Chapter 82: The Demon Lord Takes Action

Throughout Cloudwater City, Wu clan cultivators could be seen rampaging everywhere, slaughtering indiscriminately and plundering on all sides. The fighting was especially fierce around the ancestral mansion, where the battle raged with unparalleled intensity and brutality.

All the accumulated treasures and foundations of the Ye clan’s vault had already been taken away when Elder Ye Min led the core family members out of the city. Thus, even though the Wu clan had conquered Cloudwater City, they could not lay hands on the Ye clan’s wealth amassed over centuries.

“The secret passage is in the rear mountains behind the mansion,” Elder Ye Min indicated, then took out a Qi Restoration Pill and placed it in his mouth to replenish his spiritual power. Though both the Qi Restoration Pill and the True Qi Pill served to restore spiritual energy, the former was of a higher grade; otherwise, for a cultivator of the Golden Core stage, the True Qi Pill’s effects would be negligible. Along the way, though Elder Ye Min’s cultivation was enough to intimidate most Wu clan cultivators, there were still reckless ones who charged forward, forcing him to expend spiritual power to slay his enemies.

As the group entered the region of the ancestral mansion, the number of Wu clan cultivators increased sharply. If not for the presence of Ye Yun and Ye Xian’s parents, Elder Ye Min could have unleashed his full power and annihilated them all. Yet he was forced to divide his attention to protect the others, unable to employ certain techniques, his strength thus limited. If he ignored Ye Zili and Ye Zicheng, and they were caught in the crossfire, death would be inevitable.

Suddenly, a shrill, piercing sound tore through the air. Even without looking, their spiritual senses detected three flying swords, shooting toward them like meteors at incredible speed.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The furnace artifact wielded by Elder Ye Min was struck three times in succession by the flying swords, its surface webbed with cracks as fine as spider silk. The artifact was damaged, and Elder Ye Min himself suffered backlash, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

“Lu Mengqiu!” Ye Yun recognized the origin of the flying swords, a cold glint flashing in his eyes as killing intent surged.

“Ye Yun, you are already in the palm of my hand. Where do you think you can escape?” A figure strode through the air in the distance, the three flying swords circling about him with spiritual agility, weaving back and forth.

Lu Su Xue had once said that Lu Mengqiu was a renowned guest cultivator for the Xu family, a master of formations, far beyond what Elder Ye Min, who had only just broken through to the Golden Core stage, could contend with.

“Elder, leave this man to me. Take my parents and second uncle and go, quickly!” Ye Yun stepped forward, positioning himself between the group and Lu Mengqiu, meeting his cold gaze in the air.

“That is a Golden Core cultivator!” Elder Ye Min’s expression changed, sending a sound transmission with his spiritual sense.

“Don’t worry, Elder. I have some confidence. Please, take care of my parents,” Ye Yun replied in kind.

Elder Ye Min’s eyes flickered before he suddenly said, “If I only take you and Ye Xian, I can shake off Lu Mengqiu’s pursuit!”

Ye Yun understood the implication: he and Ye Xian would have to abandon their parents.

“As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn. Only if you live can you avenge us in the future!” Elder Ye Min pressed on.

Some might see this as a grave betrayal of filial piety, yet Ye Yun did not find Elder Ye Min’s words unreasonable. To stay behind knowing certain death might preserve one’s reputation, but once dead, all else becomes empty and meaningless.

Still, Ye Yun believed hope remained. Within the Infinite Divine Eye, the unscrupulous Demon Lord had a way for him to rapidly boost his strength to match a Golden Core cultivator—even if the notion was fantastical. Ye Yun did not intend to tell Elder Ye Min, for he himself could not explain it.

As his master had once taught him, some things are best buried deep within the heart.

“Please, Elder,” Ye Yun said no more. He summoned his Jade Seal treasure, which grew to the size of a millstone and soared into the sky, charging at Lu Mengqiu.

Elder Ye Min, seeing Ye Yun’s resolve, said nothing further. With a wave of his hand, he led Ye Xian, Ye Zili, Ye Zicheng, and the others away.

“Be careful, Brother Yun!”

“Son, your father and mother will wait for your return!”

Those longing, worried gazes gradually faded into the distance. Ye Zili, Ye Zicheng, and the others, ignorant of the Golden Core cultivator Ye Yun faced, left without much fear. If they had known, they would not have departed so easily—for there had never been a miracle of a Foundation Establishment cultivator defeating a Golden Core.

“Overestimating yourself,” Lu Mengqiu sneered. He paid no heed to Elder Ye Min and the others fleeing, for his target was only Ye Yun. Even the Xu family’s order to bring back Lu Su Xue had faded from his mind.

He reached out, condensing a huge hand of spiritual power that sent the Jade Seal flying with a thunderous crash. Only cultivators of the Golden Core stage or higher could manifest such techniques, their spiritual energy condensed to an extraordinary degree.

“Infinite Demon Lord, begin!” Ye Yun called out with his spiritual sense.

The Infinite Demon Lord’s tone was grave. “Boy, have you truly considered the consequences…”

Ye Yun frowned and snapped, “Do I have a choice now? Enough talk! Just do it! If I die here, you’ll be captured and refined by Lu Mengqiu as well!”

“Damn you, brat! Can’t you be a little more polite?” the Demon Lord roared in anger.

“To hell with politeness! Hurry!” Ye Yun’s anxiety was clear, his tone uncompromising.

“Damn it all…” the Demon Lord muttered inwardly. “With your innate perfect soul, you can bear a strand of my remnant soul. I can use you to cast a Nascent Soul level spell, but your body cannot withstand the backlash. What happens then, I cannot guarantee.”

As he spoke, the Demon Lord’s remnant soul seeped from the Infinite Divine Eye into Ye Yun’s sea of consciousness, gradually merging with his three souls and seven spirits.

Whatever the consequences, Ye Yun had no other choice.

Boom!

A vast, overwhelming aura exploded from Ye Yun, and waves of immense soul power surged out, turbulent and mighty, as if an ancient beast, dormant for countless years, was awakening and revealing its fangs.

Lu Mengqiu sensed the abrupt transformation in Ye Yun. The aura rolling off him made Lu Mengqiu’s heart tremble with the urge to flee. His face changed, and after a moment’s hesitation, he sent his three flying swords hurtling forth.

“Open your mind and let me control your body!” The Infinite Demon Lord’s consciousness reverberated in Ye Yun’s mind.

Ye Yun closed his eyes, calming his heart and allowing the Demon Lord’s remnant soul to merge with his essence, temporarily surrendering his body.

When he opened his eyes again, wherever his gaze fell, the very air rippled. The three flying swords, piercing toward him, were frozen in mid-air by a power that pressed upon space itself.

“What? Impossible…” Lu Mengqiu was horrified. In that instant, he felt his connection with the three swords severed by some mysterious force.

Panic-stricken, unsure what was happening, he hastily produced formation flags and flung them in all directions. As a formation master, his first instinct under threat was self-preservation.

“Low-level tricks,” the Demon Lord sneered, controlling Ye Yun’s body. With a sweep of his gaze, the flags shattered into nothingness.

“To think that my first taste of freedom is wasted on killing a mere Golden Core ant…” the Demon Lord mused, then narrowed Ye Yun’s eyes and formed intricate, mysterious seals with a blur of his hands.

These convoluted hand seals seemed to draw upon the very fabric of heaven and earth. Suddenly, seven stars blazed in the sunlit sky, casting down seven dazzling beams of starlight.

The sky dimmed abruptly as the seven rays descended, transforming into swords—a line of seven blades spanning the heavens, radiating a world-ending power.

Swish!

One sword of starlight swept forth, its blazing brilliance slashing across the heavens. Beneath that celestial blade, Lu Mengqiu seemed as insignificant as an ant—utterly powerless in the face of annihilation.