Chapter 438 - Secret Realm

As water splashed down from the sky, Lin Yun stood on the boat with the fish king hanging from the fishing rod. With a sunshine like smile, he said, “Lord Thirteen, here’s the fish king.”

Lord Thirteen was dazed for a long time before he burst out laughing, “Haha, nice one. You’ve won me over.”

He didn’t sound like a senior at all. After all, he was saying everything from the bottom of his heart. He was initially trying to provoke Lin Yun, but now that Lin Yun managed to do it, he was only filled with admiration for Lin Yun.

“Let’s go!” Lord Thirteen laughed and he patted his hand on the air. Under his control, the fishing boat soared into the sky and landed on the shore. When the boat fell down, the impact nearly made Lin Yun fall down.

“Leave this beast to me. It’s time to taste it after feeding it for ten years,” laughed Lord Thirteen. In the next second, the fish king on the fishing rod flew over to him. Every part of the fish was a treasure. The scales could be refined into artifacts, the bones could be used to brew wine, the meat could nourish the body, and the horns could be made into weapons. The most valuable of all was its pair of eyes and beast core.

According to Lord Thirteen, the fish already possessed traces of a dragon, so its eyes could be called dragon’s eyes. As for its beast core, its worth naturally went without saying. After all, the fish had been eating Violet Palace Realm’s beast cores over the past decade. Furthermore, the Snowdragon Carps were a nourishment to the body to begin with.

Lin Yun fell into thoughts before he suddenly smiled when he thought of something. When Lord Thirteen saw this, he glared, “Brat, what are you laughing at?”

“I suddenly thought of a senior like you.”

“Who is it?”

“The Sword Firmament Pavilion’s Pavilion Master. He spent ten years observing a flower and cut it with his sword in the end. Just like you, who killed the fish that you kept for a decade.” However, there was one thing that Lin Yun didn’t say, he thought that the two of them were awfully similar. They were both sarcastic with their words and they both had an odd temper.

At the same time, they were both people who were driven by their emotions and they were purer than other old men who were full of schemes.

“I’m like him?” Lord Thirteen was briefly stunned before he smiled and tossed the beast core over, “Well, that’s true at times. But don’t mention him to me again. Here, you can have this. You look broke.”

Although it was a beast core, it didn’t have any demonic aura. Rather, it was transparent and full of spiritual energy. When Lin Yun held it in his hand, he could sense a boundless surge of spiritual energy flowing out.

“It doesn’t have any demonic aura?” Lin Yun was shocked.

“That’s for sure. The Snowdragon Carp might be a beast, but it’s also spiritual. The beast cores it refined had no impurities. They would only leave behind the essence in its beast core.”

“Shouldn’t you use this yourself?” asked Lin Yun.

“It’s nothing. I can’t be bothered with something like this. But don’t be in a rush to refine it. Come with me,” said Lord Thirteen as he walked to the Sword Burial Woods.

Lin Yun was baffled, but he still quickly followed behind Lord Thirteen. Without Lin Yun knowing, Lord Thirteen brought him to the core of the Sword Burial Woods where he once comprehended his sword. The depths of the woods were filled with killing aura and sword intent.

“You must be baffled about the difference between your quasi-xiantian sword intent and the complete xiantian sword intent,” said Lord Thirteen.

Lin Yun’s heart throbbed when he heard that because it was what he was stuck on. His sword intent had reached a bottleneck, preventing him from reaching the complete xiantian sword intent.

“What’s the difference?” asked Lin Yun.

“You have to find a sword that belongs to you. In Buddhist terms, it means finding your true self.” Lord Thirteen turned around and continued, “The Dragon-Tiger Fist and Aquaselenic Sword that you’ve learned belong to others. No matter how much you practice them, they still belong to others.”

“You’re saying that I have to find my own sword?” asked Lin Yun.

“It’s best if you can create one yourself. Even if you can’t, you need to know what kind of sword you are,” replied Lord Thirteen. “You’ll take that step out sooner or later with your comprehension. But it’s impossible if you want to achieve it before reaching the Violet Palace Realm. With your current cultivation, you’ll die in the competition. Rather than dying a pointless death, why don’t you take a trip in my Sword Burial Diagram?”

“Sword Burial Diagram?” questioned Lin Yun.

“That’s right. The woods you’re in right now is a diagram. When the ancestor, Jian Wuming, created the Sword Firmament Pavilion, he left behind two paintings. This is the other one,” said Lord Thirteen. “The Sword Burial Diagram, as the name implies, will kill you if you aren’t careful.”

Lord Thirteen made a seal and a gale started blowing through the Sword Burial Woods. The sky suddenly turned dark and a spatial path appeared before Lin Yun. The distorted space was an entrance to a mysterious world, and within the world, there was lightning flickering around along with a sharp sword buzz.

“This is the Sword Burial Diagram?” Lin Yun looked at the distorted space with a grave expression. Compared to the other painting back in the sect, the aura coming from this painting was terrifying.

“Lord Thirteen, you seem to think that I won’t reject you,” said Lin Yun.

“You bore so much hatred. So do you have a choice?” That was right, Lin Yun didn’t have a choice. When he suddenly thought of the Snowdragon Carp’s beast core, Lin Yun asked, “Then this beast core…”

“That’s right. It’s for you to protect yourself so that you won’t die in there. When facing danger, you can get out by refining this beast core,” said Lord Thirteen without any ripples on his face.

Lin Yun was briefly stunned before he revealed a smile and entered the diagram. When he went through the entrance, he ran into obstructions, but he broke them all apart with his sword intent.

The obstructions weren't easy to break unless your sword intent wasn’t strong enough. When he entered the Sword Burial Diagram, Lin Yun could sense the spatial fluctuations that felt as though there was an ancient beast lingering around.

When he was fully through the entrance, Lin Yun could clearly sense that the surroundings had turned dark. Shortly after, his sword intent manifested into bolts of lightning as they flew out.

Lin Yun was shocked when he saw thunderclouds tumbling in the sky. The thunderclouds and the lightning flickering in the thunderclouds were made of sword intent. They were also both filled with violent killing aura.

This place was truly fitting of the name, Sword Burial Diagram. God only knows how many people have died here. At the same time, there were many floating stone platforms. Lin Yun landed on one of them and figured out that it was probably intended for people to cultivate on.

“This means that this diagram should also have nine levels and each level is probably a whole new world. The further I go, the harder it will be.” Lin Yun looked up at the thunderclouds. “Let’s give it a try.”

With his movement technique, Lin Yun soared into the thunderclouds. At his cultivation, the lightning in the sky made of sword intent might be terrifying, but he wasn’t too bothered by it. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to temper himself if he cultivated here.

Activating the Seven Profound Steps, Lin Yun leaped on the platforms. It didn’t take long for him to reach the deepest part of the thunderclouds. As the thunderclouds spread out, he easily made it to the second level.

The second level wasn’t much different from the first, except that the thunderclouds were even more violent. Shaking his head, Lin Yun soared into the sky and it didn’t take long for him to reach the fourth level after half an hour.

The fourth level had a violent storm made of sword intent and the lightning in the sky were like pythons that lit up the sky. Lin Yun’s face changed when he sensed the lightning because he felt fear from the thunderclouds even before he got close to them.

“I’m almost at my limits now.” Lin Yun landed on a floating platform. The platform was covered in ancient marks that looked like spiritual runes and sword marks, but he couldn’t clearly differentiate them.

When he reached the platform in the center, a voice sounded out, “Intruder, draw your sword.”

Waving his hand, Lin Yun summoned the Flower Burial Sword without any hesitation. The sword then left his hand and plunged itself into the ground. Just when Lin Yun was feeling baffled, a bolt of lightning roared down and struck the Flower Burial Sword.

Simultaneously, the ancient platform emitted a faint glow like an awakened beast. When the lightning dissipated, the Flower Burial Sword was enveloped by a sword image.

“In the Sword Burial Platform, you die if your sword breaks.” A cold voice rang out again when Lin Yun sat down.