Cao Zhen’s voice was calm, but it caused a great commotion on the stage. It wouldn’t have mattered if he said nothing, but since he spoke, he clearly viewed Lin Yun as an opponent. It seemed like Cao Zhen would take tomorrow’s battle seriously. Without a doubt, the battle would be interesting.

Due to that, everyone was filled with expectation. No one believed that Lin Yun could fight with Cao Zhen before today. But after witnessing Lin Yun’s true strength, they weren’t so sure anymore that Lin Yun would lose.

Looking back at Cao Zhen, Lin Yun could feel a decent amount of pressure coming from the former. He could tell that this person was strong.

After Cao Zhen finished talking, the Violethut Academy left. Watching Cao Zhen leave, Lin Yun’s interest was piqued as he knew that tomorrow’s battle would be important. He had a premonition that this would be his toughest battle since leaving the Sword Firmament Pavilion.

Tomorrow’s battle was crucial. If he lost, then his fangs that had just come out might be suppressed. Although he wouldn’t collapse because of that, it would still affect him greatly. If that happened, it would be practically impossible for him to shine in the Draconic Banquet a year from now.

It was hard to get into the Dragoncloud Ranking, not to mention making it at the forefront. But he was a swordsman, so he would press forward without fearing death. At this moment, Lin Yun’s eyes gradually blazed with fighting spirits.

Cold wind blew into Lin Yun’s residence at night under the moonlight. Lin Yun sat in the house as he cultivated the Iris Sword Sutra. The cold wind gradually calmed his blazing heart from the fight early today, but it was just the calm before the storm. The anticipation of tomorrow’s battle was tugging at Lin Yun’s heartstrings.

As Lin Yun circulated the Iris Sword Sutra faster, the surrounding spiritual energy poured into his body. At this moment, Lin Yun was like a whale devouring all the spiritual energy to nourish his body and cultivation. He was enveloped by a silver luster that made him seem somewhat lonely.

An hour later, Lin Yun opened his eyes as his pupils glowed like two bright stars from the sword intent that boiled in his body. It took some time for the boundless sword intent to calm down as it retreated back into Lin Yun’s body.

If anyone was here, they would be shocked by how majestic Lin Yun’s sword intent was. Most importantly, Lin Yun could control it perfectly. If someone else had such a boundless sword intent, they would be like a child swinging a giant metal sword.

“The Iris Sword Sutra can effectively temper my sword intent, but I still can’t make a breakthrough anytime soon.” Lin Yun raised his head and looked at the bright moon outside. He tried making a breakthrough earlier with the Iris Sword Sutra, but all his attempts ended up in failure.

Then again, this was already within Lin Yun’s expectation because he was lacking in accumulation. His cultivation had progressed too quickly over the past few months, so he was finally hitting a wall.

Then again, Lin Yun could refine the Infernal Flower to make a breakthrough, but it wouldn’t be worth it. After all, the Infernal Flower was precious and not even the Profound Yang Palace could obtain it easily. So it would be a waste if Lin Yun used it to make a breakthrough.

But he could sense that Cao Zhen had a powerful cultivation when he looked at the latter early today. Cao Zhen had already reached the greater Yang stage. Therefore, he was a lot stronger than the likes of Jiang Yi and Cao Xiu.

Lin Yun began to feel a pressure in his heart. It wasn’t completely because of Cao Zhen, but he was thinking further ahead. Cao Zhen might be a monstrous genius, but he still has quite the distance to go before reaching the level of the Dragoncloud Ranking.

Cao Zhen was already so terrifying, so if Lin Yun couldn’t defeat Cao Zhen, wanting to be ranked on the Dragoncloud Ranking would be a pipe dream. How could he chase after Su Ziyao if he failed?

“Tomorrow’s battle will be a brutal one…” Lin Yun muttered as his eyes glowed. He knew that he couldn’t take a step back no matter what. After he collected his thoughts, Lin Yun tapped his interspatial pouch and retrieved the rose painting.

It contained the same colossal and mighty tiger sniffing the rose on the man’s palm. Lin Yun was too familiar with this painting, but when he looked at it again today, his soul energy began to fluctuate from his body.

Where do the flowers bloom?

The azure-clothed man in the painting muttered as the flower in his palm landed on the tip of his sword and he began to perform a sword dance. As the man performed the sword dance, he began to emit a boundless sword aura that was several times stronger than the gigantic tiger.

Then, the rose bloomed and he exploded into countless stars. It felt as though everything had trembled under the man’s sword. When that man finished the sword dance, he suddenly looked at Lin Yun through the painting and smiled.

Shortly after, an explosion sounded out as countless petals covered the mountain range. This forced Lin Yun to shut his eyes. He closed the painting as his heart throbbed. He didn’t know how to describe what he was feeling right now, it seemed to be a mixture of anxiety, fear, and excitement.

After a long while later, Lin Yun opened his eyes and raised his head. All the illusions he saw previously had disappeared, but Lin Yun’s eyes shined with excitement. He muttered, “I saw it! I really saw it! This sword technique is completely different from what I saw previously. Where do the flowers bloom? That sword that made everything dim before it…”

Lin Yun had finally verified his speculation that he needed higher attainment in spiritual runes in order to comprehend the painting. He had already made a lot of progress, but he still couldn’t withstand the blinding sword flash from the painting.

When that man swung his sword, Lin Yun could sense that he would really be stabbed by the sword if he didn’t close the painting.

Lin Yun gradually simmered down. It looks like he had to comprehend the incomplete divine rune before trying to comprehend the sword technique left in the painting again. But even so, Lin Yun still fell into deep contemplation from that man’s attack and smile. He was wondering if his sword could also break through the painting.

Simultaneously, Cao Zhen was sitting at a table as he looked at the fragrant tea within the cup. No one knew how long he had been staring at it for. He finally drank it when someone came into the room. The visitor was the leader of the Violethut Academy’s team, an existence on the same level as Tang Yu.

“There’s an upcoming battle, so I thought you would be training bitterly. I didn’t expect you to be so composed. It looks like you never considered Lin Yun an opponent,” smiled the old man.

Cao Zhen’s eyes flashed as he shook his head, “I just didn’t feel the need to. I already practiced enough with my normal schedule. I won’t be lacking because of one night of practice. I’m just thinking about why his sword was so fast today.”

“You still haven’t thought it through?” asked the elder nervously. In his mind, there was no way Lin Yun could be compared to Cao Zhen even if he defeated Cao Xiu and Jiang Yi.

What was terrifying was Lin Yun’s sword, especially the attack he used to kill Cao Xiu. That attack wasn’t just quick, but it was also domineering.

Cao Zhen shook his head, “Not thoroughly.”

“Wouldn’t that put you in a disadvantageous position?” The elder frowned at this.

“What makes you think so? There’s no need for me to think it through as long as my saber is faster than his sword,” said Cao Zhen.