The blond man was shocked by his realization. Not only had the sea monsters not attacked the four paper boats, but the waves and light of those infernal waters didn’t affect them, either!

I must have those boats! his heart roared fervently. So the Blood Sea did contain connate-grade treasures!

The golden immortal who’d survived the ordeal had been arrested by the Nephrite court, and the treasure he’d obtained was now in the emperor’s possession. If he could get his hands on the four paper ships, he’d be able to hunt for treasure in the Blood Sea to his heart’s content! The blond man burned with desire.

“Boundary!” he called out with another roar.

Boom!

A jadeite barrier flickered to life as soon as he gave the command. The entire sea coast was sealed off, leaving the nameless city as the sole avenue of exit. The power of the Nephrite emperor could seal even the long, winding coast of the North Sea, a shoreline that spanned multiple large provinces and trillions upon trillions of kilometers. In comparison, ten leagues worth of Blood Sea meant nothing.

The barrier’s foundations had been set up only a short time ago, with a mechanism that very much resembled the North Sea’s boundary. A formation laid down within the city proper served as its nexus; if the formation fell, the barrier would crumble with it.

If the sea monsters came ashore, the barrier would be far too weak to stop them. However, it would do a great job at stopping Lu Yun and the others.

“Hmm?” Lu Yun frowned at the sight of the barrier as its unexpected energy concerned him. “Who’s in charge in that city there?”

As a formation grandmaster in his own right, he could construct formations without foundations. A single glance was enough to tell him that the city was key to getting past the boundary of light.

Unfortunately, the city’s active formations, and the banners upon its battlements, were good indicators that its inhabitants meant them harm. Indeed, the army’s battle formation image was already snarling in the sky.

“Someone important from the Jin Clan, but I don’t have the right to know his name,” Li Youcai answered hurriedly.

“The Jin Clan….” Lu Yun’s brows bunched closer together. That was one of the Feng Clan’s vassals. Back in outer Xiankan, its people had participated in his mobbing even after Jin Heyi and Jin Hexi’s departure. As a result, many of their clansmen had died at his hand.

After he’d left the capital, the Jin Clan had similarly joined in the pursuit. Among the eighteen dao immortals, one had been theirs. That one was dead, of course, reduced to dust by four hundred and eighty million bolts of lightning and two terrifying formations.

Boom!

A pillar of light three hundred meters thick blasted from the nameless city, aimed squarely at Lu Yun’s fortress ship. The enemy had opened fire without a word!

The photic missile came from an immortal weapon of war; his ship wouldn’t be able to defend against it if it hit!

“Heh, heh, heh… the Jin Clan!” He sneered at the pillar of light blasting in his direction. “You’re dead for sure…”

Behind the fortress fleet, Qing Han, Wu Tulong, Zi Chen, and Mo Qitian’s Dao Flowers had recorded everything that was happening.

The Dao Flower carried a complete cultivation path with its return. However, though the path itself was repaired, the flower had yet to fully bloom. To do so required a record of all kinds of sights and sounds, as well as every trapping and experience of civilization. Only then could it truly integrate with the world.

Everything it encountered on its journey would be recorded, including the Jin Clan’s attack against its bearers.

Lu Yun had returned from the boundless Blood Sea with a lethal trap that could be sprung at any moment. His fortress ship was five kilometers from the shore—no distance at all before an instrument of war. The consuming light was upon them in the blink of an eye.

“W-we really are done for this time,” Li Youcai blurted out in a daze. “How can the Nephrite court be so merciless? Why do we have to die like this?”

The immortals on the ships behind them felt the same way. After escaping the maws of the Blood Sea monsters, they hadn’t expected to leap right into the jaws of ‘their own’.

“Too bad Lu Yun’s caught up in all this… if he lived, the clan would’ve surely returned to its former glory…” a Lu golden immortal sighed in regret.

Boom!

The light pillar collided with the hull of Lu Yun’s ship. Tons of seawater instantly evaporated away, vaporizing the monsters unlucky enough to be caught in them. The attack lit up the entire sky, temporarily blinding any immortal foolish enough to keep their eyes open.

“One shot of the Cloud Ray costs three hundred million premium crystals.” The blond Jin Shikong kept his head down as the luminous explosion was too dazzling for even him to behold. Despite being a peerless immortal, he was forced to avert his gaze. “Even an arcane dao immortal would be seriously hurt by one of these. Evaporation by the Cloud Ray is more than dignified enough for the so-called number one cultivator in the world.”

The nameless city’s formation had momentarily ceased its operation and the army’s image had disappeared. All the power of both had been injected into the war treasure. The light pillar it fired wasn’t composed purely of energy; it also contained a fearsome formation that blasted anything it was targeted at into fine dust.

“The four paper boats are a fair distance away from the fortress ship. The Cloud Ray is very exact, so they should be fairly intact.” Jin Shikong raised his head once more, looking toward the Blood Sea with a devilish grin—that then froze in an astounded grimace.

Lu Yun’s fortress ship was completely unharmed, as were the eleven others behind it. They continued slowly sailing toward the nameless city.

“How is this possible?!” he screamed instinctively. How could Lu Yun have deflected better than an arcane dao immortal?

This was a weapon manufactured solely for war! The strongest kind of weapon anywhere in the world! How… how could a single fortress ship withstand its might?

Atop the deck of the leading ship, Lu Yun sneered back. Behind him was a rather pale Feinie, a thick trail of blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth.

The Formation Orb of Yin and Yang floated around her, glowing with a protective haze. In that moment just now, she had made use of the treasure’s power to create more than five thousand defensive formations. It’d taken quite a bit out of her to stop the light pillar short, and she’d suffered considerable injuries.

“Can… can Lu Yun have obtained a connate-grade treasure of his own in the Blood Sea?!” Jin Shikong gasped at the possibility. Surely, that was the most sensible explanation! Only a connate-grade treasure could soak an attack from a weapon of war!

“Let’s see how many times you can use that treasure of yours!” he scoffed. “Prepare the weapon for a second shot!”

“But milord, we don’t have many immortal crystals left…” his lieutenant replied hesitantly.

“Not a problem. What will these crystals amount to, compared to Lu Yun’s connate-grade treasure? Plus, we’ll be handsomely rewarded for exterminating the Lu and Chen Clans in any case! Ready… aim….”

The city’s formations began whirring again, and the hundred-thousand-odd soldiers formed their image once more.

The gigantic weapon was being reloaded.