Instead of remaining with Lu Yun, Li Zhen decided to venture forth on his own. After leaving the clan, the only path available to him was to find his father—the one that the Li Clan denounced as a traitor long ago.
Lu Yun could not foresee what would happen to the young man; everyone had their own road to walk. When he unsealed the three thousand premium crystal veins and gave them to Li Zhen, he thought for a moment and handed over another hundred million purple crystals.
“Ah.” Li Zhen sized up Lu Yun before he left and asked in a quiet voice, “Are you really not the Immortal King’s son? Maybe his bastard son?”
Pow!
Lu Yun punted him out of Cloudexit City.
“Hahahaha!!” Li Zhen roared with laughter. “When I return, the name of Ghostblade Duke will be known throughout the Hongmeng! And, I have a recording of the Robber King on his knees begging for mercy. I’ll be rich after I sell it!”
Chortling, he ran off into the distance.
……
“Aren’t you afraid of painting a target on his back by giving those three thousand crystal veins to him?” Hua Fengwen’s voice sounded in Lu Yun’s mind.
Three thousand premium crystal veins were a frightening sum in the realm. Li Zhen was just a minor titled half step king—he wouldn’t be able to hang on to such fortune. Though Lu Yun hadn’t openly given the wealth to the young man, it wouldn’t be hard for someone to discover it if they’d really wanted to.
The Li Clan certainly wasn’t going to permit him to sever ties like this. Inexhaustible pursuit was in his future and the three thousand crystal veins would become a primary reason for it.
“One must rise through unending slaughter in order to become a formless dragon and execute tangible dragons. I have high hopes for him to surpass you.” Lu Yun turned in the direction that Hua Fengwen stood in.
The latter shifted uncomfortably. “If I’d met you a hundred thousand years ago, I might’ve ascended as a high level king when I broke through.”
“A hundred thousand years ago?” Lu Yun blinked. “I wasn’t even born then.”
Hua Fengwen: ……
“The Azureclad, Crimsonclad, Purpleclad, and Bloodclad Dukes gathered in Cloudexit City for the occasion and the Enforcer Alliance sent a hundred thousand black robes. Too bad the venerated enforcer didn’t come,” Lu Yun sighed softly with regret. He really wanted to see the man for himself and find out how the enforcer had learned Dragonrise.
“What, do you want to fight the venerated enforcer?” Hua Fengwen smiled.
Lu Yun remained noncommittal.
“Eighth King!” A demanding yell echoed in the air like a clap of thunder. “Eight King Eight KingEight KingEight KingEight KingEight KingEight KingEight!! Get your sorry ass out here and face me!”
Repeats of Hua Fengwen’s title reverberated in the city, painting strange expressions on many people’s faces.
“Is he… calling for the Eighth King… or saying king eight… which happens to be…” someone ventured cautiously.
“Eh… the… characters… for bastard. No wonder Hua Fengwen never uses his title.”
……
Hua Fengwen’s face fell. The title of “Eighth King” was meant to be the eighth in the Hongmeng and first in this generation. Who would’ve thought that people would connect it to another meaning instead?
“Hua Fengzhan, do you want to die?!” He took to the air and screamed at the insolent upstart outside.
A gallant young man stood in the skies around Cloudexit City. He was dressed in long blue robes, wielded a blue longsword, and considered Hua Fengwen with an amused expression.
“Little bastard, you’ve been on the run for a hundred thousand years. You finally dare show your face, huh?” smirked Hua Fengzhan. “Don’t call me Hua Fengzhan anymore, I’m the Windcarver King!” [1]
Whoosh!
He stirred up gusts of blue wind around him with a shake of his longsword. They churned into sharp blades of wind.
Seventh step king Hua Fengzhan!
“The Windcarver King?” Contempt curved Hua Fengwen’s lips as he flashed out of the city.
“You finally dare meet me, huh? Come on, my dear little brother. It’s time that our battle delayed for a hundred thousand years began!” Hua Fengzhan roared with laughter and slashed forward the moment Hua Fengwen stepped out of Cloudexit.
His move completely melted into the wind and dispersed again into countless strokes, instantly surrounding Hua Fengwen. Tiny sword edges rended the void, turning it into spatial turbulence that lacked any light.
“Ant,” Hua Fengwen snorted and twisted around, summoning the shadow of a dragon upon his body. His riposte contained a certain degree of meaning from Lu Yun’s sword dao, but it didn’t purposefully pursue that dao. Hua Fengwen had carved out his own path.
Rumble.
The void exploded as the two furiously hacked and stabbed at each other in the air.
……
“That Hua Fengzhan is Hua Fengwen’s older brother? What feud do they have that they fight like this the moment they see each other?” Lu Yun’s jaw dropped.
“Hua Fengzhan was a stunning genius five hundred thousand years ago—he became a titled king at fourth step kinghood after he slew a king!” whispered a nearby superior realm cultivator enjoying the show. “The king that Hua Fengzhan killed was Hua Fengwen’s dao partner… Hua Fengwen could’ve risen to titled kinghood five hundred thousand years ago, but he wanted to accumulate even more foundations and put off his breakthrough.”
“An elder brother killed his younger brother’s dao partner??” Lu Yun couldn’t wrap his mind around it.
“Yes!” The cultivator nodded. “Not only did Hua Fengzhan kill Hua Fengwen’s dao partner, but he beat his younger brother nearly comatose. He left after saying that he would wait for Hua Fengwen to become a titled king.
“So when Hua Fengwen ascended to kinghood a hundred thousand years ago… heh. He’s a tough one alright. He charged into Hua Fengzhan’s manor by himself and killed everyone in his older brother’s household, including Hua Fengzhan’s wife and children!
“He left behind word that he would wait for Hua Fengzhan in Multitude Region, then vanished without a trace until today.
“Hua Fengzhan and Hua Fengwen are both stunning geniuses. Hua Fengzhan broke through to peak six step king a hundred thousand years ago, and he’s a seventh step king now!
“After disappearing for a hundred thousand years, Hua Fengwen is also a seventh step king now. If they worked together, the brothers could most likely change the layout of the Hongmeng!”
“Thank you for your enlightenment, fellow daoist.” Lu Yun nodded. The two brothers had likely formed their feud prior to Hua Fengzhan killing Hua Fengwen’s dao partner five hundred thousand years ago.
“Not at all, that’ll be a hundred premium crystals please,” chuckled the cultivator.
“Huh?” Lu Yun blinked. Asking a question cost a hundred premium crystals?
“This humble one is a disciple of the Ingenium Gazebo, we’ve established a branch in Cloudexit City as well. Champion Duke, you’re a cultivator of our Multitude Region. You should know the rules, yes?” The Ingenium disciple stretched his hand in front of Lu Yun.
Grumbling, Lu Yun took out a hundred crystals. One did indeed need to pay Ingenium disciples after asking them for information.
The battle outside the city was about to reach its climax. Both brothers were heavily injured, but neither were willing to retreat. Their combat arts returned to the most basic level of existence and in the end, they resorted to the most primitive method of hand-to-hand combat.
1. The characters for Windcarver are the inversion of his name, Fengzhan. This is another dig at Hua Fengwen.” ☜
