Chapter 749: Holy King Atrophy

Thirty-six bean soldiers with cultivations matching Lu Yun’s hovered before him and formed a protective wall. Shocked awe stole throughout the world, and fighting on the premises petered out as everyone gaped at the thirty-six peak origin dao warriors. They rivaled peak origin dao immortals from the Primordial Era!

Though the warriors remained unmoving, no one dared twitch a muscle. The level of strength on display was sheer intimidation! Even though some of the attackers exceeded the origin dao realm and were well into the ingress realm, they were still too unnerved to do anything.

“Do you all plan on staying here and killing me after four hours, or do I take care of the problem now and kill all of you first?” A flinty look hardened Lu Yun’s eyes. His primary body flew over and cast out another thirty-six sparkling soybeans, summoning thirty-six more warriors as powerful as he was!

Seventy-two peak origin dao immortals graced the scene!!

“Grrrrauuuuugh!” roared one of the bean soldiers.

“Grrrrauuuuugh!!” The remaining seventy-one warriors followed suit, voices rippling out as shockwaves and roars echoing throughout all of Nephrite Major.

The immortal dao itself shuddered, and all living souls bowed down in submission. Lesser immortals in the vicinity were knocked unconscious, and crippled origin dao immortals fled after crying out in pain.

“We leave!!” No one dared linger now that things had developed to this point. It was a very real concern that Lu Yun might slaughter them all in a sudden fit of impulse.

Representatives of the Purple and Green Firmaments cowered before the Sugato Sword, while the two scarlet apes hadn’t been able to overcome Lu Yun. With seventy-two additional peak origin dao immortals added to the mix, no one in their right mind would stick around. They summoned the monster spirits under their command and left Nephrite Major without pause.

Raising a cupped fist salute at Lu Yun, the master of Ingress Island and head of the Dark North Sword Sect took their leave as well. The various emperors of the majors and lands had scattered long ago.

Qi Hai was left alone in the air, looking utterly lost and helpless. He pored over the different eras his many reincarnations had lived through, but came up empty handed for the mention of a powerful immortal who possessed such a summoning method. Not even Violetgrave was able to instantly summon individuals with the same level of strength as her!

“Don’t bother wondering about it, I haven’t obtained anyone’s legacy.” Lu Yun looked indifferently at Qi Hai. “As the world progresses, so do her combat arts and cultivation methods. The legacies of the past are ones of decay and corruption. The present will always triumph over the past!”

His death arts originated from no one. They were the accumulation of the collective intelligence of all beings as manifested by the Tome of Life and Death.

“You will now take your Destiny City and leave Nephrite Major,” Lu Yun boomed. “Go to the outer realm or the four seas, or ignore me and watch the last capital of the human race become history.

“Don’t even think about using the former Nephrite celestial emperor to guilt trip me,” he added. “I owe him a great deal, but he has nothing to do with you. If he were here, he would’ve arrived at this decision even faster.

“Out!!” His powerful utterance shook Qi Hai like it came from the great dao.

“We go!” Chest heaving, Qi Hai glanced below at Destiny City. His junior brother wasn’t as emotionally affected as he was. It didn’t matter where the city stood; what mattered was that it did.

Destiny City held its own reincarnation cycle. As long as it stood, all humans who had ever been a resident of the city would end up back there no matter where they were born.

……

Destiny City uprooted itself and faded away into the air, leaving behind the Sovereign Stele as it didn’t belong to the city. Three figures emerged before Lu Yun—Zither Saint, Art Saint, and the Gorb Demon.

“With you guarding Nephrite Major, our mission here is complete.” The bloody light in Art Saint’s eyes had disappeared, and his gaze no longer bore its usual hostility when it settled on Lu Yun. “With that, we take our leave.”

He cupped his hands at Lu Yun, and the three of them disappeared with a neat turn. As the malice in Art Saint’s eyes was gone, that meant he wouldn’t seek to eat the Gorb Demon or Zither Saint. They were going to search for Wayfarer’s skin and the manifestation of his sense of smell.

Lu Yun nodded in acknowledgement at the empty air.

……

Gone was the great Destiny City; no one from it dared stick around. Even the demon god had departed Nephrite Major with his subordinate demons and fur seals. Four hours wasn’t much, but it was enough for peak origin dao immortals to traverse the world and do whatever they wanted to do.

Lu Yun was no exception.

His seventy-two peak origin dao warriors posed a great threat simply by existing. No one dared entertain the idea of returning to Nephrite Major, lest Lu Yun sense their intentions and smite them where they stood.

“Alright, it’s our turn now.” Lu Yun and his replica looked at a certain corner of the sky.

“Indeed, it’s our turn,” responded a chilling voice.

“Grrrraaawl!” A terrifying growl rang out, accompanied by the pungent smell of corpses.

“Use the Nephrite heavenly mandate to deploy the heavenly court and protect the major, Zhao Shenguang!” snarled Qing Buyi. “Don’t you dare give an inch even if you have to die for it!!”

All traces of frivolity slid off Zhao Shenguang’s face and a hazy gathering of light emerged over his head. The Nephrite palace floating above Xiankan suddenly grew in size as it rose further into the sky.

Blinding brilliance transformed into a protective barrier around Nephrite Major. Blazing with a solemnly imposing presence, Zhao Shenguang stood below the heavenly palace and directed it with everything he had.

“You’re scared, it seems,” the chilling voice came again.

A man dressed in burlap stepped out of the air, cutting a looming figure at three meters tall. A coffin of pure black floated behind him, emanating a dense black fog that looked terrifyingly eerie. He wielded a giant banner with wisps of corpse energy coiled about it. It brought to mind the treasures of the Corpse Refiners, but dripped with even more ominous presence.

A living dead! Lu Yun immediately recognized him for what he was: a tomb keeper from the underworld.

“Be careful, it’s Holy King Atrophy, one of the big three of the underworld and its true ruler!” Ashu suddenly spoke up in Lu Yun’s mind. “In the underworld, those with greater power are under even greater restrictions… However, Holy King Atrophy still rivals a primordial realm immortal from the Primordial Era even in this state.”