The ninety-ninth step!

This abnormally strong killing formation would disintegrate if that final step was completed, leaving the two brothers at the mercy of however many cultivators that still lived.

They did indeed have some skill up their sleeves, and were one step away from transformed spirit realm after eliminating several hundred cultivators, but their victims were all unparalleled geniuses, the best that the world had to offer. It mattered not that most of them were still in the core realm. In fact, even a few nascent spirit cultivators numbered among their ranks.

Formations were what the brothers were skilled in; they didn’t actually possess any great fighting strength. Instead, they’d relied on their ability with formations to make it to their current cultivation level. If Lu Yun broke their formation now, the combined fury of the cultivators within the light would blast them so thoroughly that there wouldn’t even be bone dust left of them.

“Brother, let’s talk!” The two of them stared fixedly at Lu Yun’s descending right foot, voices rising in a whining beg.

“Talk, whose disciples are you? There aren’t many formation masters in the world with talent like yours,” demanded Lu Yun, his foot hovering in the air.

It was an exceedingly difficult task to etch formation runes in the central world, even for Lu Yun. But these two had managed to lay out a killing formation ten kilometers across—they were nearly on the level of formation grandmasters! At least, none of the formation masters he’d met in Xiankan could manage such a feat.

The two chuckled wryly, and the older-looking one took up the task of replying. “My name is Lin Yu, and this is my younger brother Lin Xuan.”

“Lin Yu, Lin Xuan… are you from the Lin Clan of Lazuli Major?” Lu Yun peered closely at the two and discovered that the cultivation methods circulating in them were similar to the ones used by Lin Yan of the profligates’ alliance.

“That’s right…” Lin Yu smiled ruefully.

The Lins were a true peak powerhouse of the world of immortals. Their roots in Lazuli Major were even more domineering than those of the Mo Clan’s. Even the foremost aristocracy of the world, House Donglin, was said to have splintered off from the Lins.

Due to their origins, House Donglin hadn’t formed their own clan after declaring their independence. Stylizing themselves as a noble house, they set their sights on returning to the fold one day and… replacing the clan entirely. That a branch of the clan could be so powerful and prosperous after going its own way was itself testament to the might of the Lin Clan.

Wham!!

A tremendous shudder in the air accompanied Lu Yun’s final step.

“You!!” The brothers’ expressions shifted drastically, but before they could react, they discovered that the shudder in the air had repaired their formation that’d been tottering on the brink of collapse.

“I'm good friends with Lin Yan. If you’re his clansmen, I won’t make things difficult for you,” Lu Yun remarked faintly, his hands crossed over his chest.

“Ah, so you’re Lin Yan’s friend, no wonder you’re so heaven-defying!” The brothers looked at each other, admiration overflowing from their eyes when their clansmen was mentioned.

Lin Yan had already reached the void realm, and been blessed by the Dao Flower as well. He was supposed to participate in the Sovereign Meet this time as well, but after returning from the North Sea and collecting a few priceless treasures from the clan, he’d set off again without sending any word back.

In the Lin Clan, there was none more favored by the high council than Lin Yan. As long as he didn’t destroy the clan, he could take any treasure he wanted—the personal weapons of the forefather included.

When he returned from the North Sea, he’d brought back countless priceless treasures, items, weapons, fruits, and herbs. It made one think of the rumors that Lu Yun hadn’t been the only one to raid the North Sea Palace, but that Lin Yan and his friends had been involved as well.

His return with all those treasures was explanation enough, and the old titans of the Lin Clan chortled so hard that they almost couldn’t breathe. Others might be afraid of the North Sea monster spirits and that big monkey in the waters, but the Lin Clan absolutely wasn’t!

……

“Alright, you guys may go.” Lu Yun waved a hand in the middle of the two brothers striking up a conversation with him.

“Ah?” Lin Yu blinked. It was only then that he realized they’d lost their connection with the formation at some unknown point in time.

“Senior brother…”

“I already said that I won’t make things difficult for you, since you’re Lin Yan’s clansmen.” Lu Yun grinned broadly. “But I did observe that your skill with formations is only one step away from being grandmasters in your own right. You’ve even gotten hints of creating formations without foundation. If you’d like to keep improving, come find me at Jadeite Manor in Destiny City after the Sovereign Meet.”

“Really??” Lin Xuan’s eyes lit up. Their new friend had been able to dismantle the formation in ninety-nine steps, then casually seize control of it. He was obviously an immensely strong formation grandmaster.

Lin Yu and Lin Xuan were the clan’s twin weapons when it came to formations. Though their cultivation was only a piddling transformed spirit realm, their talent in formations was a rare sight. Their ambitions were such that they wanted to use formation dao to ascend through the void realm, so they’d decided to hold off on any breakthroughs until that was within reach. The young man in front of them could very well help them with this step.

“Jadeite Manor… you’re Qing Yu’s Sidekick, the one who put a hundred billion bounty on Donglin Taihuang’s head!” Lin Yu immediately guessed Lu Yun’s identity. “Alright, that’s settled. When this is all over, we’ll pay you a visit at Jadeite Manor!”

“Take the dao book with you.” Lu Yun pointed at the scroll still hovering over the burial mound. He wasn’t about to take it, as this opportunity belonged to the brothers. Besides, a certain bold notion of his was becoming ever clearer after meeting the two brothers. Theirs was precisely the kind of talent he needed at the moment.

“That book is the heritage of a sword immortal. It’s useless to us, so please take it if you like, senior brother.” Lin Yu grinned broadly.

Lu Yun rubbed his forehead.

Within Destiny City, the Lin clan members keeping an eye on the brothers were hopping mad with anger. So they might not need it, but surely there would be someone in the clan who did! Were those two spendthrifts going to just gift it away to someone else??

“That Qing Yu’s Sidekick has incredible skill in formations. Can he be that one from Dusk Province?” someone mused.

“I think not. Lu Yun’s skill in formations comes from obtaining the Formation Orb that used to be in Myriad Formation Summit. According to our speculations, something like the Formation Orb wouldn’t be able to enter that patch of land,” refuted a strong immortal, setting everyone at ease. “That Sidekick’s skill in formations is his own, so they should be different people.”

“I rather hope that person is Lu Yun. He says he’s going to make the supplemental paths king and doesn’t possess much strength himself. No outside forces are able to aid cultivators once they enter that patch of land…”

“He’s deader than a doornail if he’s Lu Yun,” sneered another voice. “Without being able to make use of outside forces, this so-called First Youth Sovereign is just a paper tiger, a monkey swaggering about with borrowed influence.”

A group of monster spirits bared their teeth at the humans when they heard this.

A monkey swaggering about?

The lord of the North Sea was a monkey! This was an underhanded insult to monster spirits!

“In that case, I shan’t stand on ceremony then.” Lu Yun stowed the scroll with a wave of his hand. This was the heritage of an ancient immortal, after all, and the complete principles of immortal dao were contained within. It’d be a shame to just pass it up.

Back in Destiny City, the Lin immortals really did jump with anger and loudly cursed Sidekick’s name. Lin Yu and Lin Xuan were also due for their fair share of lecturing.

Those good-for-nothings! Only Lin Yan cared about the family!