Chapter 599: Lunatic (1/2)
“The Water and Fire Altars are in the underworld. As for the Wood Altar and its related liver, those should be with the Ancient Tree of Life.” Ashu suddenly smiled slyly. “I wonder if you’re brave enough to go there.”
“Maybe some other time,” shrugged Lu Yun. “I haven’t dealt with everything on hand just yet.”
Setting the holy lord aside, he inserted the heart into Xing Chen’s body, then waved him into hell for further repairs. He needed to prepare for the Panorama Pavilion’s auction.
The thousand formations of heaven and earth were merely the highlight of the show, he had grander plans for the auction at large. It was an opportunity to spread the notion he had long harbored to the wider world.
Supplemental paths as king.
Several of the Panorama Pavilion’s similarly-sized peers were invited to the auction. Three months of time was plenty for anyone to prepare, whether they be merchant guilds or attending factions.
After disaster visited Witherdew Major, other factions of the world had gathered there to vie for the resources and riches left behind by its various factions. However, a mutual understanding between all parties involved meant that there was no all-out war, despite numerous conflicts.
Everyone was waiting for the auction’s arrival. It would indubitably be the greatest one of its kind over the past eighty thousand years.
……
The day of the highly-anticipated auction arrived with great fanfare. To everyone’s surprise, it didn’t take place inside the Dusk capital, but a newly built city at the heart of Dusk Province instead.
The ancient tomb had been leveled, and a new shining city stood as a palatial complex that dominated over the rest of the province. The black waters of the Dusk River were diverted around it in a protective moat, astounding all who came.
“This doesn’t look like the blueprint for a mere city at all… a sect could be based here!” one immortal reacted immediately upon entering. “Does Lu Yun intend to found his own sect?”
The post-divine world only had a history of eighty thousand years, and most factions remained organized by race or clan. There were the courts of the twenty-three facets and the monster spirit equivalents of the other four oceans, but they were in the minority. Many more factions were tied together by blood alone, similar to olden times back on Earth.
However, immortals weren’t primitive humans just barely venturing out of their caves. Sects had come about long ago. Though they weren’t the main driving forces in the world, they remained forces to be reckoned with in their own right. Exalted Major’s Exalted Immortal Sect and Enlightened Major’s Immortal Martial School were both the strongest factions subordinate to their respective courts.
For as long as sects had existed, conflict between them and clans had never ceased. The many immortals who understood what Lu Yun’s intentions were with the new city snickered to themselves.
Most permitted his continued existence out of a desire for his formations alone. Once the secrets behind the formations of heaven and earth were bared to the world, he and his province would become public enemies once more.
The world did not need saints—especially living ones.
On the eve of the auction’s commencement, Lu Yun wasn’t in the best of moods. The Yellow Springs Land’s delegation was in attendance, but Zou Longxiu hadn’t come with them. His heart sank at the development.
The monster emperor should know that Zou Longxiu has become my second disciple... So why is he confining my disciple?
Zou Longxiu had messaged Lu Yun upon first arriving at the court, but no news had come after that. Lu Yun was definitely not in a good mood.
Boom!
Heaven and earth shook as a loud crash rumbled through Dusk Province. Everyone turned their heads to the sky. Four savage draconic shadows of faded gold spiraled in the air, then charged down into the new city.
Four enormous dragon veins!
“Lu Yun!” A deafening roar accompanied their appearance—the golden scarlet ape of the North Sea’s Levitating Island. “As per our agreement during the Sovereign Ranking in Destiny City, I must bring you four dragon veins upon the successful release of my dao partner. Today, I make good on my end of the bargain!”
The ape’s voice swept through the entire province, its words clearly reverberating in every immortal’s ears.
“Agreement during the Sovereign Ranking? Inside Destiny City?” Someone blinked. “Lu Yun was at the Sovereign Ranking?”
“That Xing Chen who stirred up so much trouble for the ranking… that was Lu Yun, wasn’t it?” sneered someone else. “So that’s it! No wonder Scarlet Ape protected Lu Yun back then. They’re in cahoots with each other!”
“Wait, wasn’t there proof from the Dusk Province battle that Lu Yun and Xing Chen are two different people?” yet another asked in puzzlement.
“They’re two separate people, sure. But who knows who the shitstirrer in Destiny City really was?” This seemed to silence the entire audience.
Well, actually… none of that was important right now. Lu Yun was on the verge of auctioning off a thousand formations of heaven and earth. Why provoke him at such a crucial moment?
“Hahaha!” The young lord of Dusk Province laughed heartily from within the city. “The monster ancestor of Levitating Island is faithful indeed. Many thanks for the dragon veins!”