The Unparalleled Sword Emperor
Chapter 955 - 953: The Order of Ascending to Heaven! The Ascension Bridge! (5 more)

Chapter 955: Chapter 953: The Order of Ascending to Heaven! The Ascension Bridge! (5 more)

"What does he want with a Spirit Puppet that has the ’Ling’ character on its mask?" Lin Bai asked curiously. "And to offer such a generous reward, a whole thousand Seventh-level Spirit Crystals!"

Lin Bai concluded that with a thousand Seventh-level Spirit Crystals, he could definitely break through to the Eighth Stage of Martial Intent.

Ding!

Just then, the Identity Token transmitted another message.

Lin Bai and Jian Ruohan both checked it, "You have received five bounty messages."

"Listen!"

"I am the Knife Demon from the Knife Dao Sect, offering a reward of twelve hundred Seventh-level Spirit Crystals for finding a ’Ling’ Character Spirit Puppet!" A cold, icy male voice echoed from the Token.

Jian Ruohan’s expression tightened as she said, "The Knife Demon, ranked sixth on the Dao Academy Blade Ranking!"

Lin Bai’s expression turned solemn.

Why were they all looking for this Spirit Puppet?

"I am Chu Yu from the Chulong Courtyard, offering a reward of thirteen hundred Seventh-level Spirit Crystals for the ’Ling’ Character Spirit Puppet!" Following that, the third bounty message came through.

Jian Ruohan said, "Chulong Courtyard, ranked eighth on the Flying Dragon Ranking, Chu Yu!"

"I am Bai Chen from the Spear Daoist Courtyard, offering a reward of fourteen hundred Seventh-level Spirit Crystals for the ’Ling’ Character Spirit Puppet!" The fourth bounty message came through.

Jian Ruohan said, "Spear Daoist Courtyard, fifth on the Spear Ranking, Bai Chen!"

"I am Wu Qing from the Fist Daoist Courtyard, offering a reward of fifteen hundred Seventh-level Spirit Crystals for the ’Ling’ Character Spirit Puppet!" The fifth bounty message came through.

Jian Ruohan said, "Fist Daoist Courtyard, third on the Fist Ranking, Wu Qing!"

All five messages were released by top ten experts from each of the Dao Courtyards.

This left both Lin Bai and Jian Ruohan utterly shocked.

"What exactly do they want with this Spirit Puppet?" Lin Bai said, quite baffled.

"Could it be..." Jian Ruohan pondered for a moment, then spoke up, "Could it be that the Ascension Palace is about to emerge?"

"The Ascension Palace!"

Lin Bai was startled.

Previously, when entering Martial Intent Mountain, Lu Zhen had told Lin Bai that there were four Ascension Palaces and four Ascension Bridges within Martial Intent Mountain.

Set foot upon the Ascension Bridge, reside in the Ascension Palace, and you could soar to the heavens.

Once, a Warrior with Third Level Martial Intent accidentally entered one of the Ascension Palaces, and by the time he emerged, he had become an expert with Ninth-Order Martial Intent. It is said that afterwards, he went to Lingnan and made quite a name for himself.

Jian Ruohan softly uttered, "To step onto the Sky Bridge and enter the Ascension Palace, one must gain recognition!"

"It’s said that whenever an Ascension Palace appears, a Token is released, and whoever acquires this Token earns the right to step onto the Ascension Bridge and enter the Ascension Palace!"

"This is known as the Order of Ascending to Heaven!"

"Could this so-called Order of Ascending to Heaven be hidden within this unique Spirit Puppet?"

After hearing Jian Ruohan, Lin Bai mulled it over and nodded thoughtfully, "It seems the Ascension Tower has indeed appeared; otherwise, the top ten from each Dao Courtyard would not offer such rich rewards to find this Spirit Puppet!"

Jian Ruohan nodded lightly, "That’s right, the opportunities inside the Ascension Palace are even more tempting than the Spirit Puppets here in the Scorching Gobi. It’s the best chance to soar to the heavens!"

"Only the Ascension Palace could potentially attract the top ten experts from every Dao Courtyard!"

Lin Bai and Jian Ruohan nodded to each other.

Suddenly.

Jian Ruohan’s gaze shifted towards something behind Lin Bai, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"What are you looking at?" Lin Bai asked with curiosity.

Staring blankly behind Lin Bai, Jian Ruohan stretched out her pale white jade finger and said, "Lin Bai, look at that Spirit Puppet, doesn’t it resemble the special one those top ten experts are searching for?"

On hearing Jian Ruohan, Lin Bai turned around in surprise to look.

In front of the hill where Lin Bai was located, there was a group of about a hundred Fifth Level Spirit Puppets, charging towards Lin Bai and Jian Ruohan en masse.

With her sharp eyes, Jian Ruohan immediately noticed among these Fifth Level Spirit Puppets, there was a special one.

On the face mask of this Spirit Puppet was just one character!

That character read "Ling"!

"The ’Ling’ Character Spirit Puppet! The Order of Ascending to Heaven!" Lin Bai exclaimed with instant excitement.

Jian Ruohan was also thrilled and said, "Lin Bai, as long as you get the Order of Ascending to Heaven and enter the Ascension Palace, that will be much faster than us killing Seventh-level Spirit Puppets for cultivation in the Scorching Gobi!"

"Moreover, there are other special cultivation resources within the Ascension Palace, which will greatly benefit your future cultivation once obtained!"

Jian Ruohan said to Lin Bai.

"Are you suggesting that we should not hand over this token, but rather keep it for ourselves?" Lin Bai asked with a smile.

"Don’t you think the same? Are you willing to trade such a juicy piece of meat for a mere thousand and some seventh-level spirit crystals?" Jian Ruohan asked with a smile, "You and I both know the value of the Order of Ascending to Heaven is far greater than just over a thousand seventh-level spirit crystals."

Lin Bai silently nodded.

Although offering over a thousand seventh-level spirit crystals as a reward seems generous, in reality, it only appeals to warriors with low-level martial intent.

First of all, for the top ten warriors of each Daoist Courtyard, over a thousand seventh-level spirit crystals are mere pennies to them; it doesn’t catch their eyes at all.

But for warriors below the sixth level, over a thousand seventh-level spirit crystals are extremely important.

For example, if Lin Bai had over a thousand seventh-level spirit crystals now, he could easily break through to the seventh-stage martial intent.

However, both Lin Bai and Jian Ruohan now understand that the value of the Order of Ascending to Heaven is worth much more than just over a thousand seventh-level spirit crystals, even more than a thousand ninth-level spirit crystals!

"We will seize the Order of Ascending to Heaven. I don’t want it; you take it and enter the Ascension Palace!" Jian Ruohan said to Lin Bai.

Lin Bai was startled and looked at Jian Ruohan.

Lin Bai felt very sorry for Jian Ruohan. Along the way, for all the spirit puppets they had slain, Jian Ruohan didn’t take any spirit crystals, offering them all to Lin Bai.

Now, with the Order of Ascending to Heaven at stake, Jian Ruohan still didn’t want it and directly offered it to Lin Bai.

Lin Bai wanted to say something.

But at that moment, Jian Ruohan had already drawn his treasure sword and rushed forward, "Stop talking nonsense. Lin Bai, I know what you want to say. If you want to repay me, then wait until you come out of the Ascension Palace."

"Make your move. Hesitation leads to change, and a long night brings many dreams!"

Jian Ruohan channeled his treasure sword and dashed towards the special spirit puppet, aiming to burst it apart.

Lin Bai sighed helplessly, knowing that they should first focus on getting their hands on the Order of Ascending to Heaven.

Lin Bai and Jian Ruohan joined forces to enter the midst of the spirit puppets.

Most of the spirit puppets were of the fifth level, with none even at the sixth. Under the combined assault of Lin Bai and Jian Ruohan, they were swiftly wiped out in a short moment.

Jian Ruohan struck down the special spirit puppet with his sword.

After the spirit puppet shattered, it did not leave behind spirit crystals but a white jade token instead.

The token bore a single "Order" character.

Jian Ruohan gestured for Lin Bai to take the token.

Without any hesitation, Lin Bai walked over and reached out to take the token in hand.

Thump!

The moment Lin Bai grasped the token, it melted directly in his hand, and the token vanished from sight, but on Lin Bai’s forehead, an "Order" character appeared.

Simultaneously, a dazzling, eye-catching white light shot into the clouds.

Even from tens of thousands of miles away, one could see the column of white light!

Boom boom boom—

A thunderous, deafening sound filled the air.

Lin Bai and Jian Ruohan looked up to see the skies above Martial Intent Mountain parting to reveal a corner of a grand Immortal Palace...

At this moment, a voice involuntarily echoed in the ears of all warriors: "The Sun Palace will appear in the mortal world after three hours. Those holding the Order of Ascending to Heaven may tread the Sky Bridge, reside in the Immortal Palace, and seize boundless opportunities and fortune!"

Upon hearing this information, Lin Bai and Jian Ruohan were momentarily taken aback.

"After three hours?" Lin Bai exclaimed.

Seeing the white light emanating from Lin Bai, Jian Ruohan looked shocked, "Lin Bai, it seems this white light will directly emanate from you. Only after killing you and taking out the Order of Ascending to Heaven inside your phantom can the white light disappear..."

Hearing Jian Ruohan’s words, Lin Bai said in a daze, "That means, in the next three hours, I will be pursued by all the warriors across the Scorching Gobi!"

"And that includes the top experts from all the Daoist Courtyards!"

The expressions on Lin Bai and Jian Ruohan’s faces were quite unpleasant.

Suddenly, two streaks of rushing light swiftly approached, landing not far from Lin Bai and Jian Ruohan.

"Hahaha, I thought it was someone worthy who had obtained the Order of Ascending to Heaven. Turns out it’s you two clueless fools!" The two streaks of light landed and rolled, transforming into the shapes of two people.

These two were none other than Hua Jingcheng and Ning Yunlong!