Chapter 360: Deterring with Military Might

“Thirty-six hundred and fifty feng shui layouts born out of the grand influence over the world—the highest possible feng shui rank!” Lu Yun’s brows bunched slightly together.

If there were 3,650 feng shui layouts here, that meant that the Blithe Entrapment Formation itself was a combination of the same number of formations. Every single one of the formations was rooted to a formation disk, and each of them were individual pieces of a complete grand formation.

That was what had given rise to the feng shui layouts here. Formations and layouts were two sides of the same coin, but feng shui layouts were more complicated.

Still, there was no feng shui layout in the world that Lu Yun couldn’t deal with. He was the greatest commandant ever to be found in his sect—not only in terms of his ability in raiding tombs, but also his talent in the dao of feng shui. In fact, he’d exceeded even the sect forefather with his knowledge of feng shui.

Although Lu Yun couldn’t destroy the powerful feng shui layouts, he could identify their weaknesses and escape.

“There.” In a thousandth of a second, he saw a tiny crack within the layers of layouts. “Let’s go!”

Hum.

The Ingress Path transformed into a ray of white light and disappeared. When it reemerged, they’d already reached a clearing outside the Blithe Entrapment Formation. The sinister chill of the formation was suddenly replaced by waves of intense heat.

“We’re really out!” Xiangliu Ting blurted out, his eyes wide.

“Silence!” snapped Lu Yun. “Recover your inner energy at once.”

He warily scanned their surroundings. A chaotic fight was in full swing here as immortals from various factions were fighting each other to the death.

Under the canopy of the Fire Parasol Tree, three tremendous figures clashed with great ferocity in the air. It was Beigong Xuan, the Witherdew celestial emperor, and an elite from House Donglin!

The three were uniformly eight-fruit arcane dao immortals, which made them almost unrivalled in the world of immortals. While the immortals below fought just as hard, they still fell short compared to the three in the sky. Even so, they hadn’t given up yet.

This was the legendary Fire Parasol Tree!

Both a connate-grade treasure and a connate spirit root, it could only be described as a connate supreme treasure. Something like this inspired the worst kind of greed in everyone, compelling them to vie for it with no concern for their lives.

The Witherdew celestial emperor had even gone to the lengths of using his formation scroll to set up a Blithe Entrapment Formation, so as to stop later powerhouses from entering the competition over the tree.

Cultivation and strength alone weren’t enough to claim a supreme connate-grade treasure like the Fire Parasol Tree; luck and fate played even more important roles. Whoever acquired the treasure was fated to own it, which was why even the presence of three supreme elites wasn’t enough to deter the immortals from risking their lives for the tree.

Unlike the Fusang Purewood, which had connate flames sprouting from its branches as leaves, the Fire Parasol Tree was a three-hundred-meter-tall tree with lush, green leaves. Brimming with great vitality, the tree itself was enveloped in a bright yellow flame. Symbiotically dependent with each other, flame and tree combined to form a single entity.

Neither could survive without the other.

……

The sudden arrival of Lu Yun and the others made the immortals’ blood boil, and many pivoted straight to charging at their new competition for the treasure.

“Situ,” commanded Lu Yun.

Without missing a beat, Situ Zong aimed the cannon on his back at the incoming immortals.

Bam!

A pillar of white light spewed out of the cannon and disintegrated more than a hundred immortals with a single hit.

“A weapon of war!!” someone screamed and fled in the opposite direction. Rarely did anyone see a weapon of war in action, but the immortals here were no stranger to its power.

“Lu Yun!!” Beigong Xuan growled in fury from the sky above. Black sword energy flared from his body and slashed viciously at Lu Yun.

Bam!

The elite of House Donglin and the Witherdew celestial emperor trembled, knocked back by Beigong Xuan’s sudden outburst.

They both came to a halt with unspoken agreement; they’d all heard about Lu Yun and his feats. The celestial emperor looked down darkly. The Blithe Entrapment Formation was one of his major’s greatest weapons, yet Lu Yun showing up here meant he’d broken out of it.

……

Tremendous sword energy pierced through air and touched the top of Lu Yun’s head in an instant. Beigong Xuan’s full power could threaten heaven and earth!

Bam!

Bam!

Bam!

……

Seventeen beams of light shot out from around Lu Yun, meeting the powerful sword slash head-on.

Bam!

Crack crack crack!

Layers of formations had emerged out of the blue at some point, and were now shattering in successive fashion beneath the powerful shockwaves created by the meeting of seventeen light beams and sword energy. When the last of the formations broke, the remaining shockwaves had been reduced to a gentle wind that stroked Lu Yun’s face and lifted a strand of his long hair.

“What?!” Beigong Xuan gawked at the seventeen people suddenly appearing by Lu Yun’s side. Each of them shouldered a giant cannon!

Including the one on Situ Zong’s shoulders, that made for eighteen cannons in total, and they were all aimed squarely at Beigong Xuan.

All movement halted involuntarily as everyone stared at the incredible scene. A mere cultivator with powerful treasures had held his ground against an eight-fruit arcane dao immortal!

“Supplemental paths as king, they really do rule all…. The young lord wasn’t completely twisting things for his own purpose earlier! Since combat arts and dao techniques have declined, it’s time for supplemental paths to take center stage!” Situ Zong stared dumbly at Lu Yun, overwhelmed with awe by the young man. Only in this moment did he wholeheartedly submit to his young lord!

Qing Yunhe and Canghai Chengkong, who’d been lurking in the dark since their arrival, gaped at the unbelievable outcome.

“That kid’s breaking all the rules… he really wants to topple the current order of the world of immortals!” Qing Yunhe said, dumbfounded. Canghai Chengkong’s mouth went dry.

“He… actually knows where to draw the line!” muttered the Witherdew celestial emperor. “He could’ve easily shattered the Blithe Entrapment Formation with the eighteen weapons of war to escape....”

He felt a chill spread through his scalp. If his formation was broken, everyone would go after him. After all, he’d yet to reach the peak of the realm and become a true celestial emperor.

“Do you want to end this here, Beigong Xuan?”

Thud!

Another giant cannon appeared in Lu Yun’s hands.

The Black Emperor!

Its presence made everyone’s heart quail. They could tell that the Black Emperor was much more powerful than the other ‘weapons of war’. But what they didn’t know was that the Black Emperor was still in a state of cooldown.

It’d only been a day since Lu Yun had made a fully powered attack with the cannon; it needed six more days to cool down.

Thinking of his control over time, Lu Yun had originally returned to hell with the Black Emperor and waited for seven days, but that hadn’t worked. The weapon had been refined with Divine Seaward Iron and blessed with a special power. It needed seven days in the world of immortals before it could be used again.

Still, the threat of nineteen weapons of war was enough to intimidate the immortals here and keep them from putting a toe out of place. Not even Beigong Xuan dared make a move.

Meanwhile, Lu Yun’s heart was bleeding for his loss. He’d used up tens of billions of immortal crystals with the concerted attacks of the seventeen cannons earlier! Even with all the riches he’d recently acquired, he couldn’t go on like this.

The imitations, including the Black Emperor, devoured crystals like the worst gluttons. In fact, they used up more crystals than real weapons of war.

I need to make another raid! The dragon palace is headquarters of only the North Sea court, but the North Sea monster spirits must have their own territory. They didn’t always reside in these waters, after all. Or perhaps I should go after the territory of the blackwater snakes.... Lu Yun’s mind raced with devious plans.

……

“Lu Yun!” Beigong Xuan bit out angrily with venom in his eyes, but he stayed his hands. “Do you want to make all immortals in the world your enemies?”

“All immortals? No, I only consider the immortals of the North Sea court my enemies! Members of the court, you better get out of here or I’ll kill you all!” Lu Yun scoffed. “I don’t care if anyone else wants the Fire Parasol Tree, but I will not tolerate the presence of any monster spirit immortals from the North Sea court!

“In three breaths, Situ, exterminate any North Sea monster spirits who haven’t yet left!”

Situ Zong aimed the cannon on his shoulder at a dao immortal of the North Sea court. White light lit up the mouth of the cannon in preparation for an attack.

Bam!

In the next second, the aether dao immortal was rendered into ashes.

“It hasn’t been three breaths!” a monster immortal screamed in terror.

“Time’s up,” Lu Yun huffed. “Kill them!”

“We go!!” roared Beigong Xuan. With a wave of his sleeve, he took all his people with him and made a speedy escape.

“You’re just going to let them go?” the Azure Dragon King transmitted curiously from the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals.

Lu Yun shrugged. “What else can I do? Are you able to defeat him?”

The dragon king looked sour. He could easily deal with initial arcane dao immortals in his current state, but fighting a powerhouse like Beigong Xuan would once again shatter the body he’d just restored. The realization filled him with incredible frustration. At his peak, he would’ve been able to kill ten thousand arcane immortals like Beigong Xuan with a single puff.

“The seventeen lesser cannons have reached their limit. Another use will destroy them all! Eighteen of these preciouses were all I could craft with the resources I had,” sighed Lu Yun.

Just now, the seventeen cannons had used up three billion crystals to deliver a full-powered attack. They were at their melting point, and needed to cool down like the Black Emperor. Using them again in short succession would utterly destroy the weapons, or Lu Yun would’ve already blasted Beigong Xuan to hell.

The Azure Dragon King fell silent.

“Alright, y’all may continue then.” With a wave of his hand, Lu Yun ordered the Infernum carrying the cannons back to hell. He sat down on the ground and looked over his shoulder at the immortals gaping at him.

“What are you waiting for?” he grumbled. “Hurry and recover your internal energy, or do you not want the Fire Parasol Tree?”