Chapter 1857: The Realm Monster’s Sacrificial Goods
The same didn’t hold true for Lu Yun. It would be the end of his road if he died—he only had one life. In addition, all of the Resurrection Talismans would be rendered ineffective the second he died. Therefore, they were useless to him.
Not even Lu Feng knew about this, despite his devout efforts in marketing the talisman.
“The two of you should die… no, go first.” Lu Yun gnashed his teeth at the sight of the advancing soldiers.
“Is there a problem?” Chu Xingran sensed something was amiss when he read Lu Yun’s expression.
“No.” Lu Yun shook his head. There was a layer of icicles hanging off of him by now. When he stretched out his right arm, the long-stored Argent Snow appeared in his hand. “You two can die first, I’ll fight my way out.”
As comical as his words sounded, there was no better option available to them.
“Then let’s fight our way out together. We can still revive if we die.” A longsword black as night manifested in Xie Tianxun’s hand. Sword light flashed through the air as he charged forward, targeting the weakest link in the horde of yin soldiers crowding them.
“Take this!” Lu Yun hauled Chu Xingran back before the man also charged forward. The young man operated Spacetime Reincarnation and fetched an immortal weapon of war, shoving it into Chu Xingran’s hands.
“Aim at the king soldier. Blast it to pieces if it makes a move!” Lu Yun shouted.
Just one weapon of war was insufficient to kill the king soldier of the Firmament Prison, but currently, the king soldier didn’t seem capable of enduring a blow. He would be blown apart if attacked and the rules of the Firmament Prison would create a new king soldier.
But that would take time.
Lu Yun released the Argent Snow Domain from the weapon in his hand and deployed the Dragonshift Method at the same time. Purple dragons rushed out of the ground to become one with the domain.
Roaring, he pulled Chu Xingran over and reconvened with Xie Tianxun. They furiously slaughtered the yin soldiers in front of them.
The king soldier stood silently off to the spot, not making a move.
“Weird, the yin soldiers seem limited somehow. They’re completely different from the ones we fought before!” Chu Xingran mumbled as he took aim again and again.
“They’re definitely a lot weaker.” Xie Tianxun also found it odd. “If this was like normal times, the three of us would already be dead.”
He subconsciously looked at the king soldier. They hadn’t encountered this being in all this time and didn’t even know it existed. Though the king remained motionless, he still exerted a lot of pressure just by being present.
The soldiers were normally so strong that Chu Xingran and Xie Tianxun had died countless times to them. The greatest danger in the Firmament Prison wasn’t Yun Yi, but the yin soldiers. Yun Yi just wanted to prevent them from leaving; the soldiers killed.
Whenever they were surrounded by the yin soldiers, there was nothing they could do but stand there and die.
“I know what’s going on!” Lu Yun shouted. “We won’t make it out like this. Go for the king soldier!”
He waved a rain of Principal Nineheavens Talismans into existence and temporarily froze all of the soldiers around them. He also stopped operating the Dragonshift Method—it didn’t seem very effective against them.
Although the yin soldiers were yin ghosts, they were controlled by the realm monster’s will. The dragons in this land were now part of the realm monster, so they wouldn’t have much of an effect against the soldiers.
“Are you crazy?!” Xie Tianxun shrieked. Just one group of yin soldiers was enough to leave them no way out, and now they wanted to go for the king?? That was just courting death!
“Do as he says,” Chu Xingran responded firmly and followed close behind Lu Yun. He kept the cannon in his hand pointed at the king soldier.
“You… finally… under, understand.” The king soldier stretched his lips in a stiff smile to see Lu Yun approach him.
“You meant what you said earlier, you do want me to subdue you!” Lu Yun said.
“…yes.” The king nodded with effort. “I, I can… remain m-myself if, I, follow you. If—if not, the… realm m-m-monster swallows, me!”
It was exceedingly hard for him to form a complete sentence as his will was focused on defying the realm monster’s will. Although the realm monster had only formed a bit of sentience at this point, it was still too much for the king soldier to withstand.
When the Major Cycle Worlds of the Land of Reincarnation perished, they gave birth to a realm monster that took Lin Mo sacrificing her life to bring down. The world of the Firmament Prison was infinitely times stronger than the Major Cycle Worlds. If it became a realm monster, it would far outstrip what the Land of Reincarnation had spawned.
Thankfully, it’d yet to fully take shape.
Chu Xingran and Xie Tianxun looked at each other with shock when they heard these words. The realm monster was most likely on the cusp of maturing if it’d forced the king soldier of the yin ghosts to cooperate with Lu Yun. No wonder it’d appeared at this point in time.
“Take me, take… to the land, of light!” The king soldier’s face was ghastly pale and the look in his eyes alternated between lost bafflement and determined resolution. It was his control of the yin soldiers that caused their strength to decline by such a marked amount.
The land of light was where Lu Yun had first met him—the patch of dusky radiance outside the tomb.
“Go!” The king soldier walked incredibly slowly and paced to the exit. The soldiers followed him with blank expressions. They were powerless to resist the realm monster’s will and had been assimilated long ago. However, the habit to obey their king was engraved into their bones. They moved slowly and shuffled behind the king soldier, showing no signs of going on the offensive.
Unbidden, Lu Yun was reminded of a movie he’d seen on Earth—Crazy Alien. An alien visited Earth and possessed a monkey’s body, leading to its trainer treating it as well, a monkey. That was probably similar to the scene that he saw in front of him right now.
The realm monster’s will controlled the yin soldiers, but couldn’t control their king. If the king soldier fully resisted, he was able to regain control of his men.
After an unknown period of time, the endless darkness faded away and was replaced by a dusky world.
“Strange, why isn’t Yun Yi chasing after us?” Xie Tianxun paused. When trapped in the tomb, Yun Yi’s primary body appeared whenever they tried to leave. He either forced them back or outright killed them, forbidding them to leave.
“Someone’s keeping him preoccupied right now, he doesn’t have the attention to spare,” Lu Yun grunted.
“You’re the one who said you wanted to bring him to us!” Xie Tianxun glared.
“I was just confirming something. It’s great if he can come, no big deal if he can’t.” Lu Yun’s expression twisted when he turned around to look at the enormous darkness behind them. “If he came, that would prove he’s not in league with the realm monster. Since he hasn’t, that means he has some sort of dealing with it. Perhaps this world becoming a realm monster is thanks to him too.
“The young man in white must’ve discovered something, which is why he’s gone for Yun Yi and is keeping him preoccupied,” he murmured.
Xie Tianxun trembled. “So you knew early on??” He looked at Chu Xingran, who nodded in affirmation.
“He probably thinks of us as sacrificial goods for the realm monster so it can take shape.” Chu Xingran chuckled, then continued with resignation, “You possess The Kinship of Heaven and Earth and that legendary person’s heritage. I also have a stunning secret on me. We are the realm’s monster’s fortuitous opportunity, so Yun Yi followed us in and refuses to let us leave.”
“That is indeed the case.” The king soldier had returned to normal. The realm monster’s will circulated only in the land of darkness of the tomb. Once removed from it, it couldn’t control the king soldier or his men.
However, it could still affect them. The yin soldiers still shared the same expression and they moved like one person.
“If you swear allegiance to me, that’ll be part of the realm monster or Yun Yi’s plot. It didn’t fully refine you because you’re here as bait for me!” Lu Yun suddenly identified.
