Qing Yu flung her arms wide open and released two rays of blue and purple light. They crisscrossed in the air, blossoming with fearsome power to force the Profound, Ruin, and other kings back.

  The Netherdark Formation!

  Blue and purple energy suffused the skies, repairing the turbulent void and returning it to its previous appearance. With blue as dark and purple as nether, the two combined into transparent netherdark power that draped over Qing Yu. Her strength grew explosively to more than ten times stronger.

  Wham!

  She lifted a hand and materialized nine dao rules towering as nine pillars, suppressing the Profound King and his cohorts.

  “The Netherdark Formation?? How is that possible?!”


  “Didn’t we lose it because the Broadsword King took it?” The formation’s appearance raised a furor throughout Hopeless Major.

  Instead of using the major’s command seal, Qing Yu triumphed over her enemies with the lost treasure.

  “The formation was neither overwhelmed nor lost that day.” Ice lined her voice. “I played along when the Ruin King’s reinforcements didn’t come and said that the formation was shattered and its diagram lost. I wanted to lure in the kings of the Immortal Region with my supposed weakness and destroy them altogether.

  “But rather than dupe their kings, these traitors made their moves instead.” Qing Yu regarded the captive kings with a chilly look.

  “Hmph!” The Profound King set his jaw and refused to respond.

  “Fellow daoist Profound King is a traitor? It is suspicious enough that the Empyrean King comes from unknown origins, but now you want to harm Hopeless Major’s foundations! As a good friend of Hopeless Major, I will not tolerate this lawlessness!” The sky darkened and a massive diagram dropped from above, bearing down on the Netherdark Formation. A young man dressed in long red robes appeared in its center.

  “Origin World, the World King!” Qing Yu regarded the newcomer unpleasantly.

  This was an internal matter of Hopeless Major, but the World King was here with Origin World’s ultimate weapon, the Nineworld Origin Diagram!

  The Nineworld Origin Diagram was similar to Hopeless Major’s Netherdark Formation—an unparalleled formation diagram from their founding ancestor. Both of them were on similar levels of power, and most importantly, the World King was far stronger than the Profound King. He stood firmly at the apex of ninth step kings.

  ……


  “Empyrean King, you said earlier that you wouldn’t show mercy if an Origin World disciple became involved. I’m here to see just how merciless you can be!”


  Rumble!

  The Nineworld Origin Diagram exploded into nine worlds assembled in a massive formation, rivaling the Netherdark Formation. This provided enough breathing space for the Profound King and others to slip out of their constraints and resume glaring viciously at Qing Yu.

  “The Immortal Region has the Netherdark Formation, I saw it with my own eyes! It appearing in our major now is proof that the Empyrean King is one of their spies!” shouted the Ruin King.

  “Don’t worry, fellow daoist! Watch me take down this Empyrean King and return clear skies of peace to Hopeless Major!” The World King laughed heartily as the projections of the nine worlds overlaid on his body. His strength rose explosively and the Nineworld Formation unfurled in majestic splendor, dispelling the power of the Netherdark Formation.

  “Empyrean King, you can try using your command seal to attack my diagram. Let us see what will happen!” he called out.

  Qing Yu brooded ominously. Not only was the Nineworld Origin Diagram fighting her own formation to a standstill, it was using the Netherdark Formation to entangle with the void of the major. If she used the command seal to attack the enemy’s treasure, that would be the same as attacking Hopeless Major.

  Backlash from her actions would land on her; the command seal was the void of the major and the core essence of Hopeless Major’s strength. No matter what she did, her attacks would rebound onto her through the command seal. Her only choice was to give up the seal.

  “Formation, rise!” shouted the page boy behind her.

  Hummmm.

  A hundred thousand puppets acted in unison, combining their strength to induce a marvelous change. A tiny, imperceptible crack appeared in the connection between the Nineworld Origin Diagram and the void.

  It was minuscule, but enough to sever the connection between the two. Any formation had its flaws and the Nineworld Formation was no exception. It would’ve been a tall order if Lu Yun had wanted to exploit its weaknesses in ordinary times, but when the formation intertwined with this part of the void, it gave him an opening.

  Additionally, his supplemental dao had been baptized and enhanced after his refinement of creation. Added to that Qing Yu’s return to and his subsequent immersion in the presence of ninth step kinghood, that meant he was now much stronger than before.

  Thus, he was able to use a hundred thousand half step kings to set up the Thousand Obliteration Formation of the Six Royals and furiously attack the flaws of the Nineworld Origin Diagram, shoving it the tiniest bit aside.

  “What?!” Though the World King was startled, he remained composed and pointed at Lu Yun. “Die!”


  Terrifying force exploded from his finger and loomed over the page boy like a world. Qing Yu sent the purple and blue command seal to Lu Yun with a wave of her hand, rendering the World King’s attack ineffective.

  Whoosh!

  Brilliant sword splendor cut through the sky.

  Quiet, unsheathed!

  Kicking up a resplendent spray of sword light through the air, Qing Yu brandished the sword and charged the World King. She couldn’t use the Netherdark Formation at the moment, and neither could he use his treasure. The two would meet each other in battle with the most direct method.

  “Very well! Today, this seat shall heft the greatest genius of the Hongmeng and see how much you’re worth!” The World King laughed and pulled out his personal treasure—another painting scroll.

  They clashed in mid air.

  “The Empyrean King used the command seal to protect those two ants! She cares a lot about them!” The Profound King wasn’t part of this battle. Alarm had rung in his heart when Quiet appeared; if the Empyrean King had attacked him with that sword before, he’d be gravely injured with just a few strokes.

  “Those two ants aren’t regular people, they’re supplemental kings! The one hundred thousand half step kings around us aren’t living beings, they’re puppets! Puppets with the battle strength of half step kings!” shrieked the Ruin King. “And those two ants can control them to affect the Nineworld Origin Diagram! Take them, take them! Control their minds for our use!”


  “Right, take them!” The Profound King took a deep breath and walked up to Lu Yun and the little fox. A contorted smile crawled across his face. “Little things, bow down and submit to me right now. I will help you immediately become kings through cultivation if you dedicate your lives to my usage. Otherwise, you will be doomed to the deepest pits of hell and never be reincarnated!”


  He was already attacking the command seal as he spoke.

  Wham!

  The void shook, the command seal shook.

  Up in the sky, Qing Yu frowned and wanted to turn back, but the World King dogged her footsteps.

  “Distracted during our battle? Do you want to die, Empyrean King?!” Roaring with laughter, the World King split his scroll into ten million copies, each overflowing with piercing killing intent. They flew around like light from a flying sword, cutting through everything in their path.

  “Yin Yang King!” she raised her voice.

  “Understood!” Yin Yang, Soulmask, and Acclaim shot forward, determined to take Profound and Ruin’s lives.

  “Yin Yang King, do the three of you want to die?!” Profound regarded the three irately. Though the World King couldn’t pierce through the command seal, Profound had served a long time under Violetgrave. He knew how to subdue the command seal, and success was within reach when these three jarred him out of victory.

  Neither did the Ruin King and other three idly await their deaths. They met their peers in battle when the three shot over.

  “Piss off!” Soulmask howled and detonated the black mist around her into vicious ghosts. They sent the Ruin King flying while she aimed a longsword at the center of Profound’s forehead.

  He had to give up on taking the command seal and focus on defending himself.

  “You’ve destroyed my Scroll of Shepherding Immortals!” A sudden furious snarl came from the air.

  “Scroll of Shepherding Immortals?!” Lu Yun and the little fox looked at each other, reading shock in each other’s eyes.

  Lu Yun quickly looked up at Qing Yu and the World King in mid air—at the painting scroll that Qing Yu had sliced right through.