Chapter 716: Certified King of Scapegoats

The dark cyan sword encompassed thousands of sword dao combat arts, such as Vast Dragon Seaturner, Peng of Kun, Starstream Stroke, and Endless Cosmic Ocean, all of which served as the main structure of Lu Yun’s sword dao.

Sword dao was a standalone path just like equipment, pill, formation, and talisman dao. Unlike the four supplemental paths, however, sword dao was the way of slaughter.

The area flooded with a vicious killing intent as soon as Lu Yun employed his sword dao. Having reunited with its jewel, the Sugato Sword was now complete and had even fostered a weapon spirit, allowing Lu Yun to tap into its true power by burning immortal crystals.

Jiang Chen went white as a sheet. His consciousness ground to a halt in the face of such enormous pressure, like an ant waiting to be trampled underfoot. All of the Corpse Refiners accompanying him had been annihilated into ashes.

Combat arts imbued with the power of the Sugato Sword were terrifying, enough to scare dao immortals witless, even if they weren’t in the central world.

Bam!

A crackling sound traveled through the air as an enormous seal descended from the firmament and smashed into the dark cyan sword image, knocking it slightly askew. Jiang Chen seized the opening to make a panicked escape, vanishing without a trace.

Lu Yun jerked his head up at the faint figure hovering in the air. Sheathing the Sugato Sword, he asked in an indifferent voice, “Fangyang Xing, do you represent the Fangyang Clan or the Green Firmament on this trip?”

“Is there a difference?” Fangyang Xing shook his head and disappeared with a turn.

Lu Yun narrowed his eyes before checking on the Lin brothers. “Are you alright?”

“We are.” Lin Yu panted and got to his feet. “Unfortunately, the old zombie seized the altar we occupied!”

Dusk Province had come into her own and boasted quite the host of immortals now. The Lu, Qing, Chen, Xue, and even Yin Clans had officially joined Dusk as subordinate factions after Lu Yun acquired the projection of the Dao Flower. Immortals from all five clans had followed the Lin brothers to the central world this time.

Other than the void-ascended immortals, all Dusk immortals under the dao immortal realm had gained great strength after incorporating a formation of heaven and earth. The Dusk contingent had occupied an altar not long after their arrival, but before they could find a sacrifice to activate it, they were defeated by Jiang Chen and his entourage of Corpse Refiners.

Given the liberal scattering of tombs and burial mounds in the central world, it was the perfect battleground for Corpse Refiners. There were endless zombies buried here that they could enthrall. Zombies transformed from primordial immortals were tremendously powerful. Despite having incorporated a formation of heaven and earth, the Dusk immortals weren’t their match. Playing a key role in their defeat was Jiang Chen, who swept the floor as soon as he made a move.

“I understand.” Lu Yun nodded after Lin Yu’s briefing.

“Shall we go back and reclaim the altar?” Lin Xuan asked urgently. He couldn’t let the defeat stand. If Jiang Chen hadn’t shattered the formations set up by him and his brother, they wouldn’t have lost to the Corpse Refiners and their zombies.

Lin Xuan’s understanding of feng shui allowed him to counter zombies, which, however, all became useless once Jiang Chen stepped in. There seemed to be a tremendous forcefield around the old zombie that sent any zombies within its zone into a strange frenzy. Not even Lin Xuan’s feng shui layouts could deal with them in that state.

Now that Lu Yun had come and easily defeated Jiang Chen, Lin Xuan and Lin Yu wanted nothing but to retaliate.

Instead of giving the brothers free rein, Lu Yun mused pensively on the situation. He wasn’t afraid of Jiang Chen, but Fangyang Xing had shown up, and with a treasure that could rival the Sugato Sword—the Skyturning Seal.

With a single blow, the seal had challenged his sword dao deployed by the Sugato Sword. That was cause for caution, and he had to be on his guard.

The Sugato Sword was far from unrivaled in the central world. If the Skyturning Seal could put it in check, then there would be far more great treasures that could also do the same. It would be impossible for Lu Yun to defeat all immortals in the world with a single sword.

Noting the prolonged silence, Lin Xuan hurriedly spoke up, “All twenty-eight altars have been occupied, sir, we...”

“Forget the altars, gather all Dusk immortals in the realm.” After a thoughtful pause, he continued, “Qi Hai set me up and called me the successor of the primordial immortal emperor. Everyone in the central world will thus be after our contingent. They’re all in great danger if they set off on their own.”

Five great clans had thrown themselves under Lu Yun’s banner, who had sensed their sincerity through the Karmic Tree and accepted them into the fold. Since they were now his, he naturally wasn’t going to abandon them.

“Understood!” Lin Yu began setting up formations. On this outing, the two brothers spearheaded the group of Dusk immortals. Thus, the other immortals had formation disks created by the brothers in their possessions. With a successful set up, Lin Yu could guide immortals from the top five clans to this location through their disks.

“Lin Yu, Lin Xuan, have you two escaped from the old zombie… Ah!” The first to arrive was a man dressed in cyan. He greeted the Lin brothers before coming to a surprised pause upon seeing Lu Yun. “You??”

It was Yin Qingran of the Yin Clan.

Yin Qingran snuck uneasy glances at Lu Yun off to the side; he couldn’t not recognize their young governor. After all, he’d tripped up the man back in the Last Repose of Mount Exalted and hadn’t expected to meet him again so soon. He knew the man was the master of Dusk Province, Lu Yun.

Yin Qingran had been against his clan joining Dusk Province, but his senior council had reached an agreement with Zhao Zhicheng. Yin Qingran had no choice but to follow his clan here.

As for Lu Yun… well, in his eyes, Yin Qingran was essentially the king of scapegoats who’d taken endless blame for him. If he hadn’t joined Dusk Province, Lu Yun would’ve transformed into him again and started trouble in the central world.

“This… this… this subordinate greets Lord Lu Yun.” Yin Qingran squirmed and bowed to Lu Yun.

“So it’s you.” Lu Yun gave him a half-smile. “I should commend you for a job well done in the Last Repose in Mount Exalted.”

“Ahem!” Yin Qingran looked up with a smile that was more a crying grimace. “I’ve taken the fall for you many times, milord, to the point where I’ve become more trouble than I’m worth to my clan. I was forced to leave my home, leave Exalted Major...”

He’d realized what had actually happened in the divine tombs as soon as he arrived in Dusk Province, but it was too late then. The Ling Clan saw him as an enemy, and the demon god, fur seals, and all of Exalted Major considered the Yin Clan a great threat.

As a result, his clan would be slaughtered to the last if they hadn’t sought asylum in Dusk Province.