Yuan Qiong told Elder Jiushen about everything that had happened recently, especially when he mentioned how the Sirius Sect had helped Lu Yin trick the Lingling clan. Yuan Qiong was very displeased. "Elder, this Lu Yin is becoming more and more outrageous. He's relying on the treasure beneath his feet to make unreasonable demands. Not only is he asking the Sirius Sect to help him with his schemes, but he's even asking you to protect him. He's becoming more and more presumptuous."
Elder Jiushen frowned. "Are you saying that there are rumors that he's going to join forces with the Sixth Mainland's Venerable Qing Hua to deal with the Sword Sect?"
Yuan Qiong nodded. "We didn't take it seriously at first, but now that Lu Yin wants you to protect him, it seems like there really is something going on between him and Qing Hua."
Elder Jiushen's expression grew solemn. This matter involved the Sixth Mainland's Celestial Imprint, which was no ordinary powerhouse. The Sixth Mainland already suppressed the Fifth Mainland, and with the Sixth Mainland's imprint and various other methods, even Elder Jiushen wasn't confident that he could deal with Qing Hua.
How could Lu Yin be related to such a person?
"Right, Elder, Lu Yin wants you to go to the Sword Sect," Yuan Qiong said.
Elder Jiushen's face twitched. "He wants me to help him deal with the Sword Sect?"
"That's not it. A disciple from the Sword Sect challenged Lu Yin, and Lu Yin set the location of the battle at the Sword Sect," Yuan Qiong said.
Elder Jiushen's first thought was that this bastard was too much of a troublemaker. He had actually set the location of the battle at someone else's home. Wasn't this a provocation? He couldn't help but want to find Elder Gong and forcefully take back the treasure. He couldn't be led by the nose by this bastard, but after some thought, he decided against it. If he could take it back, he would have done so long ago.
Ever since Elder Yao Shan had been sullen, the entire upper echelon of the Sirius Sect had become increasingly sullen. Elder Jiushen was the one who felt it the most, but he couldn't refuse. Otherwise, if Lu Yin died, the Sirius Sect's treasure would be lost.
Five days had passed, and there were only two days left until the battle between Liu Tianmu and Lu Yin.
On this day, Wen Sansi arrived and was invited to enter the Sword Sect. At this moment, many distinguished guests had already arrived, including Little Mountain God, Ling Gong, Ling Que, Xing Kai, and the others. These people had heard that Liu Tianmu had challenged Lu Yin, so they had immediately rushed over.
Wendy Yushan had also come with the Spirit Palace and was waiting outside the sword matrix square.
Some of the stronger rogue cultivators were also invited to enter.
On the sixth day, Starsibyl arrived at the Sword Sect and saw a large group of familiar faces.
Outside the sword array square, there were more than a million spectators. Even though these cultivators were far away, they could still see the battle.
Liu Tianmu sat in the sword array plaza and waited quietly. Her white sword had been stored away in her cosmic ring, leaving only the black longsword in her hand. It was Liu Guai's longsword.
Many people were curious about that black longsword. They had never seen Liu Tianmu use it before.
Wen Sansi and the others had asked the Sword Sect disciple, but the Sword Sect disciple did not say anything. At most, they could only find out Liu Guai's name, but nothing more.
"Starsibyl, what do you think of this battle?
Can you perform a divination? "Wen Sansi asked. He was not too far away from Starsibyl and was surrounded by Xing Kai and some people from the Spirit Palace. These people received a lot of attention, as they were all former members of the Ten Arbiters.
Now, the Universe Youth Council had similarly replaced them, but it was no longer one of the Ten Arbiters. The Ten Arbiters belonged to them alone, and in their generation, they were undeniably the strongest of their generation.
However, Lu Yin was still one of the Ten Arbiters. The only difference was that he did not interact with the other nine, and they did not dare to contact him either. They felt like they were not from the same generation, even though Lu Yin was about the same age as them.
Starsibyl looked at Liu Tianmu sitting there calmly and said, "There's no need to perform a divination."
"Liu Tianmu has no chance of winning?" Wen Sansi asked.
Starsibyl smiled. "You know that very well."
"What if we were included?" Ling Gong suddenly spoke up, giving Ling Que a fright. "No way! You want to go as well?"
Wendy Yushan looked at Ling Gong.
Ling Gong clenched her fists. She would never forget Lu Yin's provocation when he had first returned. He had actually said that he wanted to challenge one of the Ten Arbiters. Even if they joined forces, they would not be able to defeat him, but they would at least beat him to a pulp.
"That's interesting, but there's still no need to perform a divination. The difference between you two is too great," Starsibyl said.
Ling Que grinned, as he had thought that Lu Yin was no match for him back when he had been called a Ten Arbiters' candidate. But now, he could not even defeat the Ten Arbiters combined. That guy was truly a beast.
He had no idea where Mu Rong had gone to.
On the seventh day, Lu Yin arrived with the flying willow leaves and appeared outside of Sword Mountain.
Everyone watched as Lu Yin stepped into the sword formation plaza and sat down a hundred meters away from Liu Tianmu. No one spoke, and they simply watched in silence.
Liu Tianmu opened his eyes and met Lu Yin's gaze.
"You should know how strong I am. Did that sword give you the confidence to challenge me?" Lu Yin asked as he looked at the black sword with interest. It was Liu Guai's sword.
Liu Tianmu calmly replied, "Tomorrow is the day of the duel. I thought that you would only arrive tomorrow."
Lu Yin looked around. "I came earlier so that I can take a good look at the Sword Sect. I was in a hurry the last time, so I didn't take a good look at the sword formation plaza and the pond where Senior Liu fishes. Soon, this place will be mine."
Liu Tianmu shivered.
Lu Yin's voice was not loud, but it was not soft either. He did not hide anything, and his words caused an uproar among the spectators as well as the Sword Sect's disciples.
Elder Li wanted nothing more than to kill Lu Yin.
Liu Qianjue's face fell. Lu Yin was too unbridled, and he truly did not care about the Sword Sect.
Liu Shaoqiu gripped his sword's hilt tightly. During the Astral Combat Tournament, they had been evenly matched, but now, there was an invisible gap between them.
Ling Que was speechless. "This guy has become more and more arrogant since I last saw him. I almost died at the hands of the Great Eastern Alliance back in the Blazing Mist Flowzone."
Ling Que stared at Lu Yin. Lu Yin had changed from before, and even his temperament was different. He must have experienced something while he had been missing, and he did not even care about the Sword Sect.
"Your goal is the Innerverse," Liu Tianmu said.
Lu Yin was astonished. "It's rare that you're interested in that."
Liu Tianmu placed a hand on her black sword. "I'll do my best in tomorrow's battle, and I hope that you won't hold back either."
With the current gap between her and Lu Yin, Liu Tianmu's words sounded more like a death wish. Qing Hua Shangren had put too much pressure on the Sword Sect, or else Liu Tianmu would not have taken the risk to challenge him.
Lu Yin looked around and saw many familiar faces. He saw Wendy Yushan and immediately thought of Undying Yushan. This thorn in his heart was growing deeper and deeper, and he could not remove it no matter what.
When he felt the provocative gazes, he looked at Ling Que, who was next to Wendy Yushan, with a disdainful look. Ling Que raised his brows and clenched his fists. His white armor creaked as he stepped forward, wanting to fight Lu Yin first.
Ling Que quickly pulled Ling Que back. "Calm down, calm down."
Ling Que snorted and glared at Lu Yin.
Lu Yin looked at Stargazer.
When it was Starsibyl's turn, she saw Xing Kai and then Liu Qianjue.
The Sword Sect's sect master looked at Lu Yin in a completely different light. In the past, he had looked at Lu Yin as if he were a junior. At that time, Lu Yin had indeed not been a match for him. Now, however, his gaze was filled with fear and an almost undetectable killing intent.
Lu Yin believed that if possible, the Sword Sect's sect master would rather be cursed by countless people than kill Lu Yin on Sword Mountain. Unfortunately, he could not do so.
Aside from these people, there were also people from the various major flowzones of the Innerverse who had come to watch the battle. Lu Yin did not know how many of them were from the Sixth Mainland.
However, there should not be many, as this battle was like child's play to many people.
The next day quickly arrived, and as the sun shone down, the sword qi beneath Lu Yin's feet rose up like a rain of swords. This day, the sword qi seemed to be much sharper.
Liu Tianmu opened her eyes and stood up. She sheathed her black sword and used her star energy to form a sword that resembled the white sword that she always wore.
Lu Yin stood across from her and raised a hand. "Just one palm, and you're finished."
Liu Tianmu gripped her sword tightly and did not speak.
"However, I'll give you a chance to attack. That should be within your expectations." Lu Yin looked at Liu Tianmu. "I'm very curious as to what kind of power you have to defeat me. Even if Liu Guai comes back to life, it's unlikely that he'll be able to defeat me. But you, with that sword of yours, you'll be able to do it in just a few days. I'm very curious."
Liu Tianmu's tone was calm. "I'll let you see."
Lu Yin smiled and raised his hand. Then, under everyone's shocked and incredulous gazes, his star energy transformed into a sword. The sword's appearance caused Liu Qianjue's expression to change.
It was a green longsword with a hilt that was half the length of the blade. The hilt and blade were intertwined in a pattern that resembled a strange beast, but it also resembled water droplets intersecting to form the shape of a trident. The entire sword was smooth and natural, and the moment it appeared, anyone who saw it would feel as if they were standing in the middle of an ocean.
Liu Qianjue's mind went blank as he stared fixedly at the sword. How is this possible? Impossible! How does he know about that sword?
Behind Liu Qianjue, Elder Lianxin frowned. It was a familiar sword, as if she had seen it somewhere before.
In the entire Sword Sect, they were the only ones who cared about the sword's appearance. Everyone else was surprised that Lu Yin was actually using a sword.
Up until now, Lu Yin had rarely used a weapon in battle. In the final battle of the Sovereign Tournament, he had used the Gou Lian to defeat all the experts of his generation. Everyone's impression of him was that Gou Lian. Now, he was actually using a sword to fight against a disciple of the Sword Sect. This showed that he was looking down on the Sword Sect.
Ling Que's mouth fell open. "That's … that's too much of a slap in the face."
Ling Gong's eyes flickered as he stared at Lu Yin. He had really changed, and he was actually humiliating the Sword Sect like this.
Wendy Yushan was puzzled, as Lu Yin did not seem like such a person. Was he intentionally humiliating Liu Tianmu?
This was the first thought that came to everyone's mind when they saw Lu Yin's star energy transform into a sword. Many people cursed Lu Yin under their breaths, as they all knew that his strength far surpassed Liu Tianmu's. Was there a need to humiliate him like this?
Defeating Liu Tianmu with a sword technique that he was not proficient in would be a great humiliation to Liu Tianmu and the entire Sword Sect.
Starsibyl did not understand what Lu Yin was trying to do.
Liu Tianmu looked at the sword that Lu Yin had transformed into and slowly unsheathed it. "You want to defeat me with sword techniques?"
Lu Yin smiled and glanced at Liu Qianjue. When he saw the change in Liu Qianjue's expression, he knew that Liu Qianjue had recognized the sword that Lu Yin had transformed into. This sword belonged to Emperor Liu, and it had gone missing after Emperor Liu had been captured by the Hall of Honor. Lu Yin wanted Liu Qianjue to recognize this sword.