflow Sword Sutra. He’s very confident in you.” Mu Xue came over and continued her explanation, “Lin Yun, this is an opportunity for you. Since Senior Brother Zhang has already given you a hint, he must have received the elder’s approval. You can give it some consideration.”

Lin Yun didn’t reply to her and asked her a question instead, “Do you think there is a huge gap between me and the geniuses on the Dragoncloud Ranking?”

Mu Xue pondered briefly and answered him, “There’s still a clear gap. Leng Haoyu is ranked eighty-seven and he already has the strength in the pinnacle Yang stage. I was really worried about my senior brother earlier, but it’s fortunate that had the Greatflow Sword Sutra. With your talent and the Heavenly Sword Sect’s foundation, you can definitely reach Senior Brother Zhang’s level within six months.”

Mu Xue was giving Lin Yun a high evaluation, but Lin Yun merely smiled, “Let’s drop it for now.”

Lin Yun gradually submerged into the darkness and returned to his tent. Then, Zhang Yuan and Mu Chen walked up to Mu Xue.

Mu Chen complained, “Senior Brother, you should just give up on him. He doesn’t seem to appreciate your offer.”

Even though he didn’t have the qualification to practice the Greatflow Sword Sutra, Zhang Yuan actually hinted to Lin Yun that he could practice it if he joined the Heavenly Sword Sect. Lin Yun’s rejection was a great blow to his pride.

Zhang Yuan shook his head at Mu Chen. After all, he couldn’t see through Lin Yun. He had no idea what was going through Lin Yun’s mind after witnessing the power of the Greatflow Sword Sutra.