“Roar!!” Draping over the Scarlet Ape, the fiery cape curled around its body like an enormous gout of hazy flame. The big monkey was going berserk with rage; its body was encircled by fire while its staff unleashed frightening water waves.
A violent recoil snapped into the remaining six peak arcane dao powerhouses. Spewing up blood, they fell back one after another.
The ape was simply too strong.
Its battle prowess had skyrocketed after regaining its fire cape, and it now surpassed the limits of the arcane dao realm. Against such power, its opponents were no match at all. As for the other dao immortals, they’d simply be swallowed whole the moment they attempted something.
“Dammit…. Fall back, we’re no match for this big monkey!” Canghai Xi shouted in despair. He waved his sleeves and gathered the many immortals of the Dark North Sword Sect inside, then sped toward the tunnel connecting the dragon and phoenix nest.
The other five arcane dao immortals also stopped fighting and fled in panic.
“His Majesty brought heavy weaponry from our Witherdew court. The scroll of the Blithe Entrapment Formation will definitely subdue this monster!” one of them blurted out upon seeing the situation.
This immortal had arrived at the dragon tomb with the Witherdew Emperor, but instead of staying with Tuoba Jie, he’d led another group to enter the phoenix nest from elsewhere.
Heavy weaponry from Witherdew Major!
The mention immediately rekindled the hope of the despairing immortals. If they could leave this clearing and find the Witherdew Emperor…. With all their strength combined, they’d certainly defeat the giant ape.
“None of you will leave this place alive!” Just then, a cold voice echoed through the air. The head of a giant snake broke through the void and swallowed one of the peak arcane dao immortals, along with everyone inside his sleeves.
“Beigong Xuan!!” Canghai Xi paled. As one of the leaders of the Dark North Sword Sect, he’d naturally seen Beigong Xuan’s true form before.
“All of you will be buried here.” Beigong Xuan extended his mouth, exposing fangs dripping with venom. “Senior, we meet again.” Transforming back into human form, he looked at the Scarlet Ape and bowed his head, all the while blocking the exit.
“Grawwwlll!” The Scarlet Ape snarled, its eyes brimming with thick bloodlust. It didn’t pay attention to Beigong Xuan, but charged at the other immortals, staff in hand.
A rain of blood showered through the air. Out of the ten thousands of immortals gathered in the area, several thousand of them were reduced to meat paste by a single staff strike.
Beigong Xuan’s eyes also blazed with bloodlust.
Bang!
Before anyone could react, the ape’s staff had killed another eight-fruit arcane dao immortal.
“Are you sure you still want its staff?” Empress Myrtlestar asked with a near smirk.
Instead of replying, Lu Yun waved a hand and materialized a vast path that tore open the air and led to the ghost tree.
The situation in that battlefield was pure chaos, but clearly, the ghost tree had already been suppressed and all kinds of undead creatures were being massacred. The fighting was nearing its end.
Lu Yun stood in front of the Path of Ingress, surveying a giant ship as black as ink sailing forth from the void. On board, seventeen almost-melted cannons took aim at the violent ape and fired simultaneously, turning the world white.
The weapons melted even further after delivering this attack, but he didn’t show any hesitation whatsoever. Caught off guard, the giant ape was again sent flying by the white pillars of light.
“All of you come this way, the Witherdew Emperor is on the other side.” Though quiet, the Dusk lord’s voice reverberated through the air.
The surviving immortals first blinked, then rushed toward their lifeline.
“No one’s leaving!” Beigong Xuan’s face fell as he immediately changed targets to Lu Yun.
Puff—
However, a dark green fire blossomed in the air as a magnificent figure emerged once again: Yuying.
Beigong Xuan stiffened and he fell back several steps in succession, eyes large with disbelief. He’d clearly trapped Yuying in an extremely dangerous place inside the tomb not long ago. How had she suddenly appeared here?
The green immortal fire immediately forced him back.
Boom boom boom!
The next moment, white beams of light exploded again from the seventeen cannons on the Divine Glory and blasted the Scarlet Ape back once more as it stood up. This time, a full ten cannons exploded into scrap metal after the attack.
Seizing the opportunity, the surviving immortals scrambled onto the Path of Ingress and fled the cemetery.
“All of them are enemies of yours, and they were trying to kill you just a moment ago. Why are you saving them now?” A puzzled Empress Myrtlestar looked at Lu Yun.
“They’ve also faced the evil spirits inside this tomb together with me.” Lu Yun’s tone was as calm as ever. “Some among them are indeed mortal enemies of mine…. But when facing a crisis, they chose to set aside their grudges, so why can’t I do the same?”
The empress fell silent, then waved her hand and unleashed a ray of starlight that struck the Scarlet Ape and threw it backward.
The ape roared madly, but the combined power of the empress and the Big Dipper Starstone was far above his.
Of course, this surge of power couldn’t be maintained for long. The empress was merely a shard of a broken soul and couldn’t fight for long.
“It seems you truly wish to establish a sacred land and become a saint in this world,” she quietly added.
“Saint?” Lu Yun shook his head. “Immortalized after death but loathed when alive…. The world of immortals doesn’t need a living saint. Only clay idols in temples are objects of worship, so I won’t become a saint. I want to be a demon, a great demon king that topples the world!”
He grinned, baring his white teeth. Empress Myrtlestar’s heart quailed when she saw the figure the young man currently cut.
“Toppling the world? Who do you wish to topple?” she asked in a whisper.
Lu Yun was already heading up to the Divine Glory with Situ Zong in tow. The Yin Formation Orb now embedded into the ship’s core was Divine’s Glory’s true trump card. Everyone could observe the main cannon and eighteen auxiliary cannons. Meanwhile, the Formation Orb remained safe from prying eyes.
Grasping the ship’s spirit key, Ge Long stood beside Lu Yun, his face grave. The giant Scarlet Ape no longer attacked, now that it’d been made fully aware of the ship’s prowess.
“Wow! So many big yum-yums… Milord, may your old servant eat them?” Ge Long couldn’t help but ask, carefully while gulping down saliva.
Apart from the Scarlet Ape, there were also countless undead chasing the immortals. The old servant couldn’t help but swallow hard at the sight of those tasty treats.
“As long as you can eat them, be my guest.” Lu Yun’s gaze stayed fixed on the Scarlet Ape.
The Formation Orb was a connate treasure, but the Divine Seaquell Staff in the ape’s hand and the cape on its back were treasures of the same level.
Which one was stronger, which one weaker? No one could say.
So Lu Yun stared at the ape, fully on his guard.
At his words, the delighted Ge Long picked up his head and casually threw it out with an underhanded toss.
Fwoop…
Midway through its trajectory, the head swelled to three hundred meters across. Mouth yawning open, it gleefully honed in on a group of undead chasing down the fleeing immortals and swallowed the undead whole.
“What’s that?” Quite a few of the rescued immortals froze at the sight. “Is that Lu Yun’s treasure to suppress the undead?”
However, Lu Yun himself had been given a scare by his servant. Ge Long was still a core realm cultivator, but there were several peerless immortal zombies among the creatures he’d just swallowed! They couldn’t even put up a fight in front of Ge Long!
Hotfuckingdamn. Next time I explore a tomb, I’m definitely bringing this guy with me. He now felt a little regretful.
When it came to his envoys, including Canghai Chengkong, whose name was written in the Tome of Life and Death, he knew each and every one of their abilities like the back of his hand. But Ge Long, the first one to die to Lu Yun, had become an oddity… a strange, undefinable creature, even though his name was also in the Tome of Life and Death.
Wait! He suddenly recalled something. Not only did I kill him… but I killed him with the vanished combat art, the Enneawyrm Coffinbearers. Could his existence be related to the Enneawyrm Coffinbearers?
Lu Yun briefly lost himself in thought.
Ge Long’s abrupt appearance greatly decreased the pressure on the surviving immortals. They scrambled for a place on the Path of Ingress and walked it all the way to the outside of the Blithe Entrapment Formation.
“Lu Yun!” sounded a cold and somewhat stiff voice. “This kind of fortress ship comes from my Ling Clan. It can only deploy its greatest potential under our command. If helmed by my clan’s immortals, it can definitely kill the giant ape!”
Lu Yun glanced backward. The one who’d yelled just now was a black-robed peerless immortal from the Ling Clan. Along with another dozen immortals from his clan, he’d arrived beside the ship’s hull. This peerless immortal was the one who’d clashed with him earlier, Ling Yu.
“Get lost.” Lu Yun spat, then looked away.
“Lu Yun, you need to consider the bigger picture when you explore a tomb!” the same immortal shouted again.
Lu Yun couldn’t be bothered to answer. The remaining immortals were already on the Path of Ingress and headed to the area on the other side.
“Alright, that’s enough eating, we’re leaving,” the youth commanded Ge Long while taking a deep look at the Scarlet Ape, who was still keeping its distance.
Ge Long hurriedly recalled his head and put it back on his neck. Twisting away awkwardly, Situ Zong subconsciously stayed well away from the uncanny old servant.
The Ling immortals’ eyes blazed at the sight, seemingly mulling over something. But seeing Lu Yun readying to sail the ship away, they also hastened to retreat on the Path of Ingress.
The Scarlet Ape’s eyes glowed a dark crimson as it stared fixedly at the position where Divine Glory’s main cannon should have been. Although Lu Yun hadn’t returned Black Emperor to that spot, its aura remained there nonetheless.
Yuying likewise summoned back the Emerald Mistfire, turned around, and vanished into thin air. Beigong Xuan stared blankly at the now deserted spot, unable to react.
Roar!
All of a sudden, the iron staff in the Scarlet Ape’s hand swung toward the slowly healing spatial tear, smashing wide the rift created by the Path of Ingress!
