Chapter 2323 - Golden Fortune  

Lin Yun and Ji Zixi concealed their auras while heading towards the end of the passage.

A magnificent hall at the end of the passage looked like an island, surrounded by a lake with a dome bright like stars. There were more than a hundred people who were fighting in the palace.

At the hall's center was a stone coffin with an ancient rusty sword stabbing it. No one knew about the history of this sword, but it gave off a frightening aura, eluding an extraordinary feel to it.

“Get lost! This sword belongs to me, and no one can fight me for it!”

“You? Dream on!”

“Die!” A group of Saints were fighting, summoning their constellations with their saint energy rippling out.

Lin Yun hid in the dark, looking at that ancient sword. This sword was a Sovereign Saint Artifact. Despite being covered in rust, it was in one piece and probably had a vast origin. So, there was a high chance that it contained fortune.

According to Wu Yuhua, some ancient items and paintings also contained fortune, aside from demonic beasts. That alone was enough to make Lin Yun tempted to fight for it.

Suddenly, a violent gale swept out and sent everyone in the hall flying away. No one was capable of holding their ground against that powerful shockwave.

When everyone turned to look, they realized that it wasn’t a gale but someone charging over. This person was fast and had reached out for that ancient sword. This person was naturally Lin Yun. He couldn’t hold back with such a good opportunity and moved to seize the ancient sword before examining it.

Everyone became furious when someone stole the fruit when they had been fighting for it for so long.

“You’re courting death!”

“Put that Sovereign Saint Sword down!”

“Why waste time with him? Just kill him!”

“Kill!” Everyone was furious as they attacked.

A cold light flashed in Lin Yun’s eyes just as he was examining the sword. With a brow raised, a breeze blew past as Lin Yun released his sword intent and a sword ray streaked across. The ancient sword began to tremble as a sword ray swept out from it, piercing through the throats of ten-odd people amidst the screams, taking their lives. The remnant shockwave from the attack sent everyone else flying away, throwing out blood.

“What a powerful sword intent!”

“He’s from the Heavenly Sword Pavilion?!” The remaining people exclaimed as they looked at Lin Yun with fear and didn’t hesitate to flee. This was how the Heavenly Barren Realm worked, survival of the fittest.

After everyone left, Ji Zixi appeared beside Lin Yun, and smiled, “Congratulations, Big Brother Lin!”

Just when Lin Yun wanted to reply, another person charged out from the passage, sending everyone who was pushed away by Lin Yun back. This person held onto a cauldron with one hand, like a wild beast, as he sent ten-odd people flying away with one punch. Ten-odd people were turned into minced meat when he slammed them with the cauldron.“Get lost!” The newcomer came into the hall. He had a robust figure, raising the cauldron with one hand as he grinned.

Lin Yun had no change on his face as he handed the ancient sword to Ji Zixi and looked at the newcomer.

“Hehe, pretty good sword technique you have there. You’re a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Pavilion, right? Not bad!” The man laughed as he raised the cauldron. But seeing no response from Lin Yun, he continued, “Trying to pretend to be a big shot? Even your chief disciple didn’t do that before me, Xiong Tiannan. So who do you think you are?”

Xiong Tiannan smiled as he threw the cauldron in his hand. Despite his looks, he was a cunning man, and the cauldron was directed at Ji Zixi instead of Lin Yun. He wanted to wait for Lin Yun to rescue Ji Zixi before making his move.

But he had underestimated Ji Zixi’s strength. The latter had gently patted the huge cauldron, causing it to spiral. But this cauldron was weird. It was accompanied by thunderstorms when it moved, and the runes on it were slowly being lit up as the power increased.

Lin Yun pushed his palm forth, sending the cauldron flying away, before suppressing it on the coffin, creating a massive shockwave with the hall trembling and causing water geysers to rise from the lake.

“Impressive!” Xiong Tiannan’s eyes lit up as he smiled, “But not enough. Hand over that ancient sword, and I can give Lin Jiangxian face by sparing you.”

“I refuse,” Lin Yun rejected.

“Then, you can die!” Xiong Tiannan didn’t waste words with Lin Yun. His blood began to boil, making his robust figure look like a cauldron that went rampant.

In the next second, his fist appeared before Lin Yun, accompanied by a blazing aura that seemed like it would devour everything in the world.

This surprised Lin Yun before he turned around and dodged the punch, which brushed past his face.

Xiong Tiannan grinned and changed his move, opening his fist to form a chop. He was swift, making it impossible to dodge, and Ji Zixi’s face changed, wanting to help Lin Yun.

But Lin Yun had expected this and used his fingers like a sword to thrust at Xiong Tiannan’s chest.

Xiong Tiannan didn’t dodge but raised his left hand to block this attack; however, Lin Yun’s right arm also blocked his chop. Their clash produced a massive explosion and the two took ten-odd steps back. Xiong Tiannan looked at Lin Yun with surprise.

There were cracks on Lin Yun’s right arm bone, which was painful even after the Blue Dragon Bone swiftly healed it. On the other hand, Xiong Tiannan’s palm was pierced through with a wound on his chest.

“Wow, you’re the first person to injure me since coming to the Heavenly Barren Realm,” Xiong Tiannan took a deep breath and looked at Lin Yun with disbelief.

“Likewise,” Lin Yun replied.

Xiong Tiannan rolled his eyes and smiled, “How about this? I don’t want that ancient sword, so give me the coffin, instead.”

Lin Yun swept a glance at the coffin. He fell into a brief pondering, then asked, “What do you need this coffin for?”

“Hehe, you don’t need to care about that. How about it? We’ll each take what we need. We can also continue to fight if you’re unwilling, and I have yet to use my golden pill,” Xiong Tiannan smiled.

“Alright,” Lin Yun nodded. He wasn't sure about the coffin, but the ancient sword was undoubtedly a Sovereign Saint Artifact. In this transaction, he would not lose out.

“Haha, that’s a huge loss.” Xiong Tiannan grinned. “That sword might seem to be a Sovereign Saint Artifact, but it is already useless scrap iron. But the coffin is different because you’ll never know what surprises it holds until it’s opened, like opening a mystery box. To be suppressed by a Sovereign Saint Sword, even I don’t dare to imagine what might be inside it.”Xiong Tiannan placed the cauldron aside, used a rope to bind the coffin, and slung it over his back. It was fortunate that he had a robust figure, or he might not even be able to walk with the coffin on his back. Upon seeing this, Lin Yun couldn’t help but be amazed.

Ji Zixi was unhappy after hearing Xiong Tiannan mock Lin Yun. She said, “There might not be any surprise but shock instead.”

“Don’t worry about it. I can handle it, no matter how frightening it is. Who doesn’t know about me, the Tomb Raider Xiong Tiannan?” Xiong Tiannan laughed. As he spoke, he looked at Lin Yun and said, “You’re not someone from the Heavenly Sword Pavilion, right?”

Lin Yun replied nonchalantly, "Why do you say that?"

Xiong Tiannan chuckled, "I'm at least a top-ranking expert on the Banished Dragon Ranking. Everyone in the Heavenly Sword Pavilion knows my name. The four chief disciples of the Azure Cloud Realm are also experts on the Banished Dragon Ranking, or, I wouldn't know Lin Jiangxian."

Lin Yun understood it now. It was similar to the various rankings in the Kunlun Realm.

“You’ll probably go to the Sovereign Monument, right? Be careful, since many people are eyeing it. It won’t be easy for anyone from the Azure Cloud Realm to monopolize the Sovereign Monument,” Xiong Tiannan said. As he spoke, he lifted the cauldron and smashed it against the wall, creating a hole. He carried the coffin on his back and grabbed the cauldron before leaving.

“Big Brother Lin, are there really treasures in the coffin?” Ji Zixi asked.

“Maybe, but this sword isn’t a piece of scrap iron. Keep it safe,” Lin Yun smiled.

“Okay.” Ji Zixi obediently grabbed onto the ancient sword. After parting ways with Xiong Tiannan, Lin Yun and Ji Zixi continued to explore the underground palace. There were numerous forks in the underground palace. Despite encountering many obstacles, they also had a huge harvest.

Two days later, Lin Yun and Ji Zixi saw a glimmer of light and left the underground palace, where they found a secluded spot in the valley. Once again, Lin Yun and Ji Zixi sorted their harvests. There were over a hundred fruits, damaged paintings, and stone tablets. The Exquisite Saint Fruit they obtained before still stood out amongst the treasures.

“Let’s refine them.” Lin Yun took a deep breath with determination in his eyes. He planned to use this opportunity to reach the fifth-stage Saint Lord.

“Big Brother Lin, look at this…” Ji Zixi’s eyes lit up as she held onto the mysterious golden slip. She said, “Why are there patterns on it now? It wasn’t around earlier.”

“Oh?” Lin Yun’s expression changed as he took over the bamboo slip and examined the patterns. The incomplete text became more complete when he placed it against his forehead. An ancient Sword Dao Divine Rune was recorded on it, known as Metal, famous for its toughness and sharpness.

“There’s a Metal Divine Rune recorded on it.” Lin Yun lowered the bamboo slip and excitedly said, “I can engrave it on the Divine Sun-Moon Robe.”

Three thousand Azure Dragon Divine Runes, three thousand Phoenix Divine Runes, and three thousand Metal Divine Runes. With that, the nine thousand ribbons were complete. During this time, Lin Yun didn’t go anywhere and refined the various saint fruits.

Becoming a fifth-stage Saint Lord wasn't easy, but his bottleneck loosened up after refining a hundred fruits. When he refined the Exquisite Saint Fruit, his bottleneck broke apart and he advanced to the fifth-staged Saint Lord, radiating a majestic saint energy from his body, making him shine brightly like a star.

The speed of his breakthrough was indescribable with words. It was no wonder why the Heavenly Barren Realm was so dangerous that they would lose their lives if they weren’t careful. But people still continued to enter the Heavenly Barren Realm because the benefits were too tempting.action

“Big Brother Lin, you’ve made a breakthrough?” Ji Zixi exclaimed with joy.

Nodding with a smile, Lin Yun asked, “Where’s that ancient sword?”

“It’s right here. I’ve been guarding it all along,” Ji Zixi said cautiously with a hint of doubt on her face as she took out the ancient sword. She felt that the coffin that was taken away by Xiong Tiannan might contain something valuable and the ancient sword was just scrap iron.

Lin Yun knew what she was thinking and said with a smile, "Don't worry. This is an opportunity for both of us. The moment I hold this in my hand. We won’t make a loss.”

When Lin Yun held onto the ancient sword, he stared at it. A moment later, the ancient sword broke apart and a golden lump of miasma appeared.

“Golden fortune!” Ji Zixi’s eyes lit up, exclaiming.

Lin Yun wore a smug look on his face when he saw this scene.