Chapter 2166.2: Human Demon
……
“This should be it.” Lu Yun’s nose twitched as he followed the cloud of fragrance left behind by Ouyang Shengxiang. They stopped in front of an ordinary looking house that appeared the same as its neighbors, but the young man looked at it with interest.
“Lu Xuan, destroy the tuft of grass at the top of the wall.” Lu Yun pointed at a withering handful of grass on the wall.
Whoosh!
The tuft was gone after a flash of light.
“Yu Qianhua, break the second to last brick next to the door from the right.” Lu Yun pointed at a floor tile.
Yu Qianhua didn’t understand the order, but he followed suit when he saw how Lu Xuan had responded. He directed his sword light to smash the brick in.
Bam!
A muffled sound rang from the house and ripples undulated through the air in front of it.
“Well well, a Mirage Formation with complementary wood and earth,” Lu Yun snorted with laughter and casually threw a talisman through the front door.
Bam!
The house trembled and the void shifted, vastly changing the ordinary-looking house in front of them.
“What… this spirit qi is so dense! It’s on par with some of the houses that belong to the cultivation families in the southern district!” Yu Qianhu exclaimed as he took in the wave of qi that wafted toward them.
“Wood and earth complement each other in this Mirage Formation. But if it lacks water, then the earth would be fully constrained by the wood. The power of the formation would be immensely diminished then,” Lu Yun chuckled. HIs talisman had happened to destroy one of the ponds in the corner of the yard.
He could dismantle a formation like this with a quick wave of his hand. And if he could use formula dao… Oh, what the fuck, get out of my head. I don’t want to remember formula dao right now!
“Ahem…” a weak cough rang from the yard. “The lad outside the door is young, but your experience is vast. You are ten times stronger than the three gentlemen of the capital.”
It was hoarse, aged, and tinged with a weak feebleness.
“Senior praises me too highly, that was just a small trick.” Lu Yun smiled and stepped into the yard. Ten times stronger than those idiots? Are you insulting me? He remained smiling, however, and didn’t mind the exchange.
“Young master!” Lan’er cautioned urgently.
“It’s fine, you can all come in,” Lu Yun responded without turning around.
Lu Xuan was already at his master’s heels while Yu Qianhua and the others looked around with surprise. They’d never expected such a place in the northern quadrant of the capital. If it hadn’t been for Lu Yun breaking the outside formation, they would’ve never discovered the truth behind this locale.
Their view of the young man was undergoing some slight changes, but they also weren’t too surprised by the happenings. After all, Lu Yun’s grandfather was Lu Tianling, the greatest of the nation.
The house was of moderate size, but seemed to be another world. Birdsong and flowers abounded and its ambient qi was overwhelming. In fact, it provided nearly the same level of comfort as Lu Yun’s own house.
“The qi of the northern quadrant is scarce, yet there is so much here! There is either a high level qi accumulation formation at play or there’s a small qi energy vein below!” Lu Yun narrowed his eyes as his mind spun rapidly through various possibilities.
An elder with an otherworldly air laid on a reclining chair in the middle of the yard. His hair and beard were white and he was dressed in long blue robes. His pale face and weak aura indicated severe injuries.
“My name is Lu Yun, greetings to this… senior?” Lu Yun merrily tilted his head to the side. Despite calling the other his senior, there was no trace of respect on his face.
“You’re Lu Yun?” Startled, the elder opened his eyes slightly. “The legendary Lu Yun is rumored to be an unlearned and incompetent wastrel. He is a thorough scoundrel and unredeemable scum. But judging from your actions moments ago, you are very different from hearsay.”
Whoosh!
Lu Yun tilted his head back and snapped his fan open.
“An unlearned and incompetent wastrel?” he said proudly. “A thorough scoundrel and unredeemable scum? Slander, utter slander! I am genteel, refined, and poised with dashing grace. I hold a hundred disciplines in my mind and instruct the mountains and rivers. I am the epitome of being free and restrained!
“Is there any in the entire world that is more stunning than me, much less Darklake?”
That was the truth.
Yu Qianhua and his men looked skeptically at each other.
“So one is indeed invincible after setting aside considerations of face,” mumbled a soldier called Chu Zhaoyang. The elder, however, nodded in agreement with Lu Yun’s words.
“The formation I set up outside the door consists of complementary wood and earth. Although some formation grandmasters can see through a Mirage Formation, the Illusory Killing Formation of Water is not something identifiable by ordinary formation masters,” the elder declared solemnly in a self-assured manner.
“Hahaha!” Lu Yun roared with laughter. “An Illusory Killing Formation of Water? I think there’s more to it than that!”
The elder’s eyes brightened as the young man sent out another talisman.
Rumble!
Lightning the width of a finger flashed by with a loud rumble. It struck a wood chopper resting on some firewood and sent it flying.
Humm!
The yard trembled again as the uncommonly dense heavenly qi turned even heavier. Some inexplicable killing intent that’d floated through the surroundings also vanished without a trace.
“A Reverse Five Elements of Absolute Slaughter formation is something beyond the capabilities of formation masters in even fourth rank cultivation empires. I am ever more curious about your identity, senior.” Lu Yun snapped his fan shut and crossed his arms with a half smile.
“Who would’ve thought that someone would recognize and break my formation in a mere third rank cultivation empire?” The elder narrowed his eyes. Although he seemed to be complimenting Lu Yun, a hint of killing intent traced his words. “As for this old man’s identity, it’s better that you don’t know.”
“You’re teaching the three Ouyang brothers and Ouyang Shengxiang, aren’t you?” Lu Yun asked after a moment’s pause.
“You possess some knowledge. Apart from Ouyang Shengtian and Ouyang Shengxiang, everyone else in the Ouyang Clan is trash,” the elder nodded.
“No wonder Ouyang Shengxiang can defeat a foundation establishment cultivator when she’s only three levels qi refinement herself. She doesn’t use the methods of a low-ranked cultivation empire,” Lu Yun mused.
“Oh, does young master Lu wish to take this old man for a master?” the elder curved his lips upward. “As much potential as Ouyang Shengtian possesses to be listed as first among the three gentlemen, your potential isn’t the slightest bit lesser than his.”
Lu Yun wordlessly curled his lip. Ouyang Shengtian? Lu Yun could have him ascend to the heavens in one second! [1]
Yu Qianhua, Chu Zhaoyang, and the others looked on with mouths agape.
This old man heaving for breath was the master of the four Ouyang geniuses? And what else had he said, that the renowned wastrel Lu Yun was just as promising as Ouyang Shengtian??
Who was Ouyang Shengtian? The number one genius of Dark City and the leader of the three gentlemen of the capital! His cultivation had already reached nascent soul! A nascent soul cultivator was a mighty personage on high. How was he being compared to Lu Yun??
“Let me think—why has someone like you been deposited in someplace like this?” Lu Yun slowly paced through the yard and sized up the surroundings. “There’s not a single maid or servant here.”
“I like quiet,” the elder retorted.
“More like the Ouyangs don’t dare give you any servants,” Lu Yun snorted. “They put you here and have you teach Ouyang Shengtian and the others, but don’t invite you to their home. They don’t even give you a servant… So let me think about your identity.”
The old man’s expression began to turn ugly.
Lu Yun walked up to him and scanned the old man’s body with his consciousness. “Your bones are brittle and your nascent soul is close to collapse. You’ve suffered a grave blow at some point in the near past. Oho, I know who you are.” The young man winked at the elder.
Brooding, the elder’s face was dark.
“Bloodbath.” Lu Yun took a few steps back. “To think that the human demon who once slaughtered one million cultivators from the fifth rank Barren Empire, the one who almost caused the empire’s downfall, would be here!”
“The human demon Bloodbath!” Lu Xuan, Lan’er, and Yu Qianhua gasped in unison.
Bloodbath had once roamed the world of cultivation as a mythical personage. Legend had it that Bloodbath wore red, possessed red hair, red eyes, and caused bloody light to appear around his body when he deployed his cultivation methods. He was an exceedingly horrifying figure who did not belong to any sect or clan. He also wasn’t part of any empire either.
For reasons unknown, he’d clashed with the fifth rank Barren Empire one hundred years ago and slaughtered one million of its citizens in three days. Even their emperor was a victim; a vast fifth rank empire teetered on the edge of disintegration within half a month.
But after that, Bloodbath vanished from public view.
“How is that possible?!” Yu Qianhua denied. “They say that Bloodbath was killed after the three ninth rank empires issued arrest warrants for him!”
But judging from the elder’s expression, he was silently admitting to things!
“Let me think about this,” Lu Yun continued as he watched the elder remain silent. “It’s said that Bloodbath’s cultivation methods are unique and require a supply of fresh blood. If you can access fresh blood, you instantly recover no matter how severe your injuries are. The Ouyangs must have placed you here and refused to give you any servants because of that.”
1. Shengtian is wordplay for ‘sacred sky’ (the young man’s name) and ‘die’. They are pronounced the same. ☜
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