Chapter 690: Lightning Rods Gone Rogue (1/2)

The vast expanse of the West Sea was located at the western edge of the world.

Once the center of everyone’s attention, the monster spirit court ruling the West Sea for eighty thousand years had been silently overthrown almost overnight, the coup so swift that not a single rumor had leaked abroad.

As for the West Sea emperor, a peak arcane dao immortal powerhouse, he’d been killed in a single blow and refined into a replica.

On a deserted island at the westernmost part, three hundred and sixty-five lightning rods positioned in a mysterious formation sparkled dazzlingly beneath the sun. In the middle of this array sat a man clad in blue. Beside him was stuck a sword into the ground at a slanted angle… the Sword of Chaos.

Once powerful beyond measure, it now gave off an incomplete, imperfect feeling, as though it was missing a vital part—its heart.

The heart of the Sword Chaos was in Zhao Wushuang’s possession. But in the past, she’d been under the protection of Exalted Celestial Emperor Zhao Luo. And now, she’d been granted shelter in the safety of Dusk Province, out of Dongfang Hao’s reach.

Even so, his strength was bound to grow in spades after his ascension to immortality, and he’d make certain to find a way to take the sword heart back.

……

“The kid probably knew a long time ago that you’d come, so he’s deployed many killing formations in advance and is waiting for you to walk right into his trap.” Holy Lord Ashu stood beside Lu Yun, both of them transformed into infinitesimal particles standing on a speck of dust floating in the air.

Ashu continued with a frown, “The killing formations look to be the strongest ones of the ancient divine court. They might only be partial reconstructions, but you shouldn’t underestimate them. Even if I recovered my essence, it’d still be difficult for me to withdrew unscathed.”

“Oh?” Xing Chen, Lu Yun’s replica, turned to look at Ashu.

“If you want to stop him passing his tribulation, you’ll have to get creative. For example, why don’t you lure other powerhouses here like he did against you?” Ashu replied after a moment of silence.

“Lure powerhouses here? What for?” Lu Yun gently shook his head. “If he wants to undergo his tribulation, leave him to it… It’s not like I’m trying to stop him.”

“Then why did you come?” Ashu blinked in confusion. Was he here just to spectate? To personally witness Sword Divine’s ascension to immortality?

As a cultivator, Sword Divine’s had been above Lu Yun’s, and as an immortal… he’d still hold the upper hand in all likelihood.

Letting such a dangerous foe develop unimpeded?

That didn’t sound like Lu Yun’s style at all.

But for his part, the young governor merely stood on the speck of dust and silently observed Dongfang Hao from afar.

“I came to see what tricks he has hidden up his sleeve.”

……

Dongfang Hao had spent a long time preparing for this tribulation. In fact, he’d begun these preparations ever since his failure to ‘borrow’ another tribulation. To stop disruptions from ill-intentioned people, he’d deployed many traps in advance.

One thousand and eighty-eight killing formations were hidden nearby. Together, the combination formed the strongest killing formation known to the ancient divines. Even if the nine celestial emperors from the previous generation were to arrive, they’d find themselves powerless to interfere in his tribulation.

“I wonder if Lu Yun will come… I certainly hope he does.” Dongfang Hao took a deep breath. At first, he’d left Lu Yun alive so as to use him as a whetstone, a rival to motivate himself. But now, he was slowly losing control of this whetstone.

More importantly, he wanted Qing Yu. He already had three sword gods at his service: Wu Tulong, Zichen, and Mo Qitian, all three dao sovereigns as anointed by the Dao Flower.

If he could also bring Dao Sovereign Qing Yu into the fold and add her to that list, he could use these four masters, along with another existence, to rule over the immortal dao. And then, he’d slowly supplant it and become the master ruling over all of this world.

Lu Yun, this former whetstone of his, had become the last hurdle to his grand scheme.