Chapter 281: Revenge of the Corpse Refiners

The Scaled-Dragon King and his hundred thousand soldiers had disappeared right in front of everyone’s eyes, while the Monster God’s Palace remained completely unscratched. The eerie development imparted a mysterious air to the unassuming palace. Its open front gate now seemed like a demon’s maw, ready to devour all living souls at any time.

Hell.

The scaled-dragon stared at the sinister world around him, dumbfounded. Finally, he realized who the young man he’d so recklessly attacked was.

“At last, I have a complete battalion under my command.” Lu Yun entered hell and considered the Scaled Dragon Army and its leader with a smile.

“This servant greets the master!” The scaled-dragon got to his knees and kowtowed to Lu Yun.

“Greetings to the master!” The hundred-thousand-strong army knelt down at the same time and shouted loudly, their voices echoing through the emptiness of hell.

“At ease,” Lu Yun said calmly to the monster king. “Remain here and train the army well. I need you and your men to defend Dusk Province in the future.”

“Understood!” Responding with gusto, the scaled-dragon picked himself up. The second most powerful monster king of the North Sea was now Lu Yun’s Infernum, wholly devoted and utterly loyal. Although he was killed by a feng shui layout, it’d been set up by Lu Yun, which made the scaled-dragon king his kill.

“What a shame that the four long-haired monsters haven’t become my Infernum. Either their kind is powerful enough to defy the rules of the Tome of Life and Death, or they’re manifestations of a stronger monster rather than real deal themselves.” Lu Yun thought back to his battle with the long-haired monsters. There hadn’t been anything left of them after their deaths, marking the failure of his aim to make them part of his ghostly army.

The scaled-dragon and his hundred thousand soldiers settled down in hell, injecting more life into the domain. Expansion of the previously existing town had enlarged it into a city housing more than a hundred thousand residents.

“This city needs a name.” Lu Yun cocked his head and looked at the Infernum busying themselves with construction. “It’s a city in hell. How about I name it… City of the Dead?

“...no, that’s so tacky. There used to be a City of the Dead here too, but someone dusted it. Since that’s already been done, how about City of Life? A city for all living beings in hell! I have to pick someone smart to be the city lord and to manage the Infernum in the future.” With that, Lu Yun returned to the real world, whereupon a sudden epiphany came to him.

Although the residents of hell were dead and had been Lu Yun’s enemies in life, they were still independent, living beings under the laws of the Tome of Life and Death, with their own thoughts and emotions. As such, they deserved respect and it didn’t feel right to treat them as cannon fodder, or casually trade their lives for any purpose.

“It’s a kind of shared destiny that I was the one to kill them and bring them to hell. I should stop treating them like expendable trash.” Lu Yun sat cross-legged next to Qing Han, quietly guarding his friend.

…...

The disappearance of the second most powerful monster king in the seas and his army of a hundred thousand strong caused an immediate uproar. Levitating Island took the news hard, and the North Sea at large reeled with shock. That was three monster kings they’d lost to Lu Yun now!

Their foremost monster king, Beigong Yu, had been slain in broad daylight and reduced to ashes for all to see, while the King of Southern Subjugation and the Scaled-Dragon King had gone missing.

Despite his rage, the North Sea emperor couldn’t do anything. Even the dao immortals of the court couldn’t leave the capital seas, lest others seize the opportunity and locate the skydragon tomb. It was the key to the North Sea Court’s rise to power, and as such, no outside interference would be tolerated.

……

Seven days passed before Qing Han finally succeeded in incorporating the Embittered Bamboo into his body, imbuing him with a unique, aloof grace.

“Maybe... we shouldn’t look for the skydragon tomb,” Qing Han said worriedly. He couldn’t help but be concerned after learning that Lu Yun had killed the Scaled-Dragon King. This was no regular peerless immortal, but the second most powerful immortal in the North Sea, and he’d stood a good chance of becoming a dao immortal! If Lu Yun dared enter the capital and reveal himself to the elites of the North Sea, he’d immediately be torn to pieces.

“I’ve already refined the Embittered Bamboo. With its vitality suppressing the poison, I should be fine....”

“No!” Lu Yun objected gravely. “The bamboo can temporarily suppress the poison, but it won’t remove it. We need the Skydragon Pearl, its power is the only thing that can cleanse the poison!”

As the power of skydragons exceeded the dao immortal realm, there was no alternative. Qing Han looked at Lu Yun, determination flashing through his eyes as he made up his mind about something. But just at this moment, he was cut off by the return of their foxy friend.

“The old man you kicked out last time is back.” Miao barged in as the Monster God. “He wants to talk to Lu Yun!”

“The dao immortal from House Donglin? What’s he here for?” Qing Han shuddered, his determination to tell the truth receding.

Miao pouted. “For your little lover, I guess.”

“What?” Qing Han said dumbly. “My little lover? What do you mean?”

Lu Yun was also speechless. “Qing Han has a lover?”

“I mean the girl with the cosmic constitution.” The little fox blinked. “Didn’t the ugly thing refuse to hand her over to House Donglin because he wanted her?”

Qing Han rubbed his forehead and stopped talking. Nothing came to mind for a clear, concise explanation.

“I’m not going to meet him. Tell him to piss off.” Lu Yun heaved a sigh of relief and shook his head.

There was no love lost between him and House Donglin; the feud between them would never be resolved. He certainly wasn’t going to hand Xing Mou over and allow his enemies to benefit for free. So if negotiations were out of the question, Lu Yun was more worried that the dao immortal would take advantage of the opportunity to kidnap him.

“Shame, I thought I would be able to take down Lu Yun this time, but he won’t even see me!” Donglin Bo, the dao immortal from House Donglin, dejectedly left the Monster God’s palace. The negotiation proposal was merely a front, and capturing Lu Yun was the true item on the menu. However, the young man had refused to meet him, which rendered all of his plans useless.

“Who goes there?!” With a tremble, Donglin Bo came to a halt and looked around warily.

“Jin Heyi of Corpse Refiners, at your service.”

Hum.

A gray haze wafted into the air as giant chains shot out and wrapped around Donglin Bo. Jin Heyi slowly emerged from the void, an enormous formation set up behind him by thousands of zombies.

“Back in the battle of Spirit Panorama Mountain, House Donglin broke the rules and sent dao immortals to ambush our peerless immortals. Today, the Corpse Refiners pay back the favor by refining your dao immortal into a zombie with a Formation of Corpse Refinement!”

“Corpse Refiners!!” Donglin Bo blanched in abject terror. In a panic, he channeled his aether dao fruit to shatter the great formation, but to no avail.

The Corpse Refiners had been preparing for this moment for a very long time. This was no regular formation as it could trap even dao immortals. Donglin Bo would never break free, no matter how hard he struggled. The sect had spared no effort to enact their revenge against House Donglin!