Chapter 396: A Stick of Incense

House Donglin sensed the coming danger the second Skybearer and the Ingress Path appeared. Bright flashes dotted Donglin territory as formations and restrictions activated in defense. Powerful immortals soared into the air and attacked Skybearer with resplendent plumes of sword energy.

Clang!

A penetrating bell’s knell sent soundwaves through the gates and scattered the sword light. Meanwhile, the Black Emperor continued charging.

“Lu Yun!!” a furious voice bellowed from House Donglin’s territory. “You need to think about the consequences!”

“I did think about the consequences. This is what happens when people offend me,” Lu Yun’s voice floated over from the other side of the gate. “Donglin Taihuang should’ve thought about his consequences before making his move.

“My attack will commence in forty-five minutes, the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. So you all better… run as far as you can.” Lu Yun’s voice dripped with mockery.

A blast at maximum power from the Black Emperor was on par with an attack from an origin dao immortal. It would destroy House Donglin’s defenses and kill a good number of people, but mainly insignificant cultivators or low-level immortals. House Donglin itself wouldn’t suffer that heavy a loss.

Making his retaliation hurt wasn’t all that important to Lu Yun; his goal was to slap faces.

An ancient aristocracy like House Donglin would declare their independence from their original clan if they desired to prove that they were the more powerful branch. Lu Yun’s actions now were a resounding smack across their face.

However, they also couldn’t afford to not move their youths out of their ancestral lands. The five immortals had already proven earlier with their attacks that the Black Emperor could bring origin dao level strength to bear.

Frustration burned on the cheeks of countless Donglin experts.

Aureate Major and Nephrite Major were two distinct facets, but Lu Yun could transcend the spatial barrier with the Ingress Path and Skybearer. House Donglin hardly had such valuables at their disposal.

The gate was a hereditary Lu Clan treasure, and the Ingress Path was Nephrite’s most treasured item. The two combined could naturally break through the protection of the Aureate heavenly mandate.

Qing Clan’s hereditary treasure, the Arcane Golden Bell, also awaited on the other side of the gates, rendering it impossible for Donglin elites to charge into Dusk through the gateway. Lu Yun might shut it and retrieve the path as soon as they did so, leaving them stranded in an unknown spatial limbo. Therefore, they only dared attack from a distance with sword energy.

“Go! Borrow the Aureate court’s weapon of war!” a Donglin elite snapped out, staring at the still-charging Black Emperor on the other side of Skybearer. Only the nine heavenly courts could deploy weapons of war. House Donglin was as influential as the Aureate court, but they still didn’t have a weapon of war in their possession.

Over the past couple of months, the secrets of Lu Yun’s cannons had been thoroughly investigated. These weren’t actual weapons of war, but imitations!

Creating imitations of these terrifying war treasures was a feat that no one had been able to accomplish over the past eighty thousand years, until Lu Yun had shown up on their doorstep with tangible proof of his success. More importantly, the imitations didn’t have to draw on underground veins, but could be fueled entirely by immortal crystals!

The dots were connected when peoples’ minds turned to Lu Yun’s raid of the North Sea Palace. Only by robbing a great faction like the North Sea monster spirits would someone possess enough wealth to splurge this way.

The North Sea might not be a powerful faction, but it was home to numerous immortal crystal veins. The current court had ruled over the North Sea for ten thousand years, and the dragon clan for seventy thousand before that. The amount of accumulated wealth in their waters was unfathomable.

Of course, the top clans and sects of the world, as well as the heavenly courts of the nine majors and ten lands, were wealthier than Lu Yun, but their fortune didn’t belong to a single person. Theirs were collective possessions shared with everyone in their factions.

Lu Yun didn’t have to share.

……

“Milord, the heavenly court… declines to lend us the weapon!” An immortal quickly came back with the court’s response. Their stance was clear: House Donglin should clean up their own messes. Don’t think of dragging us down with you!

“Bastards!!” raged a Donglin arcane dao immortal, but there wasn’t anything he could do.

“Leave now with our people.” Donglin E sighed in resignation. “It would be unwise to provoke Lu Yun when he’s in this mood.”

He’d crossed paths with Lu Yun in the dragon tomb, but failed to find a chance to kill the youth. Lu Yun had cemented his place as a formidable foe ever since then.

“Dammit!” a peak aether dao immortal growled in frustration. At the same time, he didn’t dare blame Donglin Taihuang. The man was the greatest genius of House Donglin, held in higher regard than even peak arcane dao immortals, and second only to the Donglin ancestor.

While the Donglin ancestor had ascended to origin dao immortal realm, he wasn’t home at the moment.

“How dare a mewling brat of a celestial emperor go against the will of House Donglin?! If he tires of being the celestial emperor, I wouldn’t mind switching him out with someone else, again!” Ruthlessness flashed through Donglin E’s eyes.

He was highly displeased with the celestial emperor’s rejection, but his house had no choice but to evacuate from their home. Lu Yun had allotted them only forty-five minutes before launching an artillery assault.

It was quite a rarity for a behemoth like the Donglins to suffer such helplessness. Lu Yun was driving them out of their own turf without even showing his face!

“No, we’re not going!” a clamor of angry cries sounded from within the complex. “We will live and die with the family!”

“We’re staying, do you hear? Kill us all if you can, Lu!”

“I’ll haunt you even after I die, Lu Yun! Kill me if you so dare!” Hotheaded youths took to the air and screamed challenges at the portal to Dusk.

Lu Yun and Qing Han remained on the Dusk city wall with a censer by their side. The incense stick within had burned through half of its length.

“I do hope all my enemies are idiots like them,” Lu Yun observed, leveling his gaze on House Donglin through the gate. He wasn’t loud, but he was loud enough for everyone on Aureate Major’s side to hear him.

“Fools, get out of here at once!!” Donglin E couldn’t be more furious.

If Lu Yun had invaded House Donglin, the youths’ words would be a fantastic boost for morale and demonstration of solidarity, which would in turn enhance their battle strength.

This, however, was hardly an appropriate response for the situation.

Their enemies were entirely untouchable, in a completely different location with a weapon aimed at them. Staying here and throwing down taunts was the most foolish of all possible actions.

The youths were asking for death, and their loss wouldn’t mean anything!

Seeing hundreds of imitations emerge around the Black Emperor and target the entirety of Donglin territory, the dao immortals of the house sprang into action. They stuffed their youths into hidden spaces within their sleeves and quickly fled the danger zone, terrified that Lu Yun would change his mind and attack before the incense stick finished burning.