Even those of the Jiangchen Clan were shocked by their empyrean immortal’s orders. Lu Yun had singlehandedly ensured the Dao Flower’s bloom just now by resisting a heavenly tribulation, slaying the long-haired monsters, and destroying the bloodstained white paths. His feats benefited all of life and humanity. How dare the empyrean immortal want to capture him?

“Heh heh heh….” The immortal naturally noticed the expressions of his surrounding peers, to which a hateful grimace spread over his face. “Lu Yun and those four up there? You think they’re doing a favor for everyone, for all cultivators in the world? What about us immortals? With the path repaired, there’s a new void realm… once cultivators ascend to immortality from the void realm, they’ll be far stronger than us older immortals.”

The void realm offered an opportunity to peek into, understand, and even fuse oneself with heaven and earth. In a sense, it refined the self more closely as a part of creation!

This wasn’t something that current immortals had experienced. So when contemporary cultivators became immortals, they would indubitably be far stronger than their senior brethren. It was very much possible that even the brightest immortal geniuses would be no match for the new stock!

His words drained the blood from the others’ faces. The cultivation path was repaired, but they were all already immortals! They hadn’t experienced the void realm themselves! When their juniors attained immortality, they would inevitably be washed away by the new tide!

A metaphorical bucket of icy water doused their hearts, and when they next looked at Lu Yun, they did so with hatred burning in their eyes. The amazement and joy from the Dao Flower’s bloom had utterly vanished. No one wanted to be eliminated by the times; the gathered audience collectively snapped awake to the full implications of the situation.

“And it’s not just that.” The Jiangchen empyrean immortal smirked evilly. “Those four monsters left behind four black axes. They’re sure to contain their race’s secrets! The nine celestial emperors are trying to break past dao immortal realm right now, so I’m sure more of those monsters will come…. The axes—including the one Lu Yun’s holding—should be handed over to Their Majesties!” The immortal grew continuously more excited, finally concluding in the end that Lu Yun was a villain hellbent on destroying the world.

“Li Wushang, are you speaking on behalf of yourself or your clan?” A stylish youth in high spirits and dressed in silks stepped forward out of the crowd. “Tsk tsk. When we fought last year in Dusk Province, you were just transformed spirit realm. It’s been barely eighteen months, and now you’re part of the Jiangchen clan? And an empyrean immortal too, hmm? Such marvelous achievements!”

Disdain curled at the corner of his mouth. “Come to think of it, Li Wushang, aren’t you from the Sword Scrutiny Sect in Enlightened Major? Found new masters, have you? I suppose you’ve changed your surname too. Well? Are you sowing strife here for your own gain, or for your clan?” The youth pressed forward with every word.

“Mo Chenfeng!” Li Wushang colored when he saw who the newcomer was. He’d been in attendance during the great tournament in Dusk Province, and the other youth had been his opponent. Both geniuses were proud and talented, but Li Wushang had lost by a hair’s breadth. 

Back then, Mo Chenfeng had developed a friendly appreciation for Li Wushang. It perplexed him all the more that he now found his erstwhile opponent utterly transformed. The fact that Li Wushang had borrowed outside power to become an immortal especially upset him!

“Enough prattling. Go, seize these wretches!” Unwilling to be dragged into an argument, Li Wushang called for backup.

“Yes, sir!” The Jiangchen immortals charged forward without hesitation. Nearly a hundred of them rushed Lu Yun and the others.

“Young master, come back!” The immortals behind Mo Chenfeng paled, scrambling to their young master’s aid. The hundred or so Jiangchen immortals had all sealed their cultivation to empyrean immortal realm, but when they fully exerted themselves, they were far stronger than their ordinary peers. Not having expected such a decisive attack, Mo Chenfeng flew backward in a hasty retreat.

Boom!

Nine crimson shadows flashed through the sky before melding into the void. A great fiendish shadow loomed into the sky—the Great Formation of Heavenly Fiends!

Feinie and Yueshen had laid down the formation a long time ago, ready to invoke it for Lu Yun’s protection. There were too many immortals gathered here. Though their master’s envoys were exceedingly strong, they couldn’t deal with so many enemies on their own.

The Jiangchen clan’s immortals weren’t the only ones who meant them harm. Most present were mixed up in the chaos, attitudes riled up and sword lights criss-crossing in the air. The despair of looming invalidation and elimination provoked them to the brink of instinctive madness. Lu Yun was the culprit behind all of this! 

Boom!

The enormous shadow delivered a punch that shattered the storm of oncoming sword shadows into tiny pieces.

“I’ve been waiting for you!” A bizarre grin crept across Li Wushang’s face. “The cultivation path? Those treasures? What do they have to do with me? The only thing I want is the Great Formation of Heavenly Fiends!”

Rumble...

A new noise filled the air as a fortress ship of white bone soared into existence from the void, black sails flying upon its masts. It was so enormous that the nearby Dusk capital was dwarfed by comparison. Spectral air radiated from the ship, its calcified plating oozing an otherworldly strangeness. A great shadow was cast over the entire region.

“Oh, no!” Feinie paled suddenly. The crimson fiend that the Great Formation had summoned was breaking free of her control! Before she could react, the fiendish shadow rushed out of the formation in a frenzy toward the bone ship.

In the span of a single breath, the Great Formation of Heavenly Fiends that’d cut a bloody swath through Xiankan was broken. The shadow itself was absorbed into the ship without a trace. A new crimson swirl rippled upon the black-sailed ship, and the ghostly aura it exuded was muddled with pungent blood.

Li Wushang had already landed upon the bow of his ship, his Cauldron of Invincible Constitution manifested overhead once more. 

“Dusk Sacred Land? The world of immortals needs no sacred lands. I didn’t have an excuse to deal with you before… but if you’re so noble as to defend the Dao Flower, you can martyr yourself for the dao!

“The world doesn’t need living heroes. Only dead idols endure throughout history… including those four in the air!” His voice wasn’t loud, but it jolted everyone awake. The world of immortals didn’t need living heroes, and it certainly didn’t need dao sovereigns to boss it around! Only inanimate idols were worthy of worship.