The upper half of the great dragon that had yet to be tainted was occupied by all sorts of ghosts. They furiously injected their energy and ghostfire into the dragon, trying to corrupt it.
Lu Yun, Qing Ting, and Li Zhen imitated the ghosts and laid down on a pristine portion of the great dragon. They aped the movements in their surroundings and seemingly propelled their energy and ghostfire into the dragon.
When ghosts exhausted their ghostfire, they dispersed upon the wind and didn’t leave behind even their ghost crystal. Lu Yun and his companions, however, wouldn’t be affected by this. Their ghostfire was a result of the Transformation Talisman and not their core essence.
“What should we do? The great dragon is going to be completely corrupted at this rate!” Qing Ting couldn’t bear to see it. She could clearly sense a fragmented will that teetered on crumbling in the great dragon. It resisted with every fiber of its being, fighting back against the boundless ghostly force.
Though it wasn’t alive, it had its own spirit!
More importantly was that it took roughly a hundred breaths for a first step king to fully channel its ghostfire into the dragon. They fell apart after that interval and went up in smoke.
Thus, the trio would be revealed after a hundred breaths.
In the space that held the great dragon, there were some high level ghost kings keeping a watchful eye over everything. They closely monitored the scene of ghosts, low and mid level ghost kings to prevent anything untoward from happening.
The ghosts were no fools.
Lu Yun and the others had made it inside only through the capability of his Transformation Talismans. It would be difficult for them to do anything else.
Many low level ghost kings were unwilling to give their lives up like this, but as soon as a hint of dissatisfaction appeared, the high level kings cut them down where they stood.
“Jinse!” Lu Yun contacted Jinse. She was in high spirits as she’d ascended to eighth level kinghood by killing the Turtle King. The Tome of Life and Death and hundreds of karmic fruit had played a pivotal role in her victory.
“Send word to Hua Fengwen and the Acclaim King, have them lead cultivators from the City of Immortals and attack Starspace Region! They must start the battle within fifty breaths!” he ordered decisively. A high level king could span the entire region in the blink of an eye.
“Understood!” Jinse snapped to attention and relayed Lu Yun’s command to the Acclaim King and Hua Fengwen.
The two leapt into motion. They knew that Lu Yun was in the Starspace Region—since he’d given this kind of command, that meant his affairs had reached a critical point.
One hundred and eight kings rose into the air, forming a troop of sixth step kings by the border of Starspace Region. The Acclaim King fully unleashed her cultivation as a ninth step king as well, howling at the head of an army that streamed out from the depths of the Immortal Pagoda.
“A ninth step king!!”
“The presence of a ninth step king!” Cloudexit City boiled over. Why had a ninth step king suddenly appeared and started the final battle against Starspace Region?
“They’re from the Immortal Pagoda! Something must’ve happened in the region, let’s go take a look too!”
“Chaaaaarge!!”
All of Cloudexit and other cities on the border sensed the disturbance in the situation. After slight hesitation, cultivators in the cities followed the Immortal Pagoda’s troops. Everyone knew that something big was about to happen.
The pagoda wouldn’t reveal their ninth step king and charge into Starspace Region for no reason at all.
“The Immortal Pagoda is on the move, we need to go too,” a king in residence at the Haotian Tower said indifferently. “They’ve already taken the first mover advantage when it comes to the ghost crystals. If we fall behind again, they’ll eclipse us entirely!”
“CHAAAARGE!” A ninth step king appeared in Haotian Tower the next moment and led a hundred mid level kings into Starspace Region.
The Purpleclad Duke paled when he saw the vast armies streaming into his former home.
“It looks like I was wrong… though I took vengeance on the Moon King with my attack, I also grievously injured the great dragon’s will. The Immortal Pagoda has discovered that and started the last battle ahead of time!” Purpleclad murmured to himself.
It wasn’t yet time for the final push as neither Hongmeng morale was high enough nor the ghosts’ foundation sufficiently undermined. There were still countless high level ghost kings lurking in Starspace Region.
Starting the final fight now would only lead to a pyrrhic victory—more a loss than a gain.
……
“Moon King!” The Acclaim King sent the Purple Stellar Mountain crashing down with a wave of her hand. Crackling with the vivid blue of Stellar Light Magneticus, it bore down on the Moon King.
She jumped with shock; she knew of Acclaim’s existence, but hadn’t imagined that the king would come for her head now! And it wasn’t just her, there was another ninth step king with her at the head of a host of cultivators!
“So the final battle is finally upon us…” A silver moon rose behind her to smash brutally into the Purple Stellar Mountain.
Kaboooom.
Scintillating silver and blue radiance exploded in the air.
“Heavens above, we need to get out of here!” Unaffiliated kings following behind the Immortal Pagoda and Haotian Tower contingents gaped and turned tail. It wasn’t until now that they understood the great battle of Starspace City wasn’t something that low or mid level kings could participate in.
Anyone below titled kinghood would just be cannon fodder—the Azureclad and Purpleclad Dukes included!
“Get out of here? Where too?” Strange laughter brewed around them as another ninth step ghost king materialized in the void.
There was another ninth step ghost king in Starspace Region, and it commanded multiple high level ghost kings in reinforcement!
“Kill!” The ninth step king from Haotian Tower revealed himself and blocked the new ghost king. Meanwhile, kings from the Immortal Pagoda and Haotian Tower rushed the group of high level kings. Jinse and Hua Fengwen were also among them.
Ringing explosions rocked the void—king grade Detonation Talismans and a variety of other explosive treasures that sent the ghost kings into a frenzied caper to avoid injury.
King grade treasures demonstrated their greatest strength only when grasped by kings! Those below titled kinghood, even those such as Azureclad and Purpleclad, at most borrowed the treasures’ power. Those were two different concepts entirely.
Additionally, the treasures that the Immortal Pagoda and Haotian Tower kings wielded were customized for them. The items contained their own dao rules, granting sixth step kings enough power to temporarily withstand a seventh step king if they grouped up in teams.
The purple crystal cannons once more flared with pillars of light and blasted Starspace Region with a thundering barrage. An image of Lu Yun appeared in Cloudexit City again and he lobbed terrifying formations into Starspace. They began dispelling the ghostly qi of the region as soon as they landed.
……
The space below ground that held the great dragon was also flung into disarray. Ghosts howled and wailed when the ripples of battle affected their location, and the high level ghost kings holding down the fort also left to meet the enemy on the surface.
“You two should stay here and absorb as much of the big dragon’s power as possible. I’m going to use a combat art to cleanse it of its ghostly qi!” Lu Yun said solemnly.
“Cleanse the great dragon? You?” Li Zhen and Qing Ting looked skeptically at Lu Yun.
“Why would I be called the Champion Duke if I didn’t have some tricks and skills to my name? And why would I carry so many treasures on me?” Lu Yun smiled proudly.
“That’s true. Anyone else with as many treasures and struts around as cockily as you would’ve died at least ten times over,” Qing Ting nodded solemnly.
“He’s definitely the Immortal King’s son!” Li Zhen piped in.
“How am I cocky? It’s always trouble that comes looking for me, I just passively respond,” Lu Yun grumbled and sat down cross-legged.
“Aren’t you going to cleanse the great dragon?” Qing Ting raised her eyebrows at him.
“I am, and aren’t I doing so right now?” Lu Yun responded with confusion.
“Right here?” Qing Ting was lost.
“Where else is a tiny half step king like me going to go? This is the safest spot in the dragon’s lair. If I go anywhere else, the great dragon will crush me if it turns over. Alright, both of you be quiet and leave me alone.” Lu Yun closed his eyes and sent out his consciousness toward the dragon’s will. It was infinitely close to shattering, but there was another fragment of a soul in it! …the Starspace King!
There was a portion of her soul living under the great dragon’s protection—she wasn’t fully dead!
“Who are you??” Her soul fragment retained her entire spirit and she immediately issued a challenge when she saw Lu Yun.
“Damn, you got lucky and received approval from the great dragon’s will. But right now, you need to leave me alone!” Lu Yun’s consciousness ignored the Starspace King after he took in her condition. Starspace Region wouldn’t be in its current straits if it wasn’t for her continual protection of the Moon King and raising a snake in her own backyard.
He found the great dragon’s will and sent the Dragonquake Scripture through their connection. Lu Yun didn’t know what consequences would result from this, but this was his only option now. The dragon was too strong for him to utilize the Dragonshift Method and safely move its power. Any slight tremor in its energy would obliterate him.
Even if the great dragon somehow didn’t crush Lu Yun, he would be hunted by certain nebulous existences in the Hongmeng if they knew about him possessing the method. The Dragonquake Scripture was absolutely forbidden in the third realm.
