Lu Yun backed up in shock—someone had killed Miao Qimiao!

  And not only the guest elder! With wet squelches, the heads of the other four premier experts also plopped at Lu Yun’s feet. His mind racing through possible explanations, he quickly understood what had taken place.

  The five must’ve been so confident in the formation gifted to them that they’d rushed out to ward off the enemy, but had instead been slaughtered for their troubles. Since they’d been brave enough to meet the visitor, the newcomer couldn’t be a king. The visitor had to be an extremely terrifying half step king at most.

  Half step kings wouldn’t be able to dismantle the formations that he’d painstakingly set up around Starcloud City.

  He'd invested significant time in using Starcloud as a lab rat during these three years, experimenting with and testing all sorts of defensive formations. Thanks to his efforts, he’d raised the city formations to peak capability and condition.

  Lu Yun brought out five Resurrection Talismans and stuck them onto the five. After five balls of hazy light circulated through their corpses, the five of them came back to life.

  “What, what’s going on? I remember that my head was cut off and my soul scattered upon the wind… Why am I alive again?” Miao Qimiao murmured blankly from his position on the ground.

  The five seemed to realize something at the same time and turned their gazes to Lu Yun standing nearby.

  “Mi, milord… did you save us?” Comprehension began to prickle at the mental edges of the only woman among the five—Luo Shanshan.

  “Mmhmm.” Lu Yun nodded and changed the subject. “Who’s the visitor?”
Starcloud’s great defensive formation was still vibrating from the initial blow, but its many layers had successfully dispelled the terrifying force of impact.

  “Netherdragon of Mangcang Mountain!” Miao Qimiao sucked in a sharp breath. “I’d thought that the five of us in formation would be able to withstand him, but to think that we’d uhh! Er…”
He quickly stopped talking. They’d died, but then come back to life. The karmic repercussions of this were too great and involved too many matters to speak of.

  After experiencing the great horrors of life and death, the experience had turned into an immense opportunity for them and they’d reaped boundless benefits. They had the potential to become titled kings if they continued on their journey of cultivation.

  At the same time, they owed Lu Yun too much for it since he’d been the one to save them. They were wholeheartedly dedicated to him now.

  When he’d used the Resurrection death art to save the three-eyed man, the same debt of gratitude had occurred and it’d been impossible for the man to repay it. Thus, he’d wanted to kill Lu Yun to even the scales and ultimately put an end to things by dying because of his savior.

  Miao Qimiao and the others understood this logic as well. Kill Lu Yun? Impossible. Their only feasible path forward was to follow him with no qualms or regrets.

  It wasn’t a betrayal of their true master, since Zhuo Bufan had been the one to bring Lu Yun to them. He’d given Lu Yun free reign of Starcloud’s treasury, proof enough of the grandmaster’s position in Zhuo Bufan’s heart.

  “Netherdragon?” Lu Yun frowned slightly and looked at the little fox. This was a strong half step king, often mentioned in the same breath as Dusksnow Morningstar, the Purpleclad Duke, and the venerated enforcer.

  “He’s here for Oddmoon.” Silver radiance sparkled in the moon crescent between the little fox’s brows. “But someone else may be using him too. Eh, who cares? No one below kinghood can break your formation.”
She remained blithely unconcerned—Oddmoon was her treasure now. Though she wasn’t a king, she could deploy strength on par with a half step king when she used it. Someone wanted to make her hand it over and return it to Mangcang Mountain?

  Never in a million years.

  “It’s also not a good look for me to be blatantly blocked in like this,” Lu Yun chuckled ruefully. Though Starcloud City was Zhuo Bufan’s territory in name, he’d actually gifted it to Lu Yun and the little fox.

  In return, Lu Yun had sent him one of the eighteen Eight Treasures Return Pill that he’d refined. By now, Zhuo Bufan had officially broken through to the superior realm.

  “It’s finally your turn for once!” the little fox chuckled merrily.

  Lu Yun had once sent Aoxue to blockade the Qing Clan in the world of immortals, then personally blocked the doors of the nine sacred lands in the chaos. But when he reached the Hongmeng, it was he who experienced this overt provocation.

  Though it was done in a different manner, it was definite humiliation in the eyes of others.

  “What now? Are you going to let this pass?” asked the little fox.

  “What else can I do? He can do whatever he wants. He can’t break the city’s defensive formation, so we don’t have to pay him any attention.” Lu Yun couldn’t care less. “Zhuo Bufan’s a bumbling fool and this city is his. Does it bring honor and glory to block the door of a fool?”
Miao Qimiao and the others looked at each other, not daring to react to that declaration. Their suspicions were growing as to the exact nature of the relationship between Lu Yun and Zhuo Bufan.

  “Alright, the five of you can go back and concentrate on your cultivation. Don’t antagonize him before you reach half step king.” Lu Yun and the little fox returned to the meditation chamber, resuming their research into how to kill the Meteorite King.

  ……
“What’s going on? Why is the defensive formation of Starcloud City so strong?” Netherdragon scowled at the city so close to him for the taking.

  He was a man with frostily chiseled features, wearing a tight black combat outfit that sculpted itself around his rippling muscles. Two dragon horns jutted out of his head and a black hood billowed behind him.

  As a heavyweight of the dragon race, he was most likely to become the fourth king in Mangcang Mountain. Given that, he absolutely had the right to participate in any of the mountain's strategic decisions.

  Evilfox of Mangcang Mountain had unexpectedly died in the chaos, then Oddmoon had somehow appeared in the Hongmeng three years ago. It’d dominated the scene, causing unease in the experts of Mangcang Mountain.

  But after that day, all remained quiet within the realm. No one appeared on their doorstep to cause trouble, and so taut heartstrings gradually relaxed.

  It’d appeared again in Meteorite Peak a few days ago. This time, the mountain could no longer sit still and decided to make a move—with certain persuasion from various interested parties as an impetus.

  At the same time, their three kings exercised extreme caution. They weren’t here in person, but sent Netherdragon instead. The foremost powerhouse of Mangcang Mountain beneath kinghood was to travel to Starcloud City and take back Oddmoon!

  When he arrived, he ran into a Karmic-Tree-reinforced city formation. This was one of Lu Yun’s experiments; any visitors bearing hostile intent would be attacked by the formation as soon as they drew close.

  All of that culminated in the events leading up to the present moment.

  Netherdragon was so enraged that he wanted to vomit blood. In his eyes, the two grandmasters of Starcloud City weren’t as mighty as the rumors made them out to be. They’d been able to withstand the tide of beasts and the Meteorite King only because of Oddmoon.

  But now, he couldn’t even break apart a measly city defense formation??

  “Netherdragon, what are you doing in Starcloud City?” Arctic tones suddenly sounded by his ear as an arrow cut through the air like a shooting star, aiming straight for Netherdragon’s chest.

  Startled, the dragon turned to the side and just barely managed to dodge the attack.

  “Dusksnow Morningstar!” Netherdragon frowned tightly at the newcomer. “Are you looking to stick your nose into this?”
"Stick my nose into this?” Morningstar threw his head back with laughter. “Someone from Ceriseblue Region attacks a city of my Starspace Region, and I’m the one being nosy?”
Whoosh!

  He drew back his bow as he chortled with mirth and spewed forth a hundred and eight bolts in a shower of arrows down onto Netherdragon.