“It’s you, Meteorite King! I thought you were dead!” The Dawn King looked grimly at the Meteorite King.
The latter grinned beautifully back and suddenly unsheathed his sword, slashing someone next to the Dawn King.
“What?!” shouted the king as he raised twin blades to block the attack. “What are you doing, Meteorite King??”
His target was a second step king who didn’t return the blow after he blocked it. Meteorite didn’t respond to his furious question; he pointed his king grade longsword at the man.
Eyes widened as the other seventeen kings first looked at the Dawn King, then at the second step Chime King.
What’s going on here? When I wanted to kill the Meteorite King, it was the Chime King who saved him. Why is he going after the Chime King now? The Dawn King’s head spun.
He and the Meteorite King had fought over a treasure a few thousand years ago and he’d almost killed Meteorite because he was stronger. The Chime King had stepped forward at a crucial moment to save Meteorite’s life.
It was due to that incident that the Meteorite King had had to split himself into two and set up the scheme at Meteorite Peak to attract Dusksnow Morningstar. Instead of him seizing the genius’ body, however, Lu Yun subdued him in the end.
The Dawn King had thought he was dead after all that, but here he was and attacking his savior the moment he appeared!
That matter over the treasure resulted in the Dawn King’s less than favorable impression of the Chime King, but he hadn’t been able to turn the other down when he wanted to help with the ghostly invasion. It now seemed that… there was something off about this Chime King.
“I owe you great thanks for saving me last time, Chime King, and telling me how to split out the part of me that was a ghost king. I was able to shrug off the body of a ghost king and become a real denizen of the Hongmeng.” Meteorite put away his sword with a merry twinkle.
“What?!” Shock rippled through the crowd.
“A ghost king?! The Meteorite King is a ghost king??”
“What’s going on??”
Despite their surprise, Earthmartial and the others didn’t take brash action. They surreptitiously backed away and sealed off the void.
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” The Chime King’s tones dripped with menace.
“I said I was once a ghost king, are you not hearing that?” repeated Meteorite. “I’ve seen the light and become a real king of the realm, a king under the Immortal King’s banner! But I must say, the method you taught me wasn’t thorough enough. If my guess is correct, there’s still a portion of ghostly power in you that hasn’t been fully refined.
“Skyfall King, suppress him with a Principal Nineheavens Talisman!” he roared.
“I see!” Skyfall waved a hand and explosively magnified a talisman made of jade. It transformed into a small mountain and bore down on the Chime King.
“Don’t try to hide, Chime King! This talisman only works on ghosts. If you’re a being of the Hongmeng, it won’t hurt you at all!” Meteorite laughed loudly.
“Meteorite King, you traitor! The Moon King won’t let you get away with this!” screamed the Chime King as he abruptly dissolved into black smoke.
“Hah, trying to get away? Do you think the Principal Nineheavens Talismans of my Immortal Pagoda are just for decoration? Crush him!” Skyfall barked with laughter.
The small mountain of a talisman trembled and re-coalesced the black smoke about to fade away in the air. It condensed back into the Chime King’s body, dissolved into smoke again, then faded out of existence.
The Meteorite King retrieved the talisman with a wave of his hand.
Earthmartial’s eyes quickly darted around. He’d suspected a lot of people and even the Dawn King, but he never imagined that the ghost king among them would be the Chime King. He’d known the other for many years and felt that he knew the Chime King in and out.
A considerate and warmhearted individual, the Chime King loved to help others and was known throughout the land as the second Luminous King.
“Luminous King? Eh, the Lewd King more like, and he’s hanging in front of the Immortal Pagoda’s doors right now. I suppose that makes the truth about the Chime King less shocking,” Earthmartial murmured to himself.
“Everyone, as I was once a ghost king, I should not be present at a place like this. I take my leave.” Meteorite raised a cupped fist salute to the kings and left.
Earthmartial and the others wordlessly returned to Cloudexit City to prepare themselves for the coming battle. The ghosts may have withdrawn, but they hadn’t retreated. The second salvo would be here soon enough.
……
Inside Cloudexit City.
“You see that?? That’s the Immortal King!” Li Zhen once more sidled up to Lu Yun and gazed yearningly at the Skyfall and Meteorite Kings overhead. “He repels an army of a hundred million ghosts without coming in person, destroys two ghost kings, and subdues another one! He is truly the shining example for the realm.”
Lu Yun shrugged and didn’t go along with the conversation.
“Oh right, Champion Duke!” Li Zhen turned grave when he suddenly thought of something. “I didn’t have a proper weapon last time, which made it easy for you to break my sword. I have the ghost-headed blade now, so we can have a real fight!”
“I’m not in the mood.” Lu Yun flicked over a sideways glance and shook his head.
“Nuh uh, you’re the one who said it! We must have a fight or you have to give up your title!” Li Zhen wouldn’t let the matter go.
“I killed a ghost king,” Lu Yun remarked as he walked further into the city.
“That was the Bloodclad Duke!” Li Zhen argued.
“And I saved you and the Bloodclad Duke. We can fight, but after your arm grows out.” Lu Yun couldn’t be bothered. He was in a foul mood—he hadn’t been able to see through the Chime King with the Spectral Eye. How many more ghost kings like him were there in the Hongmeng?
Though his talisman had killed the ghost king, he hadn’t gained a new Infernum like he had with the Meteorite King. This was not a good sign.
“The Starspace King is one of the top ten kings in the Enforcer Alliance. They’ll have to respond to his death.” Lu Yun looked around, but didn’t see anyone from the alliance.
It was highly likely that the same fate had befallen the Scorch King. This was blatant face slapping; that the enforcer had yet to arrive was testament to the alliance’s self-control.
“There are a hundred and thirty-six cities on the border of Cloudruin and Starspace Region. They form a massive chain of defense to protect Cloudruin Region,” Li Zhen murmured when he heard Lu Yun’s words.
“And?” Lu Yun looked at him.
“It isn’t just Cloudruin Region—the Darklight and Skyruin Regions neighboring Starspace also need to staff large quantities of cultivators and arcane beasts for defense. The Enforcer Alliance won’t care about a tiny Cloudexit City.” Li Zhen rolled his eyes at Lu Yun like he was looking upon a country bumpkin.
“Do you know why I’m at Cloudexit?” Lu Yun smiled.
Li Zhen shook his head.
“Do you know why the four dukes are here? Or why the Immortal King wants to establish a branch of the Immortal Pagoda here?”
Li Zhen paused, at a complete loss for words.
“Because Cloudexit lies along the shortest path to Redbud Region. The ghosts want the purple crystal mines in Redbud Region, so the ghosts in Starspace will focus their attention on us,” Lu Yun clarified lazily. “You throw yourself into the thick of things without understanding what’s going on first. Are you trying to protest to the realm that your lifespan is too long?
“Ah, here comes the Enforcer Alliance. The real battle is about to begin.” He jerked his head upward to see a black mass of cultivators descend from the sky—black robed enforcers.
