Chapter 40: Proof of Allegiance (2/2)

“is that the immortal ghost?” qing han gasped. he knew of her existence, and they’d interacted when she was in li youcai’s body. however, this was his first time seeing her in person.

“go ahead,” lu yun responded calmly. he knew yueshen would lose control if he denied her request. immortal ghosts were dangerous beings of great grievances, and even an empyrean immortal like li youcai was nothing but a toy to her.

if it weren’t for the dusk governor’s ability to control yueshen and keep her nature in check, she would’ve long rampaged on a killing spree. immortal ghosts were no benevolent creatures; this was yueshen’s true nature.

permission obtained, the ghost cheered and dove into the pond, searching for the giant corpsefish.

“an immortal ghost, lu yun? how unexpected.” qing hongchen let out a long breath, then noticed qing han on lu yun’s back. “qing han, my dear seventh brother, what happened?”

he could tell the condition qing han was in. with a feral grin, he stalked toward lu yun and his younger brother.

the skyriver city lord threw his head back in satisfied laughter. “oh, how the tables have turned, lu yun!”

he knew qing hongchen well; lu yun was dead without a doubt. the qing scion might’ve allowed lu yun to live in order to use him, but not after the governor gave the order to kill.

“you don’t have to get your hands dirty, fifth master. allow me.” the city lord advanced on lu yun with a vicious smile.

“alright.” qing hongchen nodded with an aloof expression.

“wait!” lu yun said coolly. “aren’t you worried that the immortal ghost will kill you once she returns and finds me dead?”

“return?” qing hongchen scoffed. “you don’t know what’s under the water, do you? she’s not coming back. do it!” he scoffed. “and kill qing han, too!”

“so what if you’re the governor. you court death by stealing my fiance from me! die!” the skyriver city lord took a step forward and slashed at lu yun, his sword flaring with brilliance.

buzz.

violetgrave suddenly exploded into purple light and cut the city lord down.

“what?!” the city lord’s face crumbled. his sword crashed into an invisible wall that shattered his wondrously sharp blade. the purple light expanded to enshroud him and reduced him to ashes.

lu yun panted, his face pale. fresh blood dripped down the tip of the sword in his hand.

“impossible!” qing han and qing hongchen yelled in unison. violetgrave was a ninth-rank weapon, how could a qi condensation cultivator use it?

qing han had depleted all of his energy and strength to use the sword, and still couldn’t move even now. lu yun, on the other hand, was simply breathing a little faster.

“nothing is impossible. i wouldn’t have come to explore this burial mound with you guys if i didn’t have a few tricks up my sleeve.” lu yun’s breathing was labored and his face flushed. “i have some strength left in me. even if i can’t kill you, i can at least injure you severely. that means death in this cursed place.”

he wasn’t afraid of qing hongchen. there were three true immortals within his gates of the abyss. however, lu yun didn’t want to summon them just yet; formation thirteenth was still lurking somewhere.

he didn’t think the man was dead. even someone as useless as the skyriver city lord had survived, so an immortal like formation thirteenth must still be alive. the only explanation for his absence was that the man had betrayed qing hongchen and was now in hiding.

as the thirteenth best formation master of nephrite major, he would surely detect that there was an invaluable treasure hidden in the burial mound.

lu yun looked around and found that miao was also missing.

“what do you want?” qing hongchen said with narrowed eyes, his tone murderous.

“we’ll work together to find the treasure,” lu yun said seriously. “it’s a fair competition after that!”