Chapter 886: Once, They Called Me the Eastern Emperor

“Boom, boom, boom—”

The Solar Profound Light bore down on Mo Luo, unleashing endless brilliance and searing heat as if it meant to melt him on the spot.

Mo Luo turned into a bloody shadow and retreated, weaving between radiant and gray spectral glows to ward off the crushing Solar Profound Light.

But this light was simply too overwhelming.

Even though Lu Changsheng unleashed it in haste, burning spirit stones for power, the Solar Profound Light still shattered Mo Luo’s Nascent Soul protective shield and domain.

Behind him, his Blood Shadow True Body and the shadowy cloak he wore both dimmed with cracks appearing everywhere.

“A Nascent Soul mid-stage cultivator really is no pushover.”

Lu Changsheng took in the scene, knowing that just boosting Solar Profound Light with spirit stones and a rushed strike would never be enough to outright kill a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

He’d have to fully blend with the formation and pour in every ounce of strength to manage it.

But he never meant this light to kill—it was all about seizing the initiative and establishing dominance right from the start.

Now with the Demonic Mastermind’s shield and domain in ruins, this was the moment to press the attack.

Lu Changsheng let the Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Mirror spin above his head, then, using the Misty Dust Banner, appeared instantly by Mo Luo’s side. The Nine Calamity Sword rang out as he brought it down, unleashing blinding sword light.

Mo Luo’s heart jumped. He never expected this Yangming True Lord to be so terrifying.

Who was this guy, really?

With strength like this, why would he stay in such a minor place?

At such a critical moment, Mo Luo couldn’t dwell on it. Blood light erupted all around him, his Blood Shadow True Body behind and the Blood Shadow Blade in his hand attacking in unison.

Blade and sword crashed together, filling the air with a metallic clang as waves of violent force tore open a hundred-foot stretch of space, radiating out in every direction.

“Boom!” Lu Changsheng’s mid-fourth-rank body erupted in full force, and the three-headed six-armed Brahma Demon True Form materialized at his back.

No longer holding the Mountain-Moving Whip, all six arms gripped the Five-Element Yuan Magnetic Mountain, which he brought down hard on Mo Luo.

“Pfft!” Mo Luo’s body and magical energy wavered as the Nine-leaf sword light split open his cloak in several places, tearing it apart.

His flesh, though, held firm—blood flew, but he remained standing.

Beneath his cloak was a fourth-rank soft armor, which shielded him from the Nine Calamity Sword’s follow-up strike.

“So this is the true power of Yangming True Lord?”

“That blazing divine light—wasn’t this the very Solar Divine Light that Lord of Dameng City used to kill the Void Kun?”

True Lord Xuanjian and True Lord Juejian watched Lu Changsheng’s display, shocked beyond words.

After all, their understanding of Lu Changsheng’s strength came mostly from rumors and battle reports.

They had never seen him truly cut loose.

Even earlier, when Lu Changsheng had subdued True Lord Tiancang and the Flood Dragon Holy Son, there’d been no need for him to go all out.

“Yangming True Lord…”

True Lord Nine Spirits felt deep dread settle in his chest.

All this time, he’d nurtured a hope: after joining the Wan Shou Mo Sect and breaking into Nascent Soul mid-stage, he’d take revenge and restore Beast God Mountain.

But seeing how this Yangming True Lord could force Mo Luo back with sheer force, despair washed over him.

Even if he reached Nascent Soul mid-stage, there was no way he could challenge him.

“Nine Spirits!”

The Gold Mane Lion King used their soul contract to warn True Lord Nine Spirits to retreat fast and prepare to withdraw from Beast God Mountain.

If Mo Luo couldn’t beat Yangming True Lord and retreated first, both master and beast would be in grave danger.

They needed to withdraw to Beast God Mountain then escape while they still could.

“Yangming True Lord, who on earth are you?”

Mo Luo wiped the blood from his mouth, his body shimmering with gray light, eyes full of shock and fear as he stared at Lu Changsheng, desperate to learn the truth.

He wasn’t alone—far in the distance, Nine Spirits, Xuanjian, and Juejian all burned with curiosity over Yangming True Lord’s real origins.

This guy was wrapped in fog and mystery.

“Who am I?”

Lu Changsheng stood draped in his dark robe and cloak, the Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Mirror spinning above him. One hand held a multicolored banner and the other a blue-gray killing sword. Suddenly his presence crashed down, filling the battlefield with a pressure none could resist.

“I’m just a remnant from a bygone age—once, they called me the Eastern Emperor.”

Radiating absolute confidence and calm, Lu Changsheng’s aura gained an archaic, unfathomable edge under the effect of a fourth-rank divination.

“Eastern Emperor!?”

Everyone in earshot was stunned. The title was certainly imposing, but no one could quite place who it referred to.

It wasn’t unusual in the cultivation world to see kings and emperors, but no one could remember a legendary cultivator called the Eastern Emperor.

That was it—the group couldn’t help thinking Lu Changsheng must be some reincarnated legend.

Mo Luo remembered someone by that name but could hardly believe it.

The only Eastern Emperor he knew had ruled one of the top forces in the Eastern Sea Cultivation Realm—a superpower even the Blood Sea Sect wouldn’t dare provoke.

“Liang-Yue is my domain. You’ve thrown this war into chaos and interfered with my plans. For the sake of your faction, I’ll let you live. But if you meddle again, don’t blame me for what comes next!”

Lu Changsheng’s calm arrogance oozed as he addressed Mo Luo, projecting effortless confidence from his lofty perch.

Mo Luo was a mid-stage Nascent Soul; killing him outright would be far from easy.

This brief clash convinced Lu Changsheng that this man hailed from Blood Sea Sect, one of the Seven Demonic Sects to be reckoned with in Southern Desolation.

And Lu Changsheng had no desire to create hassle with such a major player, especially since that could involve Nangong Yaoyao back at Celestial Lotus Sect.

Besides, they were already tangled up in this Liang-Yue conflict—and after all, this region was his own carefully plotted chessboard!

If anything, this Demonic Mastermind had upset his plans first.

Given his show of strength, Blood Sea Sect would think twice before making any reckless moves.

Lu Changsheng simply didn’t believe the high elder Nascent Soul experts of Blood Sea Sect would travel billions of miles just to take revenge against him in Liang or Jiang.

“Letting me live? Aren’t you full of yourself!”

Mo Luo’s expression darkened, thoughts icy.

But he kept those words to himself.

In the cultivation world, the strong dictate terms.

Faced with Yangming True Lord’s clear advantage, he could only withdraw—there was nothing to be gained from pushing his luck.

And the display of power—both strength and artistry—was proof enough of a reincarnated legend.

Whatever his past, dealing with someone who might hold trump cards from another life was no simple matter.

Even with his own Blood Sea Rebirth to fall back on, Mo Luo wasn’t inclined to test fate today.

Better to report back to the sect and offset this mission’s failure.

“I truly didn’t realize this place was under Eastern Emperor’s control. Forgive my offense.”

Mo Luo cupped his fists in apology.

He glanced over at Nine Spirits and the Gold Mane Lion King, hinting they should break away as soon as possible.

“You can go. They stay.”

Lu Changsheng’s reply was icy, his eyes cold and aloof.

As the Eastern Emperor—the reincarnated Divine Lord—he had every right to act with authority.

Letting Mo Luo leave was his way of telling Blood Sea Sect he had no wish for open war.

But Nine Spirits? There was no reason to show mercy there.

Mo Luo hesitated, thinking Lu Changsheng was pushing things too far.

But that only deepened his wariness.

“Go!” Long before, both Nine Spirits and the Gold Mane Lion King were already keen to run. Only the Golden-Winged Roc had kept them trapped.

Now, as the situation soured, neither hesitated. Using a forbidden secret art to fuse their energies, their powers surged. They aimed to flee toward Beast God Mountain, hoping to use its defensive array and the hidden fourth-rank Dragon-Croc as cover.

True Lord Xuanjian had fought this foe many times before. He knew after activating this fusion art, Nine Spirits could match a Nascent Soul mid-stage expert—for a short time, at least.

His flying sword sang out, weaving flashing sword light to block escape.

Lu Changsheng instantly appeared next to Nine Spirits, the Nine Calamity Sword slashing forward while above him, the Solar Divine Light gathered in a threat too terrible for even Mo Luo to ignore.

Even with master and beast burning their own Nascent Soul essence and fighting at Nascent Soul mid-stage levels, the two sword lights felt utterly unstoppable.

“Crack, crack, crack—”

The spirit armor on Nine Spirits’ massive frame grew duller, caving and splitting.

“My Beast King Armor broke just like that!” Nine Spirits was shaken to the core.

That armor, a top-quality low-grade spirit treasure, had carried him through a century of battles.

Now, facing True Lord Xuanjian and Yangming True Lord’s strikes, it was falling apart.

Mo Luo knew if he pushed it, he might snatch Nine Spirits away.

But there was just no need.

With a last wary glance at Lu Changsheng and the Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Mirror spinning overhead, Mo Luo ripped open the Great Void and vanished.

Letting him live might be a gesture to Blood Sea Sect, or it might simply be that even together with Nine Spirits, Lu Changsheng didn’t fancy the risk—or the cost.

“Damn!”

Nine Spirits had always known Mo Luo was unreliable.

But he never thought abandonment would come this quickly.

He threw his head back and let out a wild roar, pushing the fusion art to its limit and charging toward the Golden-Winged Roc as an escape route.

Lu Changsheng wasn’t about to give him the chance.

The Nine Abyss Black Tortoise Armor wrapped around him as he blocked Nine Spirits’ path, ignoring all attacks and swinging the Nine Calamity Sword down.

True Lord Xuanjian and True Lord Juejian attacked together, their sword light drowning the sky.

The Golden-Winged Roc could only support from the sidelines—hundreds of thousands of feathers woven into a deadly offensive aimed at Nine Spirits.

Qian Zhuyan’s puppet formation was spent, but he split his focus, using Lingbo True Lord’s ice spells to disrupt Nine Spirits.

“Boom, boom, boom—”

Assailed from all sides, Nine Spirits’ enormous frame and his Beast King Armor crumbled under the non-stop assault.

Yet the fusion art was now complete.

He grew more than ten feet tall, golden mane rippling, a body equal in both strength and magical power to the Nascent Soul mid-stage.

But neither body nor magic could match Lu Changsheng, who forced him down with another Solar Profound Light.

True Lord Xuanjian and True Lord Juejian both knew they couldn’t give Nine Spirits any chance to slip away.

Together, their swords wove a formation as tight as a dragon’s coils—locking him in for the kill.

Facing this onslaught from three men, a roc, and a puppet, Nine Spirits fought with all his might but couldn’t break free. Despair set in.

“No, I refuse to accept this!”

His hair flew wild around him, a crazed lion brought to bay. He roared and howled in fury.

“Yangming True Lord, don’t think you’ll just walk away with Beast God Mountain in your pocket! Never!”

The thought of losing his home drove a spike of burning defiance through his heart.

Abandoning all chance of escape, he used a secret art to send a message: the sect’s array activated, waking the slumbering fourth-rank Dragon-Croc to destroy Beast God Mountain.

He’d rather raze his foundation than see it lost!

“Pfft!”

In the breathing space afforded by his secret transmission, the Nine Calamity Sword exploded with shattering force, ripping his body and Qi apart.

Blood splattered, and Nine Spirits could no longer sustain the fusion. His spirit pet, the Gold Mane Lion King, was wrenched free.

With their wounds divided by the secret art, both master and beast were left battered and broken.

“Gold Mane… I’m sorry.”

Nothing hurts more than losing all hope.

After witnessing Yangming True Lord’s strength, all thought of revenge left Nine Spirits.

He no longer wanted to live this life.

So he chose to self-destruct his Nascent Soul, determined to badly injure Lu Changsheng.

“Buzz, buzz, buzz—”

His Nascent Soul Spirit Body exploded with blood-red runes and an aura of utter ruin.

“No!”

True Lord Xuanjian and True Lord Juejian both paled in horror.

They hadn’t expected Nine Spirits to choose such a path—self-destructing his Nascent Soul.

In the cultivation world, there was a saying: after forming a core, should a cultivator die, a sliver of soul might reincarnate and awaken in the next life.

But if they chose self-destruction, both body and soul would perish, with no hope of reincarnation.

Very few Core Formation cultivators ever did such a thing.

Nascent Soul cultivators, especially, rarely self-destruct, since they too have a chance at reincarnation and awakening past memories.

The two pressed the sword formation to its very limit.

The Gold Mane Lion King, seeing its master’s resolve, could only howl in bitter anger.

He’d warned Nine Spirits before—Mo Luo was not to be trusted.

If things turned bad, they should have run straight to Wan Shou Mo Sect and let Beast God Mountain go.

But Nine Spirits hesitated and went to save Mo Luo instead of cutting his losses.

“Ah Wu!” Lu Changsheng called out at once.

He’d asked Ah Wu earlier to prepare a Solar Profound Light just in case something like this happened.

“Boom!”

The Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Mirror above his head erupted, the stored Solar Profound Light crashing down on Nine Spirits’ broken body and Nascent Soul.

Then Lu Changsheng summoned the Danghun Bell, unleashing the divine Yin-Yang Qi Great Capture to suppress the self-destruction.

Xuanjian and Juejian were stunned at how calmly Lu Changsheng faced the Nascent Soul’s self-destruction, advancing instead of retreating.

Sure, his body was powerful.

But a Nascent Soul cultivator this close to mid-stage destroying himself could easily take another mid-stage cultivator with him.

Lu Changsheng, seeing the great capture technique wasn’t enough, brought out the Xuanmu Gourd, its blade flashing like a thousand stars as it swept through the Nascent Soul.

At the same time, his pale hand, wrapped in yin and yang light, reached through the Solar Profound Light and grabbed Nine Spirits’ Nascent Soul Spirit Body.