Chapter 936: Luofuzi

“Not good, he isn’t badly injured.”

Seeing the sky-filling nine-leaf sword qi, the five led by True Lord Qingcang realized Yangming True Lord’s strength was as frightening as the rumors.

But he wasn’t the cripple the rumors had guessed.

“If the five of us join forces, he still can’t do anything to us!”

True Lord Yin Lei barked, magical energy surging. Purple-black bolts thick as buckets coiled out, crackling into a vast net that cut off the waterfall of sword light rushing in.

He knew only by joining hands did they have a way to live.

If they split up, it would be deadly. Two or three would have to die.

The other four understood. Each unleashed their divine abilities, pushing their power to the limit.

In an instant gales howled, dark clouds gathered, and several tempests spun up as if to tear the world apart.

“Heh.”

Lu Changsheng looked at the five before him, face calm.

Before making a move, his late-stage Nascent Soul spirit-soul had already sized up their combat power.

They weren’t new to Nascent Soul, but they were average.

About on par with the Flood Dragon Holy Son, True Lord Yunmei, or True Lord Qianren.

He hadn’t urged the 【Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Mirror】 back at the City Lord’s Mansion for a surprise strike because he feared the Sun Profound Light was too destructive—one blast might blow them to pieces and ruin the Dao-Comprehending Artifacts, storage rings, and pouches on them.

“Eighteen Echoes of God-Devouring! Infinite Divine Resonance!”

Compared to the Liang–Yue war, Lu Changsheng’s greatest improvement was pushing his spirit-soul to late-stage Nascent Soul via the God-Devouring Technique.

He hadn’t even taken time to cultivate the soul secret arts of the God-Devouring Technique and the Six Desire Heart Demon Technique.

Yet with a late-stage Nascent Soul spirit-soul, facing early Nascent Soul cultivators like these was pure suppression.

Boom!

The first to act, True Lord Yin Lei—who had once mocked Lu Changsheng in the Mirage Domain of Vast Sands—shuddered all over.

A vast, irresistible divine resonance crashed through his mind, battering and shaking his sea of consciousness.

The sky-filling nine-leaf sword qi fused into a single sword beam that spanned heaven and earth, pierced layer upon layer of void, and fell on True Lord Yin Lei.

His Nascent Soul Domain and Protective Shield were like tofu before that blade, torn apart in an instant.

The fourth-rank robe on him burst with lights, trying to block the unstoppable sword glow.

His soul-bound treasure 【Thunder-Subduing Hammer】 moved to protect its master, turning into a purple-black thunder dragon that roared up, weaving dense thunder runes and a spray of crackling bolts to meet the blade.

Even with True Lord Qingcang and the others sharing the pressure, within a few breaths the 【Thunder-Subduing Hammer】-turned thunder dragon began to wail and tremble, cracks clicking through it.

“Fellow Yin Lei!”

Behind True Lord Qingcang, a towering ancient tree reared up. Its gnarled branches gathered tens of thousands of glowing leaves as he shouted to Yin Lei.

He could tell Yin Lei was being disrupted by Yangming True Lord’s soul secret art.

But even as a Nascent Soul powerhouse, could this Yangming True Lord really interfere with Yin Lei’s spirit-soul like this?

Yin Lei faintly heard Qingcang’s shout.

Yet under wave after wave of the Eighteen Echoes’ vast resonance he couldn’t answer.

He was a skiff in a storm, skull splitting, spirit-soul reeling.

A late-stage Nascent Soul spirit-soul! He’s a late-stage Nascent Soul powerhouse!

True Lord Yin Lei roared in despair deep inside.

He realized Yangming True Lord’s strength far exceeded their expectations.

No wonder during the Liang–Yue war every Nascent Soul who met him was captured or killed.

With this gap in spirit-soul, unless one held a top-tier soul treasure, you became fish on the chopping block in a single exchange.

“Spare me, True Lord. Let me go and I’ll submit to you.”

True Lord Yin Lei used what little consciousness he had left to beg Lu Changsheng for mercy.

Lu Changsheng ignored his plea.

He calmly urged the Nine Calamity Sword and activated the physical divine ability 【Chaos Manifestation】.

Boom, boom, boom—

A swath of void-born chaos unfurled around Lu Changsheng, like the world at its birth, crashing down in a terrifying offensive.

Even without fully unleashing his mid-fourth-rank body refinement,

The pressure alone pressed the four around True Lord Qingcang until their magic ran ragged.

Pfft!

Taking the brunt of Lu Changsheng’s assault while under soul suppression, True Lord Yin Lei couldn’t hold on and spat blood.

His 【Thunder-Subduing Hammer】, burning its essence to protect him, gave a sharp crack as its light dimmed.

The Yin-Yang Hand blotting the sky fell like a mountain, closing to seize True Lord Yin Lei.

Seeing this, True Lord Qingcang clenched his teeth and drove his arts. The ancient tree behind him shot up, as if to split heaven and earth, straining to prop up the Yin-Yang Qi Great Capture.

“Can you really hold it?” Lu Changsheng asked mildly. He took a light step forward, dropping all the pressure of Chaos Manifestation onto True Lord Qingcang.

“Pfft!” True Lord Qingcang grunted, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth as if crushed under an unbearable weight.

“Lord of Luofu Mountain, lend a hand!”

True Lord Qingcang shouted through clenched teeth.

They had come partly because they feared Yangming True Lord and Qingluan True Lord would come settle old scores.

The other reason was Luofuzi’s coercion and lure.

He had told them that Blood Sea Sect cultivators had pushed the Liang–Yue war from behind the scenes.

So Yangming True Lord, who quelled that war, was very likely badly injured.

If they came to probe and drew him out, he would not only help them remove this threat, but also grant them a breakthrough pill to push into mid-Nascent Soul.

Yet now, the strength Yangming True Lord showed was beyond anything the five of them could resist. Their lives were hanging by a thread.

In this situation he knew begging was useless. Only Luofuzi’s hand could save them.

“Lord of Luofu Mountain?”

Lu Changsheng had heard the name.

He knew the man was one of the top Nascent Soul powers of the Southern Desolation and Northern Region.

But they had no enmity. Why come to the Immortal City of Damengze to cause trouble for him?

He swept his surroundings with divine sense and found no other cultivators—no so-called Lord of Luofu Mountain.

The 【Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Mirror】 in his arms sensed no one either.

Inside an inn in the Immortal City of Damengze,

A Foundation Establishment cultivator in his forties or fifties, plain-faced, stood with his hands behind his back, watching the duel raging over the city.

Normally, a Nascent Soul battle screened by a grand array was beyond a Foundation Establishment’s sight.

But this man wasn’t affected at all.

“What a Yangming True Lord. Not only does he cultivate body and magic both and carry multiple supreme treasures, he also wields soul methods like these.”

This Foundation Establishment cultivator was the very top giant of the Southern Desolation and Northern Region—Luofuzi, the Lord of Luofu Mountain whom True Lord Qingcang had called to.

After hearing Yangming True Lord’s name, he immediately sent people to dig up details, scheming for the man’s opportunities and inquiring after Qingluan True Lord’s whereabouts.

He took this Nascent Soul giant—supposedly a reincarnated grand cultivator with deep ties to Qingluan—very seriously.

Before coming, he even went to the Great Awakening Temple to have his friend, the Great Awakening Abbot, cast a divination.

At the mid-Nascent Soul level, there wasn’t much the Abbot could see.

He only said the venture would not go smoothly.

Luofuzi trusted his friend’s art.

So he took time to find True Lord Qingcang, True Lord Yin Lei, and the others,

Coercing them to make a move while he watched from the shadows to learn more about Yangming True Lord.

From what he had just observed he gleaned a lot.

First, the sword in the man’s hand was extraordinary, a top-tier treasure that let a Core Formation cultivator contest Nascent Souls.

Yangming True Lord’s current combat strength and lethality had a great deal to do with that blade.

Second, he cultivated body and magic both with no obvious flaws.

His flesh even seemed to outstrip his magic, suggesting some top-tier physical constitution.

Third, his spirit-soul far outstripped the norm.

Either he held a soul secret treasure, or his spirit-soul had reached late-stage Nascent Soul.

Fourth, his spirit pet had surpassed the limit of a heavenly-grade bloodline.

It wasn’t just a True Spirit bloodline—it might have reached the level of a low-tier True Spirit.

Fifth, his Dao companion wasn’t a Nascent Soul cultivator now, but was definitely a Nascent Soul taking a body or a Nascent Soul starting over.

With all of that, and given his suspected identity as a reincarnated legend, Luofuzi had no confidence he could kill or capture him.

“We’ll have to play the long game.”

Luofuzi’s expression stayed calm as he pondered.

At the Nascent Soul level, if you weren’t certain you could annihilate the other side, you didn’t fight to the death. The fallout was endless.

Back then, facing Qingluan True Lord, he’d had a sure kill.

But her methods exceeded his expectations and she escaped.

In his view, though, her injuries then left her half-crippled even if she didn’t die—no threat.

If she dared show herself again, he could snuff her out easily.

“Lord of Luofu Mountain, please take action!”

Hearing True Lord Qingcang’s plea, Luofuzi frowned.

He had said earlier that if something unexpected happened—if Yangming True Lord wasn’t as injured as rumored—he would step in, so they should rest easy.

But seeing Lu Changsheng’s strength and having no certainty of finishing him, he didn’t want to escalate the feud. He preferred to wait for an opening.

“So be it.”

Thinking of Qingluan True Lord, he and this Yangming True Lord already had indirect enmity.

If True Lord Qingcang’s group fell into Yangming’s hands and it came out they’d come at his invitation, the feud would escalate anyway.

Since that was the case, he might as well step in and pull them out.

He could use them later as helpers when a chance arose.

Besides, if word spread that he’d coerced them to test the waters in the Immortal City of Damengze but didn’t lift a finger to help, his reputation would take a hit.

Expression flat, Luofuzi walked out of the inn.

“Lord of Luofu Mountain?” Bai Zhaozhao’s exquisite face showed surprise. She knew of this top giant of the Southern Desolation and Northern Region.

As the Saintess of Tianyan Sect with Baize Bloodline, she even knew he wasn’t from the Northern Region but the Central Domain.

He had offended someone and fled far north.

She hadn’t expected these five Nascent Souls to be tied to Luofuzi.

If so, the battle today was bound to escalate.

“Still, Yangming True Lord should be able to handle it.”

Bai Zhaozhao didn’t know Luofuzi’s exact combat strength.

But judging by Lu Changsheng’s display, even if he wasn’t Luofuzi’s match, he wouldn’t be far behind.

Besides, by her guess, the Immortal City of Damengze had deeper cards to play.

For instance, she suspected the city hid a pocket-dimension secret realm.

True Lord Qingcang’s face twisted, blood at his lips as he strained against Lu Changsheng’s Chaos Manifestation.

When Luofuzi didn’t answer or appear, his heart sank.

He realized the man had no confidence against Yangming True Lord and likely didn’t want to act.

If not for the danger, he’d have cursed aloud.

The other three saw Luofuzi hadn’t shown himself either. Their hearts grew heavy, faces dark.

“Go!”

“Run!”

A moment ago they had still thought to stand together.

Now they knew they were no match for Yangming True Lord or the Golden-Winged Roc.

If they wanted to live, they had to flee.

True Lord Qingcang didn’t hesitate. The sky-reaching tree behind him vanished in a rush, turning into streams of cool emerald light that wrapped him as he tried to split the void and escape.

The moment he let go, True Lord Yin Lei was clenched tight by the Yin-Yang Qi Great Capture. His magic and Nascent Soul Spirit Body were sealed.

In moments, the five-man Nascent Soul lineup was scattered and one was captured.

The other three, seeing True Lord Qingcang so decisive, didn’t dare tarry and tore the void to flee.

But two were tied down by Hong Lian and the Golden-Winged Roc and couldn’t get away at once.

The third saw a man in loose white robes, spotless from head to toe, a blue longsword in hand, standing quietly and watching him.

“True Lord Xuanjian!”

His face darkened. He recognized the white-clad man as the former number one of the Jiang Kingdom—the uncrowned king.

He hadn’t expected True Lord Xuanjian to be here in the Immortal City of Damengze instead of in Liang.

“We’ve been played.”

In that instant he understood why Luofuzi hadn’t shown up.

“Since you’re here, why rush off? Weren’t you here to demand an explanation from me?”

Lu Changsheng glanced at the four scattering like whipped dogs and spoke lightly.

As he did, the soul art Eighteen Echoes of God-Devouring crashed down again on True Lord Qingcang.

Just like True Lord Yin Lei earlier.

Faced with Lu Changsheng’s soul secret art, True Lord Qingcang’s skull felt like it would split. His spirit-soul was a skiff in a gale, beyond his control.

Lu Changsheng flashed beside him and stomped down with one foot.

Bang, bang, bang—

Even without fully erupting, the mid-fourth-rank physique tore through True Lord Qingcang’s Protective Shield layer by layer.

Seeing this, the other three Nascent Souls nearly lost their souls from fright.

What kind of method was this?

First Yin Lei, now Qingcang—both were frozen the moment they crossed him.

But just as Lu Changsheng broke through True Lord Qingcang’s shield and was about to seal his magic and Nascent Soul Spirit Body, a surge of irresistible void power welled up at his side.

A moment later a dignified voice rolled out from the Immortal City of Damengze.

“Fellow Yangming, please stay your hand.”

A tall middle-aged man in a light yellow Daoist robe stepped out of the city.

His black hair hung to his shoulders and a pale yellow crown sat on his head. His robe snapped in the wind, its hem embroidered with pale golden mountains and rivers.

At the moment, those mountains and rivers seemed alive, flowing in pale gold over him as he ignored the city’s formation restrictions.