Chapter 40: Proof of Allegiance (1/2)

Was Lu Yun scared?

He was only human. Of course he was scared. As an experienced tomb raider—and the best of his field, at that—however, fear wasn’t going to deter him. Quite the contrary, unknown terrors only excited him further.

“There’s a gradual slope here.” He made his way down the tunnel the soldiers had dug, adjusting his posture to maintain balance. “The air is very humid. There should be a large body of water ahead of us.”

It would either be a wetland or an enormous pond.

“There’s a pond up ahead, and past it, an annex room,” Miao said. “You’ll find what you’re looking for in there.”

“An annex room? Why’s there an annex room in a burial mound?” After brief confusion, Lu Yun quickly accepted the anomaly. Whoever was buried here had warranted an entire city as their burial goods, so building an annex room—a feature only found in tombs—was nothing in comparison!

There were very few corpse flies here, providing limited light. For cultivators, however, it was enough. Lu Yun slowly made his way downhill without a word, Qing Han on his back.

The sloping tunnel wasn’t very long. An enormous pond came into view after only a few kilometers, its waters rippling and reflecting with light. Like the ancient Truewater City, there was no source of light here, but the entire place was well lit.

“I’ve been here before,” Lu Yun muttered at the sight.

“Of course you have,” a chilling voice suddenly sounded from beside him. “What a trick you’ve pulled, Lu Yun, Governor of Dusk!”

Qing Hongchen!

The man’s clothes were tattered and his face was covered in bleeding cuts. Venom stabbed out of his eyes as he glared at the Dusk governor.

Lu Yun’s breath hitched; he hadn’t expected the young man to be here. Enlightenment struck in the next instant. Miao had led him to a tall cliff earlier, but the young governor hadn’t been fooled. Instead, he moved the consciousness brand that Qing Hongchen had imprinted on him to a stone, then threw it off the cliff.

At that point in time, Lu Yun had vaguely glimpsed a large pond below. Within it was a terrible creature that had devoured one of his bean soldiers. What he hadn’t expected was that Qing Hongchen would follow the brand down to where the Formation Orb was.

There was another man by Qing Hongchen’s side. It wasn’t Formation Thirteenth, but the Skyriver city lord.

“Kill them!” Lu Yun yelled.

“Die!” Yueshen charged in and Li Youcai activated the Seal of Mountain and River, smashing it down on Qing Hongchen and the city lord.

“No!!!” Qing Hongchen screamed in panic and bolted for the shore.

Rumble!

As soon as the seal activated, something disturbed the surface of the peaceful pond. An enormous white arm shot out and made a grab for it.

A giant corpsefish!

It was larger than the ones they’d seen before.

“Get lost!!” Yueshen pulled out of Li Youcai’s body and shrieked, her expression grave. That put fear in the fish’s dimly crimson eyes and its giant head slowly sank back into the pond.

Plop!

The seal fell into the water as well.

“My lord, I, I want to eat it!” Strands of black smoke abruptly rose from Yueshen’s body and her face turned eerily terrifying. Her eyes glowed scarlet as she stared at the pond with want.

“What—what is that?!” The Skyriver city lord exclaimed with fear when Yueshen suddenly manifested in midair.