The Bloodclad Duke instantly became the center of attention in this part of the battlefield. A bloody moon hung in the sky and illuminated the land with crimson glory. It actually halted the incomparable ghost king in its tracks.
“How dare you draw a blade on me, little thing!” Violence and bitterness raged in its raspy voice. Dense black smoke wrapped around the ghost king, through which Bloodclad could see hints of a tiny skeleton.
“Draw blades?” he roared with laughter. “I’m going to cut your head off while I’m at it!”
Boom!
The void caved into a black hole when the two collided. Gusts of black and crimson air exploded in all directions and vaporized any soldiers caught in the blast zone. So, too, was the ghost king obliterated into ash.
“Hahaha!!”
“Well done!”
“As a Hongmeng cultivator should be!” The battalion that Bloodclad followed bellowed with approval. Though most of them were dying from the fallout of the duke executing a ghost king, none of them died with any regrets!
Their last image of this world was the fragmenting body of the ghost king. The Bloodclad Duke had won! He’d really defeated a ghost king with one stroke!
……
“Damn it, why didn’t that ghost king come for me? He’s getting all the glory!” complained Azureclad as he slew another vicious ghost with a thrust of his sword.
After killing a ghost king with one blow, Bloodclad would be the foremost cultivator beneath the titled kings from this day forth. His status would eclipse the venerated enforcer and his feat erase the stain of losing to Dusknow Morningstar!
Executing a king as a superior realm cultivator!
Hua Fengwen had done so a hundred thousand years ago and the Bloodclad Duke repeated the deed today!
……
Bloodclad was as if a tattered bag filled with holes. Though he’d killed the ghost king, the resulting backlash almost resulted in his own death as well.
And despite appearances, the ghost king wasn’t completely dead.
It still possessed half a skull and was furiously absorbing the black qi around them, trying to recover its body.
“AHHHH!!!!! DIEEEEEEE!!” It suddenly shrieked with rage and shot at Bloodclad like a black meteor.
“The Bloodclad Duke is in trouble!” There were eighteen defending kings facing off ten ghost kings—they could absolutely spare one of their number to rescue Bloodclad, but no one dared break the line.
They knew that one of them was a concealed ghost king. Whoever went to save Bloodclad now might be going to kill him and not rescue him. Since the duke could kill kings before he reached kinghood, he was an enormous latent threat. If a spy was among them, they would absolutely try to kill Bloodclad before he grew stronger.
Thus, no one dared make a move. Whoever did so might be attacked by the other seventeen kings.
Judging from the eerie smiles that spread across their faces, their opponents seemed to realize the same thing. Hidden in the black smoke, their eyes glittered with amusement and the speed of their attacks slowed, purposefully giving the kings a chance to rescue Bloodclad.
……
Whoosh!
Cerulean sword light pierced through the void and shattered the remaining skull half!
The ghost king immediately dispersed upon the wind.
“Today, this mighty one, the Champion Duke, kills a ghost king outside Cloudexit City!” Lu Yun struck a heroic pose with the Stellar Sword.
Ringing silence spread through the premises as jaws dropped.
“You’re ridiculous!” Li Zhen yelled. “The Bloodclad Duke killed the ghost king! What does it have to do with you?!”
“Doesn’t it have something to do with me?” Lu Yun scratched his head. “Alright then, I killed a ghost king outside Cloudexit City and saved the Bloodclad Duke?”
Lying in a bedraggled heap on the ground, Bloodclad smiled wryly. Only he understood Lu Yun’s good intentions—the young man meant to take credit for killing the ghost king so that the ghosts would focus their ire on him.
In other words, he was purposefully shouldering the repercussions so that Bloodclad wouldn’t be beset by the enemy before he had a chance to recover.
“ROAR!!” As intended, the vicious ghosts charging Bloodclad immediately turned around and made for Lu Yun.
When it came to ghostly intelligence, those with enough intellect to infiltrate Cloudexit City were the cream of the crop and extremely rare. The ghost king had indeed died to Lu Yun and he’d then stepped forward with a yell, projecting the ghost king’s resentment and will with his voice.
Thus, the ghosts followed that bitterness and malice to avenge their king.
“As I thought, he didn’t become an Infernum!” Lu Yun took a deep breath while his expression flickered uncertainly. The ghost king he’d just executed had scattered to the four corners; the Tome of Life and Death hadn’t been able to claim it.
Clang!
Rays of stunning brilliance flared from the Stellar Sword and circled protectively around him as ten thousand streaks of cerulean sword light. Lu Yun smoothly stepped into the gap left by the Bloodclad Duke and battalion of a hundred thousand.
The Stellar Sword was so sharp that each stroke of Stellar Light Magneticus carved through the ghosts like a hot knife through butter if they so much as looked in its direction.
“Aw come fucking on! I take back what I said before!” Flames of envy erupted in Li Zhen’s eyes to see Lu Yun decimate the ghostly army with light swishes of his sword. If he possessed a weapon like that, he’d dare taunt a ghost king too!
Gripping his broken blade tightly, Li Zhen rushed in Lu Yun’s direction. The land outside Cloudexit was filled with ghosts and many were scaling the city walls. They continuously threw themselves at the city’s last line of defense.
Though Li Zhen was drenched in blood and wobbling on his feet, he refused to run back into the city. That would be too embarrassing, and none of the other visiting geniuses had retreated either.
That meant only Lu Yun’s position was relatively safe on the battlefield. Ensconced in Lu Yun’s sword light, the Bloodclad Duke and remaining soldiers from the battalion tended their wounds with peace of mind.
“And what are you doing here?” Lu Yun harrumphed to see Li Zhen.
“I, I can’t really hold on any further,” he responded with a rueful grin.
“Go in then.” Lu Yun cracked open his protective sword light and let Li Zhen in to rest.
When others saw the reprieve, they crowded over for shelter as well—Lu Yun sent them packing with a glare.
The sword light protecting Bloodclad was a sword formation; it’d compressed itself to the limits of its tolerance upon being mercilessly buffeted by the vicious ghosts. It’d break if anyone else entered.
Purpleclad, Azureclad, and Crimsonclad were also drenched in blood. Though they’d suffered some injuries, their eyes shone ever more brightly. This level of fighting was a perfect tempering for experts of their level.
“What are you doing still following me around??” Lu Yun swept a resigned glance at the faint figure next to him and roared, “Move your ass to killing ghosts, I ain’t running!”
“Um…” Qing Ting blinked and walked out of the shadows. “I thought you didn’t know I was here,” she said with some embarrassment.
