Chapter 1403: The Terrifying Champion Duke

People exchanged blank stares with each other after the voice quieted, not knowing what to do.

“There’s also arcane beasts here?” Qing Di paused. He was Azure Dragon City’s only representative now; his identity token had come from Lu Yun reserving one for him. Naturally, he followed closely at Lu Yun and Qing Ting’s side.

He’d been thoroughly convinced of their dominance and was their newest, most fervent fan.

When he exited closed door cultivation, he’d thought that it was a foregone conclusion that his cultivation was much higher than the Azureclad and Crimsonclad Duke’s. And that was indeed the case, but he’d then had all self assurance kicked out of him by Lu Yun and Qing Ting.

He’d first thought that the Champion Duke and Qing Ting had defeated him together, but when they took him on separately and still beat him black and blue, he finally accepted the truth of the situation.

Add to that him being Qing Ting’s cousin—he didn’t consider himself an outsider or stand on ceremony.

“There are.” Lu Yun nodded. “There’s more than ten thousand of them and they’re all the stronger of their kind.

“Alright, aftermarket service is included in your purchase. If you’re willing to, you can stay by my side and I’ll continue to protect you. If you want to try your hand against the arcane beasts and test yourselves, you’re free to do so as well.

“You can always come back here if you run into trouble you can’t resolve. This is gratis, free of charge.” Lu Yun smiled, then sensed a massive amount of goodwill flooding toward him.

Though Hongmeng denizens didn’t understand what aftermarket service was, they understood that the Champion Duke was willing to continue protecting them!

This had never occurred before in a Dragonling Assembly and neither did they feel insulted. The words of an absolute heavyweight were no humiliation.

“The Champion Duke is a person of virtue and integrity! He is the second Luminous King and we are honored by his presence!”

“Hold on, what Luminous King? Does that piss poor king have the right to be compared to the Champion Duke?”

“Don’t worry, Your Grace! We won’t make trouble for you unless we have to!”

Lu Yun inclined his head. “Remember that staying alive is the most important. Only when you are alive can you pursue your future and dreams. Nothing matters if you are dead.”

“...thank you for your reminder!” Numerous titled dukes jerked when they heard his words, suddenly feeling that they’d been a bit too fixated on certain notions.

They felt that they had to fight to the death in many matters and determine who was superior even at the cost of their own lives. They wouldn’t have bothered listening to anyone else who said otherwise—cultivators should think nothing of life and death. Where does one gain strength from, if one is not willing to risk one’s life?!

But it was different when the Champion Duke spoke of this. He was the one who’d beaten them, and just he and Qing Ting had robbed tens of thousands of cultivators. The two never killed unless they had to, so the cultivators naturally didn’t doubt his words.

“I take my leave then!” Some titled dukes left the area while oters stayed. Those who stayed weren’t confident in facing the arcane beasts and elected to stay in Lu Yun’s bubble of protection.

“Then… I’ll be off?” Qing Di asked hesitantly as he looked at Lu Yun and Qing Ting.

“You’re a right and proper titled duke, what are you doing if you aren’t out fighting arcane beasts? Do you want to nap under our wings?” Qing Ting glared impatiently at him. She turned around and spoke to her brother. “And you four, do titled dukes need our protection?”

Azureclad and the others smiled ruefully; the former had no idea what’d happened to his biddable, sweet, and gentle baby sister. Look at how fierce she was now and how she was yelling at him!

They didn’t have the thick skin to remain either and left with Qing Di. Meanwhile, Qing Ting’s words instilled some awkwardness in the other cultivators.

“Hey hey, don’t look like that! You’re different from them—their identity tokens were gifts while you paid for yours. Since you’ve bought your spot, we’ll protect you to the end and make sure you really make it onto Dragonhollow Mountain!” Qing Ting chuckled.

Hesitant smiles spread through the crowd. Err, was staying or leaving the better choice now? None of them were titled dukes and their factions were the strong ones, not them. It was only due to their individual high status that they received enormous amounts of purple crystals.

The Dragonling Assembly was a violent affair and cultivators were supposed to grow through these bloody struggles. But up until now, not that many had died solely because of the unexpected Lu Yun and Qing Ting.

The ones still here didn’t want to die either.

As he looked at them, Lu Yun couldn’t summon the desire to proceed forward. The rainbow bridge was unfathomably big, like a minor world. Rainbow radiance shimmered on all sides. While the voice had said they could jump down, he hadn’t been able to find out where from, even after prolonged searching.

“I bet you that was nonsense… and the only way off the bridge is to pass or die,” he muttered with a frown.

Scowls and darkening expressions appeared on the faces of the almost five hundred left.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let you guys die.” Lu Yun grinned. “But since we’re here, I might as well teach you something. I may not be able to increase your strength, but I can improve your battle techniques so that you won’t die so easily!”

“Do, do we need to pay for that?” a half step king asked meekly.

“Nope.” Lu Yun shook his head. “That’s part of your payment for your identity token.”

The cultivators beamed, and the kings resting on a rainbow cloud gaped at the scene on the bridge.

Many cultivators had grouped together to fight and kill arcane beasts, but there were five hundred cultivators huddled near the entrance. They listened raptly, as if students attending a lecture given by the notorious Robber Couple. The infamous duo then began actual demonstrations, showcasing techniques to use in battle and how cultivators could maximize their output with minimal effort.

“Would you say… that we’ve been fleeced or gotten a huge deal in paying for those identity tokens?” A sixth step king was wordless at seeing his son easily change his battle style under Lu Yun’s tutelage, thereby increasing his battle strength by a prodigious amount.

“If they can make it out alive… then we got a deal. If they die here… then we got fleeced,” another sixth step king answered woodenly.

“The Champion Duke possesses unparalleled battle strength and he’s immensely skilled at teaching disciples. Look, he’s not just teaching them, but his own strength is growing in the process! He’s using the hand of another to discover and fix his own flaws, he’s terrifying!” gasped a seventh step king.