Chapter 228 - Bitter Cultivation   At the junction between the inner and outer city was a lake covered by a thick mist.

“C-c-cold!” Lin Yun shivered from the cold and jumped off the Dragon Blooded Horse. Carrying a sword box on his back, Lin Yun came to the lake and yelled, “Lord Thirteen, I’ve come as scheduled!”

His voice oscillated in the mist and reverberated. Suddenly a boat appeared out of nowhere. Lin Yun wasn’t surprised by it because he and Li Wuyou were both sent out the same way previously.

He got onto the boat with the Dragon Blooded Horse. The boat then turned around and shot through the lake like a sword, disappearing into the mist. At the bow of the boat, Lin Yun sat with his eyes closed.

He was circulating the Iris Sword Sutra within his body. The origin energy within his body roared like a powerful sword through his veins. Whenever he breathed, the Iris Flower in his Dantian would shine. Under the violet surge of the origin energy in his body, the second profound vein slowly appeared.

But another mysterious power would appear every time he was about to succeed. When he finished making a full circulation of the origin energy in his body, he would only be left with a third of it because the Age Sutra was converting it into age energy.

The Iris Sword Sutra and Age Sutra contradicted each other. The former increased his cultivation and nourished his origin energy, while the latter would weaken his cultivation whenever he cultivated a strand of age energy.

This was also the reason why he hadn’t been able to form the second profound vein. But Lin Yun wasn’t in a hurry. His origin energy containing the age energy was much stronger than before. The origin energy flowing through his body emitted a faint glow, like tempered steel.

The age energy had refined 80% of the iris energy. He was waiting for the iris energy to reach 100% refined. If he made a breakthrough after that, he wouldn’t have to be afraid of Ye Liuyun, even if Ye Liuyun reached the fourth stage of the Profound Martial Realm.

The only trouble was that he needed a large number of resources. Luckily, he had a large amount of spiritual jades with him now.

The familiar bamboo building appeared in Lin Yun’s eyes when he reopened his eyes. He had arrived at the Sword Burial Woods. He came ashore and entered the building to see Lord Thirteen sitting on the stone platform.

His eyes were closed, emitting a terrifying pressure that prevented anyone from approaching. Lord Thirteen suddenly opened his eyes and Lin Yun could hear an aging sword buzz. Lin Yun felt as if he had been hit in the chest.

Lin Yun was greatly shocked by Lord Thirteen’s sword intent. The latter only needed to look at him to kill him. What sort of sword intent was that?

“Greetings, Lord Thirteen.”

“Not bad.” Lord Thirteen began examining Lin Yun and nodded, “And here I still thought that you would already be in the second stage of the Profound Martial Realm after absorbing 50% of the yin energy here. I never expected that you'd be able to keep your composure instead.”

“I have practically spent all my time solidifying my cultivation over the past month in the sect. I even neglected my martial techniques. The Thunderclap Sword Art is no longer usable in the Sword Firmament Pavilion.”

“Cultivation is always the foundation of a cultivator. You can’t bring out the power of any sword if your foundation isn’t stable. Given your comprehension, it won’t take even two months for you to comprehend any profound martial art. Why are you in such a hurry?” Lord Thirteen replied.

“This junior has encountered trouble.” Lin Yun then explained how he formed a grudge with Wang Yan, which resulted in his battle with Ye Liuyun.

Lord Thirteen looked at Lin Yun deeply and asked, “There are only twenty days left? I’m afraid that I won’t be able to help you.”

“It’s fine. I don’t dare to ask for your help. I just hope to use the Sword Burial Woods,” Lin Yun replied. He didn’t come here to get Lord Thirteen’s help. After all, he wanted to rely on his own ability to kill Ye Liuyun. Lord Thirteen had already helped him once, so how could he ask Lord Thirteen for more help?

Furthermore, only he could help himself. He didn’t have any other choice but to become stronger.

“Go ahead.” Lord Thirteen pointed in a direction and closed his eyes. It was as if Lin Yun had never been here.

“Thank you, Senior.” Lin Yun cupped his hands together and set out for the Sword Burial Woods on the Dragon Blooded Horse. The bamboos swayed in the wind and emitted noise akin to a wind chime.

The surrounding was filled with dense sword intent. Standing within it, Lin Yun felt as if he was basking in an ocean of sword intent, which felt comfortable. He looked delighted when he took a deep breath.

“Sure enough, I didn’t come to the wrong place.” Lin Yun’s eyes glowed brightly. It felt like he had returned home here in the Sword Burial Woods. He then took out three jade slips, which had the recordings of the Dragon-Tiger Fist, Great Wind Scripture, and Overlord Sword.

He had obtained the Great Wind Scripture from the Sky Piercing Altar back in the Azure Sun Realm. It was a technique from the primordial sect that was passed down from ancient times. Martial techniques from ancient times couldn’t be categorized with the current gradings.

He could guess that this technique wasn’t any weaker compared to a spiritual martial technique. Lin Yun had already looked into it when he was in the Xiantian Realm, but he couldn’t cultivate it back then. After reaching the Profound Martial Realm, he had spent most of his time consolidating his cultivation. However, Lin Yun wasn’t confident that he could grasp this technique within twenty days.

“The Great Wind Scripture will be my trump card in the future. So I’ll leave that aside for now.” Lin Yun stored the jade strip and focused his gaze on the Dragon-Tiger Fist with a bitter smile.

He wouldn’t have begged for the Overlord Sword if he had obtained this ten days ago. After all, he had personally witnessed Drifting Goblet executing the Dragon-Tiger Fist. If he started with the Ferocious Tiger Fist, he had been cultivating this martial technique for the past few years.

Lin Yun planned on reaching greater mastery in the Dragon-Tiger Fist in ten days. As for the remaining ten days, he would use them to comprehend the Overlord Sword.

Lin Yun did not have to fear Ye Liuyun with the Dragon-Tiger Fist. And if he made any progress in the Overlord Sword, it would undoubtedly become a trump card for him. He placed the jade slip on his forehead and allowed the information recorded in the jade slip to flow into his mind.

This technique had four seals and only those four seals could bring out the true power of the Dragon-Tiger Fist. They were the Undying Vajra Seal, Sky Breaking Seal, Demon Annihilating Seal, and Heavenly Seal.

This Dragon-Tiger Fist isn’t simple. What I’ve comprehended before is just the tip of the iceberg. After all, there was no way he could truly wield the Dragon-Tiger Fist without the four seals. This Buddhism martial art was genuinely profound. I’ve already learned the Undying Vajra Seal, so let’s start with the Sky Breaking Seal to match it with Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger.

Lin Yun began swinging his fists in the Sword Burial Woods and the roars of dragon and tiger could be heard reverberating in the surrounding.

Sky Breaking… What does that mean? The sky is empty, so how can you break it? It must be missing something… Lin Yun tried to comprehend the technique’s profundities, recalling how the dragon and tiger dashed out when Drifting Goblet used it previously.

Lin Yun managed to step into the technique threshold after several attempts, but he couldn’t grasp the true intent behind this technique no matter what. Even so, he didn’t give up and tirelessly practiced in the Sword Burial Woods under the surrounding pressure.

After God knows how many punches later, the air suddenly exploded, causing Lin Yun to fall into deep thought. “Seeing doesn’t mean it’s really empty. It’s only empty if it’s empty in my heart. What I’m breaking is the tiger and dragon in my heart. Since I can even break the illusion, I can break anything.”

He started forming seals with both his hands before throwing a punch out. This time, his mind was clear when he threw the seal out. It was as if he had entered a tranquil state.

“That’s right. Breaking the sky meant breaking the dragon and tiger in my heart. With the empowerment of this seal, the Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger can finally exhibit its true power.” A faint smile appeared on Lin Yun’s face. He had finally grasped the Sky Breaking Seal fundamentals, which was the most important step in the Dragon-Tiger Fist reaching greater mastery.

After a brief moment, Lin Yun formed seals with both his hands and unleashed the Flying Dragon, Leaping Tiger that the Sky Breaking Seal empowered. His fist even contained a sword aura when he threw it out. His punch raised the dust and leaves off the ground.

Under Lin Yun’s pressure, the leaves and clouds of dust hovered in the air briefly. But if others looked at it, it would only seem that time had become slow for them.

Outside the forest, Lord Thirteen was looking at this with a smile, “The kitten and snake punch. Not bad. He can perfectly fuse his sword aura into his fist technique. I wonder how that old fogey in the Heavenly Profound Sect feels after seeing this?”

He was probably the only person in the Great Qin Empire who dared to call the Dragon-Tiger Fist the kitten and snake punch.

Lin Yun started accumulating power in his fist. When he threw his punch out, a tiger appeared, crossing down the mountain. The leaves that were hovering in the sky suddenly shattered into pieces. When Lin Yun relaxed his fists, the Sword Burial Woods was left in ruins.