Chapter 2201.1: Immortal Light

There were nine ranks to immortal light—red, orange, yellow, green, azure, blue, purple, black, and white. When immortals first obtained immortal light, they gained first rank red light. Immortal light didn’t progress with an immortal’s cultivation. It required continual infusion of rare and powerful treasures to raise its level.

The costs were high to enhance its level. Lu Youya had expended more treasures than he could count to raise his immortal light to orange.

The detonation of orange rank immortal light rivaled the self-detonation of the immortal soul. It would shake the ninth rank formation and unleash recoil on those overseeing it.

However, no recovery was possible after immortal light was destroyed. It was the core essence of an immortal and its absence meant that an immortal would never again advance in their cultivation. Those without their immortal light would also see their strength decrease by thirty percent, if not more.

Lu Yun sat cross-legged on the ground, not a flicker of change in his expression. He gripped a lower rank spirit crystal and swiftly recovered his Hongmeng qi. The energy within a lower rank spirit crystal was clean and pure, the equivalent of ten thousand upper rank spirit stones. Dense energy rapidly surged into his meridians.

Within his dantian, a pale-gold nascent soul sat over a hazy dao character. Two pale hands blurred through the hand seals for qi accumulation, drinking in the energy like a whale breathing water.

Finally, the pure energy transformed into streams of Hongmeng qi through the nascent soul’s conversion and entered the dantian. With Lu Yun’s body as the center, a massive vortex of qi developed as all energy within five kilometers surged to him.

……

Lu Yun sat calmly on the ground while he recovered his cultivation. Terra Demon and the gray jiao continuously infused the Ninheavens Brahman Formation with their qi, directing it to barrage Lu Youya so the immortal wouldn’t have a chance to self detonate.

Hummm!

A resonance arose within the formation as Lu Youya’s immortal light completely devoured his body. Yellow radiance began shimmering over the orange immortal light, a light that built to lightning the greater the immortal light expanded. In contrast, Lu Youya’s nascent soul shrank swiftly—he was sacrificing his nascent soul to forcefully raise his immortal light’s rank!

“This guy’s crazy! His soul has a chance of reincarnating if immortal light continues to protect it, but he’s feeding it to his immortal light and then detonating it! He’ll be scattered to the four winds then!” Terra Demon quirked his lips with disbelief.

When Lu Yun saw the immortal’s nascent soul begin to diminish, he quickly retracted the floating Forge of Heaven and Earth and stowed the Nineheavens Brahman Formation. He looked back to find that Terra Demon and the gray jiao were already gone.

Meanwhile, Lu Youya’s jaw dropped inside the dome of orange-yellow immortal light. His opponents were suddenly gone, what was he to do now??

How deeply he regretted his actions! If he’d known that these two would be so shameless and run off, he would simply scare them a little. There was no need to detonate his immortal light to ensure mutual destruction!

And that ninth rank formation that seemed retractable at will, what kind of situation was this?! When were ninth rank formations portable??

While Lu Youya goggled at his circumstances, the immortal light erupted and swallowed the last of his nascent soul. An exceedingly rare yellow immortal light illuminated the scene.

However, he lost his courage at the last possible second, so the immortal light didn’t explode after devouring his nascent soul. It simply transformed into a ray of hazy light and fog that drifted to the ground.

Seated cross-legged on the ground, Lu Yun lifted his head to see the light floating down to him. He casually reached upward and grasped it in his hand. Having broken through to latter nascent soul, a rush of dense Hongmeng qi had surged out of his body in the moment of ascension and replenished the stores he’d used up.

His cultivation was several times stronger than mere moments ago.

“Those two faithless guys just left me here?” Lu Yun rolled his eyes and placed an Earthbending Talisman back in his ring. Although he grumbled, he would’ve been the first to run had Lu Youya truly detonated his immortal light. It’d just be the waste of an opportunity to breakthrough; his life was more important.

The yellow immortal light laid quietly in his hand, like it was tangible. Although it was light, there was form and weight to it. Only when immortal light combined with a nascent soul would it become pure light.

Whoosh whoosh!

Two figures flashed by—Terra Demon and the meter long jiao appeared in front of Lu Yun.

“Young master…” Terra Demon raised sheepishly.

“Never mind that.” Lu Yun waved him off and threw the sword light into the sword pagoda. It’d taken all that was Lu Youya—his body, nascent soul, storage ring, countless treasures and spirit stones, assorted pills and medicines to barely manage to raise it to yellow.

Lu Tianling was an awakened cultivator about to reach immortality. When he did, his immortal light would immediately ascend to the yellow rank if it devoured this. Immortals could also give their immortal light to others, but that immortal light would never advance again if they did so.

“To think that the Greedy Wolf Immortal King is still alive…” Lu Yun frowned faintly. This particular immortal king answered to the central immortal emperor. He’d once jointly suppressed the Mindful Potentate along with the Army Immortal King, Seven Kills Immortal King, and Fire Star Immortal King.

Legend had it that they died along with the Immortal Potentate, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

The Greedy Wolf Star was his ultimate move, a powerful combat art that walked the line between treasure and immortal method. It was one with a powerful suction force and protected by certain rules. Being the immortal king’s ultimate technique, only those who he willingly taught it to could learn it. Those who used it also required firm conviction in the immortal king.

In other words, only those with the immortal king’s approval could practice the combat art. Any other attempt would fail. That Lu Youya could deploy it meant that the immortal king still lived.

“Things are getting interesting.” Lu Yun’s lips curved upward. “No wonder his power lingers in the sword pagoda, but there is no sign of his body. I thought the sword pagoda swallowed it, but it seems that he’s still alive.”

“Young master, if the Greedy Wolf Immortal King is still alive… then what about the central immortal emperor…” Terra Demon asked worriedly.

The central immortal emperor was the only sovereign of the world of immortals. The immortal emperors of the other four directions were just subordinates to him. Only the central immortal emperor was the legitimate ruler of the world and its strongest.

“It’s best if he is, I can slap his face again.”

……

The enormous capital of Darklake Empire was as if an empty city these days. There was no one on the streets and not a single footstep darkening the storefronts of the prosperous outer quadrant.

The three great places of business—Ruyi Club, Rouge Pavilion, and Beast Colosseum were temporarily closed.

RUMBLE!!

Thunder roared in a certain part of the city as the Yuwen residence, one of the seven great clans of the capital, disappeared into thin air. Following that, multicolored curtains of light rose from the city’s foundations. One, two, three… twenty enormous curtains of light intersected in the air, coming together as a mammoth array that enclosed the city.

Figures in white appeared like ghosts when the formation assembled. They traversed the streets, giving rise to a faint scent of blood and gore. Soundlessly, wordlessly, families of varying sizes, pre-identified storefronts, and certain hidden strongholds were thoroughly uprooted.

……

A deathly silence reigned in the palace. Situ Jie sat high on the dais, a proud look of complete assurance on his face. Generations of the empire’s ancestors stood behind him. Even the empire’s founding father, soul projection Situ Lei, had returned to Dark City.

“Do you know your crimes, Situ Yun?!” Situ Jie suddenly thundered at the quiet young man off to the side.

“Might I ask royal brother what crime have I committed?” Situ Yun stood in an assembly of royal princes, not bothering to look at Situ Jie.

“What crime?” Situ Jie sneered. “You colluded with Tianlong Empire to subvert Darklake! The evidence is at hand, what more do you have to say for yourself?!”

He threw a jade slip to the ground.

Situ Yun was his biggest obstacle to assuming the throne. He was only one step away from that dragon seat, so he needed to eliminate this age-old rival.

Situ Yun had built quite a force for himself at court, so a sizable disturbance ran through the crowd when the officials saw the jade slip that had been thrown to the ground. Tianlong Empire was Darklake’s archenemies, the two nations had been at war for a thousand years. It wasn't until twenty years ago, at the battle of Tiger Suppression Pass, that Tianlong finally bowed its head.

But in the twenty years since, Tianlong had recovered much of its strength, and so its ambitions grew again. If it wasn't for wariness of the Lu father and son, they would’ve come back to the battlefield long ago.