Snow slowly filled the streets while the two Violet Palace Realm experts resumed their face-off. This made the cold winter feel even colder. Suddenly, the world became quiet. Compared to the violent clash from before, the silence was even more suffocating.

Everyone could feel that something was amiss. In the past when Lin Yun created such a huge commotion, everyone only found it a pity because they felt that he was courting death. No one thought that Lin Yun could walk away alive after stopping the carriage.

But things had changed now that experts in the Violet Palace Realm had taken action. There weren’t many experts in the Violet Palace Realm, even among the four major sects. There was no way they would be sent out so easily. After all, sending them out represented a very specific attitude, the attitude of a force backing their own.

The mysterious man had to face the crown prince. The crown prince by himself wasn’t scary, but he represented the royal family, which was the supreme authority of the Great Qin Empire. If it wasn’t out of fear for the royal family’s authority, the Sword Firmament Pavilion wouldn’t have allowed Xin Yan to be taken away.

Everyone began to ponder the identity of the mysterious man and the force he belonged to. Simultaneously, the mess caused by Lin Yun had also been elevated.

“Interesting. I really want to know who this person is to actually stand against His Highness…”

“Lin Yun has slapped His Highness’ face by messing up the wedding. It would be a stain on His Highness’ life if he doesn’t kill Lin Yun. It’s unbelievable that this person dared to stand against His Highness.”

“Is he from the Sword Firmament Pavilion? But would he even need a mask if he was from the Sword Firmament Pavilion?”

“Just who the hell is this man?” Words of doubt came from the crowd.

For the first time, Qin Yu’s face had changed as he sat in the carriage. His face was dark. He had always been a cautious man, so he liked to plan before taking any action. After all, he kept his composure even after witnessing Lin Yun slaughtering his way through the Divine Guards and Azure Association despite the boiling anger within.

He only sent out an expert to end this mess after he made sure that Lin Yun had come alone. However, he never expected that a mysterious man would stand against him.

Is this person from the Sword Firmament Pavilion? No, wait. The Sword Firmament Pavilion would only take actions against me if I took Xin Yan by force, but she had agreed to the marriage herself. So the Sword Firmament Pavilion doesn’t have any evidence to take action against me, nor do they have the guts to go against the royal family. So who the hell is this fellow? Qin Yu was baffled as he looked at the mysterious man.

The grey-clothed old man’s face was dark as he looked at the mysterious masked man standing in his path. The old man descended from the sky and walked without leaving any footprints on the snow. His positioning was unique, so he wouldn’t stop his footsteps until Lin Yun was right in front of him.

He took seven steps forward and the momentum he gathered was extremely terrifying. He arrived in front of Lin Yun and his aura had already reached its peak. He was confident of knocking the mysterious man away before killing Lin Yun. Lin Yun would be dead with this chance.

However, the mysterious man was also well-positioned beside Lin Yun. In his position, he had more than enough time to act if anyone dared to kill Lin Yun. He had given the old man a choice. If the old man insisted on killing Lin Yun, then the old man would also have to take an attack from him. But if the old man gave up on killing Lin Yun, then he would be letting go of this perfect opportunity.

Every expert cherished their life, especially those who had reached the Violet Palace Realm. So the old man was forced to stop even if he didn’t want to. At their level, they were competing with opportunities. It would be dire the moment one party found a weakness.

But there was nothing the old man could do. He could only wait for the mysterious man to reveal a flaw. Then again, the old man couldn’t tell anything from the mysterious man’s face since he was wearing a mask. In the end, the old man gradually got impatient and irritated. For the entire moment, the street was silent.

Lin Yun was gasping for his breath as he tried to guess the identity of the mysterious man. The mysterious man felt familiar, but at the same time, he was unfamiliar. Most importantly, he couldn’t find someone with a similar temperament as the mysterious man from his memories. Without wasting any time, Lin Yun circulated his origin energy to nurse his injuries.

Meanwhile, the four Guardians and seven Sword-Bearing Elders were assembled in a hall back in the Sword Firmament Pavilion. Guardian Plum faced everyone with his back as he looked up ahead. Up ahead was the painting of their founder, Jian Wuming. Beneath the painting were memorial tablets of the past Pavilion Masters.

On the table, where an incense cauldron would normally be placed, was an ancient sword that was decorated with flowery patterns. The sword was sheathed, but everyone could sense the horrifying aura coming from it. It was Light Containment, a sword that transcended the levels of cosmic artifacts. It was the personal sword of Jian Wuming and also the strongest sword in the Great Qin Empire.

In the Sword Firmament Pavilion’s history, this sword had only been used thrice. Each time was because the sect was facing a threat of life and death. Only the Pavilion Master was permitted to draw the sword.

Then again, Guardian Plum was also permitted as well. In reality, Jian Xuanhe had already passed him the Pavilion Master’s position two decades ago, but Jian Xuanhe didn’t disclose it to the public. He wanted to disclose it once he reached the Heavenly Soul Realm and was ready to leave the Great Qin Empire. But honestly speaking, Jian Xuanhe would’ve been gone if it wasn’t for the incident a decade ago.

“Guardian Plum, we’ve already verified that Lin Yun went to Heavenly Qin County. He didn’t go after Han Yang as instructed.”

“The news was disclosed to him by the Lin sisters. He will be killed by the crown prince if the sect does nothing about it.”

“Guardian Plum, it’s time to make a decision.” The Sword-Bearing Elders looked at Guardian Plum’s back with a complicated gaze.

Xin Yan agreed to the marriage of her own will, so there was nothing the sect could do about it. But the sect couldn’t suffer losing Lin Yun. After all, it would be a pity if a talent like Lin Yun was killed by the crown prince. Then again, this also meant that they would have to stand against the crown prince if they wanted to save Lin Yun.

It was a difficult decision to make. Guardian Plum closed his eyes and fell into deep thought. He also had to make a similar decision a decade ago, but he ultimately chose not to draw the sword and allowed the Ye Clan to be annihilated.

It was the Pavilion Master who stood up and fought with the Great Qin Empire’s emperor for three days. No one knew about the outcome, but after that battle, Xin Jue and Xin Yan were allowed to stay in the Sword Firmament Pavilion despite the annihilation of the Ye Clan. They were both protected by the Pavilion Master’s personal strength.

Now, Guardian Plum had to make another choice a decade later. It was impossible for the Pavilion Master to help this time. The Pavilion Master’s heart was no longer in the Great Qin Empire and he had given the decision making to Guardian Plum. This meant that Guardian Plum’s decision could determine the death of tens of thousands in the sect.

Drawing the sword was easy, but sheathing it wasn’t. He could imagine the scene of Lin Yun riding to the capital upon hearing the news without turning back. After all, it was unlike Lin Yun to hesitate when he once said that he never regretted his killings.

Images of what Lin Yun did in the sect appeared in Guardian Plum’s mind. The youth pressed forward without any hesitation or fear of death. In the end, the image stopped when Lin Yun crippled one of his profound veins.

Feeling pain in his chest, Guardian Plum opened his eyes and turned around, “Fellow elders, I have come to a decision.”

“We will follow whatever decision you make!” The seven Sword-Bearing Elders cupped their hands as they each held onto a Firmament Sword.

The mysterious man and the old man continued their face-off in the street. The stalemate finally made Qin Yu lose his patience and he barked, “Liu Feilong, what are you waiting for?”

In the next second, a sonic boom was heard as something travelled through the air at high speed. This shocked everyone. The commander of the Divine Guards, Liu Feilong, was also here?

A horrifying aura exploded from the rear of the Divine Guards and a figure appeared in the air. He was donned in silver armor, which included his silver helmet, cape, and mask. He also held onto a long spear. His appearance instantly outshined everything else and the spectators felt a sudden urge to pay their respect to this person.

Liu Feilong’s spear was pointed at Lin Yun, who was circulating his origin energy to nurse his injuries. When the spear was pointed at him, Lin Yun was shocked to discover that he couldn’t move. It felt as though time had stopped.

The mysterious man took to the air to block this attack, but the moment he moved, the grey-clothed old man instantly appeared before him and held him down.

“Get lost!” barked the mysterious man.

“Haha, don’t think about causing any more trouble. Open your eyes and watch how that brat dies!” The old man sneered without any fear.

In the blink of an eye, Liu Feilong appeared before Qin Yu’s carriage from five hundred miles away. His speed was too fast for the naked eye and his attack wasn’t an attack that could be blocked. Lin Yun’s fate was sealed.

Right at this moment, the Firmament Tokens on the Sword Firmament Pavilion’s disciples shattered. When the tokens shattered, transparent runes appeared before Lin Yun and formed a bizarre array.

At the same time, when the array was formed, streaks of light flew across the horizon and descended down. The streaks of light were all swords, Firmament Swords.

When the seven Firmament Swords plunged into the ground, the ground trembled. At the same time, the swords gave out a blinding radiance, almost like a declaration.