After the eighteen kings became Lu Yun’s Infernum, he went one step further and wrote them into the Tome of Life and Death. Despite their new undying status, they couldn’t remain in Multitude City.
Talents and heavyweights abounded in the metropolis. While his new contingent of kings could change their appearance—someone, somewhere would discover something. It would rock the Hongmeng if the realm discovered that kings who’d died to time were alive again.
If that became common knowledge, any manner of character would come looking for Lu Yun.
Thus, he sent them to the remote Immortal City, bidding them to expand his territory from the one hundred and eighty cities that formed Immortal Region.
Any locale in the southern reaches of Multitude Region was considered too far removed from decent civilization. No disturbance would draw a second look from anyone; they’d at most send some people to investigate.
The Beast King and others would remain concealed for a while if they stayed there, and they would be able to relieve Tiger Butcher, Silver Leopard, and the other former city lords of the region.
……
One hundred and seven kings arrived at Multitude City through the Gates of the Abyss when their changing of the guard arrived. Their sudden appearance at the Immortal Pagoda and unconcealed swelling of the ranks scared the wits out of many in Multitude.
Although most of the new faces were first or second step kings, and their strongest member a third step king—one hundred kings were the equivalent of a proper faction! That they all acted like servants only fanned the flames of general shock and fear.
One had to know that even the previous Colosseum only boasted thirty kings under its banner.
While the Enforcer Alliance possessed a hundred and eight kings, including fifth and sixth step kings, those one hundred and eight were the heavyweights of the alliance and its core leadership. They were the furtherest thing from servants as could be.
These newcomers, however, were plainly the Immortal King’s men and each of them as loyal as a dog!
……
“Indeed, our intelligence was correct when it said that the newly titled Immortal King is the Immortal King of Immortal City on the southern border.” Behind closed doors deep within Multitude City, a man in silver robes paced back and forth, unease playing out across his face.
“He’s already conquered all of the cities in the southern belt, and now he’s deployed his kings to Multitude City. He plainly wants to concentrate his power and put down roots here.
“It’s obvious that city lord of Immortal City is only one of his identities. By what right did he climb to that position and recruit more than a hundred kings?! Who stands behind him?!
“Men, continue your investigation! Find out everything about this Immortal King’s background!”
Investigations from kings inside and outside of Multitude City, and ones elsewhere in the realm, were underway.
……
Retribution Region, Retribution City. Headquarters of the Enforcer Alliance.
The venerated enforcer stood on the roof of the Hall of Enforcement at the center of the city and looked silently to the northern horizon.
“My little martial grandfather is such a troublemaker. He went and killed the Beast King of the Colosseum!” The venerated enforcer still looked like a young man of eighteen years in pristine, long white robes. He sported a strange expression on his face. “So it turns out that my martial grandfather traveled back to the past and had my master!
“Yeah, sure. …what the sheer utter fuck is this?!” A wry grin appeared on his face. “He’s not even a rounding error when compared to my age, is he?
“But my martial grandfather is my grandfather alright! He’s become a titled king through the supplemental paths before fully coming into his strength! I really wonder what his face looked like when Dusksnow Morningstar deployed Dragonrise… hehehe!!
“For now, I need to clean up after his mess and figure out appropriate identities for him and my martial grandmother…” He stroked his flawless chin and sank into deep thought.
……
Lu Yun didn’t care how many in the Hongmeng were investigating him; he didn’t care about those investigations at all. They wouldn’t come up with anything.
Even if they somehow tracked his movements to Zhuo Bufan, the man’s head would explode the second they tried to read his memories and disperse everything into the wind.
One of Lu Yun’s replicas remained holding down the fort in the world of immortals all this time, putting in an appearance every now and then to hold a class. It was manifested out of a karmic fruit, so not even sixth step kings would find any flaws with it.
Thus, he settled down in Multitude City with peace of mind, arranging everything according to his plans. The sole issue that caused Lu Yun anxiety was Qing Yu’s continued absence despite him spreading his name far and wide with everything at his disposal. No delegation from Hopeless Major came to visit the Immortal King.
“It looks like I need to make it to her home ground to find her. Qing Yu must’ve run into something in Hopeless Major!”
Lu Yun’s replica in the world of immortals had sought out Violetgrave at one point, but she’d equivocated without giving him a real response. It was up to him alone, and he had to first refine the Six Paths Reincarnation Pill so that he and the little fox could quickly break through to superior realm and reach kinghood via cultivation level!
……
Three months after the ruin of the Colosseum, the newly constructed Immortal Pagoda suddenly sent out mass invites: The Immortal Pagoda was open for business!
Open for business??
It was a confusing declaration as the pagoda was designed with outer yards and inner residences. It looked more like a palace on a million kilometer lot than a place of commerce. Everyone had thought that it was the Immortal King’s personal residence, so the invitations took them all aback once more.
Was he really using the Colosseum’s territory as a storefront for his own business? Wasn’t he concerned that they’d come and tear down everything he’d built?
Their other two sixth step kings—the Human and Blood Kings—had returned, and with three other fifth step kings!
Though they were less than the Spacetime King, they were still preeminent kings in Multitude Region. They weren’t subordinate to the Colosseum, instead being personal friends of the Colosseum’s sixth step kings.
The Blood and Human Kings, as well as their friends, were the Colosseum’s only remaining kings. They commanded nearly ten million cultivators under the faction’s name. These ten million were the Colosseum’s thugs and bullies, the ones in charge of shady dealings. Jin Gushen had fallen into their hands when he first entered the Hongmeng.
The Blood and Human Kings naturally received word that the Immortal Pagoda was opening for business on their old territory; they’d even received invitations!
Far from concealing their return, they’d established another Colosseum at another end of Multitude City. It was the last thing on their mind that the Immortal King would be so brazen as to send them invitations for the Immortal Pagoda’s grand opening!
A realization filtered through public consciousness that the curtains were about to officially draw back on the war between the Immortal King and Colosseum.
Does he possess more water from the river of time? was foremost on everyone’s minds.
