Upon Yu Qinghun’s roar, the center of his brows suddenly exploded and blood glimmering with golden light shot out of his head. A gigantic illusory blade of mystical light spilled forth from the hole between his brows and enveloped him as he spread his arms wide open.
“AHHHHH!!!” The divine spirit of the kidneys shrieked with anguish and a hideous scar floated onto its chest. Black blood spurted out of its old injury and it fell bonelessly from midair, crash landing on the petals of the Emperor Sunflower.
“Why do all of you hurt me?!” An incredulous and resentful howl forced itself out of its throat. “I devoted my time and energy to cultivation after being born and never involved myself with anything that would result in karma. But when I was able to take form five thousand years ago, those of the Green Firmament came to kill me, and then the spirit fragment of the immortal emperor suppressed me. And now you!
“When did I ever become enemies with any of you?!”
“A man’s wealth is his own ruin because it causes someone else’s greed,” Lu Yun answered coldly as he approached the spirit. “As you are an organ of heaven and earth, no expert in the world will ever leave you alone. Your sin… is that you are alive.”
He’d once felt the very emotions displayed by the divine spirit. Upon arriving in the world of immortals, he’d kept his nose clean and sought to stay out of everyone’s way. However, the Exalted Immortal Sect, Lu and Qing Clans, and House Donglin all came for him one after the other. They picked on him for nothing more than being the governor of Dusk Province.
For a weakling like him to occupy a future sacred land like Dusk made him a sinner.
However, he differed from the divine spirit in terms of his reaction. People bullied, suppressed, insulted, and tried to kill him, but he took all of that as motivation and drive to constantly hone his skills, blazing a way through all obstacles until he’d achieved his current accomplishments.
The divine spirit, on the other hand, only sought to vent its resentment. All of that negativity had accumulated for far too long in its heart and transformed into terrible malice. There was no way to erase it other than indulging in destruction.
The two dragons beneath Lu Yun’s feet rose in the air and careened forward with imposing momentum.
Wham!
Wham!
After two tremendous collisions, the divine spirit sagged to the ground. All eight of its eyes dimmed at the same time as the last of its life was snuffed out. The two dragon veins were also destroyed at the moment of impact, proving to be no match for an organ of heaven and earth.
Despite the divine spirit’s background and fearsome strength, it was only five thousand years old. When the two sides collided, it was as if two worlds had rammed into each other. With the divine spirit’s limited tenure in life causing it to lack combat experience, it was impossible for it to survive.
If it’d been in perfect health with no injury, a whole body could have protected its soul. But with its old wound flaring up, that incomparably fragile soul had been instantly crushed.
“It’s dead!” Yu Qinghun’s eyes lit up and joy crossed his face before he, too, deflated, like air going out of a balloon and fell from the sky.
“We’re leaving!” Lu Yun whirled around, grabbed Yu Qinghun, and darted outside the world of the Emperor Sunflower.
“Huh?” Both the demon god and the nun froze in surprise.
Without a doubt, the divine spirit of the kidneys had perished after the two dragon veins had trampled its soul. Its body was a true ultimate treasure, but Lu Yun had given up… just like that?
“That kid’s strength comes from the two dragon veins. Now that they’ve been destroyed, he’s lost all of his backing. He’d be seeking death if he stayed to fight over that corpse.” The demon god sneered and exploded out of the Ichor Bog with a twist of his body. Dividing into a hundred million versions of himself, he charged toward the dead divine spirit from all directions.
“Don’t even think about it!” hectored the nun. The sword atlases behind her swiftly unfurled and coalesced into an enormous purple bell that clamped down over the corpse.
Upon the corpse, the image of the divine spirit was slowly dispersing to reveal its true form as a pair of kidneys. The demon god’s copies came back together in the shape of a giant fist and pounded the purple sword bell.
Shivering, the energy rampaging over the sword bell shook from the blow.
“Hahahaha—” Arrogant laughter sounded from the demon god. “You of the Purple Firmament! I might’ve actually been a little bit afraid of you if the Sword Bell was truly here. You only practice its combat art, yet you dare think of stopping me?”
He took his regular form again and grabbed at the corpse.
“The Sword Bell may not be here, but the Sword Cauldron is,” sounded an incredibly aloof voice.
An enormous ripple rose in the world of the Emperor Sunflower as a large cauldron of aged bronze drifted down from the air. More sword energy raged in the premises as it did so, filling the void. The cauldron was like a wheel of a blazing green sun, throwing off radiance almost on the level of the core of the Emperor Sunflower.
“The Sword Cauldron!! The Crimson Firmament!” shrieked the demon god when he saw the cauldron land. “Is the Crimson Firmament also sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong?!”
Forebodingly dark, the nun withdrew her sword aura and stood frostily off to the side.
The newcomer—an elder dressed in flaming red dao robes with a giant wine gourd at his waist—laughed heartily on top of the sword cauldron.
“If even those of the Purple Firmament can make a move on an organ of heaven and earth, why should my Crimson Firmament be constrained in any way?” He undid the enormous gourd at his waist, popped off the stopper, and took a mighty swig. “It seems the yin gods of the Green Firmament are the only ones not casting greedy eyes at something that belongs to another.
“Five thousand years ago, their Yu Mochou came here and injured the divine spirit at the price of sacrificing his soul. Today, Yu Qinghun expended his true spirit to reignite that wound. I reckon it won’t be long now before that little fellow follows in Yu Mochou’s footsteps.”
He took another swig. “They all say that the yin gods of the Green Firmament are sanctimonious hypocrites, but I say those of the Purple Firmament are the true wolves in sheep’s clothing!”
A sharp gleam flashed through the elder’s eyes. “Mo Yi is a constitution of heaven and earth and a divine girl of the great dao. She should have lived her days free without fetter, but you, oh, you Purple Firmament forcefully took her as a disciple…
“And now you fight over an organ of heaven and earth instead of safeguarding the world of immortals. Today, this old man will enact justice on behalf of the heavens and destroy your spawn of evil!”
The sword cauldron beneath his feet trembled as he spoke and sent out countless sword lights that rushed at the nun.
Clang!!
A purple figure of a bell flashed across the nun and blocked all of the rays.
“Why does a fellow daoist of the Crimson Firmament fly into such a rage? The demon god is our mutual enemy,” rose a clear voice.
