Immortals who’d been waiting for Jiangchen Wushang and Lu Yun to mutually destroy each other could no longer stay on the sidelines. The thousand zombies had all been geniuses that’d gone missing in Dusk Province!
They were the future pillars of numerous major sects and factions, but were now zombies refined by Jiangchen Wushang! In one fell swoop, the Corpse Refiners had effectively made enemies of half the world of immortals.
They were a mysterious bunch, and their tracks difficult to trace. No other members of the sect had shown up in Dusk Province. Thus, the Jiangchen Clan quickly became the primary target and an even more ferocious battle broke out, engulfing most of the observers present.
……
The Dao Flower had completed its bloom and the path of cultivation was restored. All unusual phenomena had faded away, and the projection of Dusk Province in the other worlds dissipated as well.
Qing Han, Wu Tulong, Zi Chen, and Mo Qitian hovered in the air with their legs crossed, seemingly receiving some sort of heritage. They could only look on helplessly at the events unfolding on the ground.
The Bag of Corpse Refinement was shot down from the air, and the skeletal fortress ship haphazardly tore around the scene. Lu Yun’s foot grinding him into dirt, Jiangchen Wushang roared and thrashed to no avail as Lu Yun stripped away each individual rune of the Cauldron of Invincible Constitution from his body.
Many immortals wanted to kill Jiangchen Wushuang to slake their bloodlust and fury, but Lu Yun’s demonic expression gave them pause.
Together, Yuying, Feinie, Xuanxi, Aoxue, and Huangqing made quick work of the zombies emerging from the sack. They were all geniuses and disciples from major clans and sects around the world, without exception.
Tears streaked down numerous faces as their seniors and masters shook to see their juniors and children executed, but it had to be done! Becoming a zombie was torture in itself. Death was the only release! With this, the hatred of the crowd for the Jiangchen Clan climbed to new heights.
Hum.
A cauldron three hundred meters tall, scintillating with golden sparkles reformed over Lu Yun’s head. It was the Cauldron of Invincible Constitution’s true form. Glittering golden runes circled about the cauldron, colliding, combining, and disintegrating to form a terrifying combat art.
The Invincible Constitution? What an impressive combat art. Pleased, Lu Yun took a deep breath and tucked the treasure away.
Jiangchen Wushang just about lost his mind. He had been able to defeat both Aoxue and Huangqing only because of the runes of the cauldron! Lu Yun removing the treasure would render him helpless.
Buzz!
The quieted Bag of Corpse Refinement once again burst forth with terrifying power and knocked away the Formation Orb on top of it. Two twinkles of gray light blinked by before Jiangchen Wushang and the skeletal fortress ship disappeared.
“So the ship is a zombie, too,” Lu Yun muttered at the direction the ship had disappeared into.
The zombies had all been cleared away, and the Jiangchen immortals present were slaughtered down to the last. The world fell silent. All eyes were on Lu Yun.
“What, wanna keep going?” In stark contrast to his unkempt state, Lu Yun’s expression was confident as he smiled at the immortals surrounding him.
Gaze suddenly sharpening with solemnity, his body scaled up at dramatic speed as a ball of black flames flared around him, turning him into a giant to protect Qing Han and the others. He’d noticed the malicious glances the immortals were throwing them. The four youths in the air were receiving the heritage of the Dao Flower, which was a significant development, but also made them extremely vulnerable at the moment.
The world of immortals didn’t need dao sovereigns to be worshipped by all life. If this weren’t Dusk Province, some dao immortals would’ve already moved to kill the four of them. However, the immortals present were up to no good as well.
“If you want a fight, I’m game.” Lu Yun’s voice rang throughout the sky. His five envoys took flight and circled around him. The extravagant fortress ship reemerged as well, its ninth-rank treasures emitting the piercing light of readiness. Five thousand kilometers away in Truewater City, the weapon of war radiated immense presence, ready to take another shot.
“We leave!” An immortal clenched his teeth and turned to leave. It was the dawn of a new era now that the path of cultivation was restored. And right now, their biggest enemy was the Corpse Refiners. No one would forgive them for refining all those geniuses into zombies.
In no time at all, the sect would become a public enemy of the entire world, and the Jiangchen Clan would be dragged down with them.
……
Peace gradually returned to Dusk Province. Qing Han and the three youth sovereigns remained in the air, receiving the Dao Flower’s heritage. Lu Yun stayed by their side, preventing anyone from sneaking up on them.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world fell into chaos.
Since their emergence, the Corpse Refiners had been challenging geniuses around the world and raising a storm of violence and bloodshed, inciting complaints and stoking the hostility of many sects and clans. Now that it was revealed that the universally disliked sect had been refining living immortals and cultivators into zombie slaves, the sect quickly became the common enemy of all denizens in the world of immortals.
As the other party of contention, the Jiangchen Clan attracted great backlash as well. Jiangchen Wushang had been the refiner of the zombies released in Dusk Province. Dao immortals of the affected parties joined hands to invade Jiangchen ancestral territory and force them to surrender the culprit.
Even the domineering Jiangchen Clan found themselves at their wits’ end for once. They had made an enemy out of a number of top factions. No matter how powerful they were, they couldn’t face all of these premier factions at the same time.
Then another piece of information spread—Jin Heyi, Jin Clan of Nephrite Major, was also a disciple of the Corpse Refiners!
Many factions reluctant to offend the Jiangchen Clan shifted their targets to Nephrite Major, as the Jin Clan was much easier prey in comparison. They’d already suffered a tremendous blow from Lu Yun’s inheritance tower, then said to have attempted to destroy the Dao Flower and in turn the path of cultivation. This provided quite a number of legitimate excuses to go after them.
By this point, even the Feng Clan abandoned the Jin Clan and avoided crossing paths with them. The Jin ancestor, and many disciples along with him, fell into thorough despair. To add insult to injury, the aristocratic house that Jin Heyi hailed from announced their intention to give up on moving to Mauve Peace Paradise and their withdrawal from Xiankan. No one knew where that branch of the clan went after that.
However, the other factions didn’t believe that the rest of the clan didn’t know where Jin Heyi’s branch had disappeared to, and kept up all sorts of pressure. It only took a short amount of time for the once solidly top-tier clan to decline and fall into obscurity. Eventually, the clan ceased to exist altogether.
……
A month after the path of cultivation was restored, the Corpse Refiners raised the curtains on an even greater prelude of things to come. The celestial emperor of the Truespirit Major abdicated and passed his throne to… the sect head of the Corpse Refiners!
Meanwhile, Lu Yun and Qing Han had snuck their way to the northern part of Dusk Province, right outside the seaside stronghold.